This chapter was brought to you by the collaboration between PolterGlast and Saekano Translations.
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Volume 1 Chapter 3.1
Old Wound that Hurts Part 1
Translator : PolterGlast
Nozomu, who had been
undergoing special training with Shino since early in the morning, managed to
pass the morning class exhausted.
"Ah... the sun
looks hazy."
The fatigue that
enveloped his entire body was something normal, but today the sun looked even
more hazy than usual.
With such a hazy mind,
Nozomu left the school building to buy lunch.
Solminati Academy is
built in the center of Arcazam, and there is a large park surrounds it. This
central park is a place of relaxation for the people of the city and for
students, and there are many stalls selling snacks and refreshments around the
park.
As a student who has
been struggling, Nozomu is basically an independent person, but today, after
being instructed to train twice as much as usual in the morning, he didn't have
the energy to prepare lunch in the morning after returning to his dormitory.
He walked around the
park, mindful of his surroundings, and looking for a stall that might sell
bread or some other simple snacks.
Truth be told, he
didn't want to go to Central Park where there were many students from the
school, but the other places in the school building were much more crowded.
And since it was
already lunchtime. Not only students but also the town's general public visited
Central Park for lunch.
In front of Nozomu's
eyes, people with a wide variety of appearances, such as those with beast-like
tails and ears and those with bird-like wings, were peering into the stalls or lying
on the grass in the park, spending their time as they pleased.
The Arcmel continent
was originally inhabited by a wide variety of races.
There were various
races, from fairy races such as elves, to sub-races including beastmen and
other rare races.
Arcazam was built by
gathering human resources from all over the continent.
Due to this reason,
Central Park, where so many people gathered, was truly a melting pot of various
races.
"As I thought,
there are a lot of people here..."
The hustle and bustle
of the crowd might be an enjoyable sight for some people, but unfortunately,
Nozomu was rather uncomfortable with strangers, partly because he was despised
at school.
Fed up by the hustle
and bustle atmosphere, he bought some bread at a deserted stall and walked to
the nearby trees.
The central park was
quite large, but it was basically an open grass lawn that ran around the
perimeter, with trees that grew thicker as one moved further.
And since most people
spent their time in this lawn area with tables and chairs, the trees-filled
area was filled with an atmosphere of tranquility, unlike the noisy lawn area.
For now, Nozomu walked
through the tree-filled area and sat down under a desirable tree.
He brought his mouth
down on a piece of bread he had bought from a stall earlier, chewed, and
swallowed the slightly hard dough.
"Haa, it's a bit
tough, and I can't say it tastes particularly good. Well, it's cheap, so it's
not bad... hmm?"
After taking a bite,
Nozomu, who had a subtle expression on his face due to the bland taste of the
food, tilted his head at the strange sight that suddenly caught his attention.
"Who's that? In a
place like this..."
A girl was looking up
at a tree and looked horrified.
A girl about ten years
old, with her glossy black hair neatly trimmed on her shoulders, she had an
aura that particularly caught his attention.
(Is it just me, or is
she really quite similar to someone I saw recently... Hmm, Argh... I can't
figure it out)
The girl's appearance stuck
in Nozomu's mind. But due to his master's intense morning training and because
of hunger, Nozomu's head had completely stopped working.
During the day,
Central Park was bustling with people, but unfortunately, Nozomu and the girl
were in the trees-filled area, which was not a particularly popular place.
Naturally, it would be
hard to imagine other people noticing the girl in distress.
(Besides, that uniform
belongs to Ecross, doesn't it?...)
Upon closer
inspection, the girl was wearing a white-colored uniform, similar to Nozomu's
uniform. Ecross is an affiliated school that belongs to Solminati Academy and is
attended mainly by children around the age of ten.
The purpose of
founding this school was to nurture highly capable individuals by providing education
to talented and promising children from an early age.
Those selected were
either legitimate children of prominent figures in their respective countries
or those born with rare talents and abilities.
(She looks rather
small for someone who attends Ecross. Well, since she is wearing that uniform,
then she is indeed a student of that school...)
The girl in front of
Nozomu was rather small for an Ecross student, but as long as she was wearing
that uniform, there seemed to be no doubt that she was a student of that
school.
(She seems to be in
some kind of trouble, and I can't just leave her alone, can I?...)
Normally, Nozomu
didn't like getting involved with strangers, but he couldn't leave the young
girl who was obviously in trouble in such an unpopular place.
Nozomu, for the time
being, put the hesitation and sentiment of avoiding strangers out of his mind
and decided to talk to the girl.
"Is something
wrong?..."
"Eh?”
Nozomu's voice was
strangely strained out of nervousness, and the girl turned around in a
surprised manner. The girl's jet-black eyes stared at Nozomu. The color of her
eyes, which seemed to absorb him, gave Nozomu a strong feeling of déjà vu.
"You're an Ecross
student, right? What are you doing here?"
"Umm, actually, I
was playing with Kuro-chan during lunch break..."
"… Kuro-chan?”
The girl was looking
upward at the tree in front of her. As if prompted by the girl, Nozomu also
looked up and saw a black cat relaxing on a branch, playing with something shaped
like a ring.
"What's that? A
bracelet?"
"It's my bracelet,
and Kuro-chan liked it so much that she took it away from me…... Gosh, Kuro-chan,
please give it back to me~!"
The girl looked
troubled and pleaded at the black cat up on the tree, but the black cat, called
"Kuro-chan", seemed to like her bracelet so much that it didn't pay
attention to the girl's voice.
