Chapter 8 Part 25
Translator : PolterGlast
Veri's class had
shifted to a purely practical lesson, and both Tima and Veri were giving
lectures, in which each of them demonstrated magic.
Nozomu, who had become
quite bored, called out to Mars, who was standing next to him.
"Hey, how long
have you been coming to this place, Mars?"
"Not long before
the opening festival. Around the time you started training with that old
man."
"I see..."
It seemed that they
started coming to Ecross after Nozomu was trained by Zonne.
Nozomu, too, had been
so busy training with Zonne recently that he was completely unaware of the many
things that Mars and Tima were doing without his knowing about it.
However, Nozomu felt
as if he was seeing an unexpected side of the two of them when he saw them like
this.
"It's a little
unexpected."
"Hmm? About
what?"
"I had never seen
Mars here before, and I had never seen Tima-san being so proactive at the
academy."
It was surprising that
Mars, who was seeking strength and striving to master the art of combining
magic and Qi, was devoting his time to something other than training like this,
and that Tima was acting like a teacher to the children as well.
In particular, Tima's
usual quiet and reserved behavior has completely disappeared, and she was
actively giving lectures to the children.
She gave detailed
instructions on the techniques to be used and the adjustment of the amount of
magic power, and firmly warned the children who showed a bit of adventurous
spirit and tried to do something risky.
"Well, she has a
younger brother after all. Since they're close in age, it's easier to talk to
them."
"You know her
quite well..."
In response to
Nozomu's words, Mars huffed and fell silent.
He was embarrassed,
his cheeks were slightly reddish, and his eyes were a little flustered.
Mars' gaze had always
been on Tima, who was in the process of teaching the children, and his mouth
was tinged with a somewhat pleasant color.
"You've
changed..."
"Huh? You mean
her?
"Perhaps because
she has been through so much lately, she has stepped up to the challenge with
her own strength. And Tima helping out with this class because she herself
volunteered to be a part of it."
Nozomu thought that
Mars himself had changed, but apparently, Mars thought those words were
directed toward Tima.
However, just as Mars
was changing, Nozomu felt that Tima, too, was changing as a result of being
with Mars.
"Stepped up to
the challenge?"
"According to
her, she used to dislike her own excessively strong magical power. But now
she's glad she has this power..."
"I see..."
In the last less than
six months since she began her involvement with Nozomu, Tima has overcome
numerous difficulties.
The experience seems
to have been enough to change her own mind about her own excessively strong
magical powers.
Nozomu glanced over at
Mars, who was happily watching Tima and the others.
Perhaps the most
significant influence on Tima's change was the presence of Mars.
Their personalities
hardly seem to match.
Nevertheless, the
distance between the two, which had somehow grown closer, caused Nozomu to be a
little surprised, while at the same time making him smile with a joy that
welled up in his heart.
As he mulled this
over, Nozomu was suddenly called from the side.
"Hey hey,
Onii-san. May I have a word?"
When Nozomu looked in
the direction of the voice, she saw three girls standing side by side.
Among them, the girl
in the middle approached Nozomu.
"Hm? You
are..."
Nozomu felt a strange
sense of déjà vu as the girl walked up toward him.
While Nozomu was
trying to remember where they had met, the girl smiled and spoke to Nozomu.
"It's been a
while. Thank you for your help back then."
"Back then, you
say..."
"It was when
Somia and I were returning home from the library when we were attacked by an
assailant."
"Ah, from the
incident with Ken. Were you injured?"
The girl was Somia's
friend who was involved in Ken's assault case.
Her name is Lansa. She
is a classmate of Somia's, and they are such good friends that they study
together in the library until late at night.
"Yes! Thanks to
Nozomu-onīsan and everyone, I was fine."
With a carefree,
bright smile on her face, the girl called Lansa bowed her head to Nozomu.
“Nozomu-onÄ«san. Since
we're able to talk thus, I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't
mind."
