Silent Talk

by Shūsuke Amagi

  "Felli-chi?"

  "I feel like a moron. Rejected."

  Then what about when Meishen was called Mei-chi? But he didn't say that to Felli. Recently, he had been calling her Mei. Speaking of which, that was how he called Naruki too, but that seemed different......

  "Felli-chon."

  "Is that even meaningful? Rejected."

  "Felli-yan."

  "My name is not a joke. Rejected."

  "Felli-lin."

  "Are you laughing?"

  "Felli Felli."

  "I hate rehash. Rejected."

  "Feffen."

  "Sounds like a strange laugh. Rejected."

  "Fernandez."

  "Who's that? Rejected."

  "Felli-tan."

  "Do you want to die~? Rejected."

  "......Sorry, I give up."

  "You're not permitted to give up."

  What should he do......He wanted to hold his head. Besides, the name was usually shortened or changed to add variations to its tone. Or he could use some similar thing as an analogy......

  "......"

  "What?"

  "Nothing."

  He decided not to say she was a cold, bloodless doll. That would definitely hurt.

  "Please hurry," she urged. His head felt like stone. He couldn't think of anything else.

  (Fe?......What is that?)

  If he shortened her name, it became some strange sound. What if like Naruki became Fekki? How strange.

  "Hurry up. What's with you?"

  "Felli," he said in resignation. There were no variations and no comparisons.

  Just her original name. Perhaps that sounded rough. Even so, he couldn't help it. He had no other ideas.

  (How about that?)

  "......"

  "......Say it again."

  "Um......Felli."

  "Mm......"

  Felli's image wasn't displayed in the helmet, but he felt he saw her. Her right hand caressed her chin, left hand supporting her right elbow, her head slightly cocked, her gaze lightly stroking the sky above her......This image of her surfaced in his mind.

  "It's not creative at all, and you didn't put any effort into it. No respect for your senpai at all, and there's no affection for me. It's so bad that you can't call it a name."

  So that didn't work......Well......

  Layfon tried to think of another name, but instead was surprised by what Felli said next.

  "Never mind, we'll just use that."

  "Heh?" He was rather shocked, then glad of her letting him go.

  "But you have to say it with more emotion. I don't need the respect for a senpai though. Call me that from now on, okay?"

  "Uh...Um..."

  "Well, Fon Fon. Say it again."

  "Ah, yes......Felli."

  "Good."

  Layfon relaxed.

  "Promise me."

  "......What?"

  "Call me that from now on, ok?"

  "Uh, in front of others too?"

  "Of course."

  "And Fon Fon too?"

  "Sure."

  "Sorry, please forgive me."

  If he was called Fon Fon during team training and after school......

  (No......No No NO!)

  That would be so embarrassing.

  "Fine, then I'll call you Fon Fon when we're alone."

  He could truly relax now.

  "In exchange for that, I'll add one more condition."

  "Yes, leave it to me," Layfon said, not really having heard what Felli had just said. He'd agree to any request as long as she didn't call him Fon Fon in front of everyone.

  "Please remember to call me by that name when you return."

  "......"

  "It's a promise."

  Those were the last words; Felli stopped talking after that.

  He took a quick nap before dawn. The swaying of his body stuck to him like echoes. And like that, he lay on the vehicle and closed his eyes.

  The wind had died down and everywhere looked dead. He didn't know what Felli was doing on the other end of the flakes. She hadn't spoken to him for a while now.

  It was really quiet, as if even his own voice had died off. When he moved slightly, the sound of Dites bumping against the bike shook his eardrums. On the other hand, the feeling of him being alive was more intense than ever.

  He knew there was no such thing, but that feeling came unbidden to him. He had no one beside him, no one to help him. The people living in Zuellni were far behind him, and he had no idea where the other cities were.

  What was Leerin doing?

  This flashed through his mind.

