Chapter 4 Part 22
Translator : PolterGlast
Proofreader : John4891
"...
Fuuh. Finally, it's over ..."
"Well,
it can't be helped, Mimuru. We need to do this and that"
In
the afternoon, Nozomu and the others who defeated the black demon beast
immediately returned to Arcazam and reported the matter of the black demon
beast to the school.
As
a result, the school, which emphasized this matter, immediately gave a detailed
explanation on this matter in Jihad Roundel’s office.
After
finishing the report, Mimuru who came out of the office sighed as if she was tired,
and Tom smiled at the situation. A bandage was wrapped around his right arm,
and his arm was tied with a sling.
After
reporting the demon beast incident, Jihad gave his thanks to Nozomu and the
others, and Jihad urged the school to research and keep it a secret until it
was ready to be published.
"Well,
based on Shīna's story, that demon beast seems to be related to the demon beast
that destroyed the Foskia Forest. No wonder she’s so cautious."
After
their battle, in the forest on the way back to the city, Shīna revealed her
past to her friends.
Her
hometown, Foskia Forest, was destroyed by the demon beasts invasion, and her
family sacrificed themselves to let her escape from the demon beasts.
While
her loved ones were killed, she couldn't do anything and only ran away. She
couldn't forgive herself and decided to become stronger and came to Solminati
Academy.
She
was so caught up in it that she became distant from the spirits. When the demon
beast appeared in front of her, blood rose to her head and she lost herself.
Naturally,
she was also talking about the black demon beast. Even though it wasn't the
same demon beast that invaded her hometown, it didn't seem irrelevant as it
gave off a similar ambience, black miasma, and myriad red eyes on the surface
of its body.
Nozomu
remembered what he was doing when he was reporting that demon beast.
When
Nozomu and the others entered the office for a report, the owner of the room,
Jihad, was sitting at the desk where he was working, and next to him was Nozomu's
homeroom teacher, Anri-sensei, and Shīna's homeroom teacher, Inda-sensei who
waited for their report.
Inda-sensei
was a very serious woman, had very good etiquette, work ethic, and was very
talented, but she was also known as an inflexible teacher.
Due
to the rumours about Nozomu's cheating on Lisa, she was quite obstinate. She
was one of those who didn’t think much about Nozomu, who was said to be the
worst student, and she didn’t think Nozomu was suitable as a student in this
school.
Due
to her competence, she sometimes took charge of first-class lessons instead of
Jihad, and she also told Irisdina not to approach Nozomu.
When
she noticed Nozomu beside Shīna, she wrinkled her eyebrows from the beginning
until the end.
"Black
demon beast?"
"Yes.
We encountered the demon beast in the suburban part of the forest. The demon
beast has many similarities with the demon beast that destroyed my hometown,
Nebra."
Shīna
talked about the characteristics and dangers of the black demon beast, and the
demon beasts she saw 10 years ago that destroyed her hometown, including her
family.
"I
see……"
"Hmmm
..."
*sniffling*
Jihad
folded his hands on the desk and looked down with a sad expression, and when
the story reached Anri, she cried.
"I
understand what happened. It’s safe now. I'll let the guild and the guards know
about this demon beast, but you guys shouldn’t talk about this
unnecessarily."
"...
Is that because the beast is very similar to the one that destroyed my
hometown?"
"That's
right. The scars from that great invasion are still deep-rooted. If you talk
unnecessarily and incite anxiety, it’ll cause confusion."
Certainly,
the scars caused by that disaster hadn’t all been healed yet. The proof was
Solminati Academy, which was built by every country in order to find human
resources they could use to protect themselves.
That
wasn’t all. The fear of the demon beast's invasion had left deep marks on the
general public.
"As
far as I've heard, the demon beast you've encountered seems to be a little
inferior to the demon beast that destroyed Nebra. In addition, considering that
there aren’t multiple sightings so far, this demon beast is probably alone. It
will be necessary to investigate and collect information for a while. We will
investigate using a variety of methods, including the magic stones you brought
back and the corpses of the demon beasts left in the forest."
After
Nozomu and the others defeated the demon beast and its body collapsed, meat
chunks mixed with bones twisted into a mess, and what remained was a huge magic
stone.
Some
of the flesh and bones had the characteristics of a four-legged beast like a
Wild Dog, but most of them were messy and elusive, and it seemed as if it was
made by multiple different types of demon beasts.
As
the name suggested, magic stones were a general term for stones whose magical
powers resided or gathered and crystallized in ore form, and the magical power
within them could be used for various purposes from alchemy to ceremonial
magic.
Among
the demon beasts that had magical powers, there were demon beasts that could
produce these magic stones within their bodies. As for normal magic stones,
they were gathered from nature, but some of them were produced by demon beasts.
