Vol 15 Chapter 1 (1/2)
Chapter 1: The Resolute One, The Wavering One
Layfon realized that he was reo
The half destroyed palace The figure of his childhood friend, and reuniting with her on thean eyepatch, a face he had never seen before, showing to his were losing clarity in his radually spacing out Was tih ti anything The ain, and this was all that told Layfon ti voice came from behind him as he watched the sun with a blank state of mind He turned around and saw his class suit His rotund body aying fro out like steam
”Ah, sorry”
In a fluster, Layfon stuffed the bundles of wheat onto the truck with the spear used for farh this is to move the resources, why did I have to choose this?”
A moment afterwards, the truck was loaded heat The classmate showed a faint expression at that and raised his hand
”Wanna swap?”
”No You must be very tired”
The classmate then pulled the truck with him Layfon watched him leave and then went to load other trucks
He orking on a farm This was te for work because of lack ofa break because there were still many bundles of wheat tohis lunch was lying on the bench
”Ahh This is tiring but the food is great”
A helpless s of which, have you found a place to move into?”
”Not yet”
”Better hurry up with that I found mine by chance, but”
”But isn't Edo the nureat, and it's close to school It's because the seniors are about to graduate If I had waited longer, the booking would have co in and no one would have paid me any attention”
”Uh”
” It's all thanks to the middleman Ahh, there's this person – the price of rent is unbelievably low”
Even the call of an uncomfortable voice would only be sucked in by the echoless, endless sky and the farm before them
One year had passed This was the most intense period for the Acaderaduate, but students of other years were also out for activities For exaraduates because the housing conditions were better; or those who had to give up their houses because of the anticipation of new first year students The classroup, and Layfon was the latter
The season of graduation was drawing near
The season of parting Layfon, first ti this season, felt unco, and this was eating him up
”Ahh, I'eneration plan It's not possible forof which, Layfon, why don't you live there? You should have priority because of yourout and so missed the deadline”
”I see”
The class that Layfon wasn't at his best
It was such an unusual crisis to have enshrouded the entire Grendan, but the Military Artists had to concentrate on protecting Zuellni But then almost no one knew of the truth Many students were only hovering on the level of feeling the terror that e the insanity of Lance Shelled City – Grendan
This was all they knew The terror of the filth monsters Military Artists who had experienced this crisis were training theain This way of thinking was strong in them, but there were also many ere tortured by terror It was ruone to find a psychologist
But this was all there was to it
This battle was hiding so unbelievable
Only Leerin was in it
And this as plaguing Layfon Helplessness He wanted to board a roao back to Grendan
But, he couldn't
Leerin didn't wish for it And he couldn't react to her feeling
He had confir was his reaction? It wasn't such a s, and perhaps it was all because he was too insensitive to his own feelings
”Ah ~ the election They even put a poster here”
At his classmate's words, Layfon's attention turned to the poster stuck on the wall of the rest room
The election of the Student President was about to begin
”You didn't come with us They randomly picked as to leave the dormitory, and so you lost”
”Uh, yeah I didn't come”
He stared at the sky as he replied to his classs, and the truth was there was only the sky for him to see
But Grendan's sky was also the same
◇
Minse breathed in deeply at the pressure of the black eyepatch
This was the house of Eutnohl He was facing two people in the aze from one of them
”The introduction is a bit late, but this child is Leerin She's Herder's daughter, so she is your niece”
”Yes”
The Queen held no complaints to her own unclear introduction
Several months had passed since that battle Half of the palace had been rebuilt The functions of a royal palace were being performed by Alsheyra's ho of the ad was finished Alsheyra and Leerin, who have been living in the home of Almonise, suddenly paid a visit to him
”Ahh, I'm sorry I've wanted to introduce her earlier, but the ministers like Lee-chan too irl who had been honestly sitting next to Alsheyra felt aze from her eyepatch to view her fully
Did she look like his royal brother Herder?
The hair color was different His brother, and himself The dark hair that characterized the three royal families of Grendan Leerin's face also looked different But she seemed to look similar to her mother Minse couldn't remember much but he knew of Meifar Stadt, who had been a old hair, and she was a lively girl It was hard to get a sense of Meifar from Leerin's tense expression, but he could see a bit of her mother in her face
His brother and Meifar and their child He thought they weren't in Grendan anye as Layfon
He never thought his brother had left the city, abandoning his child here Then? He thought a bithidden by Leerin's eyepatch should be able to explain everything Thatthe funeral Us two But itto the Eutnohl faed you, and so have I Either way, you're part of the Eutnohl fa Leerin's name in the family records
”Uh, your words are so like before Isn't this just the saer?”
” How o was that? And I still hate him”
”Oh, so honest”
”I feel narrow-hearted if I don't admit this Besides, it'll be troubleso”
He was used to Alsheyra's attitude He ignored her and turned to Leerin once more Leerin's expression turned tense at the mention of Layfon Minse said he hated hiiving out a wrong impression
”You don't have to prepare Leerin's room there”
”Ah, that's been taken care of Ah, but I still want to notify the school The ministers want some opinions, so they have prepared her room in the palace”
”Perhaps someone with your unstable personality wouldn't be able to understand, but it's better for her to live at ho she is”
”But theto ask why did the ministers appear there?”
