Silent Talk

by Shūsuke Amagi

  The baton pulled close to defend, but the opponent's blade pierced through an opening. Blood spurted from the student's shoulder.

  "Ahhhh!"

  He wasn't the only student calling in pain and falling onto the ground.

  The other four students had different wounds on different parts of their bodies.

  And then, Layfon landed.

  The five culprits were about to rush into the roaming bus. Noticing Layfon, they all stared at him in surprise, alarmed, but they didn't stop running.

  Layfon restored his Dite. Kei flowed into the blade, and a blue light traced the night sky. He swung. His Kei shot out of the sword towards the five people.

  The nearest two culprits jumped up and evaded the attack, but Layfon wasn't targeting them.

  A light noise came from beside his feet.

  The suitcase had rolled to him.

  "Ah......!" The man who had been holding the suitcase yelled in pain.

  Layfon kicked back the suitcase. It slid to one of the members of the troop.

  "You!"

  The five stopped running. Layfon raised his sword, as if to prevent them from going past him.

  It seemed the police were right. The data chip must be in the suitcase.

  "It's not good to steal," he said.

  The five rushed towards Layfon.

  Layfon slowly moved the blade before him.

  The five closed in on Layfon at high speed, using Internal-type Kei.

  Layfon shot out – External Burst-type Kei. The three people in front of him jumped aside to avoid the Kei.

  But where were the other two?

  Without giving him time to think, the man leading the five landed and slashed upwards. Layfon jumped back, and at the same time, two people appeared from behind the man, as if his back had just split in two. They attacked Layfon's sides.

  Layfon crouched, evading a huge knife and used his sword to block the stabbing motion of a spear.

  The three encircled Layfon.

  The other two people......

  "Hey! What happened!?" the man who previously carried the suitcase shouted.

  He looked back and saw his two comrades lying on the ground. "How did this......"

  "I knew it wasn't possible for five of you to reach me," Layfon said.

  "It was you......"

  "I saw through your moves. Your tricks were useless."

  He deliberately let the two evade his Kei the first time he shot it out, but he hid a second wave of Kei within it, one that dispersed into the evading paths.

  Needle Kei.

  The condensed form of Kei hit the two in their chests, and they fainted.

  "And......"

  Layfon looked behind him.

  "!"

  The three remaining culprits also followed his gaze. They widened their eyes in surprise.

  The suitcase was gone.

  Had the police taken it?......No.

  Layfon's gaze flicked to the upper left – the rooftop of the dormitory, and saw Naruki.

  In her right hand was the end of a rope, and the left was a suitcase, wrapped tightly in the rope.

  Naruki's lassoing skill.

  "I'm not returning this to you!" she shouted.

  "Damn you!!"

  The three rushed towards Layfon, who was pouring Kei into his sword, not at all impatient.

  His Kei had turned the sword into a part of his body, and through it, he felt the murderous intent of the three in the disturbance of the air. The point of the sword caressed the air as if to quiet it – then Layfon slashed the air apart.

  External Burst-type Kei – Whirl Kei.

  The wind before Layfon ceased its movement for a split second, and it started to spin at an increasing velocity.

  It pulled the three culprits in, floating and tossing their bodies in midair. Numerous small explosions battered them, the air spinning madly, the Kei smashing them without a moment of rest.

  As everyone gazed at this scene, breathless, Layfon raised his sword and swung down.

  The air stopped spinning.

  All noise ceased, leaving behind the silence of the three unconscious criminals.

  "Brilliantly done!" Garen praised. He had already checked the contents of the suitcase.

  The police collected themselves and went to deal with the five men.

  "Confiscate everything, the clothes too. Forget the food and water though. Don't miss anything. Change them into prison clothes with the crime seal and put them on the roaming bus," Garen instructed.

  Members of the troop went to cut through the culprits' clothes. They were being careful, considering how the data chip could be hidden inside a seam.

  Layfon watched the men work as he checked the contents of the suitcase.

  "Is it in here?"

  The inside of the suitcase was crammed full of data chips.

  "Not sure, but we can't tell till we've looked through every single chip. Um, it's probably in there."

  Garen's smile turned devious. "I wonder how much we can get for this many chips?"

  Layfon widened his eyes.

  "What's with the look? We don't know whether they got these chips through legal or illegal means, but anyway, we have no way of returning the chips to their rightful owners. In that case, isn't it right to sell them so Zuellni can profit?"

  That was true, but the way that Garen told him this so honestly and matter-of-factly was a bit surprising.

  "There's never too much money to feed all the students in Zuellni."

  "Yeah......"

  "Ah, Alseif-kun's done great today. I'll increase your pay for tonight," Garen said and left to join the men looking through the clothes of the culprits.

  "I'm sorry. He's that type of a person," Naruki said and patted Layfon's shoulder.

  "No......I don't find him a bad person."

  Naruki frowned at Garen. "Perhaps......I can't really tell whether his attitude on money is good or bad."

  "I'm not sure either," Layfon smiled bitterly.