"Something you
want to ask me? I'm good, but ......, Mars, why do you have such a bad
expression on your face?"
“…………”
Nozomu suddenly felt a
heavy air coming from next to him, and when he turned his head, he saw that
Mars had a face that could not have been more uncomfortable.
"Mars-onīsan,
what's wrong? If you make such a sour face, Tima-onēsan will hate you, you
know?"
"Shut up, don't
talk to me."
"Oi,
Mars..."
Nozomu tried to scold
Mars for his dismissive behavior toward the younger girl, but Nozomu's words
were interrupted by Lansa's voice, who waved her hand in a carefree manner.
"Oh, it's alright
Nozomu-onīsan. I know that Mars-onīsan is just embarrassed."
Nozomu was surprised
at the girl's boldness in the face of Mars' anger.
Although he had grown
quite calm recently, Mars was still quite a troublemaker, just as he appeared
to be.
Fights outside of the
school were a regular occurrence to him, and as a result, he had been dropped
to the 10th class, the lowest class.
Even a young child
would have cried out if she were to be confronted by such a former
troublemaker.
"So,
Nozomu-onīsan. Can I ask you another question?"
"Nozomu, you'd
better not."
Mars' words made
Nozomu feel strangely uneasy, but he felt bad for the girls younger than him
who had taken the trouble to talk to him, so he decided to answer their
questions.
"... Well,
okay."
"Great! Everyone,
he says it's okay!"
With a big smile on her
face, Lansa gestured to the two remaining girls in the back, who then
approached Nozomu.
"This one is
Merry. Over there is Kinea. Onīsan, you're the older brother Somia was talking
about, aren't you?"
"Umm, are they
all friends of Somia-chan?"
"Yes! That's
right! We all study and play together."
It seemed that these
two were also very close to Somia.
All three of them were
staring at Nozomu with a curious look in their eyes.
However, their gazes
were somehow warm and flirtatious, unlike the gazes that Nozomu received when
he was showing off his Mikagura-style katana technique earlier.
As Nozomu tilted his
head at the strange curiosity directed at him, Lansa asked him a question that
could not have been more straightforward.
"Well then, I
want to ask you, Nozomu-onīsan, how far did you go with Somia?
"…… Pardon?"
Unable to understand
the meaning of what Lansa was saying, Nozomu couldn't help but respond in a
dazed voice.
"That girl,
although she talks about onīsan a lot, she never wants to talk about how far
things have progressed. I thought this would be a good opportunity for us to
hear from you onīsan."
"Um, what are
you..."
"So, how far did
you go? You had a date, and of course, you kissed her, didn't you? What else?
Did you take a bath together or something? Oh, and of course, you can tell us
about your relationship with Somia's sister!"
"I didn't! What
are you talking about out of the blue?"
No matter how one
looked at it, the questions that were being thrown out in rapid succession
without a pause were ones that would directly probe into Somia's private life.
Moreover, they were
extremely sensitive and if they were to go off the rails for a moment, they
would be turned into a dangerous things.
Furthermore, they were
even trying to get information about Irisdina.
Nozomu, faced with a
storm of unexpected questions, unintentionally raised his voice to deny the
questions.
On the other hand,
Lansa looked at him with wide eyes and an unbelievable expression on her face.
"Are you sure you
haven't? Not even a kiss? Don't tell me you haven't even been on a date?"
Lanza continued asking
questions in a voice that changed from a cute, cat-like voice to a heavy,
threatening one.
The way she was asking
the questions was more like a pestering or a probing, and the oddly elegant way
she was doing it made Nozomu answer honestly.
"... No, I did go
on a date with her."
"I see, so you
did go on a date. Then what about kissing? Of course, onīsan was the one who
kissed her, right?"
“…………”
It seemed that when
one question was answered, two or three more questions were asked in return.
Nozomu, thinking that
he could not afford to be asked any more strange questions, answered Lansa's
questions in silence.
