This chapter was brought to you by the collaboration between PolterGlast and Saekano Translations.
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Volume 2
Chapter 3.2
The Fairy Who
Lost Her Wings Part 2
Translator : PolterGlast
Nozomu was brought to
a lounge area in one corner of the library.
Tea and simple snacks
were placed in front of Nozomu, who was seated at a square table for four.
To Nozomu's right is
Tom, and to his left is Shina. Mimuru is sitting across from him.
The arrangement is as
if he was under interrogation. And, seeing how Mimuru peered at him with an
amused grin, Nozomu shuddered uncomfortably.
"U-, um, so why
am I here?"
"Now, now. I just
wanted to ask you something."
Nozomu was
involuntarily leaning back on his chair when Mimuru leaned in to close the
distance between them.
"W-, what is it
that you want to ask me?"
"Nothing serious,
you see? How did you get so close to the dark-haired princess?"
Nozomu inwardly
understood that this was the case.
Irisdina Francilt is
among the most untouchable students in the third grade. That's why, it was very
unusual for her not to be bothered by the fact that she had formed a party with
Nozomu, who was considered to be a particularly inferior student in the school.
"I can understand
if it's just a temporary party, but I heard that she even invited you to lunch.
It's impossible not to be curious about it~~."
Of course, there was a
possibility that they could at least have an impromptu party at the request of
the guild, for example.
But she visited the
10th-class classroom herself to invite Nozomu to lunch. It was as if she was
trying to convey that they were that close.
In fact, during the afternoon
class on the day she invited him to lunch, Nozomu was subjected to countless
suspicious and murderous stares from his classmates. If not for Mars, he might
have been taken to the back of the school building.
"You understand,
don't you? Since it's all circumstantial evidence, it's just like you draw a
Royal Straight Flush, you see?"
"What, I've never
heard that before. I just happened to be in a place where they were fighting a
demonic beast in the Spasim forest ....... Well, I guess it was too poor of an
excuse, huh?"
The pursuit of the two
was becoming a bit tiresome for Nozomu.
However, as expected,
he hesitated to talk about the problems between the Francilt and Waziart
families.
Mimuru, on the other
hand, was not satisfied with Nozomu's response, her mouth curved into a
grimace.
"Eeeh -------.
This is where you should brag and say, 'It can't be helped, I'm in such a deep
relationship with her!' And you're going to be proud of it-----."
"What the heck?
That line would make me sound like a dim-witted player......"
"I'm sorry.
Mimuru has a slightly unfortunate head ......"
"Unfortunate?
What do you mean by unfortunate ----!"
Shina, perhaps getting
a headache from Mimuru's outrageous behavior, was looking down with her hand on
her forehead before she knew it.
On the other hand,
Mimuru's dissatisfaction exploded toward Shina due to the lack of follow-up
support. She stood up with her hands raised in the air, but her loud voice was
met with a simultaneous glare from the surrounding students, who had been
quietly reading.
Mimuru, whose tail
curled awkwardly under the countless stares of protest, dropped her raised hand
and took a seat, then coughed to cover up her own disgrace, and once again
brought her face close to Nozomu's.
"A-, ahem! Besides,
you're not as weak as people say. I can tell from yesterday's fight."
"You can?"
"Well, yeah. I
may look like this, but I'm still one of the best in my class, you know?"
Mimuru smiled smugly
as she leaned against the back of her chair.
As far as Nozomu could
see, she must be quite skilled.
Beastmen originally
have higher physical abilities than humans, but tend to be crude in their
handling of Qi and magic.
This is a side effect
of being born with high capabilities, but as far as Nozomu could sense, the Qi
she wore seemed quite refined.
"So what kind of
relationship does Nozomu have with the black-haired princess? A lover?Mistress?
Or a servant?"
"I wonder why
there's no option of a normal answer like 'a friend'......"
"I'm not looking
for such a boring answer!"
However, in contrast
to her high level of abilities, this Catmen girl's personality and behavior
were too disappointing.