In
addition, many of the magic stones produced by demon beasts were of higher
purity and better quality than those produced in nature.
However,
demon beasts that produced extremely pure magic stones were often strong, and
not every powerful demon beast produced magic stones.
It
wasn’t that magic stones couldn’t be made artificially, but it took time and
effort to make them.
This
was because the only way to crystallize magical power that had no clear form
was to condense it with tremendous pressure or slowly pour magical power into
the catalyst over time and wait for crystallization.
The
magic stone that came from the black demon beast was something that was rarely
available in the market in terms of purity and the amount of magic power it
possessed. As compensation for handing over the magic stone to the school, it
was decided they would receive money for additional income.
In
other words, it could be said that “the school bought it at a high
price”.
"I
have one question to ask. Does Jihad-sensei know about that demon beast?"
Shīna
asked a question to Jihad-sensei and went one step further into the story. A
question that, if we thought about it normally, couldn’t be answered. Even
then, Shīna couldn't withdraw from this matter.
“………………..”
“………………..”
Shīna
and Jihad clashed with each other. With his stern expression, Jihad sent his
glare, but Shīna received that glare without stepping back.
"...
I don't know everything. There are too many uncertainties about that demon
beast. All I know is that there are multiple sightings during the invasion.
There is information on sightings of that demon beast in the countries
destroyed by the great invasion."
Since
he realized that Shīna had a strong will, Jihad opened his mouth while feeling
heavy.
"However,
the shape and nature of those demon beasts at that time are all different and
do not have a fixed shape. Sometimes they appear in the form of beasts,
sometimes birds, sometimes plants. However, they are black. And the miasmatic
body surface and the myriad of red eyes are their similarities. "
As
far as the story went, it seemed that Jihad didn’t know the details of the
demon beast.
"Once
again, don't tell the other students about this."
Jihad
reminded them.
His
warning is reasonable because the contents were related to the great invasion.
They had to be careful.
No
matter how much they tried to hide it, as long as humans handled the
information, the information about the demon beast might eventually leak out;
however, they wanted to have as much time as possible to investigate at the
very least.
As
he talked to the guild and the guards, Jihad planned countermeasures for the
black demon beast in case of an emergency. Even Nozomu and the others were
truly sorry for the panic they caused.
They
were just students after all.
As
long as they were still socially inexperienced, they had no choice but to nod
if they were told by Jihad, who belonged to the Knights of the Silver Rainbow.
After
that, the four of them left Jihad's office, escorted by the two homeroom
teachers, Anri and Inda.
Nozomu
remembered when they reported the demon beast, but something slightly
surprising happened in front of him.
"Ah,
wha..."
"U-Umm
..."
"You’ve
been through a lot of pain ... I know it was hard ~~. Uu, what a good girl
!!"
"Kya!"
When
Shīna left the room, Anri-sensei, who was weeping after hearing Shīna's past,
hugged her. It looked like she was touched by Shīna's past story.
Shīna
was flustered and screamed in a cute voice. For her, who had lost her family
and pursued only revenge and regaining her hometown, this skinship had not been
felt for a long time. It seemed that her head wasn't working well because of
the sudden hug.
"Anri-sensei,
stop it."
"Hi
~yau!!"
Inda,
who was next to her, tore Anri off from hugging Shīna.
"You
are a teacher of this Solminati Academy. If you are a teacher, please have
dignity and behave like one."
Inda
understood Anri's character well. She scolded Anri, the same teacher, with a
resolute attitude.
"You
guys had a hard time. It seems that you had a lot of trouble, but more
importantly, you're safe and sound."
"No,
it was because he helped me."
Shīna
looked at Nozomu. Mimuru and Tom also smiled and turned their eyes to Nozomu.
On the other hand, Nozomu was surprised to hear it suddenly.
"Him?
..."
Inda-sensei
frowned and stared at Nozomu. She clearly felt suspicious.
"Yes.
He saved me both when I met that demon beast and when I was enraged and
endangered my friends."
"...
I can't believe it even if I heard it myself."
Inda-sensei
gave her frank opinion on Shīna's words. She wouldn't believe that Nozomu, the
very representation of the school failures, helped the honor student, Shīna.
"It's
true"
"That's
right ~~. Nozomu is a very good boy ~~"
"A-Anri-sensei
..."
To
Inda-sensei, who turned her suspicions towards Nozomu, Shīna clearly emphasized
and Anri also covered Nozomu up; however, due to Anri-sensei's atmosphere, the
slightly tense air in the hall loosened up. The atmosphere that didn't fit the
serious conversation caused everyone in the place to drop their shoulders.
"...
But given his grades in this school, I don't think he’d be able to do that. I
knew it would trouble Shīna and the others, but as far as I can tell, It would
be difficult for even a veteran adventurer to escape from that demon beast
alone. Even if it could be done, he would have been very lucky. He probably
can’t do it for the second time. "
Inda-sensei
started speaking to legitimize herself.