However, this girl was
also perceptive enough to be called a child prodigy, and she sensed the truth
from Nozomu's silence.
"I see, so it was
Somia... So, what kind of a situation was it!? On a bench where you two sat
together? In front of the mansion, you sent her home to? Or maybe on the
bed!?"
"Uwaa~……"
No matter whether he
answered or kept silent, the repeated barrage of questions made Nozomu sound
annoyed and fed up.
Moreover, the
situation in which Nozomu was kissed was mixed up firmly in Lansa's words.
Perhaps it was because
of the girl's excessive interest in colorful love, which is typical of girls
who have reached puberty, but even so, it was too sharp.
Perhaps it was limited
to colorful love, but the way Somia kept giving misleading answers to her
friend made Nozomu realize once again that she was also a child prodigy.
And so, at the same
time, Nozomu thought. This girl is definitely the same type of person as Feo
and Mimuru.
If ignited, she would
become passionate and get into trouble, and after going out of control, would
continue to involve others.
"It's started.
That's why I told you not to do it..."
Mars let out an
exasperated voice.
Apparently, he too had
been a victim of Lansa's questioning attacks.
Rather, it was because
he had been a victim that he had reacted so rejectively toward Lansa.
Nozomu was inwardly
troubled by the fact that the bad premonition he had felt before he was asked
the question had come true.
"U-, umm... Well,
if Somia-chan hasn't said anything, I guess I have nothing to say too."
"Eeh~. I thought
you were going to tell me about your relationship with Somia without
hesitation~~. Could it be that Nozomu-onīsan is just as much of a coward as
Mars-onīsan?"
Nozomu was about to
say, "Who's a coward, you bastard!". But Nozomu swallowed the words
that rose to his throat with all his might.
It was true that it
had taken Nozomu years to repair the relationship with his childhood friend,
and he still had no idea what the future held for him, and he was still
depressed after the incident with Azel, but for Nozomu, he was dealing with a
girl who was younger than him, just like Somia.
Knowing that it would
be too immature to get pissed off here, Nozomu mobilized every ounce of pride
he had and sewed his mouth shut.
"Who's a coward,
you bastard!"
On the other hand,
Mars, who was made a target along with Nozomu, was, as expected,
uncontrollable.
"Eeh~. I can see
that Mars-onīsan likes Tima-onēsan, but you won't even admit it. You won't
answer me, no matter how hard I try... As I thought, you're a coward, aren't
you?"
"T-, this
brat..."
Although he seemed to
have grown up and calmed down to a reasonable degree, his agitation tolerance
remained low, and Mars was trembling and shaking with anger.
Meanwhile, Nozomu was
relieved to see Lansa's eyes shift from him to Mars. He attempted to disappear
and fade out of the scene as it was.
Although he claimed to
be a close friend, Nozomu may be starting to be influenced by Feo and Mimuru
quite a bit, as he did not hesitate to use Mars as bait when the conflict was
averted.
Nevertheless, it was
impossible for them not to stand out if they were making such a racket in
class.
"Mars-kun,
Lansa-chan. What are you two doing?"
As expected, Tima, who
was helping Veri, scolded Lansa and Mars in a scolding tone.
As Mars said, Tima is
not as timid when she is at the academy, perhaps because she is dealing with
someone her own brother's age, but she exudes the air of a dependable older
sister.
"Ti-,
Tima-onēsan. No, it's just..."
"Why am I getting
scolded too?"
However, for the
current Lansa, Tima may seem like a scary older sister.
Perhaps aware that she
was doing something unnecessary in class, Lansa, who was being scolded,
shrugged her shoulders and became smaller.
On the other hand,
Mars, who had just been taunted, seemed dissatisfied.
"I don't know
what Lansa-chan said to you, but Mars-kun, you shouldn't raise your voice like
that to a younger girl."