She declared that
gossip was more than welcome, and Nozomu raised both hands in his heart,
saying, "Oh, no, this is no good". Nozomu felt that he had recently
had too many encounters with people who did not listen to the words of others,
such as the fortune teller in the commercial district and this girl.
"Mimuru, you
mustn't make any more fuss."
"Fumyaan!"
In the midst of all
this, Tom, who had been watching what was going on next to her, reached out his
hand to touch Mimuru's head.
He pinched her fluffy
ears as if he were petting his cat, and Mimuru's body shook with a jerk.
Then, the momentum
that had been making a lot of rackets until a few minutes ago suddenly slowed
down, and her body plopped down on the table without any strength!
Grrrrr...... Every
time Tom stroked her ear, the sound of gentle purring resounded through the
lounge.
"Sorry that
Mimuru made so much fuss about it. I know it's a bit late, but we meet again,
Nozomu-kun."
"Y-, yeah. As I
recall, your name is Tom-kun, right?"
"Just Tom is
fine. Both Mimuru and Shina call me by my first name."
Tom talked to Nozomu
while petting Mimuru with one hand.
However, the distance
between this boy named Tom and Mimuru is very close. It is a distance that
would be noticeable to someone around Nozomu's age.
"I'm sorry, this
is an impolite question, but are you two- ......"
"Ah, yeah. It's
just like what you think......."
With that alone,
Nozomu guessed their relationship. Romance between a beastman and a human is
rare, but not entirely unheard of.
Nozomu knew full well
about that and could tell that the two were truly attracted to each other, even
during this brief period of time.
From Mimuru's purring
and joyful expression, he could also sense Tom's gentle temperament, and there
was neither disgust nor hostility in the way they looked at Nozomu.
Tom, on the other
hand, also smiled at Nozomu's lack of mockery of his relationship with his
girlfriend.
"I've been
wondering since yesterday, are you an alchemist?"
His boyish-looking Tom
is not wearing that overly hefty cloak today.
Instead, he has a pile
of borrowed books on the table, perhaps intending to read during the break.
Looking at the titles of the books, many of them are about alchemy.
"Well, yeah. But
I'm also studying magic, so I'd say I'm more of a researcher, wouldn't you
say?"
Alchemy is a discipline
that mainly studies all the substances that exist in this world.
Originally, it was
created by those who thought about the origins of the world, and it has been
developed into what it is today by merging with the various magic-related
fields in various countries.
Because of its
origins, it has material aspects, such as earth and water, rather than
immaterial aspects, such as light and darkness, and is expected to play a major
role in society in the future.
"Tom is amazing,
you know! At his age, he's already been invited to Gloaurum Institute!"
"...... Eh! For
real?"
"Y-, yeah. I'm
helping them with alchemy and developing new magic formulas. I haven't produced
any results yet, so I'm still an apprentice."
Perhaps happy to be
praised by Mimuru, Tom scratched his own cheeks, looking a little embarrassed.
On the other hand,
Nozomu was also surprised to hear that he was invited to Gloaurum Institute.
The Gloaurum Institute
is a research institution that serves as the foundation of Arcazam. It was this
institution that researched and systematized the techniques related to Qi-jutsu
and magic that were spread all over the Arkmel continent.
Naturally, selected
individuals with open-minded and brilliant brains are gathered from all over
the world, and even though he is an apprentice, his excellence is proven by the
fact that he is being invited while still a student.
"Wow, that's
totally awesome......"
"Thank you. Well,
I have a little favor to ask you. Is that okay"
"Hmm?"
"Nozomu-kun, that
sword you're holding, it's an Eastern sword, isn't it? I'd like to take a
closer look at it if you don't mind."
With a sparkle of
curiosity in his eyes, Tom pointed to the katana at Nozomu's waist.
"This? Why? I
don't think it has anything to do with alchemy."
It was originally his
master's possession, and although he believed it to be quite a famous katana,
Nozomu had never heard anything about it from Shino.