  After the attack on Zuellni, he had only written one letter to Leerin. He felt that he was waiting for a return letter from somewhere. It wasn't that strange that he still hadn't received a letter. The roaming buses hadn't delivered any letters, so the mail would probably come soon.

  He candidly told her about the current Layfon in that letter. How he was forced to transfer into the Military Arts, enter a platoon and fight the larvae......And his inability to give up on the Military Arts. What would Leerin think? Would she smile bitterly and say "Can't be helped since it's you," or would she lecture him with a pink face......

  The harness swayed and the Dites jostled against each other.

  (I......am quite afraid of being alone.)

  He deeply thought that. He used to write to Leerin every week, but he hadn't been doing that now. One reason was his losing the fresh and curious feeling he had when he first started school. The second reason was that Leerin didn't write as much in her letters to him. He felt a distance between them.

  He hadn't received a letter from Leerin since her last letter.

  (It must be the distance between cities.)

  In the time when cities couldn't contact each other, Layfon was doubtful as to whether his letter had arrived safely at Grendan. He didn't think Leerin would not want to write to him. The unreliable connection between cities, the Layfon involved in this situation, the Layfon who thought of Leerin in this time...... He arrived at this conclusion from all these factors combined.

  Had the people he met in this city filled his loneliness of not being with Leerin?

  No.

  It didn't fill his loneliness. It replaced it. The truth of leaving Leerin remained in him. He was just so busy with school and everything that he hadn't the time to feel lonely.

  This was the Layfon in Zuellni. Perhaps it was a good thing that he wasn't as tense as he was in Grendan.

  (Although there's a lot of troublesome things, and I'm doing what I did before......)

  And as part of his life in Zuellni, he was out here in the open, in a desolate environment, totally isolated from his normal life.

  Particles of sand beat against the vehicle and his Dites.

  The wind was rising again. Listening to the sound of the wind, Layfon's consciousness sank into shallow darkness.

  Time rewinds back to just after Layfon's departure.

  The door was pushed open.

  "Yo, Nina! Are you alright?"

  "I don't think that's a question you ask a patient."

  "Yep. Just like this!" Sharnid walked into the room, smiling flippantly as he winked at a nurse walking past in the corridor. Harley was right behind him.

  It was the morning of a weekend. Nina put aside the book she was reading.

  "What're you reading? Ugh, a textbook! And it's 'Military Arts Principles I' ......Why're you reading this now?"

  Nina nodded as she confirmed the Dites hanging around Sharnid's waist.

  "Because I have something I need to relearn."

  "Ha ha, even though you fainted all of a sudden, you're still so serious," Sharnid shrugged.

  "Forget it. What about today's match? Is it okay not to watch it?"

  "If you want to know, I can bring you the disc later. Because of the sudden holiday, it was too abrupt to arrange a date, so I've got time on my hands."

  If so, then just go and watch the match.
But Nina didn't say that. Harley's smile lacked his usual cheerfulness, and that bothered her.

  "But it's tragic to faint due to over-exhaustion. And you're still so serious about it after fainting; I greatly admire our captain."

  "......I'm sorry," Nina apologized, lowering her head.

  "No, no......" Sharnid said. "I don't want you to reflect on this. I've done that sort of thing many times already...... besides, I have something else to talk about today. Sorry I have to push back visiting the patient."

  "Something else?"

  Sharnid snatched up his Dite. "For someone who's not in a team, my words probably don't mean much......" He said as he deftly spun the larger-than-palm-sized Dite.

  "Everyone has secrets, but there are two types: ones that don't matter, and ones that people take notice of. I don't care if it's the former type, but the latter......"

  A rapid movement from him.

  The Dite restored in his hand in the blink of an eye and it was pointed right at Harley.

  "Sharnid!" Nina said loudly. A smile still hung on Sharnid's face. As for Harley, he was frozen stiff at the sudden Dite's appearance.