  This must be nonchalance. People might think Garen was thick-skinned, but Garen himself didn't find his action despicable......No, he wouldn't have cared even if people thought him base.

  That was the truth.

  Garen was similar to the old Layfon back in Grendan, doing all he could to earn money for the orphanage. Only that Layfon had hidden his attitude till the last moment, and he hid it because he felt guilty about it.

  (Would I have turned out differently if I was honest like him?)

  He couldn't help but think of this possibility, huh, but that was pointless. It was useless to think up hypotheses. The present him existed because he was unable to become like Garen.

  (Besides, I don't hate the me I am now.)

  The me......His circumstances.

  He had friends to talk to. He wasn't as tense and anxious as before.

  He had hoped for such a good environment.

  (No......There's still pressure here.)

  Still a tiny bit of trouble.

  (Hmm......)

  How did Senpai spend her night?

  What was she worrying about?

  No answers came from the night sky he was gazing at. Above him was only the darkness, scattered with the light of countless stars.

  Chapter 3

  Cry For What?

  That night, she was cleaning the floor by herself with a cloth.

  All kinds of noises, signifying the gears were at work, filled the Engine Room. When she first started school, she had trouble focusing, as the noises she heard the previous night while cleaning kept distracting her. Now? It didn't bother her anymore.

  She looked at the oil-stained gloves, the cloth, the blackened foam of the soap, and the dirty floor that stayed dirty no matter how hard she worked at it.

  In truth, Nina wasn't looking at anything.

  According to the student in charge of the Engine Room, Layfon was helping the City Police today.

  'Helping the City Police' meant he was
working as a temp? Why did he take on that irregular job when he already had to clean the Engine Room? Would his body be alright?

  (If he gets sick......)

  What would happen to the 17th platoon?

  The team might be disbanded arbitrarily. If their ace got sick......

  (No......This is too strange.)

  She had expectations for Layfon when he first joined the platoon, but they were lower then. She had only seen him as a particularly brilliant Kouhai in the Military Arts, but what she now anticipated was the level of his fighting skill.

  She didn't think it was wrong for her to expect him to fight well.

  Layfon was stronger than she first thought he was. This was the truth, and it wouldn't be right to ignore that reality. She would use what could be used. There was nothing wrong with that way of thinking.

  (I've always wanted to find a solution.)

  Sharnid and Felli were the same. They had the strength but not the drive. Nina wondered whether her expectations of them were wasted.

  The team she had formed was not the team she had in mind.

  But she didn't wish for a perfect team at that time. It was just that her way of thinking had changed since then.

  Nobody was better as a sniper than Sharnid. She hadn't seen the true worth of Felli's psychokinesis, but the girl's ability must be extremely high for the Student President to recommend her. Harley's knowledge and skill in Dites hadn't failed her.

  Nina thought all she needed was for herself to become stronger.

  But......

  Layfon appeared.

  (That power......)

  In Grendan, a place with more experience fighting in Military Arts matches and against filth monsters than any other city, Layfon had become one of the Twelve Heaven's Blade Receivers.

  (Is scary......)

  That day when the filth monsters attacked Zuellni, Nina thought she'd die as food for the larvae. She thought she had no way of resisting the principle of natural selection that ruled the world.

  Nina came to Zuellni to see the outside word. As someone living in a city facing the end of its journey, Nina had formed a platoon to do something about that. This feeling she held was frail in the face of the gigantic wave of filth monsters.

  Layfon had pushed back that wave. He wiped out all the larvae and killed the mother all by himself.

  She was truly scared when she saw him appearing on the other side of the air shield – in a place where the air was polluted, filled with harmful substances.

  Was he human?

  And she was relieved when he collapsed.

  Yes, he really was human.

  The time required to fix the damaged city and for Layfon to recuperate in the hospital had wiped away her feelings of that time.

  Leaving the fact that Layfon was very strong.

  The 17th platoon could operate as the ideal team she had always wanted as long as they had Layfon's power.

  (But......We still lost the match.)

  They lost to the 14th platoon in the platoon match.

  The captain of the 14th platoon said it wouldn't work if only Layfon was strong.

  (Then......Just what should we do?)

  Nina was confused. The 14th platoon had used teamwork to win. Was that what the 17th platoon needed? But she held no expectations for that to appear any time soon. Her experience with the team, from the moment when it was first formed till now, told her it was not possible.

  (What should I do......)

  Despair must have come to her then......Nina must have realized what the team needed when the filth monsters attacked Zuellni.

  That feeling came to her when she was helpless.

  There could be no teamwork if they relied entirely on one person's strength.

  A tug......

  "Um......?" At the tug of her hair, she brought her attention back to the present. At some point in time, her hand had stopped its motion. A light weight had settled on her shoulders and the back of her neck. She reached back and felt something soft.

  "Oh, it's you......"

  "~~~♪"

  She took hold of the thing and pulled around to where she could see it.

  "Geez......Did you run away again?" She smiled.

  Zuellni returned an innocent smile.

