Chapter 7 Part 12
Translator : PolterGlast
Inside
Jihad's office in Solminati Academy, two men and a woman faced each other.
A
woman in a white coat and an elderly man in a well-tailored suit. And a
dignified, blond, nobleman.
A
crystal ball the size of an adult's arm was placed in front of them, and the
images of Jihad and Nozomu crossing blades were projected on it.
The
two attack each other with unbelievable speed. Each time they swung their
blades, the atmosphere screamed and the ground broke.
And
then, Jihad's final blow was released.
Nozomu
also pulled his katana out of the sheath held at his waist in a single motion.
In
the next instant, the image of Nozomu cutting off the extremely thick Qi-blade
that was swung towards him, shattering everything in its path, was shown.
"I
see, it is indeed a strange power. No wonder Jihad-dono is so wary."
The
Nobleman. Victor rubbed his beard and murmured as if he was convinced.
"That's
true. Especially his last Qi technique. That is no longer in the realm of
student-level techniques."
Next
to Victor, Haibao Foca, an elderly man who was also looking at the crystal ball
image, nodded his head.
His
tone was flat, but the sweat on his forehead showed how he felt.
"More
than that, I'm also impressed by his swordsmanship. Hmmm......"
Victor
seemed to be interested in Nozomu's swordsmanship as well as his power.
Norn,
the woman in a white coat, spoke to him who went silent.
"How
was it?"
"It
is indeed marvelous. I couldn't believe it when I was given this..."
Haibao's
face broke out in admiration. In his hand was a report about Nozomu,
handwritten by Jihad.
The
most important thing, that Nozomu is a dragon slayer, was also clearly written
in the report. And that he had not fully controlled his power.
"So,
can you help us regarding this Nozomu Bountis?"
When
Norn threw in a few words to force a conclusion, Haibao shrugged his shoulders
as if he had no choice.
"From
the beginning, you knew we couldn't say no, didn't you?"
"Yes,
otherwise I would not have shown you these images."
Yes.
After being shown that much, they had no other choice but to cooperate.
It
was impossible to ignore it, and it was out of the question to eliminate it by
force.
While
confirming Nozomu's power, Jihad would show them how Nozomu fought and urged
them to cooperate with him.
And
while showing them Nozomu's power, Jihad also needed to show them the fact that
only he could fight against Nozomu.
Jihad
had planned it from the beginning, so he decided that it would be fine even
without him being here.
"Very
well. As the chairman of the Arcazam Council, I will assist you as much as I
can. However, it would be better not to leak this information. I will discuss
the details directly with Jihad-dono at a later date."
Hearing
these words, Norn smiled with satisfaction.
"Thank
you, Haibao-dono. How about you, Victor-dono?"
Norn
also asked Victor, who had been silent for some time, for an answer.
However,
Victor was staring at the crystal ball with squinted eyes, as if there was
something stuck in his mind.
There
was an image of Irisdina sitting on the ground and offering her hand to help
Nozomu, who was being treated.
"...
Sure, I'm in favor of both emphasizing that he is important and concealing his
true nature. I don't know what kind of chaos he would cause if his true
identity became public. I will keep this report and the images shown today to
myself. But......"
"But?"
"...
No, I'll tell the rest directly to Jihad-dono. I'll leave it as it is for the
time being."
Victor
waved his hand and activated his magic. He lit the report in his hand and threw
it into the fireplace in the office.
He
then glanced at the report, which was quickly burning, and turned on his heel
to leave the office.
"Hmm,
I see, so that's it. Norn-sensei, I'm going home too. I will keep what I saw
today to myself."
Perhaps
sensing something in Victor's glance, Haibao gave a small nod, tossed the
report in his hand onto the fireplace, and followed Victor out of the room.
Norn
looked at the closed door for a while, exhaled heavily, and dropped her
shoulders.
"...
Oh dear. It looks like we're going to have a hard time."
Norn's
small mumbling faded into the quiet office.
After
confirming that all the reports had been burned, Norn put away the crystal ball
and left the office.
Jihad's office was quiet. The only light in the darkened office was from the
fireplace, where the remaining fire from the burnt-out reports was still
burning.
