Chapter 6 PAST 3
Translator : PolterGlast
Nozomu
decided to enroll in Solminati Academy.
His
parents were strongly opposed to his decision. His father was particularly
stubborn and refused to allow Nozomu to leave the village.
In
the end, it turned into a fierce fight between father and son, with Nozomu
getting a big blue bruise on his eye. After a night of persuasion, including
with fists, his father reluctantly gave his permission.
The
following year, Nozomu, Lisa, and Ken entered Solminati Academy and stepped
onto the ground of Arcazam.
Boys
and girls came to this place with hopes and dreams in their hearts. However, it
was not an easy task for them to stay enrolled in this school.
Those
who did not perform well were either expelled or left the school because they
could not keep up with the fierce competition for survival.
In
fact, in the first two months of school, nearly a quarter of the new students
had left the school.
In
the midst of this, Nozomu managed to survive the rigors of school life.
"Sei!"
"Uwa~!"
The
voices of young people echoed in the training ground In the midst of combat
training using wooden swords, Ken swung out his dummy sword and attacked
Nozomu.
Nozomu
received the sword attack that was swung from the side, but he was staggered
when the sword he raised for defense received the attack.
Ken
spun his sword around and struck Nozomu from the top this time.
Nozomu
lost his balance but he somehow managed to interrupt the trajectory of the
sword.
*Clang!*
Along
with a high-pitched sound, the swords of both sides were tightly crossed
together.
Both
of them put all their strength as they tried not to be pushed. The sound of the
clashing blades of the dummy swords could be heard.
In
the beginning, the two of them were in fierce competition, but after a few
seconds of fighting, Ken's superiority gradually became apparent.
"Kuh~!"
A
voice of anguish escaped from Nozomu's mouth. It was Nozomu who began to be
pushed.
What
Nozomu did to his body was to strengthen it with Qi techniques. Meanwhile, Ken
used magic to strengthen his own body.
As
the name implied, the technique used by both of them was to strengthen their
body muscles, but even though they used the same technique, the differences
between the two were obvious even to observers.
Compared
to Ken's fluid use of techniques and manipulation of magic power, Nozomu's Qi
technique had many rough parts.
He
was using too much energy and unnecessarily using too much Qi, and the Qi he
couldn't handle was leaking out of his body.
Furthermore,
the ability that appeared in Nozomu further hindered the strengthening of his
body by Qi.
And
the equilibrium, which had begun to tilt little by little, collapsed all at
once like an avalanche.
"Kuh~...
Ua!"
Ken
pushed him at once, and Nozomu fell back.
Nozomu
tried to resist the momentum, but he couldn't stop his body that had already
started to fall. Ken grabbed him by my clothes and threw Nozomu down to the
ground.
"Gah~!"
Nozomu
was knocked to the ground, unable to defend himself. A cry of anguish escaped
from Nozomu's mouth as the pain ran down his back.
The
light in front of Nozomu's eyes flickered.
Before
he could even regain his consciousness, Ken thrust the dummy sword at Nozomu's
throat.
"Haa,
haa ... It's my loss."
Nozomu
admitted his defeat. He slowly raised his body as Ken pulled his dummy sword.
But
his vision was still spinning in circles, and his consciousness was still
blurred.
He
also felt someting hot on his forehead. When he touched it lightly, a slippery,
viscous liquid stuck to his fingers, and the iron smell stimulated his nose. It
seemed that he had cut his forehead a little.
"Ouch!!"
"Nozomu,
are you okay?"
Nozomu frowned due to
the pain that ran on his forehead.
Lisa, who had been
watching them from a distance, came running up to Nozomu. She leaned close to
Nozomu, who was wobbling, and supported his shoulders.
She took out a
handkerchief from her skirt pocket and applied it to the wound on Nozomu's
forehead.
"Gosh! Ken,
you've gone a little overboard!"
"S-sorry ... I
got a little carried away..."
Lisa, who was
supporting Nozomu's shoulder, was complaining to Ken in a slightly angry tone,
seemingly upset that her boyfriend was injured.
