Mixing Note

by Shūsuke Amagi

  "So that's why I'm asking, who is he?"

  "Shut up!"

  Nina roared as she rushed and pushed Layfon out of the way getting closer to Selina yet again.

  The target was the ferret Selina was holding on to.

  "I'm going to take you down! I'm going to take back Mitessha!"

  "Ah, I can't take it anymore."

  Layfon went and whacked Nina's completely open back. He wanted to knock her out with that blow, so he adjusted his power accordingly. Nina was sent flying by this Kei-filled attack and she landed outside in the front garden.

  Seeing Nina down, Layfon frowned. If it was a Military Artist, it would have been fine, but being forced to hit his senpai left a bad aftertaste in his mouth.

  "What's wrong...?"

  Asked Selina who stood there stunned, staring at the fallen Nina. The ferret she was holding in her arms was fidgeting a lot.

  "I don't know what's going on either...what's Mitessha?"

  "Eh? Mitessha? Mitessha is..."

  Just as Selina is about to answer, Layfon felt a killing intent bubbling out from Nina.

  "Is it..."

  It really is.

  "Mwahahahaha..."

  Nina, who was supposed to be knocked out, stood up again and she was still releasing Kei like before.

  "I'm sure I hit you with my Kei."

  Why...as he was thinking, Layfon realized something.

  "...Kongoukei?"

  Is it? Successful? At this sort of time? In these circumstances?

  "Mwahahahaha..."

  "Eh~ No way!"

  Facing Nina who was releasing a bestial killing intent and slowly closing in, Layfon felt somewhat powerless instead of nervous. How to say it, he wasn't exactly happy with the fact that Nina had grasped a technique he had taught her. Layfon had also experienced times where he couldn't use a technique but suddenly used it under pressure, but never in a situation like this.

  "Return him."

  Nina spoke in a human language, her two eyes drilling into the ferret.

  "Ah."

  Steven leaped out of Selina's arms.

  "Trying to run!"

  Nina started to run chasing after Steven who escaped from the front door into the front yard.

  "Ah, ah...could it be...wai-wait!"

  Looking like she suddenly remembered something, Selina went to chase after Nina and the ferret whose traces had since disappeared.

  "I am going to take back Mitessha!"

  "That's why I'm asking who the hell is he?"

  There weren't many people about at dusk so Nina and Layfon's shouts reverberated in the air.

  As the sun began to set Leu returned from the library, saw the front door wide open, and scowled.

  "They really make people worry."

  Leu went into the dorm shouting, "be a bit more careful next time" but nobody replied.

  Such a worrisome thing as this must have been caused by Selina. She probably got carried away since Nina agreed to let her keep the ferret. If she didn't remind her properly...As she grumbled away to herself he walked up to her room.

  "That's right..."

  Remembering something, Leu went downstairs, into the drawing room. Both their common room and their drawing room were filled with piles of magazines the three bought.

  Leu picked up the plushie which was placed in the corner of the sofa.

  "If I don't put you back, Nina's probably going to go crazy."

  Saying this to the panda plushie, she walked upstairs.

  After Nina left, Selina and Leu wanted to see if Steven could actually catch mice, and placed him up in a place where there might be a nest in the ceiling. Even though he was surprisingly successful, Steven was treating catching mice like a game. With the ferret showing off his live catches to Leu in a self-satisfied manner, Leu could only sigh in resignation. Well, he did manage to catch the mice. Selina also said happily "Like this, I'm sure Nina will accept Steven now." But what would the final result be?

  Well, why was Mitessha in the drawing room?

  As they were looking for a way to get up into the ceiling from the second floor, they found that they could only go up to the ceiling from Nina's room. Even though Selina had the master key to all the rooms in the dorm, but she was still a bit guilty about just going into someone else's room. And she was going to bring a ferret which Nina hated into her room. Remembering Mitessha, and Nina's tragic past, they didn't want to put Mitessha with the ferret even for a second. That's why, Leu placed Mitessha into the drawing room with good intentions. But she ended up forgetting him there.