On one side, alchemy
is a study of the West, on the other side, katana is a weapon of the East. In
Nozomu's mind, alchemy and katana were not connected at all.
"We can't be sure
about that. It is probably a pretty famous katana, isn't it? Eastern swords are
a mass of wonders that cannot be understood by our magic theories. It might be
a famous sacred katana that has vanquished demons or a legendary sword that has
been used to bring vengeance on the Eastern Dynasties!"
"No, there is no
way such a sword exists. I mean, why should you put so much emphasis on the
"legendary" part of the katana?"
Tom's wishful thinking
was mixed in with his line, and Nozomu couldn't help but calmly interject.
Nevertheless, it was
also true that being looked at with such pure eyes, on top of his boyish
appearance, made Nozomu's mind waver.
"Well, sure, as
long as you don't break it."
In the end, Nozomu
decided to let Tom have a closer look at his beloved katana.
He removed the katana
from his sword belt and held it out with both hands while keeping it in its
scabbard, with the blade of the katana facing up.
"Thank you! Well
then, let's get right to it......"
Tom happily accepted
the katana presented to him and pulled it out of its scabbard.
*Shiiing......* and
the metal guard came free from the scabbard, exposing the sword's magnificent
blade.
"Whoa......"
"Hee......"
Tom and Mimuru let out
voices of admiration. Nozomu himself looked at the blade of his master's
beloved katana in the same way, and once again thought it was a beautiful
katana with a beautiful blade.
The blade has a smooth
wavy pattern on its surface that reminds one of the rings on the years of a
large tree. When held up to the sunlight, a starry radiance shines like a
kaleidoscope in the stream-like stripes poured into the blade of the sword.
"It's
beautiful......"
Even Shina, who had
been silent with a serious look on her face, seemed to have been taken aback by
the beauty of Nozomu's katana.
"Certainly, this
is a very beautiful katana, but......"
"Is something
wrong?"
"There is no
ambiance of Qi or magic in it. But......"
"Tom?"
The light of
intellectual curiosity returned to Tom's eyes, which had been purely admiring.
However, unlike the
childlike eyes of earlier, what was reflected in his eyes now was an intense
will to examine.
This light of
curiosity brought a bad premonition to Nozomu's mind.
"Did it get
erased once? Is that why it turned like this-...... But I don't think there are
many people who could break the will that resides in such a weapon......"
"Hey, are you
done?"
Tom's eyes lit up in
a slightly dangerous glint. And his eyes were fixed on his mentor's memento.
Following his
intuition, Nozomu attempted to retrieve his beloved katana.
"But there is no
doubt that this was a magic sword or something similar. Perhaps there are
traces of it somewhere ......."
However, instead of
returning the katana to Nozomu, Tom turned around and looked back at Nozomu
with his dangerous, inquiring eyes.
Cowering under the
glare of his eyes, Nozomu involuntarily stopped his outstretched hand.
"Nozomu-kun!"
"W-, what is
it?"
"Let me just disassemble
this katana for a second."
"Eh, ah,
oi!"
Tom began to
disassemble Nozomu's katana in the blink of an eye. He put the drawn katana
back in its scabbard and used a small mallet and a punch from his pocket to
remove the Mekugi (peg). Five seconds
passed.
While Nozomu was
wondering where he kept those tools, Tom lightly hit the katana's hilt with the
mallet and removed it. Another five seconds passed. Tom's ability to grasp the
structure of the katana and the speed at which it could be disassembled was
astonishing, even though he did not know much about katana craftsmanship.
"I can't find the
swordsmith's name anywhere. A nameless famed sword? But could it be-......
alright."
With the handle
removed and the blade still bare, Nozomu quickly grabbed Tom from behind to
stop him as he was about to take his beloved katana somewhere else.
"Don't give me
that 'alright' crap! Where are you going to take it!?"
"Where, you say?
Of course to the lab. Let's break the blade and check the cross-section
......."
The moment he heard
Tom's words, Nozomu used all his strength to take the katana back, even using
Qi-jutsu to strengthen his body.