However, Mars'
dissatisfaction was silenced by a single statement from Tima. It was certainly
immature to raise one's voice against a girl as young as Somia. Mars seemed to
be aware of this, too, and honestly bowed his head.
"M-, my
bad..."
"And also, Lansa-chan,
you're still in a class now. You should go back to where Veri-sensei is.”
"Y-, yes!"
"Also, Nozomu-kun
is attending this class as a special guest to help us out. I don't know what
you told him, but I'm not impressed that you would do something to embarrass
him, okay?"
Lanza, who was trying
to cover up her awkwardness by replying in a rather energetic manner, was
firmly rewarded with an additional preaching session.
Truly, Tima is a
dependable older sister now.
"Y-, yes...
Nozomu-onīsan, I'm sorry for asking such a strange question."
"Don't worry
about it. Though it certainly caught me by surprise."
Lanza bowed his head
to Nozomu, despite the look of fear on her face.
As long as she
apologized properly, Nozomu wouldn't mind.
Lansa is also a friend
of Somia's, and at heart, she is a good and honest girl.
After bowing to Nozomu
and Mars, Tima took Lansa and the others and tried to return to Veri.
Not wanting to be a
hindrance, Nozomu and Mars also tried to move to the edge of the training area
to observe from a little further away.
"U-, umm,
Nozomu-onīsan, please wait."
However, Lansa stopped
Nozomu as he was about to move.
Leaving her friends to
return to class, she rushed to Nozomu again.
"What is
it?"
"Umm, just one
last thing, may I?"
Lansa's words seem
somewhat hesitant.
Instead of the playful
attitude she had shown earlier, her expression somehow reflected a strong
shadow of anxiety.
When Nozomu glanced
over to check on Tima, she made eye contact with Nozomu and gave a small nod.
Apparently, she now
wanted him to answer Lansa's question.
As Nozomu turned to
face Lansa once again, she opened her mouth a little, looking a little scared.
"Somia will be
able to come tomorrow, right? That girl has been working too hard lately, she
just got sick, didn't she?"
What she was worried
about was her best friend, Somia.
She must also have
heard about the meeting between the Francilt and Waziart households.
And because of the
situation the Francilt family was in and the absence of her best friend, she
felt the same anxiety as Nozomu.
"... Yeah, don't
worry. She'll be here tomorrow."
All Nozomu was able to
convey were baseless words that could be described as wishful thinking for
Nozomu.
Still, Nozomu smiled
encouragingly at Lansa, hoping to ease her anxiety, even if only a little.
"… Thank
goodness."
Although Lansa smiled
when she heard Nozomu's answer, her expression still had a shadow of uneasiness
on it.
From her expression,
it was clear that Lansa also understood that Nozomu's answer was unfounded.
She, too, knew the
situation that Somia's family was facing, and she must have guessed that it
would not be a simple matter.
Even so, the fact that
she could push away her anxiety and smile showed that this girl was a good
friend, but at the same time, she was still a young and fragile being.
"Nozomu-onīsan.
Please take good care of Somia and Somia's sister for me."
"... Yeah, if
it's something I can do, I'll do my best."
Nozomu replied to
Lansa with the words, "I will do my best." If he could not make any
statement about the current situation of Somia and her family, he would at
least show his own will as much as he could.
Deep in Nozomu's
chest, there was a tingle of anxiety and regret that would never disappear.
Even with these feelings, Nozomu's unyielding desire remained unchanged.
Hearing Nozomu's
intention, Lansa said nothing and ran off to return to class.
Nozomu could not see
Lansa's expression as she turned her back and left, but Tima and Veri, who
greeted her, had a definite smile on their lips.
Despite their wishes,
however, Somia did not come to Ecross again for the following days.
===============================
After Veri's class was
over for the day, Nozomu, along with Anri, Mars, and Tima, left Ecross.
They walked through
Ecross' main gate and out onto the street facing the central park.
"Anri-sensei,
about the furnace..."