  "But where did those guys disappear to?"

  For some reason, the door to Nina's room was wide open, and placing Mitessha back into the room, Leu could only respond to her stomach's complaint with a sigh.

  "Ahahahahah, what's wrong Layfon?"

  "Ah! I can't take it anymore! Why did I have to teach you this move!"

  As he fought Nina with his sword in the air, Layfon complained with remorse.

  "Nina~~Listen to me~~" said Selina on the verge of tears.

  By the time her words reached Nina's ears, it was because Nina was down on the ground with fatigue from using too much Kei, and night had long fallen.

  From then on, whenever Steven saw Nina he would escape at lightning speed. Speaking objectively, this was a very strange occurrence.

  Interlude 03

  "Speaking of which, there are normally a lot of people who take care of us."

  "Huh? Oh, you mean Meishen and them, right?"

  "Yeah, what kind of people are they?"

  "The three of them seem like childhood friends. They were all born in the transport city...You've been there too right?"

  "Oh, yes. But I stayed for just under three days."

  "Yeah, and the lodging facilities are the best."

  "That's right."

  "Still, what kind of people are they?"

  "You might have already seen Naruki because she's in one of the platoons."

  "That person with the tanned skin?"

  "Yeah, that's her. She's also part of the City Police. Mifi is a very open girl, and she works at the journalism department. As for Meishen, even though I know her pretty well..." he sighed, "Well, cooking. If it's one thing I've to say about her cooking, it's her dessert. She's very good at making sweets."

  "Oh? Then all your desserts and snacks were made by her?"

  "Yeah, but it's just that I don't really like eating sweets."

  "Same. I don't eat too much stuff with a lot of sugar in it. But you're licking a lollipop right now."

  "But still, I need my sugar."

  "Yeah, yeah. Father used to say that if two people licked a lollipop at the same time it would bring about hatred."

  "Why would he say that..."

  "Then, do you refuse to eat her sweets?"

  "No, sometimes I eat them as well. I'm eating a controlled amount of sugar."

  "Huh?"

  "Meishen is a really nice person, and when I was really busy she made me bentoes for lunch."

  "...Wait for me!"

  Innocence Wander

  The bell that signaled the end of classes was also a signal for the start of yet another battle. The start of the lunch break was also the starting pistol of the race between military artists for lunch. The ordinary students who didn't want to go to the cafeteria could easily buy lunch by asking students in the Military Arts department to buy it for them. Thus, the military artists charged out of the classroom simultaneously as the classes ended, flying towards the canteen. Occasionally even the older students who were teaching those classes would also join the fray, so naturally nobody tried to stop them. Of course, if public property was damaged, or if people started fighting and were caught by the city guards they would be punished. Having nothing to do with that storm-like event, Layfon leisurely walked to the nearest park. Inside the park there was a small pavilion with a table, and it was a very suitable place for lunch.

  "......Is t
here anything special going on today?" Layfon stared at the food on the table. Although he already thought the bento he was carrying in the basket today was excessively large, he never thought that what it contained was also incredibly luxurious, and the effort put into making it was different from normal as well.

  "......It's not like that" quietly replied Meishen as she lowered her head, blushing.

  "Hey, as long as I can eat great food it's all good."

  "Ok..."

  Although Naruki and Mifi were with Meishen all the time, they didn't know why Meishen put in so much effort today.

  For some reason, Meishen seemed a little strange today.

  But right now the atmosphere made it seem hardly appropriate to ask "what's wrong", so Layfon began to eat silently.