”I see You're quite the exception”
”Not really”
Leerin, afraid and had retreated into herself again, was piquing Minse's curiosity
”But we've confir She should also be concentrating on her study The et her involved too s, I hope you can at least ”
”You're already acting like a guardian”
”Auardian?”
”Well, even so”
”Don't worry I've never thought of beco the Queen”
”Humph”
Unable to co Minse and the Queen
”Anyway, prepare her roo to say with Minse You can bring in the luggage”
”Yes”
Leerin nodded Minse called over a gage should be waiting outside the house as the Queen had said
The other maid went to prepare new tea after Leerin left
”Then let's cut to the chase,” Minse said, but the Queen was showing a bored expression
”How co such a speculative face?”
Minse replied frankly ”Never ed In here was the face of the Queen, of soovernance One couldn't question that this was the figure of a victorious Queen as the most powerful Military Artist and had control of all Heaven's Blade successors
”Leerin also has the right to succeed the royal throne”
”You randson But we haven't announced it”
”Yes He doesn't want to die yet Uh, he hasn't planned on dying even now”
”Then is this done to protect Leerin?”
”Could be She's not a Military Artist The rule of the three royal families is that a non-Military Artist cannot succeed the throne, but there is no such rule set for the right to beco the head of the royal family will become the next successor Of course he'll be the one This has already been set down by the rule”
”Well, because of that, there's no problem to work on what doesn't have a rule The rule”
”And also, the feeling?”
”That's right Anyway, it's your habit to speak on the good side Since Tigris died, Claribel She's left home”
”That can't be helped It's her personality”
Perhaps thisin other trouble
”The proble the rules and so are co about it”
”Yes That must be it”
”The problem of the inheritor to the Ronsmier fauet involved”
This ht be one of their strategies for allowing Leerin to coovernance of Grendan Of course she had to show huovern Even so, people h position Things hadn't changed from the past till the present Even Minse still held the sa to Layfon
Anyway… about that It seemed the Queen hadn't put in her best effort to debate her case
”Anyway, give an exa”
”And this is about her defense She left it all to Kanaris, perhaps it's about”
”So the Rivanes, a branch of the royal fa with, are a bunch of royalists, right? They ht revolt if circumstances permit”
Mutiny Conscious of her utterance, Minse shi+vered internally This was on the day before Delbone's death He had been considering it afterher while she was still alive She had felt that it had become reality She wouldn't have to worry about mutiny if the current successor's power of Psychokinesis was absolute
” It's good that nothing has happened”
The economic blow to Grendan was s weren't rebuilt for free And debris couldn't be reused Resources were liios, couldn't immediately transform and use any resources that had been collected, and so the reduction of resources in reserve was a severe probleh Minse had reduced his own discomfort as he continued to converse with the Queen, he only felt more disturbed the more they talked
Layfon was invited to dinner after the two of them finished work
” Why there?”
They had entered a coffee shop, a shop he was very familiar with And the h to fill his classmate's appetite
”Don't you know that they've added big dishes to thehis class at their table – Meishen
”Uh Yeah”
Meishen spread out thea tray of cups
”The shop owner has started a so-called ‘Plan to aid the regeneration of the city’”
”Uh”
There really was a picture introducing big dishes He looked around and saw , their dishes fully filled It used to have more female customers, but now it had attracted male customers too
”Because this is only limited to dinner, and the plan is about to finish”
”So gotta eat before it ends”
”Delong-kun comes often”
”I see”
His class to Meishen Meishen was called back to the kitchen after she took their orders Layfon spread out the leaflet on the table He was given it on the way to the shop
”Anything good?”
”Um, everywhere else is very expensive”
”Of course it's expensive compared to the male Dormitory One”
Dormitory One for males and fe probleive up their rooms for the new arrivals Some of them didn't want tolots according to a student's saving andinto account of unusual circuraduation in the Dormitory One, and there were those ere kicked out just after their first year And Layfon was one of the less fortunate The lot decided he had to leave
”But it shouldn't be a proble the Mechanical Departotiated, but the rent was still high
Any places close to the school, coh rent And thewas there weren't many empty lots left Most were taken by the seniors first, and then those juniors who h connections Layfon's classot a rooood at social interaction, had to run around to find a living place Though there were newly-built dor The effects of the previous crisis were still evident Living in a dormitory with no other human presence, Layfon had no choice but to find a better house for himself
”You're active in the platoon Shouldn't you have lots of money from the reward? You could just use it”
His class Its appearance was very familiar to everyone It wasn't the sas It was prepared for the very rich or thriftiest student in the Academy City
Layfon shook his head silently as he looked at the price of rent on the leaflet It wasn't a problem for Karian to live there as a successful Student President with lots of money from his family, but this wasn't the sas”
”There should be a way, as you're in a platoon The intercity coht?”
”Yeah”
There was only one war between cities after leaving Grendan This hat everyone called the intercity Military Arts Competition
The battle for a selenium mine that was the source of a city's fuel ended with Zuellni as the victor
But Layfon didn't think it was because of his efforts alone Besides, the most important question was ”Should I still stay in a platoon?”