Deprived of an
interesting research object in a split second, Tom screamed in grief.
"Aah! My amazing research
material~!"
"Research
material, your ass! I just told you not to break it!"
It seemed that this
boy was so eager to research that he stopped listening to others when his leash
was removed. In a sense, he and his lover, the beastman, were very similar in
some ways, since they also did not listen to others.
As Nozomu was having
such thoughts, Tom, who had been running wild with intellectual curiosity,
finally regained his composure.
"My bad, I got a
little carried away with this unexpected find."
Tom scratched his head
in embarrassment as he spoke these words, but Nozomu's gaze was cold.
It was understandable,
since Tom had taken his mentor's memento without permission and tried to use it
as research material.
"Well, umm ......
I'm sorry."
As one would expect,
Tom was aware of the insanity of his actions and bowed his head.
As Nozomu sighed,
Mimuru asked again about the identity of Nozomu's katana.
"...... So, what
exactly is this katana?"
"Hmm, I don't
know."
Tom's matter-of-fact
statement made everyone present lose their strength.
Nozomu almost
collapsed on the spot, and Mimuru plopped down on her desk. Shina was holding
her temples as if enduring a headache.
"These kinds of
katana are usually engraved with the name of the swordsmith on the hilt or
other parts of the blade, but I can't find that either. I'm not a katana
expert, so I can't identify the name of the katana or appraise it, regardless
of its magical properties that may reside in the katana......"
This is not
surprising, since the katana itself is a rare item of Eastern origin.
Also, according to
Tom, the magical properties that were once imparted to this katana have been
completely erased, and there is nothing left.
"But I can tell
it is a very special katana. Without a doubt, this one was originally called a
sacred katana, demonic katana, or mystical katana, something that has a certain
history behind it."
The holy sword, the
magic sword, the demonic sword, and the sacred sword are weapons that appear in
various legends and heroic tales and have abilities that are distinctly
different from those of the magic swords that are usually made by enchanting
with magic.
These swords have
their own will, and can increase the wielder's magical power without limit.
They can also annihilate the enemy at the cost of the wielder's body or soul,
and they can gather the source elements of the world, giving the wielder the
power of spirits.
The characteristic of
these weapons is that they have some kind of will. In other words, they are
living weapons.
Although it has become
an ordinary katana, Nozomu's eyes widen in surprise at the possibility that his
weapon, or more precisely, his master's katana, might be of considerable
significance.
"Nozomu, where
did you get this katana?"
"It belonged to
my master. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the origin of this
katana, either......"
"Oh, really?
Where is your master now?"
"She's already
passed away."
"Ah,
sorry......"
The moment he heard
the word "passed away", a shadow appeared on Tom's face. Mimuru and
Shina also averted their gazes, looking somewhat unsettled. A delicate
atmosphere flowed between Nozomu and the three of them.
"It's okay. You
didn't know, so don't worry about it."
Nozomu puts back the
hilt, which had been removed, and after fitting and securing the Mekugi (peg), he put the katana back on
his sword belt.
Then he realized that
he had talked for quite a long time.
"Well then, it's
time for me to go."
Nozomu was about to
leave, thinking that he had enough rest time as well. However, as he was about
to leave, Tom called out to him in a calm voice.
"Ah, right.
Nozomu-kun, thank you for helping Shina."
"Hm?"
Nozomu stopped and
looked back at the words of thanks that were suddenly directed at him.
Tom, who had been
showing a gloomy face earlier, somehow had a bright smile on his face that
showed no sign of that earlier negative shade.
"Thanks! By the
way, you are quite a good-natured guy, unlike the rumors, to help such an
unsociable and unfriendly elf!"
Mimuru also smiled as
brightly as Tom, or even brighter.
Apparently, the two of
them had a good idea of what had happened to Shina on the previous passage to
the closed shelves section of the library. And that they were genuinely
grateful to Nozomu for helping their friend.
"......"
Shina, on the other
hand, looked away awkwardly and stood up when Nozomu turned to look at her.
