Vol 25 Chapter 1 (2/2)
”Shut up!”
Gatt to charge forward She would have to let anger take over her body in order to forget about the pain in her abdomen
But Nina was unable todown on her shoulder
Just that was enough to suppress Nina's charge
”shi+n!”
Gatt behind Nina
Nina looked back The person standing there was shi+n Kaihan
”Wow, there's no helping you”
shi+n restored his Dite and pointed it at Gattman It was a rapier The needle-like weapon that was pointed at him seemed to make Gatt where you would meet your platoonin this kind of place?”
That voice awed Nina shi+n, who looked very unreliable, was clearly showing anger That feeling of pressure rapidly ate away at the fiercely-burning eo”
”But!'
As shi+n grabbed on to her shoulder, Ninaeh”
But that action ended up being useless resistance As expected, Nina couldn't win against shi+n's glare
”Wait, shi+n Why did you choose that kind of brat and not me?”
”You had a pro around here Do I need to explain further?”
”I'er than you too!”
shi+n laughed as he responded to Gatter as a first-year But your strength hasn't changed since then Maybe you're stronger than this girl right now, but next week this girl will be better than you”
”Cut the crap!”
”In that case, do you want to try?”
Nina held her breath at the unexpected developirl It's no fun foraround behind ree to that”
”If you don't agree to it, then you're honestly finished this tiuy, but when it's time to lay down the law, he lays down the law Do you understand? By this point we're in a situation where you picked a fight with our platoon”
”Tch!”
”We'll slaughter you if you don't agree, and you better not think I'”
Nina felt confused She had heard that the platoons were the elite group of Zuellni's Military Artists, but hearing about slaughtering and whatnot ot it But if I win”
”You definitely can't join our platoon anyo and not take you to the city police”
”Tch, then--”
Gattman's eyes looked sharply towards Nina That pair of dark, heated eyesabout that girl entering the platoon”
”What? You!?”
”Alright”
Nina was taken aback Even reed to that proposal without hesitating
Before Nina said anything, shi+n yanked on Nina's ar!?”
”I was thinking about how to teach someone who lacks self-control like you”
shi+n's merciless words made Nina suck in a breath
”This isn't your hometown Maybe your hometown only had stupid Military Artists, but that's not the case here You caht? There are only a sh they're not all on Gattman's level, almost all Military Artists have some kind of problems Think about it Heroic Military Artists who have ability and who follow orders and who are very strong, pro Military Artists who can become the core of a city's defense, do you think the residents of the city would easily let them leave? We're able to live comfortable lives because of those unspoken vows to protect the city that we've carried since birth”
Nina had nothing to respond with, and she thought of the reactions of her parents when she had decided to go to Zuellni
They had said the saht, no one would tell you to go back now But if you do the sao back People who can't see multiple perspectives are unnecessary in an Academy City, no matter whether they're ordinary people or Military Artists”
The drying of the blood staining her clothes gave her an unco had already stopped, but she wasn't able to re her clothes The passerby looked over at Nina curiously
So was draped over her shoulder It was shi+n's military coat
”Senpai”
”The city police will co like that”
Nina had originally wanted to refuse, but that sentence made her silently wear the coat It was obvious, but the coat was very large for her Though it covered Nina's wound, the sleeves were very long
”Next week you're going to fight that guy seriously”
”Yes”
”Can you win?”
”Of course”
”Don't judge hih he has a sturdy body, he's flexible, and he's very good with tricks Once you're contending with hiood at dealing with”
”That”
”You use those weapons well, and your defense is very firuy won't look for a single winning strike, he'll accurately whittle down his opponent's strength, so he's used to being counterattacked If you don't beat hio down Well, that kind of ti Gatth of course it was h, shi+n walked forward
”Senpai, could I ask what your relationshi+p with Gattman is?”
”We were first-years at the same time, so we'd bump into each other often”
Nina felt like complicated emotions wereto talk about it Maybe he was hated their interactions
”Well, I should say soo win' rather than 'can you win?'”
shi+n's expression relaxed and he shrugged
”That guy's weak point is his lackluster sta But it's only lackluster coh for his brutal personality”
”Okay”
Nina listened to her senpai's opinions with a diligent expression
”You should get in a wining blow or defend coet hit by a knife like today and keep losing blood, deciding the victor with stamina will soon make you lose”
Indeed, she could carry out a drawn-out battle as long as she could , she wouldn't be able to Even if she could close the wound with internal Kei, it was very difficult to replenish blood in a fight
Actually, Nina currently felt like her body was a bit heavy Her physical strength had decreased as well because of the blood loss
”You have a weakness You've never fought a real fight, right?”
