"Senpai's only a third year, isn't she? I heard that most of the platoon captains are fourth year or above. Hasn't she still got time?"
"Yeah, if you look at the study years, then there's still time," Harley nodded. "But who knows whether this city still has time."
His fingers flying on the keyboard, Harley asked, "You know right? You should have heard of it from the Student President."
"Yes."
"He said it was to make us more alert of danger, but he did all that to increase our fighting strength."
"Is that it?"
"That's right, but I don't think that's all of it. He's stubborn."
"......"
"Ah, let's leave the Student President aside for now."
Harley clapped his hands, pulling Layfon back into reality. His face had turned green just by remembering the nasty memories about the Student President.
"The time Nina spends here is important to her. You should know since you heard of her running away."
Layfon nodded. Nina had said that she wanted to see what a majority of people couldn't see: the world outside the city.
"That's a precious experience. Yes, it's a precious experience to come to a city run by students only, but it's even more precious an experience to understand the outside world. A lot of people can never experience that."
Even so, there were numerous Academy Cities, enough to conduct the Military Arts Competition – the same type of cities fought for fuel. In other words, this was the proof that the city had enough number of students.
This told Layfon that there were more humans than he thought.
But a majority of people would never see each other. Even Layfon didn't know everyone at Grendan. Grendan had a population of about a hundred thousand people.
But if people lived in the same city and wanted to meet up, they could. Perhaps if they desired to see each other, even with the filth monsters roaming the earth, they could see the person of another city. But he couldn't place the level of difficulty of those two types of meeting side by side.
It's rare to get on a roaming bus just to see another city.
It's extremely taxing to travel to another city, and it's dangerous.
Numerous cities spread across the earth like stars, moving back and forth in an isolated world. Thinking of this, it felt so unbelievably hard to comprehend that it confounded him.
"People might have never met, but we were given the chance to meet here. Don't you find that interesting?"
"......"
"Nina doesn't want to lose that experience, so she'd try everything within her power. Nina's the type of person to act."
"So please don't hate her too much," Harley added.
Layfon didn't think he hated her.
Afterward, he headed alone for the training complex – in the direction of where he thought the training room was. It didn't take him long to arrive as it was close to the battleground.
Layfon felt a heavy weight on his shoulders as he neared the entrance of the training complex. He wasn't sure whether there was a weight. No, he knew he had a burden there. He just didn't want to realize that it was on him.
If they lost in this Military Arts Competition, the city would lose its fuel source. In other words, the city's consciousness that he came across at the Mechanical Department – that cute Electric Fairy would face its death.
What a tragic thing.
But he couldn't really feel that happening. Just like the clear scene reflected in the glassy surface of the door to the training complex, he felt that it was happening in another city. He couldn't comprehend the fact that what he did would have a direct impact on the life and death of the city.
He went through the door and headed for the training room of platoon 17. The sounds of practice from other training rooms made the entire building tremble. The building was designed to contain the varied powers of the Military Arts students, but it didn't seem to have good soundproofing.
"Isn't it time to give up?"
He heard this just as he was about to open to the door to the training room of platoon 17.
He stopped.
There were other students in the room besides Nina.
Three males surrounded her. The tension in the air caressed Layfon's skin. His wrist moved towards his weapon harness on its own.
Nina's arms were lowered. She held her restored iron whips tightly. She stared at the three students with an icy gaze, hiding her emotions.
The conversation continued. No one seemed to have noticed Layfon.
"You should know now that it's not easy to form a platoon," the person standing right in front of Nina said.
"And your members are...... Sharnid, who can't coordinate well with his ability, and two others that the Student President forced into Military Arts. Morale itself is already a problem. Do you really think you can form a team with those people and lead them in battle? If that's the case, then you're looking down on Military Arts."
The target person wasn't him, but Layfon felt pressure bearing down into his stomach. This was an intimidation technique using the Internal type Kei. It was the opposite of External type burst Kei. The Internal type Kei could directly affect one's body.
The voice with Kei made Nina tremble.
"Let me say this for the last time. Join our team, Nina Antalk. The 3rd platoon needs your calm judgement and hard defence. Besides, you only need to be in our team to become strong."
Nina's shoulders were shaking, but her eyes showed she was not afraid and threatened.
She didn't look at the hand stretching towards her. She stared right in the eyes of the young man.
"I thank you for your invitation. Let me thank you deeply for giving me such high evaluation," she said firmly.
"But if I still want to test my ability. No matter how badly I look in others' eyes, I still want to test myself through my own strength."
Her resolute answer tightened up the atmosphere again. This time it wasn't the person before – probably the captain of the 3rd platoon, but the other two people.
Layfon held his breath.
The captain of the 3rd platoon sighed.
"I knew you'd give me that answer."
He relaxed his shoulders. The other two also lowered their hostility.
"I feel you're wasting your ability...... really, why did the Student President accept your unreasonable team proposal?"
