Volume 3 Chapter 4.1
Ripples of Impending Danger Part 1
Translator : PolterGlast
The first day of
Special Comprehensive Exercise.
A clear and sunny
spring sky. At the west gate of Arcazam, where the necessary facilities had
been built, including a command center and a simple clinic, the students of the
three participating grades were going through the necessary procedures.
After completing the
procedures, the students were given a pendant inlaid with a cloudy white stone
and gathered in front of the command center. Among them were Nozomu, Mars, and
Jin.
This exercise will
directly affect the student's future academic grades, and at the same time, it
is a great opportunity for them, which is why their faces were filled with
tension and a certain level of anticipation.
"Kukuku. This
looks like fun......"
Feeling the tense
atmosphere, Mars smiles fearlessly.
For those who have a
strong desire to be strong, Special Comprehensive Exercise is a good
opportunity to test their strength.
"And by the way,
what's gotten into you? ......"
Mars frowned and
looked next to him. There stood Nozomu, who remained looking down gloomily.
"...... Eh?
W-what?"
"Oi, get your
shit together. We're about to do a special exercise."
"A,
yeah......."
Mars cast an even
harsher gaze at Nozomu, who seemed to be somewhat disoriented.
On the other hand,
although Nozomu raised his head, he did not make eye contact with Mars and just
stared blankly at the stream of students passing by.
"G-good
morning...... Nozomu-kun, Mars-kun."
At that moment, a
timid voice called out to them.
Mars looked in the
direction of the voice and saw Tima and Irisdina walking toward him.
"Oh, you two
dropped by?"
While Mars answered
Tima, Irisdina, perhaps still reeling from yesterday's embarrassment, was
standing in front of Nozomu with her hands clasped behind her back, looking
embarrassed.
"N-,Nozomu, good
morning ......."
A greeting in a
sheepish tone of voice. However, Nozomu seemed to be absent-minded and didn't
seem to notice Irisdina's arrival.
"......
Nozomu?"
"Huh? A-ah, good
morning ...... Iris."
Nozomu, who finally
noticed the presence of Irisdina and the others for the second time, greeted
them back in a flustered manner.
Irisdina frowned upon
hearing his terse tone of voice.
"Ah, there he is.
O~i, Nozomu!"
Then another voice was
heard. It was Feo's voice.
He moved toward Nozomu
while waving his hand, and beside him were Shina, Tom, and Mimru.
It was a slightly
unexpected combination.
"G-good morning.
Shina-san, are you teaming up with Feo?"
When Nozomu returned
the greeting and looked at Shina and the others, she nodded with a slight
smile.
"Yes. We are in
the same class, so we decided to work together at least for the first day.
Right, Mimuru?"
"Y-yes! You are
absolutely right!"
After saying so, Shina
put on a beaming smile. Her pure maiden's smile is very attractive from the
side, but her whole body is exuding a sense of intimidation that is hard to put
into words. Mimuru, standing next to her, was trembling in fear.
Perhaps she was being
disciplined after she abandoned a request. In the end, Mimuru could not bear
the silent pressure from her best friend and jumped into her lover's chest as
if to escape.
"Ahahaha
......."
Her tail curled up and
trembling, Tom patted her back as he let out a wry chuckle.
Meanwhile, Mars and
the others, who don't know what's going on, involuntarily shut their mouths in
front of his strained smile.
"Well, that's how
it is. I'm officially a member of Shina's party, so today, we're enemies. I'm
not going to hold back against you."
"Hee, bring it on
then. I was also a little curious to see how strong you were."
Feo's declaration was
met with a competitive response from Mars.
Meanwhile, only Shina
was staring at Nozomu with a worried expression.
"Hey, Nozomu,
Shina."
"Kevin
......"
Kevin and the others
joined them. He walked closer, his silver fur fluttering and his tail wagging.
He took a glance at Nozomu and Jin and the others behind him, and a grin
appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"Looks like
you've formed a party. Now I can finally challenge you. Don't drop out right
away."
"Challenge, huh
......."
Kevin's fighting
spirit flared up, but he instantly frowned at Nozomu, whose voice lacked
vitality, and he nonchalantly put his arm around Nozomu's shoulder. Then, he
whispered something in his ear.
"Hey, you know
...... You better fire yourself back up."
"......
Huh?"
"Look, your face
is exactly the same as Shina's when she was depressed. Right now, you're the
leader of your party, remember?"
You're the leader of
your party. Hearing those words, Nozomu took a deep breath.
Until just a moment
ago, he had been too preoccupied with yesterday's events to notice. Yes, today
Nozomu had to lead them properly.