"Come on, we
should get going as well."
"Gosh, you should
be thanking him too."
"It's okay. She's
already thanked me......"
Upon hearing these
words, Shina's ears twitched.
Nozomu had indeed
already received a word of thanks from Shina, but it was somewhat hard to count
it as a sincere gratitude.
A delicate atmosphere
flowed between Nozomu and Shina. However, Shina walked away with Tom and Mimuru
and left the place without even looking at Nozomu.
"Good grief, just
what's wrong with her?......"
In the indescribable,
lingering stale atmosphere, Nozomu sighed once more.
(It wasn't that I
wanted her to be grateful. Besides, I don't really know her. But I just
couldn't keep quiet after seeing her being bullied like that.)
However, the silent
rejection was terribly painful for the current Nozomu.
The wound that
lingered in his chest began to ache, as if it had been touched by salt water.
(......Ouch)
The moment when he was
rejected by his ex-girlfriend came back to his mind, and Nozomu involuntarily
clenched his hand on his chest and bit his lip tightly.
For a while, Nozomu
did not return to Irisdina and the others until the pain in his chest subsided,
and he went back to walking around in the library.
◆
"Shina, what's
the matter?"
"It's nothing.
More importantly, we need to hurry. We've something to do, aren't we?"
"That's true, but
......"
After catching up with
Shina, who was going ahead of them, Mimuru questioned her about what she had
said and done earlier.
On the other hand, the
elf girl in question did not answer Mimuru's question but handed Tom the books
of reference that she was carrying.
Although elves have
always had a strong wall against other races, Shina's words and actions toward
Nozomu, even from Mimuru's point of view, were clearly disparaging.
"Tom, you have to
go to the lab now, aren't you? Here you go."
"Y-, yeah. Thank
you."
While wondering about
Shina's somewhat forceful words and actions, Tom accepted the books she handed
to him.
"You're welcome.
And also......"
The corners of Shina's
eyes, which had been stiff, turned dark and gloomy.
"I know. I'll
have it ready for you, so come to the lab tomorrow or the day after. Well, I can't
guarantee that it will be successful though......"
Shina Juliel's
problem. The reason why she was ridiculed as having "dead leaf ears"
was that she had the fatal problem of not being able to use spirit magic, even
though she was an elf loved by the spirits.
One of Shina's aims
for coming to this school was to solve this problem, and for that purpose, she
had the help of Tom and the others, who are alchemists.
However, it has been
two years since she came to Arcazam, and the progress has not been good, and
Shina still cannot even sense the spirits' presence, let alone re-establish a
contract with them.
"Thank
you......"
Shina thanked Tom for
his help, but there was still a dark shade on her face.
"Muuu.......
Somehow, you two are getting along well."
On the other hand,
Mimuru's mouth contorted as if she was in a bad mood.
"Mimuru......"
"No! I won't give
him to anyone, not even to you, Shina! Tom is my future husband!"
While Shina was
stunned, Mimuru, who was jealous, hugged Tom from behind, saying, "I won't
give him to you!", and raised her tail threateningly.
"Mimu~umu~u! Mu~a
mu~a mi-me! Mume, Mume mu~aa!"
*Squeeze - squeeze -
squeeze!*
Suddenly, Tom was
being hugged as tightly as possible against his lover's chest. His lungs were
squeezed, but the soft yet alluring feeling on his back made his complexion
flash blue and red in the blink of an eye.
"I know. I don't
feel that way toward him. More importantly, your future husband seems to be
suffering, you know?"
"Eh? Waaa!"
"Kyu......"
Mimuru, who had come
to her senses upon hearing Shina's words, hurriedly released Tom, but his eyes
had completely rolled back in his head.
He has a slightly
horrified look on his face, with a slightly bloodshot complexion and an
expression resembling debauchery.
"Ahh! Tom, sorry,
I'm sorry ----!"
Shina, while smiling
at Mimuru who was flustered and began to help Tom, remembered her earlier
schoolmate and frowned.
