Sentimental Voice

by Shūsuke Amagi

"Since I still don't feel I've done something wrong, there must be a problem in it," Layfon said.

  "......And so Gorneo targets you?"

  "Not only that. There must be a deeper reason. Gorneo Luckens, the younger brother of the Heaven's Blade successor Savaris Luckens, who is also trained in the Luckens' ways of hand to hand combat. I haven't seen this, but he might have trained in the same period as Gahard Baren. Gahard might have taught him the skill, since his brother has already given up in teaching Military Arts."

  "So he's avenging someone from the same school?"

  "I think so."

  "......Is that ok?"

  "I don't care if he targets me alone, but I'm worried about the safety of everyone in the 17th platoon."

  If he attacked not just Layfon, but the entire 17th platoon......

  He knew it was wrong. If that happened, he was prepared to fight the same way when he decided to kill Gahard Baren.

  "That wasn't what I meant," Felli struck his head.

  "Eh?"

  "......Really, you really are stupid, aren't you?"

  "Eh? Eh?"

  "Although as a moron, you'll never understand it......we're about to reach the rendezvous point. Let me down."

  In the end, he didn't understand her at all.

  The smell of rot filled the air.

  "......Ok, bury it," Gorneo ordered and his team members put the dirt back in place.

  Beneath the small hills were corpses. Not a single corpse was whole. Pieces of bones, fragments of flesh. This wasn't even a burial. But someone had buried it all.

  "The problem is, just who did this......?"

  It must have been a maddening job to collect all the human pieces and bury them all, but it didn't look like whomever did this job had gone insane.

  The day was about to end. Zuellni would arrive by sunset. Although they wanted to find out the reason before it arrived......They would rest a little then investigate the city one more time.

  "......Hmm?" Gorneo realized his shoulders felt lighter. "Come to think of it, where's Shante?"

  The second captain was nowhere in sight. She seemed to have jumped off him the moment when they started digging. He asked his team members and no one knew where she had gone off to.

  "......She couldn't have."

  He had a bad feeling about this. After ordering the team to continue putting the hill back together, he ran out of the production area using Internal Kei.

  Chapter 5

  Dance in Midnight

  Layfon and his team ate the simple lunch they brought with them, then opened the side door into the Mechanical Department of the city.

  "The power's cut off," Nina said. The lift wouldn't work no matter how many times they pressed the lift button.

  "I guess we'll have to get down along the cables. In case anything happened, we'll confirm whether the switch is off or not. Felli stays here as reinforcements."

  "Roger."

  They put on their helmets and confirmed that Felli's flakes were working normally. They opened a hole on the bottom of the lift and moved downwards along the cables.

  Darkness surrounded them, but green vision appeared as Felli supported them with night vision.

  Feeling the touch of solid ground, Layfon retrieved the steel thread he used in place of a cable.

  Huge tubes surrounded them, and in between the tubes were crisscrossing corridors meant for human use. It looked exactly the same as Zuellni's Mechanical Department. Or not exactly the same. This city had more tubes than Zuellni. It was a more complicated maze. So dense that Layfon couldn't see through to the central area. He didn't smell any rot. What tickled his nose were the special smell of oil and gel and the weaker smell of metal and chemicals.

  "The air down here is terrible, and you guys have been working in this kind of place?" Sharnid frowned.

  "If we had more light, it would feel more spacious here."

  "But we can't use a flare here. It might catch fire."

  "Exactly. Felli, anything strange?"

  "Nothing so far."

  Nina nodded. "I see. The thing from yesterday night is hiding. This has to be where it is."

  "Do you believe us, captain?" Layfon said, surprised. Although Felli sensed the creature, Layfon was the one who confirmed it. The 5th platoon didn't seem to believe him. And even Layfon himself lacked the confidence to guarantee what he saw had been true.

  "Of course. What reason do I have to doubt what you two saw?"

  "......Yeah, you two aren't the type to lie," Sharnid agreed.