"Remember, one of
the leader's roles is to relieve the anxiety of his people. If the leader is
having anxiety, the whole group will be affected. If you are committed to the
well-being of your people, you must leave behind any negative feelings and
never let them show on your face."
Otherwise, at worst,
the whole group will be annihilated. Kevin said so to him and pulled himself
away.
Nozomu glanced
sideways and peeked at Jin and the others he was teaming up with today. They
seemed surprised to see Kevin's friendly attitude toward Nozomu.
Heat gradually
returned to his cold and chilled heart.
Meanwhile, Mars, who
had exchanged sparks in the previous joint class, gave Kevin a suspicious look.
"What are you
whispering about?"
"I was just
giving him a little advice on how to be a good leader. Since you're a lone
wolf, it's none of your business."
"Ha?"
"Mars,
don't."
Perhaps provoked by
Kevin's mild joke, Mars responded excessively.
It'll be bad to cause
a ruckus here now. Nozomu, who had regained some of his composure, reflexively
called out to stop Mars, who looked as if he was about to pounce at any moment.
"Tch ......"
"So long, Nozomu.
Don't let anyone beat you until you fight me."
While Mars faltered
after being stopped by Nozomu, Kevin quickly took his friends and went back
toward the first class.
"Well then,
Nozomu, see you later~~!"
"Good luck!"
Tom and Mimuru also
head off to the assembly point with Feo.
Shina was the only one
left, but she was still looking at Nozomu with a peeking glance.
"W-what's the
matter?"
Shina's meaningful
glance made Nozomu instinctively ask her, and she opened her mouth with a
somewhat worried look on her face.
"Nozomu-kun, are
you all right?"
"W-what do you
mean?"
"Just as Kevin
said, you look pretty pale. Did something happen to you about that?"
*Thump - thump*.
Nozomu's heart jumped in response to her words.
"...... What are
you talking about?"
Mars, who did not know
what was going on, asked, but Nozomu was at a loss for words.
Irisdina behind him
was also watching them with squinted eyes, as if she was concerned about what
they were talking about.
Eyes that seemed to be
worried about him. The reflection of himself behind those eyes reminds Nozomu
of the image of himself when he was so angry that he lost control of himself.
At the same time, the
nightmares came back to his mind.
Pain and fear, anger
and anxiety. The negative emotions welled up one after another, and were
replaced by a rush of blood drained from his body.
"I-it's nothing.
More importantly, it's almost time. Let's get going ......"
They don't need to
know. Nozomu bit his lip as if to endure, then averted his gaze and headed for
the assembly point.
[Anxiety can be
transmitted. If you are committed to the well-being of your people, you must
leave behind any negative feelings and never let them show on your face.]
Remembering Kevin's
advice, Nozomu was growing frustrated with himself for being so half-hearted
about everything.
Most of the students
had already gathered in front of the headquarters tent.
Once it was confirmed
that all the students had gathered, Jihad went up on the podium set up in front
of the headquarters.
"Now, ladies and
gentlemen. Today we are going to start the Special Comprehensive Exercise
class, but before that, I would like to explain the rules first."
Jihad took out a
pendant from his pocket. It was given to him at the headquarters tent earlier.
"First, this
pendant, which was given to each student when they registered for the party,
will be your lifeline in this class. It is a magic tool that is able to record
the damages sustained by its wearer."
This magic tool is
made by engraving a magic formula on a special stone called a [Connection
Stone] and pouring magic power into it.
The Connection Stone
itself is rare and requires a special formula. The pendant is not widely used
because it takes a long time to create and is disposable.
"The pendant is
designed to glow red when it records a certain amount of damage. At that point,
the wearer will be disqualified and the pendant will belong to his or her opponent's
party. Of course, losing the pendant also results in disqualification."
Furthermore, it is
said that each pendant has its own points, taking into consideration each
student's academic performance to date. In other words, the higher the rank and
class, the higher the points.
This means that they
are more likely to be targeted by other parties. Probably to keep a balance
between low and high-ranked students. Especially, they need a certain amount of
leverage to make students willing to fight against those who have reached a
high rank, such as Irisdina and others.
"In case a party
is wiped out, the points that the wiped-out party had earned before will be
awarded to the winning party. The points earned will be counted at the end of
today's class, and we will all start from zero again tomorrow."
"We need to loot
points, huh? There are going to be widespread riots all over the
place......"
Just because one has
earned points, it does not mean that one can rest easy. If they are wiped out,
they would end up losing all of their points.
Even though the points
for the first and second days are calculated separately, it is important to
survive.