  "If my comrade's keeping secrets, then I can't move freely, cause I'll worry that he'll stab me in the back. For example, whether this guy would shoot the wrong target......Something like that," Sharnid stared closely at his Dite pressing down on Harley's forehead.

  Meaning he was suspecting Harley?

  "How could that be?" Nina said.

  "Harley is my childhood friend. He'll never betray me."

  "I don't doubt this guy's skill, and I don't think he'll betray the team, but it seems we were the only two left out."

  "What?" Nina looked at Harley. Resignation filled his stiff expression.

  "Harley?"

  "......Sorry."

  "The weapon you made in haste a while ago was for Layfon, right? That ridiculously huge sword, just what was it for?"

  Nina remembered, but she had never suspected Harley. Recently, she was only thinking about herself.

  "What do you guys plan for the ridiculously strong Layfon with that type of a weapon? I think I can guess. Felli's with you guys and that's enough confirmation. But if it's possible, I want to hear it from you."

  Nina kept silent.

  "Sorry," Harley's lips were clamped tight against each other.

  Slightly shaky lips opened again.

  Nina had forgotten her own breathing, and the same feeling remained with her as she listened.

  After that......

  The nurse went in to deliver lunch, and seeing the bed empty, she ran out into the corridor.

  Layfon arrived at his destination shortly after noon.

  He drank down protein paste with a straw, and confirmed the information conveyed through Felli's flake.

  The high and jutting mountain gave off an unapproachable bearing.

  The scene appeared on his helmet.

  The inert filth monster was fastened onto the surface of the mountain, its posture almost the same as the image in the second photo. The filth monster's body had slightly expanded. Its length, from head to tail, was long like a snake's. Two insect-like wings extended from its back. Muddy green veins spread across the tattered wings, which were weakened to such an extent that they were bent, almost broken off, by the wind.

  Legs were attached to the curled body of the filth monster, and the claws of the forelegs weren't dug into the wall of the mountain. The filth monster must be degenerating. A thin layer of white covered its green compound eye.

  The prey whose nutritious value was much higher than the pollutants...the filth monster made no reaction to the prey, the human standing within reach.

  As if it was dead.

  But what about the sudden chill he felt?

  "How is it?" Felli said.

  "A Phase 4 or 5 male. I can tell that from its shriveled legs."

  "Is it that thing in the photo?"

  "The filth monsters lose their legs every time they molt......Uh, females are different. They stay underground when they're laying eggs."

  He dismounted the bike and took out two Dites from his harness.

  In his right hand was the special Dite that Harley made.

  "When its body's grown old, its legs will completely degenerate. This is the mature phase. Once the male fully degenerates, it'll be able to fly, and that is its cruelest and wildest form. Next is the second maturation phase with increasing functions and variations. The form of a Phase 2 is never stable."

  "Fon Fon?"

  Leaning stiffly against the bike, he tried to relax his body. It was meaningless to get anxious now. He allowed his Kei to run through his body.

  "Just like its unstable appearance, it's also hard to judge the filth monster's level of strength. We have to be particularly wary of Phase 2 filth monsters. If this filth monster is in its first phase, then there're still ways to handle it."

  "What are they?" Incomprehension seeped through Felli's voice, but Layfon wasn't paying attention.

  "A Phase 2 filth monster is rare, so perhaps there's no need to be concerned, or it's simply not possible to recognize it. But there is a difference between knowing and not knowing. If one knows, then one can take appropriate action. Please remember, sometimes Phase 2 filth monsters don't attack humans because they've learned to be more than simply violent."

  "Fon Fon......What're you saying?"

  "Something that might be my last words."

  Cracking noises. As if the air was rent apart. A loud noise hiding the sound of a secret's breath. The chill on Layfon's skin turned into needle sharp pain. As the noise increased in intensity, the tattered wings collapsed and the scales covering the filth monster's body peeled off in flakes. The entire compound eye popped out and rolled down the side of the mountain.

  Felli's voice intruded. "I've got a report......Zuellni's changed direction. The entire city's made a rapid turn."