"But if it's Ken,
he could have done a little better!?"
"Well yeah,
but..."
"It's okay, Lisa.
I'm the one who asked Ken not to take it easy on me."
Nozomu, who was being
treated, told Lisa so as to come to Ken's aid. He held Lisa's hand that was
resting on his forehead and stared straight at her.
"But……"
Because Nozomu himself
said so, Lisa's momentum was cut short. As for her, she knew full well that her
lover was doing his best for her. She may be a litte dissatisfied, but Nozomu's
direct thoughts always struck Lisa's heart, filling her with relief and warmth.
"There, there.
You should leave it at that, Lisa. Even Nozomu is doing his best for you."
"Uuu ..."
Lisa turned away a
little awkwardly due to Camilla's comment as she came up to the three of them.
Knowing Nozomu's feelings towards her, Lisa just clenched her mouth.
"Nozomu, are your
wounds okay? Well, you're fine, I guess. After all, you are being treated by
your beloved girlfriend."
"Gosh, Camilla,
don't say anything strange!"
"Y-yeah, of
course ..."
"See, Nozomu said
so."
"~!!"
Camilla kept teasing
Lisa.
Lisa's mouth was
stuttered as she tried to say something, but Camilla's face was grinning as she
watches Lisa. In this case, no matter what Lisa said to her, Camilla would only
be further amused.
As a result, Lisa
could only puff out her cheeks and stare at her best friend in front of her,
and both Nozomu's and Lisa's faces turned bright red.
Camilla was filled
with joy at the sight of the two of them and that joy made a smile appear on
her face.
But then she caught
sight of Ken, who was keeping quiet. He was just staring at Nozomu and Lisa
without saying anything.
“…………….”
"Ken? What's
wrong?"
Camilla, who was
feeling uncomfortable with Ken's silence as he stared at Nozomu and Lisa,
called out to him.
Ken turned to Camilla
as if he was surprised.
"No, it's
nothing. Let's get Nozomu's treatment done as soon as possible."
Ken seemed to be a
little strange, but Lisa nodded at his suggestion to heal Nozomu faster. There
was still blood coming from Nozomu's forehead.
Lisa nodded at Ken's
words and tried to cast a healing spell on Nozomu's forehead.
Lisa herself was not
very good at this kind of healing magic, but she used her ability [Niveei's
Influence] to multiply the effect of the magic.
Warm light flooded her
hands, gradually healing Nozomu's wounds. She was happy to see Nozomu trying to
protect her, but Lisa felt a little disappointed that she wasn't suitable to
use healing magic especially for this kind of situation.
Still, the warmth
brought a smile to Lisa's lips.
However, a heartless
comment interrupted the two of them.
"Is that Nozomu
guy still at this school?"
"It seems so. I
wonder how that guy is dating Lisa-san?
"Because they're
childhood friends, isn't it? If not..."
The voices were coming
from Nozomu's classmates.
The voice of disdain
that was heard made Nozomu's face tense.
"~! I-I'm fine
now. Thank you, Lisa."
"Ah……"
Putting a forced smile
while pretending not to hear their voices, Nozomu quickly pulled himself away
from Lisa. A sad voice escaped from Lisa's mouth as she could no longer feel
the warmth from her hand.
Nozomu looked
apologetic for a moment, but then he forced a smile and stood up.
He took the dummy
sword that had fallen to the ground and extended his hand to Lisa.
"Let's get going.
It'll be dark soon. I'll walk you back to your dorm."
"It seems so... Yes,
please."
Lisa gave a small nod
and stood up, took Nozomu's hand, and walked alongside him to the exit of the
training ground. Camilla followed a little later, but she turned and glared at
the classmates who had just thrown abusive words at Nozomu.
The classmates,
however, did not pay attention to Camilla's gaze and laughed it off.
Camilla's gaze becomes
even sharper at the sight of them, but they do not change their attitude.
Camilla was inwardly
angry, but she couldn't keep staring at them like that forever, so she started
to run after Nozomu and the others.
Following Camilla, Ken
was the last one to leave the training ground.