"Also, tasks are
written on the paper provided at the time the pendants were distributed. You
are not necessarily obliged to complete these tasks, but if you do, the party
will be rewarded with the points corresponding to the task. As for the task of
escorting, we, the teachers, will be in charge of the escorting target and will
judge whether or not it is successful."
"What do we do?
We can earn more points if we complete the tasks ......"
"...... Honestly,
I can't say for sure because I don't know how the other parties will act, but
let's put them on the list as potential ways to earn points."
Jin asked Nozomu what
his decision would be, but Nozomu decided to put it on hold.
It would be nice if
they could earn points by doing their tasks, but the other party would
naturally consider stealing their points.
Should we be
aggressive in earning points, or should we hide ourselves and think about
conserving points and strength? The tactic will be important as well.
"Another
important point is that the area around the headquarters is a no-combat zone.
Parties that engage in combat in this area will have their points deducted."
In a sense, this is
natural. It would be intolerable if the management was impeded due to the
fighting in the vicinity.
"Furthermore,
there will be a special target in the exercise area. We, teachers, will become
the special target, and the party that defeats this special target will receive
more points than any other task. However, this special target will attack you
on its own and rob you of the points you have earned. But if you win, you will
also get all the points that the special target has stolen."
"Teachers will
also participate, huh? ......"
"They probably
play the role of powerful demonic beasts."
Cami, who was behind
Nozomu, held her head in her hands, and Jin put his hand over his mouth and
groaned.
Or maybe it's to stir
up the surroundings so that the exercise doesn't get stagnant. Either way, it
would be a huge obstacle.
"This concludes
the explanation of the rules for this exercise. I wish you all the best ......
That's all"
After Jihad's
explanation was over, a bell was brought to the podium. When this bell rings,
the exercise will begin.
"Nozomu, what are
we gonna do?"
Jin asked Nozomu for
his opinion. Nozomu looked at the bell as it was being prepared and whispered
in a quiet voice so that the others could not hear him.
"......First, we
need to get as far away from this place as possible, and then we can formulate
a strategy. If we don't move quickly, we will either be attacked by another
party or get caught up in a battle, and if that were to happen, we would be the
first to be wiped out."
The other members
nodded at Nozomu's words. They slowly moved to the edge of the field. As soon
as the signal to start comes, they will dash and get out of this place as fast
as they can.
"Sprint as fast
as you can as soon as the signal comes. Head for the west side of the exercise
area. Got it?"
Nozomu once again
reminded them of their next actions, and when everyone nodded their heads, the
bell was ready to ring.
"Hm?"
Nozomu, who was
bracing himself for the signal to begin the exercise, suddenly felt a gaze
directed at him.
He turned his
attention to one of the areas where the students were crowded to find the owner
of the gaze and found Lisa staring at him.
A surge of rage,
accompanied by pain, made his heart beat wildly once again. Reflexively, he
averted his gaze.
"Nozomu, what's
wrong?"
"...... it's
nothing."
While swallowing his
anger along with his saliva, Nozomu strengthened his legs.
"Well then. Let
this year's Special Comprehensive Exercise begin!"
The next moment,
Jihad's declaration was accompanied by the chiming of a bell, and Nozomu and
the other students kicked the ground with all their might.
All the students
present scattered in all directions as if they turned into bullets.
Eventually, as soon as
there were no more students in the assembly area, thunderous roars, angry
shouts, and screams began to be heard from all over the place. It seemed that
the moment they left the non-combat zone, fighting broke out all over the
place.
"Hey, Nozomu! Where
exactly are we heading to!?"
"To the west of
the exercise area, for now! The grass and trees are dense there, so it's easy
for us to hide!"
Nozomu and the others
ran as fast as they could to avoid getting caught up in another party's battle.
He had been forced to
run through the Spasim forest many times during his training with Shino, so he
was familiar enough with the surrounding area.
The forest on the west
side. Especially the one near Arcazam is densely covered with trees of short
stature, and thus there are relatively many places to hide in.
Because of this, its
visibility is poor, so one needs to be careful of unexpected encounters......
"There they are,
the tenth class, catch them!"
"Oh, no, from the
front- ......"
"Don't stop, keep
running!"
Unfortunately, Nozomu
and his party encountered another party as they crossed each other's paths.
The other party
consisted of five students from the eighth class. They were three in the
vanguard and two in the rearguard. Perhaps, like Nozomu and the others, they
had changed course in the process of escaping, so their paths crossed each
other.
"Just perfect,
it's time to warm up!"
While Jin and the
others were panicking, Mars gleefully began his assault.
