Layfon put down the groceries and went to sit on the sofa in the living room. A desk, a magazine bookcase...Small oil paintings adorned the walls, looking as if they were just put up to have something cover the bare walls. The room felt dry and tasteless.
There were actually two doors leading from the living room.
One of the doors must lead to Felli's room.
Then the other......?
(I see. She lives with the Student President.)
This wasn't surprising, since they were siblings.
(So why does this meeting have to be a secret?)
The Student President had somehow obtained information about Layfon's past, but the two of them weren't close enough to share each other's secrets.
In truth, Layfon didn't want to meet Karian.
(Well, there's no point in thinking about it. I'll find out soon enough,) he decided, recalling Felli's advice.
With nothing to do, he listened to the noise coming from the kitchen.
The sound of sorting out the groceries was replaced by the sound of chopping......
Doh......Doh......Doh......
The sound......
Dohdoh......Doh......
Doh......Dohdoh......Doh......
"Woah!" Layfon called at the irregular sound, and went over to the kitchen.
"Senpai......What're you doing......"
"Don't......talk to me."
With a serious facial expression, she fought the potato seriously with a knife in her hand. Felli held down the uneven, round potato on the chopping board with the tip of her trembling fingers, and slowly cut it in half. Sliced taro filled the salad bowl beside her.
"Senpai......"
"......What?" She hadn't looked at him.
"Do you know how to cook?"
"Of......Of course."
"Of course," he smiled, nodding.
"......What?" she finally turned to him, her forehead adorned with droplets of sweat.
He smiled again. He wanted to laugh, but suppressed it.
"Wh...What is it?"
He could only laugh.
But he couldn't laugh to her face.
"Well. I have a suggestion."
"And what is it?"
"It'll be easier to cut the rest if you peel the skin off first."
Her eyes widened.
He didn't mean to hurt her dignity. All he wanted to do was give some advice, but he still wanted the food to be edible. No. He wasn't thinking of using another's kitchen and showing off his skill at cooking......
"Mm......This is delicious," Karian nodded with satisfaction, chewing the chicken and taro cooked in tomato sauce.
"Ah......Thanks," Layfon said, embarrassed.
"......"
Felli ate the food with disapproval.
"......What?"
"No-nothing."
"......This is delicious."
"......Thanks."
In the end, Layfon made the dinner.
Because there was too much potato in the salad bowl, he used the potato to make another dish – one with mushrooms, chicken fillets and cream. They had plenty of ingredients to choose from. Next came the bread.
And that was their dinner.
"And I was thinking of eating dinner together at a nearby restaurant......It's been a while since I've had a home-cooked meal. I'm really grateful."
Karian made a happy face.
"Aaaa......Um, but it's a shame this is a guy's cooking." Layfon sighed.
"It's enough that you know how to cook! Do you like cooking?" Karian asked.
"Not really......Everyone had to help out back at the orphanage."
"Oh, I see."
Layfon didn't know his parents. The Head of the orphanage picked him up when he was little. The Head was a Military Artist, and the person who discovered Layfon's talent.
"I'm envious of your cooking skill. I wanted to learn how to cook after coming here, but it's beyond my ability."
Whether or not this was taken at face value, the idea that this brother and sister pair was unable to do something necessary to survive was alien to Layfon.
"And what did you want to talk about......"
"Oh, we can leave that for later. I want to enjoy the food."
"Ah......"
Layfon wanted to finish what he came for and get out of here. Felli sat eating her food in a foul mood.
Karian also noticed her mood, but he did nothing about it.
(Anyway, just finish dinner!) And Layfon concentrated on eating.
After dinner, Felli picked up the dishes and made tea for Layfon and her brother in the living room. The tea smelled nice. Felli seemed to have used some high class tea leaves.
"I want to show you this......" Karian said, giving Layfon no time to enjoy the tea. He took out a photo from a folder.
"I realized from the last attack on Zuellni that I had to have a bigger budget set aside for the city's defense."
"That's a good idea."
Karian must have realized this since Zuellni hadn't encountered filth monsters for a long time.
Zuellni was a peaceful city.
The city was populated entirely by students, so even the Electronic Fairy itself hadn't been paying attention to the possibility of filth monsters nearby.
It sounded amazing that a city was run by students, but to put it in a worse light, it was a city full of immature youngsters.
"Thanks. So I've been sending off drones since then, and this image came back......"
A bad quality image. Everything was blurred.
This was due to the pollutants in the air, affecting any long range wireless communication. Somehow, only psychokinesis worked well for long-range transmitting, but it was still not possible to establish contact between cities.
This image had nothing to do with psychokinesis.
"It's hard to make out, but the location of this image is a mountain about 500 Kimel ahead of Zuellni's current position."
Karian traced his fingers around a shape in the mountains, so Layfon could finally see it.
"What I'm worried about is this area of mountain here."