However, from behind
him, one of the students who had been throwing abusive words at Nozomu earlier
called out to him.
"Hey Ken, it's
hard, isn't it?. You have to deal with that kind of garbage..."
"Nazwel..."
A student from the
group that had been ridiculing Nozomu earlier walked up to Ken.
His name was Nazwel
Barkin, one of the best students in his year, and the son of a nobleman from
the Cremazione Empire.
The Empire of
Cremazione is a country with a powerful army, and its power rivals that of
Forsina.
He is the third son,
and although he is not in a position to inherit the family like the daughter of
the Francilt Family, he was chosen to be one of the students to come to this
school because of his abilities. He was selected as one of the students to come
to the school in order to educate himself as a person who would be in charge of
the country and to make connections for the future.
He is also a talented
person, and from the very first day he entered the school, he showed his power
and was quickly promoted to D rank, just like Irisdina Francilt, Tima Lime, and
Kevin Ardinal.
"I don't mind,
I..."
"You and Lisa
both have great talents. But why does she care about such garbage? I honestly
don't understand her."
Just like them, Lisa
and Ken have also improved rapidly since they entered the school and have
reached the rank of D.
Lisa and Ken's talents
were not inferior to theirs. It was because he felt that way that Nazwel
treated Ken and Lisa as equals.
And he couldn't
understand why Lisa, whom he recognized, was with Nozomu Bountis.
To him, results were
proof of talent, a person who could produce results had talent and that was all
that mattered.
In fact, the students
behind him were some of the best in their year. Ken himself has had a few
sparring encounters with them before.
"... Lisa needs
Nozomu, you know."
"But what she's aiming
for is to be an adventurer. It's certainly not impossible for her to rise to
the top with her talent. But isn't Nozomu Bountis just an obstacle in achieving
her dreams?"
While doubting Ken's
answer, Nazwel said something without hesitation.
"The one Lisa
chose was Nozomu...'
Ken muttered to
himself and started walking after Nozomu and the others.
"Well, if that's
what you said, it can't be helped then. But I think you should think about it.
This is a dangerous world. You never know when death will descend and take your
life."
Death. That word
pierced Ken's heart.
It was what he feared
the most. When he was a child, when he was told about Lisa's dream, he felt the
worst possible outcome. The fear that it would become a reality comes back.
While feeling Nazwel's
gaze on his back, Ken forced himself to walk towards the entrance of the
training ground.
He felt the ache in
his chest growing stronger.
===============================
When Ken left the
training grounds, Nozomu and the others were waiting for him. Camilla
approached him, wondering if something was wrong with Ken, who was taking a
little longer than expected.
"You're late. Did
anyone say anything strange to you?"
"No, ...
everything is fine."
Ken replied, trying
his best to remain calm. With the same smile on his face as always.
It was a facial
expression that he had kept on his face ever since the two of his childhood
friends, Nozomu and Lisa, had taken a step forward in their relationship.
He's already gotten
used to making this fake face.
(But it's fine. It's
fine this way.)
Ken told himself so.
He looked at his best
friend standing next to Lisa.
Nozomu was always like
that. He was always the first one to move.
When Lisa, who had no
father, was still a child and Mujiru was throwing heartless words at her,
Nozomu was the first one to jump on Mujiru. Ken was always one step behind.
Lisa had chosen
Nozomu. It wasn't Ken that she was attracted to and chose.
"So, should we
head home now?"
"Yes. We've been
practicing for quite some time... Is that alright, Nozomu?"
"Eh……?"
Now that they were all
here, Camilla urged them to go home for the day. Surely the sun would go down
soon. It's time to go home.
Lisa also agreed with
Camilla. She also called out to Nozomu to see into his complexion.
But Nozomu was at a
loss for a reply as if he still wanted to train.
He was probably
concerned about the results of the combat training they did earlier and what
Nazwel had said to him.
Lisa also noticed that
Nozomu was dissatisfied with the result.
"Nozomu ..."
"Y-yeah. Let's do
so..."
Lisa touched Nozomu's
injured forehead with a worried expression on her face.