"Wha~, isn't this
guy Mars of the tenth class!?"
"Just hold him
back! Let's get rid of the bottom feeders first...... gah~!"
While the opponent was
momentarily flustered by the presence of Mars, Nozomu also activated his [Flash
Step]. He struck one of the vanguards in front of him with a palm strike to the
jaw and ripped off his pendant.
"This
bastard!"
The other one, enraged
by the defeat of his comrade, pulled out his sword and slashed at Nozomu with a
diagonal strike.
The slash was
monotonous, perhaps because it was a quick counterattack. Nozomu drew his
katana in a fluid motion, easily parrying the approaching sword to the side and
circling behind him. Then, he struck him with the back of his katana.
"Wha~......
gah~!?"
He took a slash in a
defenseless state, and his pendant turned red with a single blow. That's two
down.
While his opponents
waver, Mars managed to subdue one vanguard and one rearguard.
"Uwaaaa!"
With most of his party
suddenly rendered incapable of combat, the last one, cornered, raised the staff
in his hand while letting out a scream-like cry. Magic power poured into the
staff, and the tip of the staff began to glow.
Perhaps the staff
itself is imbued with a magic circle. Without chanting, the magic was activated
just by pouring magic power into it. A light bullet was released toward Nozomu.
Nozomu reflexively
tried to slice the approaching magic bullet with [Qi-jutsu・Phantom]...... but the burden returned to both of his
arms made him frown.
"Kuh~!?"
Normally, it would be
easy for him to cut such a magic bullet in half, but now, he can't do it.
Reflexively twisting
his body in response to the unexpected situation, he parried the magic bullet
with all his strength.
"Wha~!?"
"Fuh~!"
He shifted his body
and stepped forward, striking his opponent in the jaw with his left fist. He
snatched the pendant from his opponent, who collapsed unconscious, and then ran
off again.
Following Nozomu, Mars
also followed closely behind without losing his breath.
"Amazing
......."
"They knocked
five people down in seconds ......."
Nozomu glanced down at
his katana as Deck and the others behind him let out surprised voices.
(I couldn't send my Qi
into it. Why?......)
Nozomu tried one more
time to pour his Qi on the katana without being noticed by the others as he
ran.
However, there was no
change in the blade.
The blade pattern had
suddenly changed. There was a possibility that something was wrong, but it was
worse than he expected.
He could not even
generate a Qi-blade. This meant the loss of Nozomu's only weapon, which was
already under the influence of ability suppression.
(How is this possible?
......)
Is it gone? Everything
I have been accumulating is gone?
(~......)
Nozomu moved his feet
frantically, as if to cover up the sense of loss that was crumbling under his
feet.
After running for a
while in this manner, they all finally decided to stop.
"Haa, haa, haa
...... Hey, isn't everything alright now?"
"I think so.
Looks like there's no one around anymore."
"Fuh, fuh...... I
see. Thank goodness."
Hearing Mars' words,
Jin and the others finally let out a sigh of relief.
Even Hamuria, the
mage, had slumped down on the spot.
Seeing how tired they
looked, Mars snorted and took a sip of water from his canteen.
"Nozomu, after
this-...... Nozomu?"
"...... Ah.
Sorry, I was in a daze. What did you just say?"
"Oi, get a grip,
man. We're supposed to be talking about what we're going to do now."
"Ah, right. I'm
thinking of using this area as a base for now and then divide our party into
two groups, one to do tasks and the other to do defense ......"
Nozomu's suggestion
was to divide the party into two groups, one to earn points by completing tasks
and the other to set up a defense base.
The task team will
consist of Mars, who is a skilled fighter, Tommy, who is an agile swordsman,
and Cami, who is a dagger wielder. The defense team would be the remaining
four: Nozomu, Jin, Deck, and Hamuria.
"As for me, I
think it would be better for all of us to continue working together......"
"No. It would be
more dangerous for us to stay together. We do not have many effective ways to
defend ourselves against wide-area magical attacks. If we are attacked first
while moving through the forest, we could be wiped out in one fell swoop."
Jin voiced his concern
at the suggested course of action, but Nozomu shook his head at his words.
Among them, the only
ones who have effective defenses against magic attacks are Mars, who has a lot
of Qi, and Hamuria, who is a mage. Considering the fact that they would be
fighting against higher-ranked opponents, their numbers were inevitably small,
and a head-on battle should have been avoided as much as possible.
"Therefore, we
split the party into two, and we'll simultaneously do the tasks and the
defense."
"But even if we
call it a defensive base, we don't have much time to build a big one, do
we?"