"Sorry."
"There's no need to apologize. It's not a bad thing for the city if you become stronger."
"But, I hope you understand that this city doesn't have the time to watch you grow."
"...... I understand."
"Good."
The captain shrugged, turned from Nina, and walked away. As there was only one exit, Layfon quickly moved aside.
The captain left wordlessly, not even looking at him.
The door closed.
Nina's gaze pierced through Layfon to the closed door. She didn't notice his presence. Layfon was painfully aware that he wasn't in her line of sight.
She wasn't looking at him.
(Ahah, she's looking at the other side.)
It was the side of the glass.
He felt he had lost his place there.
Of course, even he felt it was too rich a line coming from him.
Wolfstein – He should have understood the moment he abandoned this title and left Grendan.
So he could pretend the pain in his chest was someone else's.
Then he could view it as something beautiful.
"Come, Layfon. Time to practice."
Nina's line of vision moved to him. There were no traces of confusion in her expression. No traces left of her conversation with the captain of the 3rd platoon.
"Yes," Layfon nodded and hurried to her side.
But the feeling of standing on the other side of the glass didn't disappear.
He knew this was a feeling of distance.
"I know there are plenty of opportunities for us to fight togeth
er, but we can't even talk about that if we don't first coordinate our breathing."
Those firm looking pupils of hers.
The Kei filling her limbs gave off a painful light from her eyes. This had nothing to do with the quality and weight of her Kei, but with her firm and determined personality.
It was beautiful.
To Layfon, it was as beautiful as a painting.
That was why she stood on the other side of the glass.
Layfon restored his Dite.
The sun sank down in the west. The complex closing time came, and saved Layfon from Nina's side. After washing off his sweat, he plodded back to his dormitory......
"Layton sighted! Capture him!"
"Roger, capturing him now."
Mifi's shrill voice and Naruki's lowered voice vibrated through his exhausted body.
Next......
"What? Huh?"
When he had collected himself, he was already tied up by a rope. When did that happen? He toppled onto the ground.
"We've caught the target. Please give your next order."
"Parade him around the city."
"Roger."
"Hey, stop it!"
"Huh~~"
Layfon calmly intruded. Mifi puffed up her cheeks.
"Uh, that can't be done. Speaking of which, how come he became like this?"
"That's my rope-capture technique, passed down by my father. Isn't it incredible?" Naruki said.
"Brilliant. It's too brilliant. But why so sudden? I don't understand what's happening!"
"Oh, I'm just doing it. I'm not sure myself."
"Just doing it? And what's with the rope? Do you carry it with you all the time?"
"As someone who wants to join the police force, it's a must to carry around a rope all the time."
"Is that a given?" Layfon asked, but failed to sway Naruki's confidence.
"So what's this for?" he asked, looking at Mifi and Naruki.
"Oh? I said we were going to drink tea, so we waited here for you."
"I see...... but why this?"
"Just doing it."
"Fufufu ~~ I knew Layton doesn't have to work today. Don't underestimate Mifi's intelligence."
"Yeah, but I didn't refuse you. Before I got the chance to refuse, I was like this."
"Ok ok. Stop talking. We've invited a special guest today."
They didn't listen to his words. Mifi pushed a person out from Naruki's shadow.
He thought it was Meishen.
But...... no.
"...... Felli senpai?"
"I got caught," she said without any expression. She was also bound by a rope.
They spaced out like that for a while...
"Hey--!! What were you guys doing!?" Layfon looked around. Luckily, there was no one around but them. He wondered how long those two girls had been hiding here, waiting to ambush them.
"Because ~~ I've wanted to talk with her since I saw her."
"No, I'm saying why did you use this method? It's a bit extreme. Um, it's like kidnapping from the perspective of an observer."
"......She's the younger sister of the Student President."
"Meaning......We can get a huge ransom, right?" Mifi asked seriously.
"......"
"......"
Layfon and Mifi looked at each other......
"Police, there's a kidnapper here."
"OK, I'll catch her right away."
In the next moment, Naruki had also tied up Mifi.
"I just wanted to have dinner with everyone!"
After Mifi had surrendered, Naruki untied everyone. The four of them headed for the busier district of the city.
"Mei-chi's got work today, so we're waiting for her to finish, and might as well enter the "observe Mei-chi's working look" plan."
"A plan?" Layfon said.
Mifi laughed.
"Well, can you imagine her appearance at work?"
"......That's a bit difficult."
It was hard to imagine Meishen working. She was so shy.
"Right? This'll be my first time seeing her at work. I'm really looking forward to it."
Mifi skipped on the red bricked path.
"It's good she's taking the initiative, but I feel a bit lonely now," Naruki said, shrugging her shoulders.
"......Have you three known each other for long?"
"Yeah, we were neighbors."
"Our parents knew each other for a long time too, from their birth."