(It's a pretty tall
tree. Moreover, the skin of the tree is quite slippery. Even an adult would
have a hard time climbing it.)
"...... There is
no other choice then."
Nozomu rolled up the
sleeves of his uniform, placed his hands on the tree trunk, and began to climb
it with ease.
In the forest, he
often climbed trees to escape from demonic beasts, so tree climbing was
something he was good at. On the other hand, the black cat noticed Nozomu climbing
the tree and raised its tail warily.
"Behave and hand
over that bracelet."
Nozomu climbed up to
the same height as the black cat and reached out to grab the bracelet, but the
black cat snarled, "Fusha----!". The black cat lashed out and snarled
at Nozomu, threatening him, and swung its claws at him.
"Whoa, don't be
violent! "
"*Shaa---!*"
Just as Nozomu tried
to touch the black cat’s body, it bared its fangs and ended up pouncing on him.
As for Nozomu, he couldn't move much on the tree, and the black cat latched
onto his face and clawed him.
"Ouch, you
fucking cat!"
As he was facing more
resistance than he expected, Nozomu grabbed the back of the black cat's neck
with one hand and pulled it away forcefully.
The black cat, on the
other hand, was not to be outdone. Raising its claws, it dexterously scratched
the back of Nozomu's hand.
"Ouch--!"
As the pain weakened
Nozomu's grip, the black cat gently twisted and turned its body to break free
from the restraint and jumped up using Nozomu's hand as a foothold.
Returning to the
branch, the black cat seemed to say, "This is mine!". It stuck out its
chest as if to emphasize that the bracelet was hers.
But even so, Nozomu,
who had already been clawed by the black cat, didn't back down. If one were to
look closely, one could see that the bread he had just bought for lunch had
fallen to the ground and was covered in dirt. Although it was tasteless and
unappetizing, it was still a valuable source of energy for Nozomu.
Nozomu, who became
quite hot-headed after his precious lunch was spoiled, once again tried to grab
the black cat which was on the branch.
And so began the great
fight between Nozomu and the black cat. The black cat lunged at Nozomu, but he
grabbed it and said, "Behave yourself!". The black cat seemed to say,
"Let go of me!", and clawed and bit with all its might.
"Ah, Onii-sa~n,
Kuro-cha~n..."
As the girl looked at
them with concern, the battle between one person and one animal gradually
escalated.
Along with that, the
branches of the trees which was the battlefield began to creak.
Eventually, in the
middle of the fight, as Nozomu placed his hand on a branch and rested his
weight on it, the limit was reached.
*Snap!*
With a snapping sound,
the branches broke, and one person and one animal were thrown into the air,
losing their footing.
"Whoa!”
"*Nya-nya*!"
Being pulled by
gravity, Nozomu and the cat fell to the ground.
However, as expected
of a cat. Despite being suddenly thrown into the air, the black cat quickly
turned itself over and was quickly and effortlessly settled in the girl's arms.
Meanwhile, Nozomu was
unable to regain his posture and fell awkwardly to the ground.
*Thump!*
He hit the back of his
head and crouched on the ground while letting out miserable groans.
"U-umm, are you
okay?..."
"...... Y-yeah.”
Nozomu somehow managed
to stand up, trying hard to hold back the tears that were welling up from the
depths of his eyes. Nozomu had mixed feelings of embarrassed and humiliated upon
seeing the worried look in the girl's eyes.
"More
importantly, is your bracelet safe?..."
Right after Nozomu
asked about the bracelet, which was his aim, he peeked at the black cat which
had settled on the girl's arm.
The black cat was in
the girl's arms with the bracelet around its neck, but the bracelet itself was
undamaged and seemed to be fine.
"Thank goodness.
Thank you."
The girl smiled with a
beautiful smile and looked genuinely relieved.
Nozomu's mouth
naturally loosened at the sight of her innocent and pure smile.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I
didn't introduce myself. My name is Somiliana. My friends call me Somia!"
"I'm Nozomu
Bountis. You can call me Nozomu. If you
don't mind, can I call you Somia-chan?"
"Yes! Nice to
meet you, Nozomu-san!"
"Yeah, nice to
meet you too."
Encouraged by the
black-haired girl who was looking very excited, the tension he felt when he
first approached her had completely faded away.
He got scratched and
fell from the tree, and it was quite painful, but seeing the girl with a big
smile on her face made the pain in his body disappear.
Thinking back, he
rarely got thanked by anyone, except for yesterday.
In his normal school life,
Nozomu never smiled nor had anyone smiled at him, but he found himself smiling
sincerely for the first time in a long time.
*Clang, clang,
clang...*
At that moment, the
bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch break.
""……
Ah.”"
Nozomu and Somia. They
both let out troubled voices at the same time.
"Oh no! I have to
go back to the classroom!"
Hearing the bell,
Somia began to panic. Although Ecross school building was connected to
Solminati Academy, it would take longer for the girl's legs to get there than
Nozomu's.
"You'd better get
going. It would be bad to be late."
"Y-, yes! Umm,
once again, thank you very much!"
Somia bowed deeply
once again, with the cat in her small arms, and with nimble steps, she headed
back towards the Ecross school building. Nozomu exhaled with satisfaction while
looking at her back.
"I missed lunch,
but ... well, whatever."
What Nozomu did for
her was nothing much. The only thing he did was get into a fight with a
mischievous cat and they fell down from the tree together.
Nevertheless, the
words of gratitude from the girl brought a sense of satisfaction to Nozomu to
the point of making him forget his hunger for a while.
◆