===================================
After the combat
training with Jihad, it was decided to end the training for the time being.
As expected, it might
be too violent today.
Nozomu was treated by
Irisdina and the others, while Jihad, Inda, and Anri were putting away the
magic tools they had brought with them.
Jihad who crossed
blades with Nozomu had his own thoughts on the matter. It started with a bunch
of nonsense and ended with a single word: training.
"I have never
heard that uncontrollable power can be suppressed by Ability Suppression, but
from now on Nozomu will need to train to be able to control that Ability
Suppression at will. Hasn't Nozomu ever controlled Tiamat's power by adjusting
the effects of Ability Suppression?"
"If I release
even a little bit of Tiamat's power, the whole Ability Suppression itself blows
up. So I could just either not use it at all or release it at full power... But
lately, I feel less likely to receive Tiamat's interference even when I release
my power."
Nozomu glanced and saw
Irisdina and the others nodding their heads.
On the other hand,
Inda, who heard Nozomu's story, put her hand over her mouth in contemplation.
"Perhaps you are
unconsciously using the power of the Ability Suppression for
self-defense."
"Self-defense,
eh?"
"Whenever anyone
is about to be hit, he or she will immediately engage in reflexive defensive
actions, such as raising his or her hands or closing his or her eyes. It could
be similar to that. However, you're just a human being. So, I doubt that
Tiamat's power can be sealed just by a single person's ability..."
According to Inda, it
seemed questionable why there was a bias toward mental preservation and not
physical preservation. Normally, someone would try to protect both.
How could Nozomu
suppress Tiamat's power? Inda had wondered about this herself, but in the end,
she could not come to a conclusion even after thinking about it.
She had only deduced
from what had happened until now that the Ability Suppression was related to
the fact that Tiamat was sealed in Nozomu's body.
Inda seemed to be
skeptical even about the current situation, though.
"While Nozomu-kun
was bedridden, we also looked into various literature on Ability Suppression,
but there is no precedent for this kind of thing."
Instead of Inda, who
was still thinking about it, Jihad now joined the conversation.
"For the time
being, I will have you, Nozomu-kun, release your Ability Suppression every day
from now on and meet Tiamat face to face."
"Ehh!?"
Nozomu's surprised
voice involuntarily came out.
He had met Tiamat in
his dreams, but he rarely went to confront Tiamat himself.
In the first place,
every time he met her, she almost killed him. It wasn't just once or twice that
he felt like he was dead.
Nozomu was uneasy
about Jihad's suggestion, but Jihad continued the conversation without concern.
"Tiamat is the
owner of the power that Nozomu-kun has taken in. The best way to learn how to
control that power is to ask the person who has it. And according to what I
have heard, the number of times Nozomu has released Tiamat's power is not that
many. If he continues to release it to some extent, he may be able to adapt his
body to the power."
It made sense.
The power that Nozomu
took in originally belonged to Tiamat, and to some extent it made sense that he
should release the power in order to familiarize it with his body.
Nevertheless, Nozomu's
anxiety couldn't be wiped out.
"Ummm.... Is it
going to be all right?"
"From what I've
heard, you've had a lot of interference so far, haven't you? Still, you're
safe, so I'm sure you'll manage. ...... or rather, do something about it."
"Ha, ha, ha...
you're as unreasonable as shishō..."
"It's
unreasonable! The burden on Nozomu is too great!"
"If he's not
careful, there's a possibility of irreparable damage to Nozomu-kun's spirit,
you know!"
Irisdina and Shīna
shouted to interrupt the conversation.
They seemed to be more
worried about Nozomu, and their expressions were even more urgent than ever
before.
"Of course, we
will do everything we can to help. The first thing to do is to make sure that
he has the best possible countermeasures in place. He has a precedent of being
able to escape Tiamat's interference through the previous contract with Shīna,
so we will devise ways to make the most of that."
Of course, Jihad also
intended to have insurance.
It would not be needed
if they were just going to open the door, but if they were going to face
Tiamat, it would be natural to think of one or two countermeasures before
making the suggestion.
Nozomu would have to
control Tiamat's power at all costs.
Furthermore, Inda will
present a concrete countermeasure plan.
