They ordered the cheapest juice from the restaurant and took out Meishen's sandwiches from the basket.
It was refreshing to appreciate the lake while eating. Layfon saw a field of fruit trees on the other side of the lake, and more fields for the agricultural major. There weren't any tall buildings anywhere. The sky looked like it merged with the trees.
"I mean your attitude back in the gymnasium," Naruki clarified.
"Oh......"
"Huh? What's that?"
Mifi had started the conversation as she had gotten news of the incident and wanted Layfon and Naruki to give her more details.
"No matter what, they were just jealous."
"True. I'm not saying he should've lost deliberately to them because they were senpais, but I feel it would've been best to leave them some face."
Naruki didn't worry about other patrons overhearing. It was past lunch time, so there weren't many people in the restaurant.
"Hmm. For example?"
"For example, not taking on three people at once and fighting them one-on-one instead."
"Is that......all?" But didn't he finish them one by one?
"They wouldn't have accepted it. Aren't they in a platoon too?" Mifi said.
Naruki nodded. "Perhaps they wouldn't have accepted it. But it would have looked better if the other three suggested to three-on-one fight. Now it looks like Layton's the bad guy."
"Oh......" Perhaps she was right.
"Layton might not care how other people perceive him, but this is troublesome for the friends around you," Naruki said. She then looked at Meishen.
"......I......I don't really mind," Meishen waved her hand in negation.
"Ah, sorry. I didn't think about that."
"Well, I might seem harsh, but I just don't like people badmouthing my friends," Naruki said.
"Thanks," Layfon nodded his thanks.
"Never mind. It's not Layton's fault, so don't mind it."
"......Yeah, don't worry about it, Layton."
"......Thanks," Layfon said.
Face reddening, Meishen lowered her head.
But perhaps there was a problem with his attitude. Just as Naruki had said, Layfon didn't mind making enemies......To the point that he had no interest in it at all. All he wanted was to end the fight as quickly as possible. He didn't care what consequences came from that.
That was the attitude he held.
Why did he have such an attitude?
There wasn't a need to ask that question.
Problems were never-ending.
Before he became a Heaven's Blade Receiver, he'd fought countless matches with people jealous of his talent. People challenged him. They felt they had been insulted because he was only a kid.
He was foolish to respond to them all seriously. From the very beginning, he had had no knowledge of Naruki's alternate method. Even though, when he had grown up a little, he felt it wouldn't be bad to hold an attitude that could avoid some of the trouble......
......In the end, he still hadn't understood. When he was little, he had always used his fist to solve his problems. And he now responded instinctively.
Till now, he had never thought anything of his attitude. He didn't know what other people thought of him, and the people at the orphanage were happy he was becoming strong.
That was enough for him.
But because of that......
"Speaking of which," Mifi said, interrupting Layfon's train of thought. "What did we come here for today? Although I had always wanted to come here one day...... "
Naruki had suggested coming here today. This restaurant was quite popular among girls......Of course, Naruki had told Mifi and Layfon that when she'd said she wanted to come here.
Layfon also felt strange about Naruki's request to come here, since Mifi was usually the one jumping to this kind of thing.
"Uh, well......" Naruki patted her hair. "I have a favor to ask of Layton."
"Here?"
Naruki stuttered. "Uh, we didn't have......to come here. If Layton's ok with it, I can just say this......"
"......Is it tiring?"
"Sometimes. Sometimes it's relaxing. Sometimes it's hard work or not hard work at all. But it'll surely take away some of your time."
"That's like a riddle!"
"Yeah, this isn't like me," she sighed.
"......Is this, to work for Nakki?" Meishen said.
A sour smile on Naruki's face. "Yes."
To work for Naruki meant to work with the City Police.
"Me?" Layfon said.
"I'm not trying to scout you from the platoon. I don't have the authority anyway, but the Military Arts course has recommended people to the City Police. I only knew of this after joining the police force. And there's one empty slot in that temporary list."
"And you want me to join?"
"Ah......My superior knows that I know you. He wants me to ask you. A first-year entering a platoon really stands out."
"But I have to clean the Central Mechanism......"
"I know, so I'm not forcing you. Since you're a temp, that means you won't know when you'll be called, and the pay also isn't that good. I understand it's not reasonable to ask this of you when your job and school work have such irregular hours, but......"
Looking at her troubled expression, Layfon felt there must be something else she was hiding. If he didn't agree to her request, he might never find out about it.
"I get it. Sure."
Naruki was surprised. "......Really?"
"Yeah, Naruki......You, and you two are so good to me. If it's something I can do, I'll do it."
"No......It might be strange for me to say this now, but you can think about it for a few days more and then give me your answer?"
"That's all right. Whether it is the cleaning job or team training, I don't think they'd mind if I let them know what I'm doing."
"I'll tell them. After all, I asked for your help."