"What do you think?"
Layfon studied the image for some time. Then he placed it back on the desk and rubbed his tired eyes.
Felli stood to the side, looking at the photo.
"How is it?"
"I fear the same."
"Hmm......" Karian leaned back on the sofa, troubled.
"What is this?" Felli asked.
"A filth monster."
She glared at her brother. "Are you planning to use him again?"
"Relying on him is the only way we can survive," he replied calmly.
"What's the point of having a Military Arts course!?"
"The true strength of Military Arts, Felli......You should understand now, thanks to what happened recently."
"But......"
"Even I want him to focus just on the Military Arts competition, but this is an emergency. There's no helping it. Then, what do you think?"
Karian's finger pressed on the image of the filth monster.
"It's probably a male. Compared to the size of this mountain, the filth monster's either in its first or second phase."
Newly born filth monsters were asexual – not male nor female. After a larva molted, it was a male. It absorbed pollutants from the air and went about searching for prey......Humans. Molting was measured in phases. The more it molted, the stronger it became. And as it approached the mating season, the male molted one more time to become female. A gravid (pregnant) female. It then buried itself beneath the ground and hibernated until the eggs hatched.
"The city I was born in hadn't come across any filth monsters for a long time, so I can't really tell how strong this is. You?"
"A filth monster in its first or second phase isn't that horrible, but that's when it isn't attacking a city."
"Um......"
"Almost all of the filth monsters enter their reproductive stage in their third to fifth phase.
The most terrible are filth monsters who've given up on reproducing. They grow stronger as time passes."
"Have you beaten one of these monsters?"
"With two other people. At the time, I thought I was going to die."
The Loss siblings took a deep breath at that. Layfon observed their reaction without much of an emotion.
After dinner, he left the dormitory.
"Do you hate him?"
"You've asked me that before."
His muscles froze in the middle of the staircase.
While Felli listened, Layfon answered with a wry smile.
"I'm not joking."
"I know."
"Very few people know you were a Heaven's Blade Receiver in Grendan. My brother doesn't plan to spread it around, so you can just ignore his request."
Almost no one knew it was Layfon who had defeated the attacking filth monsters.
The few who knew were Karian, Vance, and the members of the 17th platoon.
Not many people outside of Grendan knew about the Heaven's Blade Receivers. But even now, matches for the Heaven's Blade title were being fought fiercely in Grendan. People fought filth monsters and each other for the title of the strongest twelve.
"That can't be announced casually."
The Queen of Grendan took away Layfon's title as a Heaven's Blade Receiver because he had tainted its name.
If everyone knew about his title, then they'd all know of his shameful past.
So he'd keep this a secret.
"Why didn't you say you don't want to do this? Don't you want to give up Military Arts?"
"I want to, but right now......"
"Then why?"
"In the end, the filth monsters are the same as the Military Arts competition. Isn't that so?" he replied, a bit surprised by how calm his voice was.
"You're an idiot!"
"Ah, that's too much."
"You really are an idiot," Felli repeated in a small voice.
He shrugged.
Chapter 2
What Can Be Done
Kei was a flowing energy inside of every human being.
"Blood" flow sent signals through the nervous system. It flowed through the bone marrow......It was like a network of thoughts, and amidst all the flowing energies was one called Kei.
Certain people were born with the ability to create a huge amount of Kei. On a certain level, one could view it as redundant energy produced by the phenomenon called life. Kei could strengthen the body or destroy things outside the body.
Did this new human ability evolve to ensure the survival of mankind in this polluted world? Or was this the evidence that pollutants were slowly invading the human body......?
Humans called this power Heaven's Blessing. They treasured it and respected it.
The flow of Kei created the Military Arts. It took a long time to pass down and spread this skill through the cities in the world. And in the intervening time, many cities fell prey to the filth monsters.
"Fu!"
The sound of a breath being let out brushed past his ears. Layfon pulled back his stance to respond to that breath.
And the sole of a shoe suddenly appeared before him.
"Wa......"
He bent forward, and the kick went over his head. His opponent changed tactics and swung down towards Layfon's back with the foot. In a flash, Layfon's left hand shot upward to grab the foot, his right hand already pressing down his opponent's chest, and he kicked out at his opponent's other leg.
"Wha......"
Red hair scattered. His opponent fell onto the mat on her back.
Amazement at the action echoed throughout the gymnasium.
"Are you all right?" Layfon extended his hand to his opponent.
"I thought I almost got you!"
"Yeah, almost."
"That's like praise, coming from you! You just increased your speed to avoid my kick, right? I lost because of that!"
Naruki combed her hair with her fingers. A cunning smile appeared on her face. "Speaking of which, Layton......Have you forgotten I'm a girl?"
"Huh?" Then he remembered how he had pressed his hand down on her chest.
"Yes, I admit my breasts aren't big, but for you not to have felt it......It makes me feel a bit......" She glowered at him.