"Specifically, we
need to prepare and equip ourselves with the tools and equipment to perform the
ritual properly. The strength of the magic path connected by contract magic can
be considerably increased by such preparations."
"Hmm..."
Jihad and Inda's
explanation showed that they had properly thought out countermeasures, which
dampened Irisdina and Shīna's spirits.
Nevertheless, the
girls glanced sideways at Nozomu himself, as if they could not change their own
worried feelings.
Jihad and Inda
continued their explanation while smiling at their gesture.
"Also, we will
connect the path to others in that contract to ease his burden. The same way
you guys did before."
"But it's better
not to connect too many people. If there are too many people, the technique
will become complicated and we may not be able to maintain it in case something
unexpected happens."
The other party is
Tiamat. It would be necessary to construct the technique with considerable flexibility.
"... How many
people can you handle?"
Nozomu asked for
further explanation.
Inda quickly
calculated the difficulty and scale of the required formula and came up with an
answer.
"Depending on
Shīna-san's ability, and considering the other party Nozomu-kun will be facing,
I would say two or three people, including those who will be using the contract
magic."
The number of two or
three was calculated from the number of people who connected to the path when
Nozomu went out of control before.
Recently, Shīna had
been further refining her spirit magic. Even at the time of the previous
incident, she was able to construct a magic communication network that covered
the entire Arcazam, even though she borrowed the help of Tima and magic tools.
After taking into
account Shīna's ability, Inda decided on this number of people with a
sufficient safety margin.
Jihad stared at
Nozomu. His gaze was asking Nozomu whether or not he wanted to do this.
"... I
understand. Let's do it."
"Nozomu-kun, are
you sure?"
Nozomu thought about
it for a while, but clearly accepted Jihad's suggestion.
Shīna frowned at him.
"Yeah, I think
it's time to do something about it."
Until now, he had met
Tiamat mostly by accident in the form of dreams or when the other party interfered
with Nozomu. Nozomu himself had never gone to meet Tiamat.
However, he couldn't
stay that way forever. Nozomu himself understood that. But he could not do it
without Shīna's cooperation.
Nozomu turned his gaze
to her.
"I understand
....... If you say so, Nozomu-kun, I will cooperate."
It couldn't be helped
if he was rejected. Nozomu thought so, but surprisingly, Shīna readily
expressed her willingness to cooperate.
"... Are you
sure?"
"You wouldn't be
able to do it without me, would you?"
"W-, well, yes,
but ......"
Nozomu was so
surprised that he couldn't help but ask back.
Shīna, on the other
hand, shrugged her shoulders, as if she couldn't help it, but a smile naturally
appeared on her lips.
Her smile, as clear as
a fountain, did not contain the slightest bit of anxiety or dissatisfaction.
Combined with her
beauty, she radiated an air of illusion that made it hard to believe that she
was a person.
Nozomu felt his own
cheeks naturally become hot.
"If that is the
case, Anri-sensei and I would be the best suited for the burden-reducing roles,
and we should adapt our techniques accordingly."
Having obtained their
consent, Jihad continued the conversation. Then all that remained was to select
the people to share the burden with Nozomu.
Jihad recommended
himself and Anri for that role.
Considering that Inda
needed to support Shīna with the techniques, it was a natural choice.
However, there was one
person who put a stop to Jihad's words. Yes, it was Irisdina.
"I'll do
it!"
Nozomu and the others
widened their eyes when they heard her voice, which was so tense that it was
not the usual her, which was usually so calm.
Irisdina, on the other
hand, met Jihad's gaze head-on.
"This role isn't
something you can do with half-hearted mental strength. I think you already
know that, don't you?"
"I have served in
the same role before, connecting with Nozomu through Shīna's contract magic. I
have also experienced the mental pressure of Tiamat during that time."
Jihad kept showing a
stern expression on his face and his voice was grim and bitter. However,
Irisdina didn't give up either.
"Besides, I
......"
What came back to her
mind were the words she once shouted to him as he was about to be devoured by
Tiamat.
It was her wish and
vow.
To stand by him and
support his back. Her true intention, which she would never compromise.
"... This is my
will. I will not give it up to anyone else."
