This chapter was brought to you by the collaboration between PolterGlast and Saekano Translations.
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Volume 1 Chapter 4.1
The Realization of the Escapism, and
the First Step Part
1
Translator : PolterGlast
After the afternoon
classes and training at Shino's hut were over, Nozomu went for a jog through
the forest.
While running along
the off-trail path, Nozomu's mind was still occupied with the day's events.
In fact, he was unable
to concentrate during training and received countless scoldings from Shino.
Even right now, as he
moved his body, Nozomu's mind was overwhelmed with feelings of uneasiness and
anxiety, as if he was being persecuted.
And, in order to
forget the pain in his heart, he kept running in the dusky darkness, even now.
Although it was his
own desire, the days of being constantly drilled in one katana technique and
fighting style after another, Nozomu's life was now filled only with training.
More than anything,
Nozomu himself could no longer endure the days of constantly explaining his
innocence, no matter how much he had pleaded for it.
This led to the
escapism that he had subconsciously done.
The current Nozomu had
lost the very purpose of coming to the academy. It was to support his childhood
friend’s dreams. And to escape from the reality he didn't want to face, he had
been repeating life-wrecking training routines.
Although his desire to
commit suicide out of despair had disappeared, the fact that he was still
running away remained.
Irisdina's words and
his encounter with Lisa in the central park became an inevitable confrontation
with the fact that he had been turned away from.
"Haa, haa, haa
……. Where is this? ……”
Even so, Nozomu kept
running as if to shake off the past, but before he knew it, he was already deep
in the forest.
To make matters worse,
the fog had begun to appear and was gradually increasing in density.
It was quite dangerous
to be encountering dense fog in the forest. The possibility of losing one's sense
of direction and whereabouts increased.
Nozomu decided to
return to Shino's hut immediately, but the fog quickly became so thick that he
couldn't see more than a few meters ahead.
"This is bad ……"
Nozomu muttered so to
himself and took out his compass, which he always carried with him. He always
carried a compass whenever he entered the forest so as not to lose his way.
However, the needle,
which should normally be pointing north without any problems even in the
forest, kept spinning around without pointing in any particular direction.
"What's going on
......"
There were indeed many
types of demonic beasts in this forest, but there had never been one that could
make the compass go haywire.
Nozomu took a few deep
breaths to calm his impatience due to the unexpected situation.
Checking his
surroundings once again, he sharpened his senses to look for signs or traces of
demonic beasts. Many demonic beasts sought prey using their sense of smell and
hearing in addition to their eyesight.
The area he was
currently in was overgrown with trees, and even though he could hide for the
time being, it wasn't completely safe.
"For now, I guess
I'll just have to find a shelter or climb a tree to see which direction I
should go ...... hm?"
Nozomu was wondering
whether to wait for the fog to clear or to proceed, as he scanned his
surroundings, he saw a bright light leaking through a gap of trees.
Is there something
there?
After pondering for a
short moment, Nozomu decided to check the source of the light and slowly weaved
his way through the trees toward the source of the light.
However, the next
moment, the light that had been shining like sunlight through the trees erupted
into a huge flash, and Nozomu's field of vision was filled with a flash of
light.
"Whoaa!"
The intense light made
Nozomu involuntarily stretch out his hand and squint his eyes. When the flash
of light subsided and his vision, which had been painted white, returned, he
saw a sight he never thought he would see.
"What the hell is
this?"
What jumped into his
vision was a barren land as far as the eye could see.
Surrounded by desolate
rocky mountains, there was no sign of any living creatures, unlike the forest
he was in before.
"Where the hell
is this? ....... This isn't the forest around the Arcazam region that I
know."
At that moment, a huge
shadow covered him as he was bewildered by the incomprehensible scene.
Nozomu looked up to
see what it was and screamed.
A huge black creature
was glaring at Nozomu from the sky.
Its huge body was
covered in jet-black scales. Each scale was as large and thick as a tower
shield, and its massiveness seemed to symbolize the seemingly endless years it
had lived.
From its back, a pair
of red, blue, green, yellow, and jet-black wings identical to those on its
body, spread out and flapped powerfully.
Its eyes hold an abyss
like a black diamond, and the darkness hidden in its eyes intimidated all who
saw it, and it aroused instinctive fear from within the soul.
"Dragon
......"
A manifestation of
absolute power that radiated an overwhelming presence.
Facing such an
existence beyond his imagination, Nozomu's mouth spontaneously muttered its
very name.
Dragons were supposed
to be mythical beings that have been lost in history and legends.
Nozomu stood there
with a shocked expression on his face. He couldn't understand his current
situation.