"Ah, no......I didn't mean that! My body just moved on its own......" He explained. Speaking of which, it was a shame he couldn't feel that softness - NO NO NO! How could he think like that......
Naruki smiled. "I was just joking."
"That's......That's mean......"
"Ah, you gotta pay the price for touching a girl's breast. That's the etiquette for being a man."
"Really?"
"Yes. Besides, I don't want to be touched so easily......" she said, scanning the sports hall.
He followed her gaze.
This was the class for martial arts. Most of the first-year students had been kicked flying and were lying on the floor. Thunderous noise filled the hall. Their sparring partners were all third-year students. As expected, none of the first-year students were winning.
Layfon was in first-year but was also a platoon member. Nobody wanted to spar with him, so he was paired up with Naruki.
"Has the captain of your platoon got some kind of problem?"
The two of them were watching Nina. Nina calmly fought the two first-year students she was facing.
"Does she look like that to you?"
"Yes. As if her heart's somewhere else."
"Yeah."
Layfon also thought so.
"Do you know something?"
"We had a match recently."
"Aha......Losing a match can be shocking."
Almost all of the platoon captains were in their fourth year, but Nina was a third-year. She obtained permission to form a platoon because of her excellent skill, but that wasn't all that she wanted to do. She wanted to save Zuellni through her own strength.
In other words, she wanted to win in the next Military Arts competition. Therefore, losing a match must have been a huge blow to her......
"Um..." Even though that was how he thought......
"What is it? Is something wrong?"
"No. That's what I think......"
But he felt that wasn't the real reason. Things weren't as simple as he thought they were.
"Hey, you over there! Practice seriously!"
"Ah, sorry!" Layfon apologized automatically to the three third-year students. Behind those three were other first-year students, watching Layfon with curious glances. As for the three third-year students......
"What is it?" Naruki asked.
"He's the trump card of the 17th platoon, right?" one of them said without glancing at her. All three were watching Layfon with challenging gazes.
"Um......" Layfon replied listlessly. "Do you want something from me......All three at once?"
"Um......" A hostile and provoking attitude......Hiding in it was jealousy.
Layfon was used to the negative emotion currently hanging in the air. It was a normal event for him, like eating meals everyday. He had encountered this sort of scene before and after he became a Heaven's Blade Receiver in Grendan.
This was an older person's contemptuous attitude towards his junior......And his jealousy at having a kid be better than him.
"I'm fine with it."
"Layton......?" Naruki said in amazement. "You don't have a sword though. Is that okay too?"
One of the three students giggled.
"No problem. It's natural not to use a sword in a martial arts class."
"Aren't you a bit conceited?"
"This is not conceit. Besides, it's just a class."
"That's being conceited."
That male student had reached his limit.
Layfon felt an growing gap between his words and feelings. He responded lightly to the provokers, as if he was a robot. He didn't think the situation would improve if he said anything else, so he decided to accept the challenge.
But he didn't think accepting the challenge would improve the situation either.
"I'm not conceited. This is the truth," he said anyway.
"......I see."
The observing crowd turned angry. They watched the three third-year students move to Layfon from three different directions.
Layfon didn't take a stance. He took a step back so he could see all three of his opponents.
"Well then......" As the person directly facing Layfon muttered, the two students rushed in from the side.
"Let's go!"
Strengthening their bodies through Internal-type Kei, they attacked Layfon with fists and feet.
The bullet-like fist and scythe-like kick didn't hit Layfon.
"Huh?!"
They searched for him.
Layfon was in the air.
He turned in midair and kicked off at the steel beam on the ceiling to descend at unbelievable speed. A loud noise from the mat on the floor confirmed his position right behind the student in the center.
"What!"
His surprised face was inches from Layfon's. Layfon stood up.
"Wu-!"
His fist found the chest of his surprised opponent. Ignoring the third-year student he had defeated, he faced the other two.
The other two third-year students turned back at the noise and saw their friend lying on the floor.
Layfon still hadn't taken a stance. He stood, stoic, paying no attention to the student he had just taken out, his gaze sweeping through the other two students.
And in that one swift moment, he disappeared.
It looked as if he disappeared. In fact, the other two third-year students couldn't keep up with his movement.
In the silence of a light breeze, Layfon moved swiftly to the two opponents and repeated his attack, burying his fist into their chests.
"Arrr!"
"Whu!"
The two students toppled.
Joyful shouts erupted from the group of first year students.
Layfon let out a breath to soften his blank expression.
"I don't think you should've done that."
"Hmm?"
He was gratefully eating Meishen's bento and listening to Mifi talk all by herself when suddenly, Naruki had spoken up.
They only had class in the morning, so the four of them went a bit further from the school today to the patio of a General Studies senpai's restaurant. The patio faced a freshwater lake that was used for agriculture.
Silent Talk Page 3