  "And I have my suspicions."

  "Huh?"

  "Since this city still 'lives', then it shouldn't be strange that that thing exists, right?"

  "Ah......"

  Zuellni in its little girl form surfaced in Layfon's mind.

  "I think what you two encountered was this city's consciousness."

  "I see......"

  "We'll decide on what to do once we reach the center of the Mechanical Department. We'll split into two groups. Me and Sharnid, and you move alone. Is that all right?"

  Layfon nodded.

  "If you don't find anything, meet back here in one hour. Let's go."

  Layfon, alone, headed deeper into the maze.

  "...... Why?"

  This question hovered in Leerin's mind. It was hard to believe Gahard Baren had appeared here.

  "What..... did you do?" Derek said. "Is this Kei in your body? I heard that your Kei vein was destroyed......"

  Yes.

  Rumor had it that Gahard's Kei vein was destroyed in his match with Layfon, and he had lost his consciousness and fallen into a vegetative state. So why was he here?

  No Dite armor wrapped around his remaining arm. Gahard was wearing a worn out and thin hospital robe. They could see his stomach through the thin robe. It was once full of muscles, but they had now disappeared through a long period of time spent in the hospital.

  "You've given up your humanity," Derek said.

  Gahard's dominating eyes did not belong to a human.

  "I don't know how you gave yourself up, but what did you come here for?"

  "......"

  Gahard hadn't opened his mouth. It was as if he was eating with his mouth closed, and noise sounded from his stomach.

  "......Uh."

  And that noise became louder and louder.

  "Close your eyes and cover your ears!"

  Gahard's entire body shook abruptly.

  "Kaaaaah!!"

  It drowned out Derek's voice. Glasses and eating utensils shattered around them. Their bodies shuddered, their eyes and ears enduring intense pain. The ground swayed.

  When the noise stopped, Leerin wondered whether her eardrum had burst.

  Then......

  "Uuh."

  The moaning of father and the shaking of the ground proved to her that her eardrums were still intact. Leerin opened her eyes and saw Derek kneeling on the ground.

  "Father!"

  His clothes were torn, revealing the old yet still firm and strong body underneath. Blood seeped from his back.

  "Could that be Roar Kei? You shouldn't be able to use the ultimate move of the first Luckens," Derek said and vomited blood. The Katana he used to support his weight broke under him. This wasn't any normal Katana. It was a restored Katana. The vibration earlier had destroyed its alloy structure, weakening it.

  "You......What did you do......" Derek toppled.

  "Father!"

  Derek showed no response. Blood pooled around him. Leerin's cheeks paled as if Derek's blood had also drained the blood from her face.

  "Ah, Aah......" she stood up and ran to Derek, completely forgetting Gahard. Losing Layfon and then the father who brought her up from when she was a child had stripped off Leerin's sense of the present.

  "Father......" she shook him, his blood staining her hands.

  "No......That......Please don't leave......" she shook her head like a child, desperately shaking Derek.

  "Hurry, get up
. Father......Everyone......We have to wake everyone," she cried, cried like she was a child. She was always the first to get up, and next was Layfon. They would call everyone after preparing breakfast. Derek was a Military Artist, but he always stayed in bed. It was difficult to wake him up.

  Yes, he was just asleep like he was in the past. Yes.

  "Father......" she called. She didn't hear the sound of Gahard above her. Her consciousness was rejecting it.

  Just when the noise reached its climax......

  A beast landed beside her.

  Thick silver fur swayed. The beast stood in front of Gahard as if to protect Leerin. It had the body of a dog, but it wasn't a dog. Its abnormally long ears stretched backwards under long fur, and the toes at the tip of its limbs had not devolved into those of a dog. It supported its body like a human female caressing her five long fingers. Its lengthy tail wrapped around Leerin. Human-like pupils burned as they glowered at Gahard.

  Gahard's mouth opened.

  External type burst Kei, the ultimate move of the Luckens – Roar Kei.