"I wonder what
that feeling was......"
The sensation that she
felt since the other day when she was subjugating the demonic beasts on the
highway.
Last time it was like
a needle lightly touching her skin, but today it felt like her whole body was
tensed up.
"It's so scary.
But somehow nostalgic ....... I wonder why I felt that way......"
It was a sudden but
strange sensation that made her whole body tense.
But what contributed
to her discomfort more than anything else was that the feeling was accompanied
by a sense of déjà vu.
For some reason, it
was as if she felt a chill in the warm spring breeze.
Shina involuntarily
crossed her arms as if to hug herself against the chill that crawled up her
spine.
"It's impossible.
It's like when the spirits got angry ...... that it was the same sensation as
when our forests burned......"
The final moments of
her homeland resurfaced in her mind. And the demise of the spirits.
She found herself
biting her lip hard, feeling as if a wound from the past that could not be
erased had been opened.
◆
In the darkness of
night, the howling of beasts echoed through the Spasim forest, and a herd of
four-legged beasts rushed through the forest.
Frost Boars. As the
name suggests, these boar-shaped demonic beasts inhabit the forest. The larger
ones are powerful beasts that can smash even a small hut.
They are omnivorous,
have a voracious appetite, and are fierce and merciless toward anyone who tries
to harm them, making them a natural enemy of farmers and hunters.
Such boars were now
running for their lives. They were trying to escape from the huge shadow that
loomed behind them.
However, the predator
scoffed at the boars' desperate escape. The predator, cloaked in wind, caught
up with the herd of boars in the blink of an eye, and, circling around the
herd's way of escape, turned the three boars in the front of the herd into a
lump of meat with its tusks.
*Piggyi!*
The boar herd, having
lost the leading individuals, instantly scattered into four separate groups.
The boars break apart and attempted to escape.
The predator's tail
was raised high in front of the herd as they tried to scatter.
Illuminated by the
moonlight, magical light gathered on the tail, which was wrapped in gray fur.
Three seconds, four
seconds, five seconds ...... -flash.
Along with the sound
of something slicing through the air, invisible blades flew in all directions,
slaughtering the rest of the boars that were about to scatter.
A gray predator stood
amidst the herd of Frost Boars, which had turned into chunks of meat. It was a
wolf, a size larger than the magic stone-bearer that Nozomu and the others had
fought, a size that could be described as out of the norm.
Gray fur covered its
entire body. Among them, only the neck was blood red.
The gray wolf roared
with satisfaction as it faced its hunted prey.
As if called by its
howl, a large number of Direwolves appeared from the forest.
They numbered around
sixty. The wolves, who numbered around sixty, were so numerous that they began
to bite at the dismembered corpse of Frost Boars.
The "gray"
Direwolf watched his pack mates with a look of satisfaction.
[Garm]. A
higher-ranking demonic beast than [Gaiawolf], and the leader of this pack.
The reason they came
to this area was because they needed a new hunting ground to maintain their
growing pack.
"Ku~u~u~u......"
While the pack was
engrossed in their meal, a single Direwolf came up to the "gray".
It was the Direwolf
with the magic stone that had escaped from the battle on the highway before.
This individual was part of the pack led by "Gray".
The "Gray"
rubbed the tip of his nose dubiously at the exhausted appearance of his
subordinate who had returned, and listened to the sobbing cries of the
stone-bearer who had returned. As if to ask what had happened.
Eventually, after
hearing the report of his subordinate, a clear sense of anger flashed in the
eyes of the "gray".
What was reported was
the death of fellow members of the pack.
What made him more
furious than anything else was the fact that among those killed, there was also
his couple.
As if in response to
his emotions, his body erupted with magic power. The other wolves, who had been
eating, stopped eating as if in response to the leader's anger, and turned
toward him.
"Uooooooon!"
A howl tinged with
grief and anger roared through the Spasim forest.
The cries of grief and
anger soon spread to the rest of the pack, echoing through the forest as
never-ending echoing howls.
---
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