Even if he were to
think about it properly, it was impossible to encounter such a legendary dragon
right next to the city where he lived, regardless of whether or not he was in
the forest where many demonic beasts had infested.
And while Nozomu was
in a stunned state, the giant dragon's eyes caught sight of him completely.
The dragon's eyes,
staring down at Nozomu, were filled with pure joy and delight at having found
its first prey in a long time.
The next moment, the
jet-black dragon folded its wings and descended in a straight line toward
Nozomu.
" ~ !"
Nozomu quickly made
his whole body on guard and kicked the ground to get away from where he stood. Immediately
after, a huge dragon dropped down with a thunderous sound.
The weight of the
dragon itself and the impact of its descent caused the ground to topple over
and scatter like bullets.
Nozomu was caught in
the shockwave, was blown away, and fell to the ground, writhing.
"Gahhh
......"
Reflexively, he took
an ukemi stance and rolled his body
to lessen the impact. Fortunately, he did not suffer any serious injuries that
would hinder his movement, but the flying rocks and stone fragments cut through
his uniform in several places, and blood began to flow from the lacerations.
Nozomu immediately
decided to retreat.
Reaching into the
pouch at his waist, he took out several gray spherical objects, each one of
them big enough to fit in the palm of his hand, and slammed them all to the
ground.
Immediately afterward,
*Bang!*. A lot of smoke was scattered around the area along with the explosion
sound.
These gray spherical objects,
called smokescreen balls, were, as one could see, a tool to blind the opponent
by producing a smokescreen, a tool he kept with him at all times, as he often
had to run away from demonic beasts in the forest.
Nozomu ran at full
speed, blending in with the smokescreen that was generated. His goal was the
light he saw when he wandered into this area.
If he were to look
closely, he could see the white light that he saw in the fog coming out through
the smoke screen.
If he could get to
where it was, he might be able to return to the Spasim forest. But it wasn't
that easy.
"Groooaaar~!!!”
As Nozomu was running
through the smokescreen, a powerful shockwave hit him from behind along with a
deafening roar.
The roar, which seemed
to echo into the sky, blew away not only the smokescreen that Nozomu had created
but also his body as if it was a leaf.
"Whoa!”
While Nozomu was
dumbfounded at the dragon's power to blow people away with a simple roar, the
giant dragon opened its mouth wide and began to charge a giant flame.
The flame was a
mixture of various colors, a chaotic color.
Nozomu's instincts
kicked in, and once he landed on the ground, he quickly fled the place with
[Lightning Step].
"Ooooooo!!"
Immediately after
Nozomu activated his [Lightning Step], a gigantic flame shot out of the Giant
Dragon's mouth.
The gigantic flame
passed by him and landed on a distant hill. The next moment, the sound seemed
to vanish from the world.
"......"
Nozomu found himself
flying in the sky.
It was the first time
in his life that he had ever experienced being flung into the air, and he felt
as if his situation was someone else's, but a few seconds later, he hit the
ground and his consciousness was forcibly pulled back to reality.
While forcing his body
to get up, which was in pain from the impact of the fall, he took out a potion
from his pouch and drank it immediately.
As he felt the
restorative potion rapidly healing his body, he looked in the direction of the
hill and gasped in exasperation.
"You've got to be
kidding me ......"
The hill where the
giant dragon's breath landed on had disappeared, leaving behind a crater so
deep that it could even contain the Solminati Academy.
The inside of the
crater was stained red with molten rock at an extremely high temperature, and
thick clouds of black smoke billowed out of it.
The edges of the
enormous pit that was emitting black smoke were covered with molten rock, some
of which were vitrified, making it look like a mine of blades.
As Nozomu turned around
with a surprised expression, the jet-black dragon spread out its five-colored
six wings.
Therein, countless
balls of light in five different colors emerged.
[Spirit Magic]
Magic used by the
spirit species, which are known as the world’s kin. Unlike other magic used by
non-spirits, this magic does not require chanting or the process of interfering
with the outside world and is activated the moment the user decides to use it,
making it possible to attack far more quickly than with other types of magic.
Nozomu once again
followed the warning bells rung by his instincts and focused all his Qi on
strengthening his body.
Countless balls of
light come toward him, drawing trails of light. The amount of light was so
overwhelming that it filled most of his field of vision.
Nozomu, while trying
to avoid the swarm of light balls as quickly as he could, used his katana to
slash at the light balls and resisted with all his might to avoid being fatally
wounded, but he was unable to handle their sheer number and was quickly
swallowed up by the swarm of light balls.
When the rain of light
ceased, Nozomu was there, having been shot through all over his body.