Her voice was not
loud. However, her dignified voice and sincere eyes spoke more eloquently than
anything else to Jihad about her intentions.
Jihad, perhaps
defeated by Irisdina's will, let out a big sigh and slumped his shoulders as if
he had no choice.
"Alright. Then,
it will be Irisdina-kun and I..."
"I understand~.
It'll be me and Irisdina-san who will be connected to the path with
Nozomu-kun~."
This time Anri
interrupted Jihad's decision.
Jihad, who got
interrupted again, stared at Anri with a sharp look in his eye.
"Anri-sensei
..."
"I'm sorry~. But
Nozomu-kun is my student~. I can't give up this role, even to
Jihad-sensei~"
Her tone of voice was
as slow as ever. But beneath that tone, she radiated her own will as much as
Irisdina.
"Haa ...
understood."
"Thank you~"
Jihad shook his head
as if nothing can be done anymore.
Nozomu quickly moved
closer to Irisdina and spoke to her in a voice so quiet that the others could
not hear.
"Is that okay,
Iris?"
"What is
it?"
"No, umm... the
thing Jihad-sensei was talking about earlier."
"What? Is that
it?"
Unlike Nozomu's
worried tone, Irisdina's voice didn't sound shaky at all.
Her cheeks seemed to
be slightly flushed, but it was hard to tell in such a darkened forest.
There was a clear
inflection in her tone, which sounded flat and somewhat exuberant.
"What do you mean
by 'is that it'..."
As for Nozomu, he
really didn't want Irisdina and his friends to take any risks.
In fact, when he had
gone out of control, his friends had really put their lives on the line.
Therefore, Nozomu did
not want Irisdina and the others to do anything reckless.
(It's going to be okay
now. I'll hold Tiamat down firmly.)
Nozomu was about to
say those words, but Irisdina interrupted him with the next few words.
"As I told
Jihad-sensei earlier, it was my own will. Nozomu doesn't have to worry about
it."
Nozomu was overwhelmed
by her determination to follow her own will.
"And
besides……"
Besides? Just as
Nozomu tilted his head, a slight shadow appeared on her former exuberant
atmosphere.
"I don't want to
lie about what I said before..."
She muttered in a soft
voice that only Nozomu could hear her.
"Ah……"
Her words at that
time. Those were definitely the words she shouted out when Nozomu went out of
control.
(I want to protect
your back! I want you to protect my back!!)
It was, without a
doubt, the words that formed the bond that brought Nozomu, Irisdina, and their
friends together.
If she used those
words, Nozomu would not be able to say anything more.
His worried feelings
didn't change. But at the same time, Nozomu felt a warmth welling up in his
heart.
However, was it
because of that? The slight shadow that had just appeared on her face was still
haunting his heart.
=========================================
On their way home, Nozomu
and his friends walked through the forest, passed through the walls of Arcazam,
and walked along the outer edge of the city.
The surrounding area
was already enveloped in darkness.
A whole lot of
post-training cleanup at Shino's hut had been completed, but as expected, there
was nothing they could do about the gouged forest, so they had no choice but to
leave it alone.
No one would have
noticed because Shino's hut was located deep in the forest and covered by a
barrier of concealment, but Nozomu had a wry smile on his face as he saw yet
more things to clean up.
"Ouch ... As
expected, using that power was going to affect every part of my body."
Dull pains ran through
every part of his body. Even after the treatment, Tiamat's power had placed a
considerable burden on Nozomu's body.
Even though the wounds
on the surface were healed, the burden remained firmly in the core of his body.
At the same time, it
showed that Nozomu himself was not yet able to control Tiamat's power.
"Considering the
source of the power, I guess this side effect is still considered minor, and
even then it's still too much of a burden on Nozomu...."
"Well, you can
never be too careful. Tiamat has tried to mislead you in various ways
before."
Nozomu nodded silently
at his friends' complaints.
However, contrary to
their words, there was one thing that really bothered Nozomu.
(What happened to
Tiamat in the past that made her change so much?)
Nozomu's mind recalled
the scenes from Tiamat's past.
A young black dragon
happily enjoying her time among her friends.
The horrific tragedy
that followed after such a heartwarming scene was unimaginable.