  "As expected......"

  Now he knew why Zuellni kept moving straight before. The city hadn't discovered the filth monster, or maybe it thought it was only a corpse. In the end, Zuellni found out it wasn't that at all, so it changed its route.

  "Fon Fon......This is......"

  "It's molting. This is my first time seeing this, but it has to be that."

  "Zuellni's changed direction......Please escape!"

  Layfon ignored her. "Restoration 01," he said the key word, restoring the Dite in his left hand. The Sapphire Dite's blade tore through the air.

  "It's too late. This guy was waiting. After molting......It holds a different body type and will get hungrier than usual. It was suppressing its molting moment until the prey got too close. The reason why a Mature Phase filth monster is particularly aggressive is because of its extreme hunger."

  It was too late for Layfon to escape. The filth monster had waited for the smell of prey to get close, to the point where it couldn't escape. Layfon readied his fighting stance and increased the amount and density of his Internal Kei. The back of the monster split into two and sticky body fluid oozed from it, down the face of the mountain in many branches.

  Low howling made the air vibrate. The filth monster announced its rebirth, lifting itself from the empty shell to spread its pure and moisture-filled wings. The intense red of the wings stained the sky.

  The liquid covering its head fell off, revealing a head different from before. A long protruding jaw, sharp teeth on the outside, diamond blue light like a human's eyes......It looked very similar to an insect.

  "Phase 1......Please remember. You can defeat this monster if you are prepared to sacrifice half a city."

  He connected the end of the restored Dite to the end of the other Dite in his right hand. He grasped hold of the connected Dites carefully with his right hand then charged forward.

  Internal-type Kei – Whirl Kei.

  Strengthening his feet, he leaped onto the face of the mountain.

  The monster's wings vibrated as the liquid enveloping its body
shot out, painting rainbows around it. It must have caught the scent of countless humans in Zuellni. The filth monster's nose pointed directly behind Layfon.

  The steel threads bounded up the entire filth monster, the action quiet as a mouse.

  The filth monster kept on ascending without signs of slowing. The difference between their two sizes was too huge. Unable to suppress his opponent, Layfon was lifted up to dangle in midair.

  (If it were Lintence, he could cut off its wings like this......)

  As expected, its shell was much harder than a larva's......He wondered how Nina and the others would think of him if they saw him like this......As he returned his attention to the current situation, he focused on binding the monster tighter.

  Intense vibration shot down his wrist. The wings beat fast and rapid, and the steel threads bounced off them.

  "It still isn't working......"

  Layfon didn't have the time to try another tactic and aim at the base of the wings. The filth monster was now in the air and it could head for Zuellni whenever it wanted. Layfon let the steel threads loose into two bundles; one binding the filth monster, the other shot into the face of the mountain.

  "I'll have it land."

  The monster rumbled in pain. Its body twisted and its wings danced more intensely, but the monster failed to ascend. At the same time, keen wailing came from the mountain.

  Layfon removed the part of the combined Dite that was anchoring the steel threads in the mountain, then twisted in midair to land on one of the steel threads and ran across it, his face green and stiff, as if he was performing in a circus. While running, he took out the rest of the Dites from his harness and inserted them into the holes in Harley's Dite.

  "Restoration AD," he said as Kei flowed through his entire body.

  Heavy weight burst out from him at the weight of the weapon and the power flowing in his body. The steel thread dipped, and he used the momentum of its rebound to jump up to the filth monster's back.

  A huge blade was born in Layfon's hand.

  Three different types of Dites......Combined with a Dite that was already an amalgamation of different alloys. This feat wasn't possible before.

  But the end product was just a different type of Dite. It wasn't particularly special in any way.

  The new Dite maintained and combined all the advantages of three types of Dite. There was a disadvantage though. It wasn't possible to reduce the weight and density of the restored forms of the three types of Dites, so Layfon was practically holding four weapons.