by Kamiya Yuu
As for what true ‘blissfulness’ was, anybody would surely know.
—Despite being impoverished, his parents dead, his house sank, his face and mind lacking.
He understood very well the purpose of his birth, recognized this, and continued while devoting himself to that cause. That was surely the utmost blissfulness a human could get.
Naoto Miura firmly believed in that.
For he discovered that meaning.
Because of that,
“So teach, you definitely know what a human has to do when he’s looking for what he has to do, right?”
Naoto Miura said while clenching his fists tightly.
He stood firmly on his two legs, and adamantly puffed his chest of a body already smaller than an ordinary human.
—Yes. He knew.
The significance of his birth, the reason why he seek death, why he had to risk his life when it was an important situation, he already had that most important thing within him!
“As a human…no, as a man!”
Naoto’s gray eyes are burning with blames.
“When one hear that there’s a super cute Automata girl, no matter whether it’s the North Pole! Mardego! No, even the far end of the galaxy! He’ll normally go there straight away at full speed no matter what, for it’s a man’s duty—no! A destiny to do that!!!”
He raised his fists as he yelled out loud.
An aging man, the homeroom teacher, was standing in front of Naoto, looking somewhat overwhelmed, and nodded slightly as he looked down.
“—And then?”
“Yes! In—other—words! This lowly me has to report to you and apologize that I’ll be taking leave since I have to go attack Tokyo for a personal reason!”
—Naoto Miura was beaming as he submitted his leave request form.
In contrast, the homeroom teacher could only force a smile, like he was facing a mirror.
“You’re that kind of person, aren’t you, Naoto Miura?”
And he handed out a different piece of paper in front of Naoto.
It was a white piece of paper with a ‘0’ written with a red pen.
…That was the answer script.
“You are being a complete fool, no?”
“—”
While the smile remained frozen on Naoto’s face, the homeroom teacher continued with clarity,
“Be obedient now and take your remedials. If you got another failing mark again, you won’t be submitting a leave request form, but writing an expulsion form. I can write a recommendation letter for a good neurosurgeon too, no?
And thus,
The magnificent determination and realization of Naoto Miura crumbled without a choice.
● ● ●
Yes, there was no other choice for Naoto Miura.
There was an anomaly in Tokyo.
And over there was RyuZU’s little sister—another member of the Initial-Y series.
The moment he learned of that intelligence, Naoto was determined to travel to Tokyo without showing any hesitation—
And the girl (RyuZU) who meant everything to his life stared at him with moist eyes.
“Master Naoto, if you are to continue on falling in society like this, there may not be an absolute change, but the relative opinion of society would mark you as one below even an amoeba. As my master, please do not bring me much grief beyond what I can handle today.”
The smile was devoid of any malice.
She was simply worried about Naoto.
It was because of her spiteful filter that she became so merciless, only ending up telling him off.
In the face of the goodwill this Automata showed—he was left with no choice.
…To begin with.
“—And so, all wars in human history was declared ended 1,000 years ago.”
The history teacher’s flat voice echoed in this classroom filled with few people.
“Humans are not that foolish to let bullets fly around on this Earth that was transformed b the state of the art mechanization, or in other words, the extremely intricate Clockwork. According to the regulations of the International treaty, each country can only station necessary military forces for protecting the city. The ancient technology that would obvious threaten the survival of humanity, especially the ‘electromagnetism’ technology, seems to have been forbidden from being used openly—”
The teacher continued to write the points on the blackboard from time to time as he continued teaching, seemingly just reciting the textbook.
Bored, Naoto placed his hands on his chin as he asked the silver haired girl beside him.
“Hey RyuZU. What’s this electro technology?”
“It is a remnant from the distant past, where the great humans used their immature minds and theories to gauge the unknown.”
The girl who was asked, RyuZU, gave a brighter smile as she answered Naoto.
Her voice was as delightful as a music box, echoing in the classroom,
“It can be said to be a futile layering of effort even apes would mock. Right now, it is nothing more than an antique of no value. With that brain of yours, Master Naoto, even if you do know about this, it is merely a inefficient use of your memory capacity.”
“Ah, in other words, it’s fine even if I don’t know anything about it?”
“To an elite like you, Master Naoto, there is no need for you to listen to such things during a holiday.”
RyuZU spoke with a bashful flower-like smile.
But on the other hand, those golden eyes were giving off a venomous poison, seemingly wanting to kill its prey.
The teacher endured RyuZU’s spiteful glare as he continued with a trembling voice,
“T-this is common knowledge required for elementary education! E-Electromagnetism will affect the movements of the gears, All such research and use is forbidden so as to allow the ‘Plant Governor’ to protect the landscape from the sun’s rays, except for the magnetic fields located at the North and South Poles…”
“”Do you hear this, Master Naoto? This is simply memorizing and regurgitating the textbook, and I did mention this to you before.”