That critique made Nina speechless
That was true
Nina case her face down and bit her lip
But shi+n grinned
”So I'll thoroughly rehabilitate you, starting to real weapons But my strikes will hurt a lot”
Just like she wanted - Nina's spirits rose
She illing to do anything for the necessary action of beating Gatth they were on a road, Nina bowed her head to shi+n without any concern
On the other hand, shi+n got flustered
◇
The 'rehabilitation' shi+n had spoken of wasn't a lie at all
”Uu”
The pain that refused to disappear, as if it had infiltrated her body, made Nina drop to the floor The mop handle hit the metal floor, and the loud noise resounded outwards
This was the Mechanical Depart to clean the Mechanical Departht now, she wasn't actually that naive After leaving ho away froht had all been spent for Zuellni's entrance fees and all sorts of necessities
She had to make money in order to live
She had chosen this job of cleaning the Mechanical Departoal
Not only was it noisy here, the paths were coerous liquefied seleniu nearby Of course, it was physically toilsome, and apparently almost everyone hated the vile environ like this”
But Nina wasand the battle co like this, so she wasn't bitter at all
She picked up thepain shot through every corner of her body
shi+n's thrusts were fast and sharp, as well as very accurate
He had easily gotten through the gaps of Nina's defense of iron whips The rapier could h Nina realized that, she couldn't accept it
(My dad never had trouble with those things)
That was true
Nina had seen her father in countless matches, and the weapons of her opponents had always varied There had been people who used rapiers like shi+n a them
Her father had won all of those ht to be able to do that too But she couldn't do it, the only reason being that she was ie training in her mind countless times, but she still couldn't deal with shi+n's thrusts If she did this, it would turn out this way, and if she did that, it would turn out that way By the time she noticed the flaw in herat her
Even though the safety equipment would prevent any casualties, the focused power of the point was still very surprising, so every time she was struck she would feel it deep in her bones The ood”
Nina shook her head No ine the scene of her defeat Her first defeat had been so miserable that Nina felt as if her self-confidence fro to Zuellni had been crushed to dust
She couldn't beat shi+n - Nina felt like that idea was being carved into her
Naturally her hands that gripped the mop didn't stop Nina was alone No one was there to catch her slacking, and she leaned herself against the guardrail, looking up at the sky
Pipes and machinery crisscrossed in complex patterns and were sed up by darkness That was because their interweaving kept continuing to places higher than the light reached
She should change the ed in her roup ofThough she didn't knohat he meant about ordinary people, if you only looked at the Military Artists, it did seem that there were many of those who came - or perhaps, were allowed to come - to the Academy City
The city residents wouldn't be happy about able Military Artists leaving to go to other parts of the world
Nina hadn't thought of that before Nina had been solely driven by her desire to see the outside world But thinking carefully, she also felt like her father's words of opposition had been about the same as shi+n's
Her father had felt bad for Nina, which hy he hadn't clearly said that
(There's no need to worry)
Though Nina had thought that, it really had been a big problem for her father
Nina's mother was an ordinary person To a faeneration after generation, they wouldn't want the blood of an ordinary person to eneration of Military Artists But her father had pushed away the cries of opposition and married Nina's mother
Nina had two older sisters, but they were ordinary people
Apparently, when the third child Nina had been born as a Military Artist, the people around had actually breathed a sigh of relief Her parents often said this,that the children wouldn't understand
That
After that, her father had remarried With a female Military Artist
The child that the two of them had was a Military Artist
And a male
Maybe it was natural for their expectations to be focused on her little brother Since her little brother's Military Artist blood was far denser than Nina's
Nina didn't hate her stephtthe Antalk family She believed that it was fine if her little brother wanted to succeed it
But actually, Nina's father had felt guilty about that matter Maybe that hy he hadn't been able to seriously talk to Nina
(There's no need to worry)
She murmured to herself
She had just wished her father could express his opinionsNina's bad habit was to decide things in the blink of an eye, and her eyes only looked towards her goals Though she are of that, she couldn't change her hopeless personality Nina had felt that nuanced rhetoric shouldn't be used at that kind of time, and that only direct talk would work
Because Nina hadn't realized the truth
(No, right now isn't the time to think about that)
The battle with Gatthly honing Nina
She had to focus more
But shi+n's reht
It was like having someone tell her that the place she had dreamed of wasn't actually all that
Of course, shi+n was very strong, and everyone in the fourteenth platoon looked to be good people Nina couldn't think that these people had left their hometowns due to various problems But on the other hand, there were also people like Gatth there had been such people in Schneibel, Nina hadn't ever seen thes before
Also, if Academy Cities had places for those people to screw around
She didn't want to think about it - Nina shook her head
Wasn't the question about why she was in this kind of place e in her mind?
The less she tried not to think about it, the worse herits flaw of being very hard to perk herself back up
”Ugh”
Nina tried to rid herself of those thoughts, and ended up hitting the back of her head against the guardrail
Just then, soe happened
A noise thatbreaks still hadn't reached her, so she hastily grabbed thenoise see towards her
”What's going on?”