She
believed in Shīna, but not in Nozomu's ability.
"This
time, to be clear, you were lucky enough to be saved. Not everyone here would
have been able to come back to this town. Don't waste this luck and aim for the
future. "
Inda
decided that Nozomu's survival was all luck, and she certainly didn't see
Nozomu's power with her own eyes.
After
Nozomu escaped, a quarrel between Shīna and Mimuru broke out in the hut, and
then Shīna ran ahead, so the details about how Nozomu escaped from the demon
beast had become unknown.
At
the time of the fight with the demon beast, Nozomu and Mimuru bought time for
Shīna to sign a magic contract.
Anri,
who knew Nozomu well, nodded, but Inda-sensei looked at him with suspicion.
Jihad
was staring at Nozomu, but Nozomu couldn’t figure out what Jihad was thinking
behind those eyes.
The
discrimination against Nozomu was still deep. As long as he wasn't wielding his
sword in public, it seemed difficult to overturn his current reputation both as
a fighter and a person as of now.
"And
speaking on matters such as who students should and shouldn’t be talking to may
not be my area of expertise as a teacher, but I don't recommend being with that
Nozomu Bountis. You guys should already know why, right?"
Anri
and Shīna tried to say something to Inda who one-sidedly slandered Nozomu, but
before they said something, Inda turned her heels and left.
"Huft!
Nozomu is not such a bad boy ~ !!"
"Ha
ha ha ..."
With
her hands on her hips and her cheeks inflated, Anri was angry, and a bitter
smile escaped from Nozomu's mouth.
"Ha~a
... I'm sorry Nozomu-kun. Inda-sensei isn't a bad person either ..."
"It's
okay. I know what others think of me in this school."
“………………”
Shīna's
expression displayed some shame and sadness in response to Nozomu's words. She
once thought of him like that after all … Tom and Mimuru also looked
apologetic.
Shīna
looked down, but she raised her face as she made up her mind, and she faced
Nozomu again.
"Once
again, thank you for your help at that time. Also, I'm sorry about everything
until now. I said something terrible to you ..."
"I
also want to say thank you. Thanks to Nozomu, I’m still alive. Thank you very
much."
"That's
right. Thank you! Nozomu-kun. I also got a lot of help from you."
Shīna,
Mimuru, and Tom once again thanked Nozomu. Nozomu became embarrassed by their
pure gratitude, but at the same time, he felt guilty.
"No,
I am ..."
Nozomu
was at a loss for words and averted his eyes. When he encountered that demon
beast, he couldn't release his Ability Suppression because of his anxiety about
Tiamat and his fear of it. That made Nozomu's heart tighten once more.
Nozomu
looked at Shīna again. Until now, she had been walking on thin ice. How hard
and fragile her life was, but now she felt a tenderness she had never felt
before.
It
was her change that made her move one step further with her friends and the
result of showing her true intentions and reasons with her friends.
It
was so dazzling that it made Nozomu happy for her, and at the same time, he was
envious of her for being able to move forward.
"Nozomu-kun
... Ummm ..."
"Nozomu!
Are you okay!?"
"Ah
……"
Nozomu
was acting strange and when Shīna was about to talk to him, a black-haired girl
and her friends came from the back of the corridor. It was Irisdina, Tima, and
Mars.
Irisdina
shouted in a loud voice that wasn't like the usual her. She heard about
Nozomu's condition from Mars yesterday.
"It
looks like you went to Jihad-sensei's office. What happened? And they are
..."
"Y-Yeah.
A lot of things happened in the forest ..."
When
Irisdina came near Nozomu, she asked.
Jihad
forbade them to talk about the details, so when they were wondering what Nozomu
was talking about, Anri was there for the rescue.
"Ah,
it's already past noon ~~. Today is sensei's treat, so let's eat together
~"
It
seemed that there were various things they wanted to hear and talk about, but
they were encouraged by Anri-sensei's voice and started walking towards the
main gate.
Nozomu
also moved his feet forward, but his footsteps were still heavy.
He
stole glances at Shīna, who was walking beside them over his shoulder.
Nozomu
had fallen into darkness. As they walked, he was able to laugh again. That fact
warmed Nozomu's heart, albeit slightly.
This
time, he turned his gaze to Irisdina, Mars, and Anri who were walking beside
him. When Nozomu turned his gaze to Irisdina and the others, Irisdina and Anri
turned their gaze like Nozomu did, and they asked.
"?
What's wrong?"
"Is
something wrong～?"
"No
... Nothing."
He
couldn't say anything to the worried girls. He was almost overwhelmed by the
growing anxiety and fear, but now that they were worried about him, he found
that he wasn’t alone, which wiped away that anxiety and fear, albeit slightly.