RyuZU continued on without skipping a beat, and the teacher shiever.
Naoto tilted his head with intrigue,
“Why’s that so?”
“Well, if the use and research is forbidden, we are not able to truly learn about it, no? To put it, since what we just heard all this while was simply a simple recitation of all the contents of the textbook, is modern lessons simply a recital of textbooks? In that case, it will be more efficient to read the textbook at our our homes, and the lesson itself is simply futile, of no benefit.”
“Well…even if you say so, without lessons, I can’t begin with self-study.”
Naoto muttered as he let out a sigh.
However, RyuZU folded her arms, and stately coldly, Yes, if we are to start—
“As I say, who exactly is it who did the ignoramus act of making made ‘my Master Naoto’ come here during the holidays? Did your abdomen rise like an express shipping styled of the organ filled with the technology to read textbooks?”
The teacher’s face was twitching in response to RyuZU’s verbal jab.
And in response, Naoto could only sigh painfully, explaining.
“That’s not it, RyuZU. I’m taking remedials because I failed my exams.”
Is that so? RyuZu looked somewhat bemused, and nodded greatly just like a human, when one would forget she was an automata, maintaining her smile,
“Then, who exactly in the person who deemed ‘my Master Naoto’ to have failed, who is actually an imbecile claiming to be all-knowing? Is it that person who is so deplorable both in terms of the inside and the appearance?”
She glanced aside at the quivering teacher, and Naoto shook his head
“No RyuZU. I’ve failed because I got a failing grade during the end-of-terms exams.”
“I see. Then, who exactly is the primate who caused ‘my Master Naoto’ to set such blasphemous q
uestions that made ‘my Master Naoto’ to fail? Is it actually the primate who is quivering strangely at the podium, enjoying himself together with the neighbor’s wife, or to be specific, connected only at the lower body?”
“Wh—ho-ho-how do you know—th-that’s not it!1”
The teacher, blatantly panicking, broke into tears, yelling,
“I-I’m just doing this for my duty! I still have to attend lessons just for Naoto here! Can you please consider that I am working hard here, RyuZU?”
And while the teacher continued to explain, screaming in agony, RyuZu merely smiled,
“Yes, it is useless to spend time explaining to fleas, and for the sake of letting Master Naoto leave leave the classroom as soon as possible, I am honestly presenting my ‘wish’ with such humility and politeness…I suppose I am unable to convey this without speaking the language of fleas.”
—Well, that was basically how it went.
RyuZU could not accept that Naoto was having remedials because hefailed.
And so, on the first two days of the remedials.
RyZU was hounding and wrecking the teacher’s mental state with her torrent of brutal words.
She herself did not realize that this was a function of the so-called swear filter that was installed within her.
And thus, she was not lying. She actually intended to ‘honestly presenting my ‘wish’ with such humility and politeness’.
But only Naoto could comprehend this, as he was the only one able to hear the vibrations inside her.
And so, RyuZU’s artistic verbal bombardments continued to lash out during the remedial period.
And the teacher, who continued to endure till this point, had his mental state driven to the brink of collapse.
Or rather, at the limit. Just when the teacher’s mind was about to collapse,
Bell chimes…*
The chime rang,
“I-I can’t, can’t take this anymore! Naoto Miura! It’s a Sunday tomorrow, so the next remedial’s on Monday. I’m going to let another subject teacher handle this from next Monday onwards! I’m going to request for sp-sp-sp-special compensation from the principal and psychological therapppppyyy!!!”
Naoto watched the teacher scream and sprint out of the classroom, and so he lifted his head, looking up at the ceiling.
And RyuZU, unaware of her own venomous tongue, could only tilt her head in surprise,
“Has he realized his own incompetence and decided to head to the hospital? I do like those who, despite their intelligence below that of an amoeba, is able to understand themselves well, be humble, and reflect upon their actions.”
“…Hm, well, I think I better apologize to prevent this unreasonable rage from being targetted at me.”
He had to do something by Monday before the number of victims increased.
Naoto hugged his head as he left school along with RyuZU.
● ● ●
Marie Bell Breguet had no experience of attending school.
—Well, that would be putting it lightly. She had already went past numerous borders, graduating from many universities, and was always the valedictorian at these top-notch universities.
But even so, to Marie.
This place, the Tadasunomori High School in Kyoto, was the first time she ‘went to school’.
The Breguet Corporation was one of the 5 major enterprises ruling the world’s economy, and as the darling of the chairman, others provided the best environment for education that allowed her to fulfill her potential ever since she was born.
She was brimming with talent, loaded with finances, had the best facilities.
To her, was there ever a need for her to ‘attend school’?
Even the best institutions in the world could not compare to the Breguets’ education environment. Despite this, Marie attended the universities, neither for studies nor research.
She was to attend them as the princess of a refined family, to be sociable, to build human relationships.
All for the sake of ‘proving’.