"OK, then shall we end the conversation here?" He clapped his hands.
He never thought he'd be asked to work the same day.
"Sorry!"
"That's ok." Layfon said to Naruki.
They stood in a building at the outskirts of the residential district, looking at the ground below.
Naruki's superior in the City Police was Formed Garen, a fifth-year student in Cultivation course. Short, but with a sturdy build, Garen was nervously checking water in the lab.
"Ah, it's you......I'm sorry for troubling you."
It felt hard to approach Garen, but the man wasn't that difficult to get along with, really. His big and rough hand, like a blacksmith's, placed a beaker on the desk with caution, perhaps even fondness.
"It's a bit too quick, but I want you to lend us your strength."
"Sure."
Garen didn't look concerned at asking for Layfon to work right now. That must be the difficulty that Naruki was trying to hide.
"I want to explain the details to you. Have you got time today?"
"I have work in the Mechanism today. If you can do something about that, I don't mind."
"Good, then I'll talk with them. The reward isn't as good, but I'll pay for it. And you'll also get paid by the City Police."
"No......You don't have to......"
"Either way, we're students. An equal price must be paid for the difficult living circumstances affected by this."
Layfon's reservations were quickly brushed aside.
"Besides, those guys who snatch away the achievement of students' hard work must be punished!" Garen said, unable to hide his fury.
And so Layfon stayed to watch the dormitories near the building he was in.
"I can make money doing this too," Layfon murmured to himself, who hadn't expected to get extra pay, and looked away from the dormitory to what was near it – the roaming bus station.
Most people who needed to use the buses were those getting out of the city, and most of them were business travelers, moving between cities t
o sell products. Sometimes true travelers without homes would appear, but that was rare. The freedom of travelers in Zuellni was restricted as all the districts were populated by students. The dormitory here was made for that purpose.
"Hasn't anyone taught you that intelligence is the most important thing?" Naruki said, playing with the rope she was carrying.
"Yeah, back in Grendan, I was always checking for sales."
"I think we're talking about different things......"
"That was important. If I wasn't paying attention, many kids wouldn't have seen the new year."
"......"
Feeling the speechless atmosphere around them, Layfon recalled what Garen had told him earlier. They were watching a dormitory that a group of business travelers had been living in for two weeks.
The travelers identified themselves as businessmen from the city of Rulgraif. They worked for a logistics division under the international company Vinesleif.
In the business district of Zuellni, Vinesleif sold news, novels and comic books from other cities, and also current information on fashion and entertainment. On the other hand, Zuellni also sold news and entertainment information made in Zuellni, as well as any (already unveiled) seeds of new species developed in the agriculture course.
This group of business travelers had been staying for two weeks.
"This isn't strange because the next roaming bus hasn't arrived yet, but......"
Roaming buses didn't follow a schedule. Every bus traveled freely between cities. It wasn't possible to make a timetable for them. Sometimes, one had to wait a month to get on a bus that would take them to their destination.
"But their purpose isn't to buy and sell ordinary information."
The agricultural major's research lab had a break-in one week ago. An information archive had been illegally taken.
"The missing information is the genetics pairing list of yet-to-be-unveiled new products. This goes against the treaties of the Alliance. To think they actually took the information before it was published......"
"But where's the evidence against them......?"
A data chip was tiny. The tiniest was just the size of a fingernail. As such, a chip could be hidden anywhere, and besides, many of the products brought in by the business travelers were also data chips. The best way to hide a tree was to put it in a forest – even if they had the data chip from the lab, it would still be hard for the City Police to find it.
"We have proof. Although they disabled the security cameras, they can't deceive our eyes."
Yes, the City Police had an eyewitness.
"To take back the chip and prevent them from making a copy of it, tonight, someone from our side will confiscate all things related to the information system."
Every city had its own laws. There were laws set down by the Academy City Alliance that applied to general areas, but in reality, only the police force in the city itself could enforce the laws.
Inside Zuellni, there were no jails to keep people in for a long period. Students who committed a crime were either suspended or forced to withdraw from a course. As for people outside Zuellni, they were forced to leave the city. When the crime involved a company and some organization, all Zuellni could do was report it to that organization and the government of the city that the organization was based in. Zuellni had no way of interfering with whether the criminals would receive punishment back in their home city or not.
But without the roaming buses, cities would become isolated. Besides, if the criminals were outsiders, they had nowhere to hide in the city. Usually, they wouldn't resist meaninglessly and would follow the City Police's instructions. If they resisted, they'd either die or be forced to leave......Which was much better than being marooned on the barren earth. As long as they didn't come close to the city anymore, their crimes would also disappear.
But......
Garen's expression twisted. "We could've done this smoothly, but the roaming bus is here."
"And the departure time is?"
"Supplying takes three days. The workers are delaying the paperwork to give us time, but the bus will depart tomorrow morning."