  His mouth opened to destroy the structures of particles. But what came out of that mouth was just the noise of the night.

  "......Speaking of which, you've also read father's secret book, haven't you?"

  Hearing that new voice, Gahard turned around.

  With the small back of his leaning against the broken metal fence, there Savaris stood.

  "Well, you couldn't have reached this stage if you weren't the way you are......but, isn't it a shame that you didn't realize this while you were still human? Or are you now satisfied because you're finally able to perform that move?"

  While speaking to Gahard, Savaris observed the fallen Derek.

  "To have suppressed the vibration of the Roar Kei with the threatening variation of Internal Kei......Quite some work there. Perhaps I should say, as expected of Layfon's Master? No other person could have achieved this."

  Meaning Savaris had canceled the second Roar Kei attack.

  "But because of this, I've gained some valuable experience. Nobody's used this move on anything other than filth monsters, so this is what it's like when it hits a human. It's fortunate that Layfon isn't aware of the consequences of this move."

  "......Lay......fon............"

  Savaris smiled at Gahard's first word.

  "Oh, so you still remember? I was afraid you slept for so long that you had forgotten him. I knew you'd make a move after you woke up, but it's just a little different from my expectations. I didn't think you would be so energized since your body's condition was so bad."

  "Where......is he? Lay......fon......"

  "Or maybe because you couldn't hang in there, so you managed a rebirth through stubbornness?"

  "Lay......"

  "What's torturing you? Your ambition? Dream? Evil means? Or is it everything? Desire? Outrage? I've already told you that age has nothing to do with it. A Heaven's Blade successor is born to be a Heaven's Blade successor. That's how our fates are. This has nothing to do with speed. You should now probably understand the result of your vanity."

  "Uh, Ah......Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

  "Hahaha! Are you angry? Then come. Not Layfon, but I, shall be your opponent. If you win against me, then you can become a true Heaven's Blade successor."

  Savaris backed away from Gahard's sudden attack, and using that momentum, he leaped over the fence onto the street beyond.

  "Follow me. I've already prepared the battlefield."

  Savaris vanished in the next second. As if to follow him, Gahard also disappeared.

  Leaving Leerin alone to stare at the back of Derek.

  "Father......The blood, it won't stop......"

  Tears rolled down her cheeks, her hands and knees stained with blood.

  And she looked at the beast.

  Someone was standing behind it.

  "......Ah."

  "It's all right, Lee-chan."

  "Synola-senpai......Why?"

  "We can save Derek. Don't shake him anymore. He's got a few broken ribs. It'll be troublesome if they damage any of his internal organs."

  "Senpai."

  "You've done your best. Now rest," Synola gestured at the beast and patted Leerin's head.

  Feeling her consciousness fading, Leerin fell into a slumber. Synola caught her as she fell towards the inert Derek, then she placed her on the back of the beast.

  "If only sleep could heal his wounds......but it's not that simple."

  Synola breathed out deeply and lifted her head. "Damn that Savaris. He was deliberately late. It might have been too late if not for Grendan."

  The beast Grendan leaned its head against Synola's arm. Wind rose around Synola.

  "Your Majesty......"

  Three figures knelt before her.

  "Take Derek to the hospital. I'll bring this child back to the dormitory. Lintence, is the battlefield prepared? You stay over there and keep watch. Just in case."

  "Yes."

  Two figures disappeared at her orders.

  "It's so exaggerated to just eliminate a harmful bug," Synola said and studied the damage around her.

  "I have to give out funding too, and also an explanation about Derek. The royal family has already forgiven everyone related to Layfon's case......but it's still hard on the child if the public doesn't agree."

  "Your Majesty......" the remaining person said. A woman with long dark hair who looked like Synola. "......It's about time to return to the palace."

  "Yeah—" she looked anything but wanting to return.

  "Your Majesty!"

  "But there shouldn't be a problem with the governing of this city even if I'm not around. It's like it doesn't......doesn't really need me."