—The talent and ability the young girl Marie Bell Breguet possessed was clear for all to see.
And because of this, to her, she was unable to call this as ‘attending school’. She was simply there just to partake in the necessary examinations to attain her certifications.
Her mentality did not change much when she entered in the qualification column of the entry sheet ‘looking for a job’.
On one hand, here was the Tadasunomori High School.
Leaving aside the teaching environment, the level of the teachers and students was basically the same as a free and easy time for her, compared to the universities she graduated from. Of course, to one who was once called a Meister and worked on the frontlines, there was no reason that necessitated her to study at this place, even if it was for social learning.
—However.
There was something Marie actually first learned of at this place.
And that was—
“So failing marks do really exist.”
She chewed on the green tea dango as she let out this mutter, and Halter gave her an indescribable expression as he looked down.
She had dazzling blond hair and bouncy white skin, a beauty of a girl akin to a bisque doll, but one could tell from the emerald eyes beneath her face that there was a powerful, determined will flickering within her.
She was simply dressed in a normal sailor uniform and an orange parka…but there was no hiding the aptitude of a king from this girl, one brimming with passion.
And Halter spoke with a tone of disbelief,
“…Allow me to ask. You never heard of this before?”
“I know that it exists, but I always thought it was just something in name. I never thought such a thing would actually exist.”
“Since there are exams, there are marks, so there are people who end up failing.”
“That’s what I mean.”
“Hm?”
While Halter expressed his skepticism, Marie added on,
“If you’re at school, that means you have to attend classes, right? And those stuff you learn will appear in the exams, right? The end-of-terms is an assessment meant to make sure whether the students understand the contents of the lessons, right?”
“Yes, that’s the case.”
Well, isn’t that such an obvious fact? Halter nodded.
And because of this, Marie could not comprehend.
“Then, why do they fail?”
“Even if you’re saying…”
“So they can’t answer that content they learn even though they already attended the lessons? Isn’t this a logical paradox here!? —This really is an interesting, puzzling phenomenon…”
“Milady…you’re now the enemy of all the students in the world.”
Halter sighed as he slumped his shoulders hard.
His massive bear-like body changed its posture slightly, and the red cushion bench he was sitting on let out a creaking sound.
The duo was seated side by side, seated in a little teahouse located in the sightseeing area of the country of Japan, Grid Kyoto. They were under a red paper umbrella of the wooden shop built specifically in the bamboo thicket, facing the tourists.
Marie too was drawn in by this shop, and within this shop, there were other foreigners to be seen, not just her and Halter.
Grid Kyoto was one of the few sightseeing cities in Japan.
1000 years ago, when the Earth was reconstructed through gears, the heritage relics left all over the world were preserved as close to their original state as possible.
And amongst them, Kyoto was renowned for having many of these preserved heritages.
Marie, chewing on her second stick of dangoes, asked skeptically,
“It’s one acceptable thing if the student can’t answer the question because there’s something he didn’t learn about tested in the exam, but if it’s a question regarding something tested in class………………..why can’t he answer it? I ca
n’t understand at all!”
“I don’t understand that either, Milady.”
Halter let out a deep sigh. To him, who went through many ordeals like an ordinary human, the simple skepticism showed by this genius girl was really agonizing to him.
Having paid the bill, the duo strolled in the bamboo thicker behind the teahouse.
The white stone pedestrian pathway was built upon the bare ground. The sunlight was demure due to the bamboo sheltering, and the air felt refreshing. The noisy breeze blew, causing a fresh stench to be whiffed at.
It was not artificial, but natural; not an imitation, but the real thing, ‘nature’ itself.This was the highly intricate Clockwork Planet.
As the construct was overly complicated, this structure had been maintained for 1000 years, and had become a hollow star extremely difficult to continue lasting. One had to wonder how much cost and technology was required to maintain Mother Nature above those gears.
“…The Japanese are seriously picky about such things. Is there really a need to be so thorough about this?”
The scenery from 1000 years ago was replicated perfectly in front of them, and one could sense the fanaticism the craftsmen had, excluding the clock technicians. Even Marie was amazed as she thought about it.
“Kyoto is said to be one of the rare few tourist destinations left on this world, right? It’s been 1000 years, and if we’re including the thousands of years before the death of this planet, they’re still able to preserve ‘this’ after all the climate changes and disasters, and that’s why the visitors love this place.”
“Well, it’s true, and I really do earnestly respect those who put in such effort—”
Marie showed a bitter smile as she continued,
“Thinking about how the ‘government’ is willing to purge so readily, I wonder what the people’s feelings amount to.”
“Humans all have things they’re not going to compromise, Milady. To craftsmen, this is an insistence they will never back down on.”
Halter fiddled with the falling leaves with one hand as he let out a poignant grimace.
After passing through the old-fashioned pedestrian pathway, the internal scenery of the massive monastery was revealed to them.