  "Heaven's Blade Successor"

  Recently, this phrase had continually appeared in Meishen's mind. She knew that it was a phrase whose meaning represented something superior. That was why she was so concerned with it. To a passerby who had no idea of what was going on, the easiest solution would be to ask the person directly. But no matter what she did, Meishen couldn't bring herself to ask Layfon. That was because it was a phrase that appeared in a letter privately addressed to Layfon. That letter was accidentally placed together with other letters for Meishen, which explained why she had it. Although she immediately realized that this letter was delivered to the wrong place, why did it have to be delivered to her mailbox? ... Meishen thought silently, resenting this fact. Of course, Meishen couldn't just go and ask Layfon about a word appearing in a letter addressed to him that she couldn't have ever heard of or seen before. Moreover, Meishen hadn't apologized to Layfon for peeking at the letter and had completely missed the best chance to ask him about it. And who was the person who wrote the letter to Layfon, a girl named Leerin? Although she wanted to find out, it was difficult for Meishen to open her mouth and ask. She was afraid of asking. The only thing that was clear was that this girl named Leerin knew the Layfon from before Zuellni very well.

  Without knowing why, Meishen felt very discontent.

  "Have you heard of the phrase 'Heaven's Blade Successor'?" Instead, Meishen decided to ask the people who were beside her in the dormitory's shared kitchen. In order to live together in the student dormitory, Meishen, Naruki and Mifi shared this 3 bedroom and 1 dining room dorm. Because they had been best friends since childhood, they weren't uncomfortable with each other. Meishen really liked this sense of spaciousness in the kitchen.

  "Heaven's Blade Successor?" Mifi was stuffing her face with Meishen's cake as she tilted her head asking, "What's that?"

  "I think it's a phrase referring to a Military Artist......" said Meishen without much confidence. She then imitated Mifi and together they began to stare silently at Naruki. Layfon was a Military Artist, so this phrase must be specifically referring to something about them. Naruki, who was also a Military Artist, was the most likely out of them to know what the term meant.

  "Heaven's Blade......I haven't heard of it before."

  Seeing Naruki shaking her head, Meishen lowered her head in disappointment. However, Naruki seemed to have remembered something. "A person who received the Heaven's Blade...right? It really is a pretentious name but at least it isn't as absurd as the Joeldem's Knights of the Crossroad. Well, every City has its own customs when referring to military artists, so I think Heaven's Blade something is just another nickname for them."

  Mifi nodded her head in agreement.

  "Oh yeah, if we went to the library and researched the phrase in the Database of Cities I'm sure we'll understand what it is. So, where did this phrase originate from?"

  "Ah......That's...."

  "Well, the only one that could catch your interest would be that one."

  "Yeah, and plus the phrase is about Military Artists."

  "Ah, that's ... that's not it." "There really is only one, we can't be wrong."

  "Well, ah ~~ let's go to the library tomorrow."

  "Yeah, I was going to go there for work anyway to interview all the people in each Platoon and I wanted to research some topics about Cities that could become articles."

  "Oh, it sounds interesting."

  "Then do you want to go to the library together?"

  "If there is time."

  "Mi-chan is a bit of a workaholic."

  Looking at the two people who had made a decision on their own and ignored her, Meishen sighed in silence as their conversation drifted further and further away from their original discussion.

  The next day, after lessons had ended, the three took the monorail to the library. After showing their student ID's at the reception area, they entered the library. They sat down at the designated window, and the computer terminal booted up immediately. All the information in the academy city was relayed across organized lanes like fast moving traffic. After all of that information is entered into the library centre, students are able to search for information at a library terminal, and can also download data that they need onto USB drives. Although they also kept physical books, the majority of them took the form of data that Zuellni published.