When Lisa looked at
Nozomu, Nozomu agreed to go back to the dorm.
When Lisa heard
Nozomu's reply, she was relieved. Ken, watching such a scene, felt his own
cheeks tense up naturally.
"...!"
When Ken realized that
his face was stiff, he exhaled and relaxed his cheeks. Neither Nozomu, Lisa,
nor Camilla noticed Ken's expression, and the three of them headed straight for
the main gate.
Ken breathed a sigh of
relief that they hadn't noticed him.
But at the same time,
Ken felt something black stirring deep inside his body. It writhed around in
his chest and churned his internal organs.
Still, he swallowed
his spit, desperate not to let something in the pit of his stomach overflow. If
he were to let it out, it would change everything. He had such a premonition.
"Ken?"
Lisa turned around
with a suspicious expression on her face. Just the fact that she was looking at
him made the aching in Ken's chest from earlier seem like a lie, and a smile
naturally returned to his tense face.
"Ken, are you
okay? You look like you're in pain..."
Ken replied that he
was fine and began to walk alongside the three of them.
The four of them go
through the main gate, pass through the central park, and head for the
dormitory. They were talking while walking for a while.
They eventually reach
a fork in the road. One path led to the girls' dormitory, the other to the boys'
dormitory.
"Well then, we'll
go this way."
"See you both
tomorrow."
Camilla and Lisa said
their goodbyes and headed for the girls' dormitory. But suddenly, as if she
remembered something, Lisa turned around and came back to Nozomu and Ken.
"I forgot to tell
you one thing. Nozomu, you should get some rest today."
"Eh?"
"Don't give me
that. If it's Nozomu, then surely he was going to train again when he got back
to the dorm, wasn't he?"
"Ugh, t-that's
not true, is it?
“…………”
Lisa glared at Nozomu.
Probably because he couldn't stand that glare, which has clearly grown
stronger, Nozomu gave a small nod of acknowledgment to her words.
"I knew it... No,
not today. You're injured, go to your room and rest!"
"B-but ..."
"No! You've been
training without a break today! Just listen to me and go back to your
room!"
"...…I
understand"
Nozomu nodded firmly
to Lisa's words while making a small muttering voice.
"I'm relieved
....... Ken, take care of Nozomu."
"Y-yeah. I
understand."
After Lisa heard
Nozomu and Ken's answers, she was finally relieved from the bottom of her heart
and smiled at them.
Nozom was fascinated
by her smile, but couldn't forget the frustration swirling in the depths of his
heart.
As soon as Lisa was
completely out of sight, Nozomu opened his mouth.
"Ken ... I'll be
back to the dorm a little late, okay?"
"Nozomu, are you
sure you want to go to train? Lisa just told you to stop..."
Ken complained to
Nozomu, who was trying to continue his training even though Lisa had just
stopped him.
"I'm sorry. But
... I need to get stronger to protect her back. If I don't, I'll ..."
However, Nozomu who
was driven by impatience was babbling what was in his mind.
His fists were
clenched tightly in frustration, and he looked as if he was going to run away
at any moment, urged on by his frustration.
[Ability Suppression]
The ability to
forcibly suppress a person's abilities below a certain level. This ability
manifested in Nozomu contributed to his impatience.
It hadn't been long
since he had manifested this ability, but even so, Nozomu's grades had dropped
to the bottom of the class.
He had to do something
about it. ......
While being driven by
that thought, Nozomu tried to leave the place to train alone.
"I get it. But
we're just going to have quick sparring in the dorm, okay? No more than that."
To be honest, there
was no stopping Nozomu now that he was like this. Thinking so, Ken scratched
his head while sighing hevily.
"Thank
you……"
Thanking his best friend,
Nozomu hurried back to the dormitory. He didn't want to be left behind, and he
wanted to become stronger.
As Ken watched
Nozomu's back, he too felt an indescribable sense of frustration and tried his
best to suppress the dark emotions welling up in his heart.
The next day, however,
a story spread and swept throughout the first year students.
And that was the
beginning of the fatal rift between Nozomu and the others.
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