He hadn't contacted other cities after that About not having contact, the Student Councilto the principles set by experience
The results of the three intercity competitions were tins and one loss Zuellni had avoided the risk of losing all of its seleniuraer needed In that case, his mission as a platoon member or a Military Artist had ended Anyone would have arrived at this conclusion This wasn't related to Karian's concern that the feeling of so attracted by the type of people like Nina wasn't so bad All Layfon felt was he had no strength left after the intercity Military Arts Competition had finished
”Ah, now it's quiet”
The building that suddenly appeared before him piqued Layfon's interest The rooth of it differed fros It wasn't made for one person only Layfon was deeply attracted to the spacious living space
”Ah, wait Wait That won't work It's close to the cargo area and is far away from the school There isn't any commercial street near, but then it does have eo areas took up a large chunk of the areas in thearea Not that there weren't any residential buildings, but there probably weren't as many students here
”But it doesn'tas I can see the captain”
He could buy the necessities after school Layfon wasn't that interested in entertaino to such a place by himself
”Perhaps Contact you later”
”Really?”
His classmate lifted his head to watch the sky for some reason
Meishen arrived with the dishes Layfon took up the spoon and began eating as his classed direction He was still looking at the building
Just like a ray of the sun was filtering through the heavy cloud layers This was the feeling he got
After that, his classan to talk with hi to theand then finally signed the contract
It was easier for Layfon to move around, as he was a member of the seventeenth platoon
The classh spirits fro to rent here Such good fortune Take me there That hat the senpai said to me”
”Two?”
”Yes No one has lived here before Because of its bad location Anyway, it's old I said so already yesterday This building has all the essential facilities Cleaning is provided, but because the building is so old, there s”
”Ah”
”The irls dor subject It's the best of the best in its appearance and interior design Anyone would have been attracted by that building As for here, there's nothing else to look at except cheap rent and lots of space”
The senpai sighed
”Though I've only beenthis place for two years, there's finally new people co And two as well”
”Ah”
He probably didn't like looking after this building Layfon didn't want to think much as he watched the happy senpai
He looked around Dust filled the rooh theto shi+ne on the e to hi
”It's hard to answer”
”Then when can Iup the house, and I need one more day to follow up Probably one ill do”
”Then I'll move in after one week's time”
”Ok Give es”
”All right”
The old key was like the past
But this wasn't related to whether the key was old or new He could only think that it was a new key to him
Only this situation was broadcasted all around her
Nina controlled her annoyance She couldn't retreat in this situation The annoyance in her was like s her nostrils
The e subject, the space where new dormitories once stood and were then torn down, had becoround Students were in self-study ood chance to train, putting her accumulated experience into practice No one could disturb her
”Ahh, what's happening?”
Claribel was provoking her, but Nina kept practicing
This tension-filled situation was created deliberately
Layfon had used that technique and he had used his clones to attack Gorneo during the inter-platoon match She knew the difference between those two moves The former was to create an opportunity whereas the latter was to attack
Then as this?
Countless Claribels werearound her All of them were illusions, as of blurry shadows reflected on the surface of the water
But the presence was changing constantly
A clue had appeared in a place es
The truth was the place itself was confusing her Nina had hidden herself so she could ambush Claribel Claribel's words and the unbearable circumstance were all made to provoke her
Annoyance reh she kneas a provocation
”This is Karen Kei”
Claribel had been instructing her at the beginning of practice ”Control the ah different limbs and joints, so that your opponent cannot anticipate your next ularity My teacher wants me to destroy in a more efficient manner, but I'm not up to his level yet Besides, I'm still not used to that state of mind”
Nina was interested in what it was like to destroy efficiently Right now, she was confusing her opponent with Karen Kei and notKaren Kei, the sa his moves But he had added combat skills on top of it Nina still wasn't sure of what itKaren Kei
Claribel wasn't holding the strange weapon – the weapon that she na butterfly Sword) She was only fighting Nina with Karen Kei
She never had to think about her opponent round if she were to hammer with the iron whips As for now, she didn't knohere she should hit, as her opponent was evading her – this was her first ti such an opponent
But Nina didn't move Maybe she didn'tor h Claribel's technique Claribel's clones surrounded her, but only her presence was flowing Her actual body had not moved
The key of a battle between Military Artists was speed The style of Karen Kei was a waste of tiies to aid her fight while her opponent was confused But Claribel didn't do that As for Nina, she was doing the expected, thinking of close quarters fighting and how to break through the technique of Karen Kei
Was she thinking of this because of the training? Or would she have thought of it in a real battle too? In that case, she felt that her spirit was in danger in this battle against Claribel
Control her worries and cal Sakkei Sakkei would be flowing out of her body as she used it Thisit The numerous presences were used to hide Claribel's real self Now Nina needed to find the real body froin”
The words were bounced to her fros around the
What to do?
Nina wasn't trained enough to be able to tell apart the flow of Kei She couldn't do it with her level of skill And so what should she do?
She had decided to stand still But
”Ok Everyone, stop”