  The city's consciousness, a consolidated form of electric particles, protected the people from filth monsters. Zuellni's hand touched Nina's face, patting it gently. Nina relaxed at that guileless face.

  "You......Why do you like me so much?" Nina said, even knowing she wouldn't get a reply.

  And as Nina had known, Zuellni only smiled, showing no signs of whether she had understood Nina's words.

  "Yeah, I shouldn't need to think about that."

  This kid really loved the people living in this city. Nina wasn't anyone special. She had only accepted Zuellni under a chance circumstance, so the Electronic Fairy often came to find her.

  Just like how Zuellni was touching Nina's face.

  Zuellni wanted to be touched in turn.

  The consciousness itself, rather than its physical manifestation in the form of the city, wanted to be caressed.

  "Meeting you was the best thing in my life."

  And......

  "Because I met you, I want to protect you."

  Nina met Zuellni when she first started cleaning the Engine Room. Just like Layfon, she was shocked at the encounter. She knew the city had a consciousness, but she had never guessed it took the form of a little girl.

  "I can love this city because you're in this form. Don't laugh at me for being cold-blooded. Just view me as narrow-minded......It's a refreshing and surprising experience to touch, to understand another and laugh together. I'm very happy."

  That was why she wanted to protect Zuellni through her own hands.

  "Yes......that's right."

  She held Zuellni close to her face. The Electronic Fairy struggled as if she was itchy, then she pressed her nose on Nina's hair. Her small nose touched Nina's ear lope. The absence of breath was the difference between human and Electronic Fairy.

  "I'll protect you with my own hands."

  So she had to become stronger.

  How strong could humans become? Nina knew someone was far ahead of her.

  That, at least, was a level humans could reach.

  "I will become strong, Zuellni!" she murmured in Zuellni's ear.

  Zuellni shook Nina's hair, pouting in incomprehension.

  "......Ah!"

  The sound stopped Felli's steps.

  This was the entrance to the Military Arts training complex.

  The girl that Felli saw stood up from the steps. She was Layfon's classmate – Meishen Trinden.

  "Ex-excuse......me."

  Looking at the teary-eyed Meishen, Felli wanted to ask whether her face was that scary, but on second thought she decided against it.

  (She ran away the last time too.)

  The last time Meishen seemed to need Layfon for something, so Felli asked her to come in with her. However, Meishen had refused after saying something incomprehensible, and had run away.

  (I know I'm a bit cold......)

  But that was still a great shock to Felli.

  "......Um......Uh, well......"

  "What is it?"

  Felli still replied in a deliberately cold manner to the stuttering Meishen.

  "......Ah," Meishen lowered her head.

  Felli knew what Meishen wanted to talk about.

  The letter.

  Besides the letter that Meishen had dropped when she fled, she – It wasn't possible for her to come and find Felli, especially all by herself.

  The letter was for Layfon.

  Felli had thought, for a moment, that it was a love letter. The letter bearing stamps from various cities and its worn out appearance, proof of its long journey, convinced Felli it wasn't a love letter.

  What she wanted to know was why Meishen had a letter for Layfon? And who mailed this letter to here?

>   Leerin Marfes.

  A girl's name.

  Felli couldn't hand the letter over like this. She'd feel guilty for giving it back with signs the letter had been opened.

  (As if I had peeked at the letter.)

  Felli thought so, leaving aside the fact that she did open the envelope and read the letter. She still had it with her. It'd be bad if her shifty brother found the letter in her room, so she had put it inside her schoolbag.

  "Ah, excuse me......Excuse me......"

  "......If it's about the letter, I've already given it to him."

  Just what was she saying......Felli wondered. She was tired of Meishen's stuttering and planned to say something annoying, but what burst out of her mouth was a lie......

  (If I had said straightaway that it was a lie......)

  Then Meishen could have interpreted it as a mean joke.

  ......But when Felli had thought of what to say, it was already too late.

  Meishen lifted her face, her disposition now bright and lively.

  "......Thank you very much!"

  ......Not a lie anymore. Now she had to do it.

  "......That's all right. I'm going now."

  Felli fled through the entrance to the complex without looking back. In that case, she must give Layfon the letter before Meishen mentioned it to him.

  (How do I give it to him?)

  That was the problem. The letter's been opened. If she gave it to him, he'd know she had read it.

  (Really......Why?)

  If it was anyone else's letter, she would have returned it with no interest at all.

  (Why did this letter come to my hand?)

  She resented this unfair coincidence, but not the cause of it – Meishen. The girl must have received the letter under some circumstance......Like a letter being delivered to the wrong place.

  (Damn......)

  "Felli."

  Someone called her name as she cursed the postman who made the flawed delivery.

  It was Nina.

  "Lucky I ran into you. I booked the battle arena. We'll train over there today."

  "All right."

  "Please tell the others that I'll take care of the paperwork for borrowing the training drones."

  "Ok."

  Having greeted Felli quickly, Nina headed outside the training complex.

  (Battle arena......?)