  "......Please don't be willful. Perhaps there really won't be a problem when Your Majesty's not around, as there's the Parliament and I here to manage it. But this is an issue of responsibility."

  "If you need a symbol, then all you need is this child here. If it's about the public, then Kanaris, you're enough. Why don't you just become the real Queen?"

  "Stop joking. I can't command the Heaven's Blade successors. If that happened, we might have a second or a third Layfon."

  "That child didn't go on a rampage because of that."

  "Even so, look at Savaris. Doesn't that say there's a need for Your Majesty's pressure to manage them?"

  "Ha~~ Ah~~ ......Geez."

  She looked at Leerin as if running away from Kanaris, and sighed.

  "You're also a Heaven's Blade successor. Aren't you being too serious?"

  "I'm very tired because of a certain someone," Kanaris said.

  "Well, that's harsh."

  "Whatever it is, hurry up, toss away this alias and return," Kanaris frowned and left.

  "Really......" Synola made a face. "Even if you tell me to return......"

  She lifted Leerin.

  "My existence is meaningless if not all twelve Heaven's Blades are here."

  She suddenly recalled Savaris' words. "A Heaven's Blade is born to be a Heaven's Blade......Then Layfon isn't my Heaven's Blade? Perhaps......" she shook her head, disbelieving the ridiculous thought.

  "It's useless to consider what has been lost," Synola carried Leerin and left through the hole in the wall with Grendan.

  Savaris leaped from the walls and roofs of different buildings to run in the moonlit night. Gahard followed him in much the same way.

  What exciting scenery.

  "If you were that good when you were still alive, I'd have taken care of you more," Savaris laughed mockingly and leaped to stand on a place that was higher than the tallest building in Grendan.

  In mid-air.

  Gahard similarly landed on air.

  "You can see it right? Come up," Savaris nodded in contentment.

  Gahard looked around him.

  "You're standing on Lintence-san's steel threads. They're as thin as spider threads, but they don't break easily, so don't worry. But if you los
e balance, your weight will drag you down and you might be split in half on a steel thread, so your feet must always be filled with Kei. And don't think of escaping. If you do that, Lintence-san will gather all the steel threads and cut you into pieces. Aside from that, we've decided to hold your burial ceremony at the Luckens' family home," Savaris explained with a smile. "I think you understand me, don't you? I'll be happier if you could say my name. Either way, you're my junior in the same Military Arts school. Though I didn't look after you much, you have in turn looked after my brother. It's embarrassing, but I still want you to call me by my name."

  "......"

  "Have you recalled my name? What a shame. Looks like you've surrendered totally to the filth monster," Savaris said. He didn't look like he cared.

  Grendan had a fight with filth monsters about one month ago. A filth monster in its aged phase seized an opening created by the larvae attacking the city and entered the city's inner area. The Heaven's Blade successors had all sensed the invasion and subsequently chased after it, but this filth monster was a strange parasitic type. It could live off a human body by absorbing nutrients from its host. Grendan's psychokinesists had trouble finding its location.

  And that was when Savaris suggested a plan.

  After tracking the filth monster several times, they found that the filth monster tended to attack a new host when it was about to exhaust all of the nutrients of its current host. The time when the filth monster transferred to another host was the best timing for a psychokinesist to discover its location, and also, the host would move according to his original personality, so that would create an opening to eliminate the filth monster.

  Savaris and a huge number of psychokinesists waited for the next moment when a victim would be attacked, and they prepared for the filth monster a host of their choice.

  Gahard.

  Although the filth monster almost escaped, Savaris' preventative measure worked, allowing Gahard to become the filth monster's new host. Affected by its host's hatred, the filth monster also developed hatred for the people associated with Layfon.

  That was what Derek had sensed.

  "You're serving the city's defense in your very last moment as a Military Artist. Is that your wish?" Savaris said as he inserted several cards into the armor on his arm. Dites in the form of cards. He had already inserted the cards into the armor on his legs.