  "Then let me search for information on Grendan." Mifi typed the keyboard with practiced ease. Lance Shelled Regios Grendan was Layfon's home city, and was strong in military arts. Many powerful individuals were born in Grendan's many training grounds. There was a reason for Grendan's fame among other Cities, and this was the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang. This gang travelled from city to city via free roaming buses, hired by cities to fight against Filth Monsters or to participate in battles. The number of Filth monsters slain by their hands was innumerable, and in many victorious battles they had made a major contribution. Moreover, they taught the cities fighting skills and battle tactics. The Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang was made up of an overwhelming number of Military Artists from Grendan. Originally, Grendan was just another autonomous City, but its reputation for fierce fighters made it well known across the globe. Therefore, almost all the citizens of Cities knew of the word "Grendan". They had all heard of that city which produced large amounts of military fighters, yet any other details about Grendan were unclear to them. That's why it could be possible for Joeldem, Zuellni and Grendan to have completely different customs and for Meishen to have no way of knowing. The phrase "Heaven's Blade Successor" she obviously didn't know either. "How's it going?" asked Meishen as Mifi stared at the screen, humming.

  "I still haven't found it."

  "Really?" Naruki, who was standing behind them, leaned over for a closer look.

  "There are no matches in Grendan's dictionary, and after searching I didn't find any related content at all."

  "Then what about places other than Grendan?"

  "I thought about this too, so I tried it as well, but there were no results either."

  "Sigh~~"

  "Naruki scratched her head, thinking."

  "How about asking Layfon himself?"

  "......That, that's..."

  "We can't? I think that's the easiest way to find out."

  "Um... It's best if we don't. "

  Although Meishen was a shy girl who didn't talk to others very much, it was rare for her to keep her best friends Naruki and Mifi in the dark. Meishen was concealing the truth from her friends, yet at the same time she had to rely on those friends whom she was hiding things from, and this made her feel terrible. She was on the verge of tears.

  "Well, if that's the case, then we can only try and find out from other Military Artists. We are going to the Military Arts department for the interviews anyway, so why don't you come along?"

  Although their search was futile, Mifi's face didn't show the slightest sign of discouragement. For Mifi, not being able to find information was something that happened regularly.

  "...Well" Since Meishen knew Mifi was trying to help, she just silently nodded.

  After classes on the next day, the three friends began their journey towards the Military Arts department. The moment Meishen stepped in
to the entrance, a painful memory surfaced in her mind and she stopped moving.

  "Eh? What's wrong?"

  "... Nothing." Shaking her head, Meishen recalled the time when she stood here agonizing over whether or not she should give Layfon the letter that was accidentally sent to her. If she hadn't met Felli here, what might have happened...? She still wouldn't have had the confidence to give it back to him as if nothing had happened. Anyway, recently she had been incessantly gloomy about the contents of the letter. Meishen felt that the consequences of her mistakes have begun to get out of hand.

  "Let's go." Naruki held out her hand to an anguished Meishen.

  "Even though I don't know exactly what you are thinking about, if you want to find out, we have to get moving. Just like how you decided to work at the bakery store before. " Naruki held out her hand sincerely, and that look in her eyes reflected the same warmth and sincerity.

  "...Ok." Quietly nodding, Meishen grasped the offered hand.

  "We have to interview four Platoons today, and the first is the 1st Platoon."

  Although the Military Artists' grounds seemed very large from the outside, it was in reality divided up by various screens into a multitude of small areas on the inside. The streets were very narrow and some seemed like they were squashed in a gap between buildings. Meishen and her friends lost their way several times before finally arriving at their destination.

  "Hello everyone," Mifi said. Meishen became nervous when she felt Mifi's voice penetrate the soundproof walls that divided the area. The walls vibrated at her voice.

  As soon as the door was open, sound waves even louder than before hit Meishen's eardrums. This noise subsided with Mifi's continued greeting. The sudden silence frightened Meishen and she gradually edged her body behind Naruki. Meishen thought that her weakness was lamentable but Mifi stood there without wavering in the slightest.

  "I'm a reporter from the Weekly Look'n Magazine here for the interview, first year General Arts Student Mifi Rotten and these are my friends."

  "Yeah, I've heard." Taking a towel from a woman who seemed to be supervising, the tall student wiped his sweat and made his way over. He was the commander of the first Platoon, Vance Haldi. As he stroked his beard his penetrating gaze examined Meishen and her friends.