"That's not a
problem. It's not about building a solid fortress. Just build something to
distract the opponent's attention. And when the time comes, we can just abandon
the base."
Nozomu reminded
everyone that the important thing is to survive.
"If so, this
might be useful."
Saying so, Jin took
out two stones from his pocket that were as transparent as crystals. The symmetrical
shape of the stones clearly indicated that they were magic tools of some sort.
"Are these [Twin
Stone of Misfortune]?"
In response to
Nozomu's words, Jin nodded as he handed the two stones he was holding to Nozomu
and Mars.
The two stones are
linked to each other, and if one of them breaks or changes color, the other one
will also change to the same state.
"...... I see,
with this, we can know each other's condition, huh?"
"I think it's a
good idea. There is a huge tree and a large rock next to it north of here, in
case of emergency we will meet up there. If we fail to meet up after an hour,
just assume that one of us has already dropped out. If that happens, Mars will
take the lead ......"
While Nozomu was
giving instructions in case he was defeated, Mars stared at him while playing
with the [Twin Stone of Misfortune] in his hands.
"Mars, what's the
matter? Is there something you don't agree with?"
"No, it's fine.
Let's go."
Mars' expression
seemed to be a bit troubled for a moment, but he quickly put the [Twin Stone of
Misfortune] in his pocket as if nothing had happened, and disappeared behind
the bushes with Tommy and Cami in tow.
Although he was a
little concerned about Mars' attitude, Nozomu's attention immediately turned to
the katana at his waist.
He once again sent his
Qi to the sheathed katana. Again, there was no sign of Qi flowing into the
katana.
"Nozomu-kun, what
do we start with?"
"A-ah. For the
time being, let's start with some simple things, such as traps."
Some physical activity
might be a good distraction. Nozomu swallowed his rising frustration and
immersed himself in the work of making traps with the remaining members of his
party.
◆
In Spasim forest,
where demonic beasts are rampant. A single spirit was heading deep into it.
Mefhi, a lesser spirit
with a figure reminiscent of a light blue fairy, remembered what her contractor
had asked her to do, and let out a sigh.
We are going to
eliminate Nozomu in the upcoming Special Comprehensive Exercise. Please lend me
your strength.
That was Ken's
request.
[This is bad~~. That
guy is definitely dangerous.]
Recalling the foreign
power she had witnessed, she had a grim expression on her face.
It was about six years
ago that she made a contract with Ken. It was when he was still a child.
She met Ken when she
visited his hometown, Oire village, on a whim and found him in the shade of a
tree looking at Lisa in the distance.
[Six years have passed
since we met. From the perspective of someone who only has a short lifespan,
that's a pretty long acquaintance ......]
Since that time, Ken
has been attracted to Lisa.
He wanted her to turn
around and look at him. He looked at her with such faint feelings.
However, Lisa already
had someone she had feelings for.
Nozomu Bountis. Ken's
childhood friend and best friend.
At the time, Ken was
thinking about Lisa's happiness and keeping his distance from her.
[Well, that's why I
was so interested in him~~. Because he had such beautiful feelings.]
Phew~ ...... The
little spirit, reminiscent of a young child, let out an erotic sigh, which is
so unlike her appearance.
Spirits rarely appear
in public. The chances of them signing a contract are as slim as a star falling
from the sky.
However, Mefi was
drawn to Ken's emotions as he swallowed his own feelings and thought about the
happiness of the person he had feelings for.
Another factor that
may have encouraged her to make a contract with Ken was the fact that she was
originally young for a spirit and had only been born a few decades earlier. She
was young in mind and her emotions often swayed to the extreme.
But even so, Mefi was
confident that she would still have made a contract with Ken.
The boy's emotions
were that attractive to this spirit.
[And I made a promise.
I'll lend him my power to make Lisa happy......]
Having arrived at her
destination, Mefi quickly let her body burrow under the ground.
Eventually, she
arrived at a huge underground chamber.
The semi-spherical hollowed-out
earth is illuminated by a pale light, despite being underground.
It is the light of the
source element that exudes from the walls. And at the bottom of the chamber, a
huge shadow was lurking.
Wrapped in a lustrous
black carapace and coiled like a serpent, it seemed to be sleeping, or perhaps
not moving at all.
[Now then, forgive me
for disturbing you while you sleep, but please let me borrow your body.]
Mefi approached the
head of the huge body that lived underground and assimilated into it as if
dissolving. Eventually, as her body completely dissolved ...... and a purple
flash ran through the underground chamber, and a shadow reminiscent of a crown
appeared on its head.
Then, four pairs of
eyes lit up, and the giant shadow slowly raised itself.
◆
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