"Amazing......" Layfon honestly showed his admiration. He also had a group of childhood friends from the orphanage, but none of them came to Zuellni.
"You three must be very close, coming here together."
"Yeah~ It's fate."
"Yeah."
"Yes, we won't feel lonely even if we're in an unfamiliar place. Our parents agree with that," Mifi said, and started a conversation about the past with Naruki. Unable to enter the conversation, Layfon kept a distance between them.
Felli was beside him. Silently walking, she stared at the backs of the two girls.
"......Sorry for forcing you to come with us."
"......It's ok."
She didn't move her gaze away from the backs of the two girls.
"The rope seemed fun."
"......Was it fun?"
"Yes," Felli replied, not even moving her eyebrows. Layfon didn't understand what she was thinking. But it was good that she didn't get mad. He let out a sigh.
Felli was walking lightly with her hands behind her back. Looking at her childish appearance, he couldn't imagine that she was older than him. She was older, but her age difference didn't stand out at all because she was only one year apart. But comparing her with Mifi and Naruki, she looked even younger than them.
"Uh, is senpai working too?"
"No."
"......I see."
He couldn't think of what to say. Even his question was blocked. He knew nothing of her. Unlike Mifi and the others, Felli wasn't the type to divert with a conversation so long as the atmosphere was right.
"......Just keep doing that." Felli said as he was thinking of what to say.
"Huh?"
"I meant during training. Just keep doing that."
"Why?"
"Don't you want to avoid fighting?" The honest and direct question made him speechless.
"If you perform well without the will to fight, other people will have expectations of you."
"......I suppose," he nodded.
"It's ridiculous to do what you don't want to do."
Meaning Felli also hadn't used her true ability in training. The same as him.
He now understood why he was so tired. He couldn't escape the place he wanted to leave. This feeling took a lot of his strength. He made unnecessary moves because of a lack of concentration, which in turn wasted a lot of his strength.
"Why do I feel as if there's no other road to take?"
He didn't want to, but he had to. All he could do to resist this was to not put his all in training.
And because of that, he was tired.
"Even so, I have to resist this way. As long as I'm in the Academy City, I can't escape my brother. Unless he lets me go, I've no other choice."
"...... Do you dislike your own brother?"
He might have asked a meaningless question. She did say she hated him before. But perhaps "dislike" and "hate" were different.
"I dislike him. He doesn't care about me at all."
Layfon had nothing to say. Walking beside her gave him an urge to find something to talk about, but she didn't care about ending a conversation abruptly.
The two girls walking before them had arrived at the shop. They waved back at them.
"......You're so mean."
"Never mind. You look cute."
Mifi was calm in the face of Meishen's reproachful gaze.
They moved from the coffee shop that Meishen worked at into another nearby shop. In here, senior students were permitted to drink alcohol. Dishes
of BBQ skewers and vegetables lay before Layfon and his friends.
Naruki nodded in a serious manner as she put the bamboo sticks back into the bamboo container:
"Yeah, you're cute. Are you making fun of me because I can't wear it?"
"......Of course not."
"Yeah, I know."
Meishen's cheeks puffed up at Naruki's flippant tone.
When Layfon and the three girls entered the coffee shop earlier, Meishen had stood still on her spot, her face turning green. And whether it was fortunate or not, there were no other female waitresses before break time other than Meishen. Layfon felt bad for her. She was shaking like a small animal while ordering her meal, but Mifi teased her happily.
"But Mei-chi really is cute, isn't she, Layton?"
"Um?"
He thought back of her look in the coffee shop.
The modest and deep blue uniform in itself wasn't cute at all, but the Meishen hiding her face behind the tray was cute.
He gave his honest opinion, and Meishen lowered her head, her cheeks red as of boiled water.
"Yeah, yeah, Layton. Well done, you unfaithful~~"
"Why?"
"It's a high level skill to praise the person in question along with the uniform."
"......Mi-chan, Nakki, I'll get mad."
The three girls argued in their own styles. Layfon sighed and turned his gaze to Felli.
She was silently eating a skewer of BBQ chicken.
She didn't seem to want to talk. She put the stick back into the bamboo container and examined the dish, thinking of what to eat next like a mathematician tackling a challenging question.
(Here's another small animal.)
Frankly, her sober eating expression was also cute.
Layfon nibbled at one end of the batter-fried vegetable stems as he listened to the conversation of the three girls.
"Aah, let's stop teasing Mei-chi. The cake over there was delicious."
"......Right?"
"It wasn't too sweet. I get why Mei-chi loves that shop. Well, how's it going? Are they teaching you things?"
"......Not sure. Seems they'll teach me later. Really, I've always wanted to just stay in the kitchen."
"Since you showed them your cute look, of course they'd send you out to serve customers."
"......Mi-chan!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, according to my investigation, no matter which shop it is, it'll prioritize students getting into the kitchen if they've had real cooking experience."
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