Judging by the feel of the sound, it see Nina tilted her head and put on a confused expression as she continued cleaning A sharp pain came from the back of her head When had she becoe ied
The diht was e appeared in the air brushi+ng past her nose That sic
Nina turned around and looked up as if being pulled by soure of a tender, incredibly delicate little girl
Her long hair was spread out and gave off a pale blue light like water
”An Electronic Fairy”
Nina realized the reason the air had changed It was because factors scattered by the Electronic Fairy were mixed into the air
it was an air that she often felt in Schneibel
”Are you Zuellni?”
After Nina asked, the young Electronic Fairy slowly descended to Nina's eye level Her round eyes filled with curiosity were right before her
”I see, so those people were looking for you just now”
The people responsible for maintenance ould definitely panic if the Electronic Fairy left the Mechanical Depart Nina's words, but perhaps not understanding the irl o back”
Nina gently reached out a hand Zuellni didn't even look surprised as she leaned onto that hand Her hand didn't feel any weight, but she felt the strange feeling of aggregated electricity
Zuellni tilted her head, her eyes widening further
Before she realized it, Nina felt so warm on her cheeks
”You can't, since you're already an a Electronic Fairy”
Tears streamed forth continuously
They were tears that she couldn't endure Maybe this girlof this, she couldn't stop the tears
Yes, she couldn't forget that incident Because her life had been saved by an Electronic Fairy
”I'll protect you”
Nothing elseas there was an Electronic Fairy here, protecting it was Nina's sworn duty
The mission she had burdened herself with
◇
The ht arrived
The location was the practice field that the first-years had used for their coht in a training facility, Gattman had objected Platoons were already ene facility that platoon members trained in was the enemy camp
The special shock absorbers used in Military Artist matches had already been put away, but the fourteenth platoon ured them appropriately
Nina stood on one of the shock absorbers facing Gatt his uniforear The iron whips in either hand had been fine-tuned by Harley again since before Harley see about Nina's situation, but Nina didn't really understand what that meant
”Then, are you two both ready?”
shi+n stood in between the two as they faced each other He was in charge of being the referee
Nina nodded, and Gattripped in his hand looked like it was giving off a de to turn you into a pincushi+on again”
Gattman bared his teeth in a smile as he spoke
Nina didn't fall for that provocation She calh they were slightly different, they indeed felt easier to use than before
(Okay, I can do this)
In that case, she would be able to h came from the outfield, and Gatt to Nina
Nina didn't get angry But she still said this to Gattman as he looked down on her with confident eyes:
”Don't worry, I'll end this battle with one strike”
Gatth at that stateer slowly filled his face
shi+n expressionlessly announced for the battle to start
Gatty as before, brandishi+ng a Dite knife with large movements to draw her attention The Kei-covered knife was certainly a threat she couldn't ignore
Nina also moved her left iron whip
She blocked the knife, and the external Kei crashed against each other The air vibrated and shook her eyeballs
But she could deal with thisas she knew the principles behind it
Gatt knives
That was a h she knew about thisShe had stopped Gattman's knife a few moments faster this ti back a few centi shockwave produced She could keep her vision without turning her face away thanks to that action
Her left iron as easier to use than before thanks to Harley's last adjustment Nin was able to move in this brief period of time thanks to that
Also, theshi+n's rapid thrusts these past few days
With perfect tiht into the perfect circuht iron whip She ignored the throwing knife, choosing to attack Nina still couldn't beat Gattht
But even Gattman couldn't ht sides si knives pierced into Nina's body together
Nina swung her iron whips before the pain flashed through her body
The victor was decided just like that
◇
Harley aiting at theplace in front of the inforh her unifores rapped below it Several of Gatt knives had pierced her skin, but fortunately they hadn't hurt any iot scolded”
”Of course”
Harley had also watched the match, and he had accompanied Nina to the hospital
”That was too reckless”
”It’s because I felt like I shouldn't haveto Gatth”
”But shi+n-senpai was very angry too”
”I guess so”
If she had just ht mistake At best, both would be injured, and at worst Nina would be the only one injured and fallen on the ground, so shi+n was obviously angry in his position”
”But I was only able to win thanks to Senpai and Harley's help Thanks”
After saying this, Harley showed a weird expression
”? What's wrong?”
”Uh, although this is obvious, I' this, Harley looked up at the sky
”Really, so we're both not good enough”
Nina also looked up at the sky The sky she saw right after leaving the hospital was tinted with the colors of the night
This sky continued all the way to Schneibel But if she returned her gaze to the ground, there was nothing familiar there
This was somewhere new
A brand-new place, without the chains that had been there since her birth
”Don't you think that's why hard work has value?”
Harley h he was a bit surprised, he iorously
”Since we've only just started”
After ht forward over the road laid out before her
Translator's Notes and References ↑ A character froa