"Don't worry,
I'll talk it through~"
After assuring Nozomu
that Anri would talk it through, she returned to the Ecross school building as
if she still had some business to attend to as a teacher.
Nozomu, who saw Anri
off as she returned to Ecross, was relieved that he had, for the time being,
figured out a way to make the bell.
Nozomu was relieved
and was about to return to the dorm when Mars, who was walking next to him,
talked to him.
"Well then,
Nozomu, I'll see you later."
"Huh? Where are
you two going?"
"We still have
some business to attend to at the academy regarding Tom's and Mars' magic-Qi
combination techniques..."
It seemed that Mars
and Tima still had some business to attend to at the school.
"Alright then.
I'll see you tomorrow at the school."
"Yeah, see you
tomorrow."
After saying goodbye
to Mars, Nozomu walked straight to the city.
"Well then, shall
we go?"
After seeing off
Nozomu's back as he walked away, Mars went in the opposite direction from
Nozomu, toward the school.
Tima was quietly
standing next to him.
Mars seemed to be full
of energy, and he was quite fired up.
On the other hand,
Tima's expression as she watched him was not good.
"Hey, Mars-kun,
are you sure you want to do this?
"Yeah. It's about
time I took another step forward."
"But……"
Tima's tone was as if
to make sure.
Although the two had
been training together in the magic-Qi combination technique, the way Tima was
worried about Mars was clearly different from usual.
Her expression was
somewhat uneasy.
However, Mars' eyes,
looking at Tima's expression, were filled with the light of a strong will that
would never allow him to back down.
"I can't stop. I
can't afford to stop. To catch up with him, I have to keep running."
For Mars, Nozomu is
his best friend and rival.
At one time, due to
his own lack of experience, he too had failed to control his magic-Qi
combination techniques and had gone out of control.
From that experience,
he came to understand his immaturity, and he began to have a certain amount of
composure when it came to techniques and powers that he could not control, and
to take the necessary steps in mastering them.
However, it was also
clear that having a certain amount of composure was not enough to move forward.
Although Mars was able
to use magic-Qi combination techniques, albeit to a limited extent, with the
help of Tom, Tima, and Feo, the range was limited and not enough for Mars.
He could not move
forward or overcome the obstacles by simply walking slowly.
He had to make a
breakthrough at some point.
The resentment toward
his father for leaving him behind and the thirst for power, which had been in
his heart when he was a child, still smoldered within Mars.
But more than that,
Mars did not want to lose to his best friend.
He clenched his fists
as he thought of Nozomu, who was at the mercy of a power greater than that of
the magic-Qi combination technique, but was still fighting back.
"Just a little
more... Besides, I want to do all I can right now. You know how I feel, don't
you?"
"Yes……"
Both Mars and Tima had
witnessed the whole events that took place around Nozomu and Irisdina at the
opening festival.
Both Mars and Tima had
crossed blades with Rugato before, but both of them, being more of outsiders
than Nozomu, were unable to do anything at the time of the opening festival.
The Francilt and
Waziart households were getting closer, and the vampire princess had an unusual
interest in Nozomu.
Mars' feeling, which
had recently become more sensitive to the disturbances, told him that their
surroundings were once again becoming dicey.
"If I fail, I'll
ask for your help again."
"Gosh~. You keep
saying things like that..."
Their path was already
in sight. All that was needed was one last step.
The final step to jump
over the cliff in front of them.
And the courage to
take the leap, even though they knew that if they failed, they might fall into
the abyss.
On the other hand,
Tima let out a sigh of dismay at Mars, who was throwing everything into her
hands if he were to fail.
Still, even in the
midst of her anxiety, she had also grown to the point where she was able to
speak in a casual tone to the opposite sex, something she had been
uncomfortable with.
"Let's go."
"… Un."
Mars and Tima nodded
as if to confirm each other.
The two shadows lined
up on the red colored ground at dusk, as if they were leaning against each
other, and drifted off to the school.