Tiamat's former friend
who denounced her and her desperate attempts to appeal to him.
Their exchange of
words clearly didn't mesh and Tiamat fell into the depths of despair.
(......Was she
betrayed by her friends? Many things couldn't be explained about her. Or was
there something else going on?)
He had recently begun
to feel a sense of familiarity with Tiamat. However, he couldn't shake off his
distrust of the dragon sleeping within him.
"Haa ..."
He had mixed feelings
about it.
Ever since he had that
dream, an indescribable feeling kept haunting him.
Trying to shake off
this unpleasant feeling, Nozomu glanced at his friends walking next to him.
The two girls were the
first to speak up in response to the unreasonable training proposal.
Indeed, just the
thought of meeting Tiamat made his whole body tense, but strangely enough, he
felt relaxed now.
Perhaps noticing Nozomu's
gaze, Irisdina tilted her head.
"Nozomu, what's
wrong?"
His cheeks were
naturally getting hot. Not wanting to be noticed, Nozomu averted his gaze.
"W-well, there's
a lot of things I can't quite get my head around..."
He also strongly
desire to be with his friends who were now next to him.
A girl with dignified
black hair, a girl with a smile as beautiful as the sun, an elf girl as pure as
the moon. A slightly reckless best friend and a timid female friend. A pair of
beastmen who always caused trouble for no reason, and an alchemy-loving
classmate who got involved in it.
These were the people
that Nozomu truly didn't want to lose.
"Besides, Tiamat
isn't the only source of trouble ..."
The more he thought
about Irisdina and the others, the more the image of Lisa also came to Nozomu's
mind.
At the same time,
something unspeakable was stirring deep in Nozomu's heart.
Anyway, he had to make
time to speak to her properly.
As Nozomu pondered so,
he heard an unfamiliar voice.
"Welcome back, Irisdina-ojōsama,
Somiliana-ojōsama. We have been waiting for you."
When Nozomu turned in
the direction in which they were called out, a middle-aged woman dressed in a
maid's outfit stood at the entrance to the city.
She folded her hands
in front of her and bowed deeply.
That was a woman
Nozomu had never met before.
However, He was
familiar with the clothes she was wearing. They were the same clothes as those
of the maids working at the Francilt mansion.
"U-umm ... who
are you?"
"Nice to meet
you. My name is Mena, and I serve the current head of the Francilt Household,
Victor-sama. I look forward to working with you."
"H-hello, it's
nice to meet you..."
Nozomu instinctively
bowed his head at the polite greeting from the woman who introduced herself as
Mena.
Being bowed to by an
older woman, Nozomu also bowed his head.
Meanwhile, Irisdina
and Somia, who were acquaintances with Mena, froze in surprise at the
appearance of someone who wasn't supposed to be there.
"... Mena, how
did you get here?"
Irisdina's words
slipped out unintentionally. A thick voice echoed as if to answer her.
"Because I came
to this city."
"F-, father
..."
A middle-aged man with
a bright golden beard appeared from behind the maid.
Dressed in clothes
that were recognizable at first glance as expensive.
But what surprised
Nozomu more than anything else was the fact that Irisdina addressed the man in
front of her as her father.
The current head of
the Francilt Household. Nozomu had heard of his fame.
He was a loyal vassal
who advised the king of Forsina to send an army as soon as possible during the
great invasion 10 years ago. He was also the person who offered a helping hand
to the countries that were being driven into a corner by the demon beast
attack.
"It's been a long
time, Irisdina. You have become more and more beautiful, just like
Firana."
"Father too, I am
glad to see you are doing well."
Victor's stern face
broke when he saw his beautifully grown daughter.
Irisdina, whose eyes
had been wide open in surprise, also smiled wryly.
"Father! It's
been a long time!"
"Oh, Somia!
You've grown up. I'm sorry I haven't been able to come to see you more
often."
Upon seeing her
father, Somia rushed to him in a lively manner.
Victor picked up his
young second daughter and gently stroked her head while smiling broadly.
"Father, that's
ticklish."
"Sorry, sorry.
Somia is just too cute. Yeah, you're as still light as a feather."