Nozomu desperately
tried to move his one slightly mobile arm to retrieve the potion from his
pouch.
However, all the
bottles containing the potion were broken, and only the feeling of splashing,
wetness, and dampness returned to his hand.
"Ugh!”
Having no other
choice, he removed his pouch, squeezed the potion that had seeped into the
fabric with one hand, and swallowed it.
As he groaned at the
sensation of his body being forcibly healed, he looked up to see the gigantic
dragon approaching with a casual stride.
"Haa, haa, haa
......”
With shaky hands,
Nozomu raised himself up and staggered away from the giant dragon, but there
was no way he could escape.
"Grrrr……”
"Gaahh…!”
The gigantic dragon,
perhaps amused at the sight of Nozomu's struggle, slowed down and chased after
him with a growling sound in its throat. And sometimes, just for fun, the
dragon would lightly poke Nozomu's body with its claws.
With a light poke from
the giant dragon's claw, Nozomu's body bounced and rolled like a ball.
As it watched he
rolled, the giant dragon growled in amusement.
The dragon kept
messing with the little creature in front of it.
Just like a child
playing with an ant, or a cat playing with a mouse it had killed.
For Nozomu, this was
nothing short of despair.
There were no
techniques and tools that could stand up to the giant dragon.
He was running out of
energy, and his body was already in tatters inside and out.
Finally, his limit
arrived.
Due to the impact of
being blown away and slammed into the ground and due to the impact on his head,
his consciousness became hazy.
Facing death from
which there was no way out, Nozomu's hazy vision recalled everything that had
happened up to this moment as if it were a flickering light.
The scenery of his
hometown and the smiling faces of his parents.
He met Lisa in the
peaceful village and fell in love with her, attracted to each other.
He wanted to support
Lisa's dream. With that vow in his heart, he went to knock on the door of
Solminati Academy with only his feelings and determination.
Nozomu's parents were
against him going to Arcazam, and they ended up fighting, but he still didn't
regret it at the time.
He was anxious to go
to an unfamiliar place, but his desire to support Lisa's dream outweighed it.
However, the reality
was harsh.
His abilities and
grades didn't improve as he had hoped. His lover and best friends were
advancing without him.
He grew impatient and
struggled to get back on his feet, but the emergence of [Ability Suppression]
stood in his way.
Then, suddenly, Lisa
broke up with him, and without knowing why, his love relationship fell apart.
Finally, he was completely isolated at school.
(I wanted to support
Lisa's dream. I wished I could …… and I still do, but .....)
What went wrong and
why did this happen?
Just thinking about it
caused Nozomu's chest to ache and his heart to creak.
It was as if rusty
chain rings were rubbing against each other.
In the midst of such
hopelessness, he met Shino.
Their meeting was not
a good one, both started by ignoring and disliking each other, but as a result,
Nozomu was able to gain a mentor in the midst of his isolation at school.
(I'm glad I met
Shisho. She's kinda wild, but she’s definitely a good person.)
Although he
was being pushed around a lot and had to go through hellish training days, she
was definitely concerned for Nozomu's well-being.
At first, she would
ignore him, but then she saved him when he was attacked by Wild Dogs albeit she
was complaining about it.
And looking back,
Nozomu regained his old self in front of Shino. He became himself whenever he honestly
laughed and got angry.
And recently, others
had been trying to hold a conversation with him.
Anri Var and Norn
Alteina.
Those teachers were
the first to be concerned about him at school.
Irisdina and Somia.
They talked to him,
not minding the rumors about Nozomu that everyone in the school should have
been aware of.
They were somewhat
unusual sisters, who, despite being the daughters of a great nobleman, did not
hold themselves back from arguing over dogs and cats without care about being
seen by others.
Even though he had
been left out of such heated discussions but he wasn't entirely ignored or
scorned, it was the first normal time he had spent with people his own age in a
long time.
However, Nozomu turned
his back on her when she tried to tell him that she wouldn't judge people based
on rumors alone.
This was a regret that
weighed heavily on his heart.
Then, for the first
time in almost a year, he spoke with Lisa.
He once again tried to
clear up the misunderstanding, but in front of her, he couldn't express the
essential things into words.
(It's always like
this. I can't do anything when it matters the most ......)
Words of
self-depreciation. The chains that bound Nozomu's heart always prevented him
from being able to take a step forward.
The giant dragon
raised its huge tower-like claws.
The moment that claw
swung down, Nozomu would be brutally crushed to death.
Nozomu closed his
eyes, unaware that he was caught up in the resignation of facing his own death.
Then the gigantic
dragon's claw swung down at him.
◆