If they knew there was a way out, the criminals might escape on their own.
They'd probably do that.
"Tonight's the key."
"Ah......We'd have had more time if we had found the eyewitness earlier. Anyway, it's no use regretting it. The problem is we don't know how powerful 'they' are. We don't know how many Military Artists they have with them, but there can't be none. We don't have many people in the City Police and Military Arts course who have had real fighting experience. Like before, we've accumulated some real experience fighting monsters......But, it really is better to have a platoon member when it comes to fighting people."
"But in that case, you could've picked someone else......"
"No. It has to be you!" Garen smiled. A cunning smile. He patted Layfon's shoulder.
"I have high expectations for you, newcomer!"
Layfon touched his shoulder. In it wasn't pain, but Garen's expectation – which wasn't a bad feeling at all, but the 'him' hiding somewhere inside himself wasn't sure whether that expectation was a comfortable feeling.
(Will I feel troubled by someone else's expectation of me?)
No answer surfaced.
"I'm sorry!" Naruki said suddenly.
City policemen had been deployed around the dormitory. Two officers were heading for the dormitory, about to confiscate the data chips.
"What?"
"Sorry for asking you to do this."
"It's nothing."
"No, because......This is too despicable. He used our connection to......"
"What does it matter? I don't mind so long as it's something I'm capable of doing. Meishen's bento was delicious. I feel bad for always accepting her goodwill, so I'm glad I have a chance to return the favor."
"No, you don't get it, Layton. Platoon members don't have to work for the City Police. This isn't your job."
Now he understood why Garen said "It has to be you". So that was why. Did Garen think that it was easier to call on Layfon because of his ignorance?
The feeling of Garen's hand on his shoulder disappeared.
Even so, no resentment arose in him.
"That really is strange. Power should be used where it's needed. So if there's a need here for a platoon member, then a platoon member should help out."
In truth, a Heaven's Blade Receiver's main duty was to fight filth monsters, but sometimes they also worked with the police to maintain security. A few Heaven's Blade receivers were so strong that they could only fight filth monsters, but the rest of the Receivers helped out the police as best as they could.
Layfon felt uneasy that, being a platoon member, he had the privilege of using his strength for good and ill.
"Layton......"
"And they said they're paying me for this, so you don't have to mind me."
"Really? I suppose. Well......"
A devious light shone in her eyes as her face relaxed.
"Do this like you're returning a favor to Mei. You can take her out on weekends and listen to her talk. She seems rather troubled lately."
"Oh......"
"You don't want to?"
"That's fine, but where should I take her?"
"There are many restaurants she hasn't tried. I'll ask Mifi to pick a bright restaurant with a good atmosphere. You take care of the rest."
"Isn't that the hardest part?"
Anyway, his experience in dating a girl was limited to Leerin. Besides, at that age, he never quite thought of Leerin as a girl. They hadn't reached the age of romance yet.
He hadn't seriously thought of what places a girl would be happy to visit.
"Good luck!" Naruki smiled at the sighing Layfon.
Thunderous noise shot out from the dormitory.
Naruki and Layfon turned their faces to that direction.
The door to the dormitory was busted open. The two
officers rolled out from the room. Blood sprayed in the air.
Five men ran out, kicking aside the shattered door. The document said there were five people......So all five were here. One of the men carried an old suitcase. The data chip must've been inside.
Layfon studied the culprits.
"All five of them."
"All?"
"Yes, and they're all skilled."
Layfon saw the light of Kei flowing in them. Wild Internal-type Kei roared in their bodies.
Naruki also narrowed her eyes, but couldn't see anything.
She didn't doubt Layfon's words. "This is bad."
"We also have five Military Artists in the surrounding forces, but......"
"It's best if we move over to the scene," Layfon said.
As they were analyzing the situation, policemen had surrounded the five culprits, raising their batons.
"Don't resist!" a student who seemed to be the captain shouted.
The business travelers took that in a relaxed manner.
Layfon saw they had Dites in their hands.
"I'm going."
"Counting on ya," Naruki said.
The five business travelers made their move as Layfon leaped out the window.
They restored their Dites – sword, gun, scimitar. All were close-quarters weapons.
The normal students in the troop called out.
The five moved.
Their movements weren't particularly fast to a Military Artist, but their weapons were hard enough to cut through flesh and bone. Compared to them, the policemen only held batons. A baton was the same as a Dite and could be quite powerful if used in different ways......
Unfortunately, all of the Dites in Zuellni had safety locks on. A pointy blade would have its point removed. In Zuellni, they fought fights that would never see anyone die.
And that point was now decisive in this fight.
The movements of students who lacked experience in fighting with dangerous weapons and the movements of mercenary Military Artists who had earned their fair share in life and death battles were really different.
"Waaaa!" The thought of not letting the enemy's blade come close made their movements stiff.
Silent Talk Page 4