"Bu~! Father, I'm
growing up all right!"
"I see! Well,
Somia has also grown into a fine young lady, hasn't she?"
"Yes! I'm a fine
young lady now!"
Somia's cheeks puffed
out in dissatisfaction, but her smile soon returned and she hugged her father
tightly.
Perhaps she was so
happy to see her father, she was more energetic than usual.
"Father! Have
your work been doing well?"
"Yeah, everything
is good. Because Mena has been doing an excellent job."
Where have you been?
What happened? What was it like?
Somia's questions fly
in rapid succession, and Victor again happily talked about foreign countries
and cities.
Irisdina, who was
listening at the side, was also smiling at her family's reunion after a long
time.
On the other hand, it
was Nozomu and the others who were completely left behind.
They left them alone
for a while because it was a parent-child reunion, but there was no sign of an
end to the conversation between Somia and Victor.
But they were afraid
to talk to them.
"Father, we are
still in the city. Somia too should hold back a little..."
Irisdina noticed that
Nozomu and the others were wondering what to do, and she said a word to Victor
and Somia.
"Ah, I-I'm
sorry."
"M-my
apologies."
While smiling
bitterly, Victor gently lowered Somia to the ground.
Perhaps embarrassed
that she had been so excited in front of Nozomu, Somia turned and hid behind
her sister after she was lowered from her father's arms. Her cheeks turned
bright red.
"Let me introduce
myself again. My name is Victor Barenz Francilt. I am the father of Irisdina
and Somia."
"N-, Nice to meet
you! I am Nozomu Bountis."
"I'm Mars
Dickens."
"T-, Tima Lime
..."
"I'm Shīna
Yuriel."
As each of them gave a
brief self-introduction, Victor nodded his head.
"Oh, I've heard a
lot about you guys. You've taken care of my daughters in many ways."
"N-, no. I ... I
am the one who has been indebted to them..."
"So, Father, what
brings you to Arcazam today?"
"Hmm? Why would I
need a reason to come check on my daughters? Well, I came for a little
inspection as well..."
When Victor noticed
Jihad near Nozomu, he quickly approached him and began to talk about something.
"Jihad-dono, I
now understand the "circumstances". I have just confirmed it earlier.
We will talk about it early tomorrow morning..."
"I understand.
See you tomorrow at your Office ....... Well then everyone, see you all
tomorrow."
Jihad briefly
exchanged words with Victor and then returned to the school with Inda and Anri.
"Father, what is
the matter?"
"No, I just told
Jihad-dono that I wanted to talk to him, but it's getting dark today, so we'll
talk tomorrow."
Victor cut off the
conversation as if to say it was no big deal.
"Well then, let's
go home. It's been a while since I've had dinner with my daughters. Oh, yes.
Would you like to join us, ladies and gentlemen?"
"Eh!?"
Nozomu and the others
were perplexed by the sudden offer.
The other party is a
famous nobleman on the continent. While Irisdina is already more like a dear
friend than the daughter of a noble family, this is not the case with Victor.
Besides, it would be
their first family reunion in a long time. Nozomu also wanted them to take
their time and not worry about him.
Victor may have sensed
that Nozomu was feeling this way, and he smiled as if to say, "Don't worry
about it."
"This is a good
opportunity. I'd like to hear how my daughters are doing in school. I hope they
don't misbehave..."
"F-,
father!"
Irisdina raised her
voice as if she was dismayed.
Victor watched his
daughter with a smile on his face.
"'Umm, are you
sure?"
"I've already
sent the maids to do the preparations. If you all refuse here, all the hard
work of the maids will have been for nothing, right?"
It seemed that Victor
was going to invite Nozomu and the others from the beginning.
After being told this
much, Nozomu and the others had no choice but to accept.
"W-, we
understand. We will be your guest."
"Alright. Then,
let's go."
Victor smiled with
satisfaction at Nozomu's response and began walking with his daughters.
Nozomu and the others
followed, with Mena walking at the end of the line.
An unusual group of
nobles, students, and maids. Naturally, they attracted attention.
Nozomu and the others
walked through the darkness of Arcazam toward the Francilt Mansion, while the
residents glanced at them through the windows of the houses on the street.