Volume 4 Chapter 1.2
A Fresh Start Part 2
Translator : PolterGlast
As it turns out,
Nozomu and his party's investigation was somewhat successful.
The sewage system that
drains sewage out of the city, the magic circle at the outlet of the drain was
not functioning.
This city is famous as
an academic city, but it actually has another name.
Arcazam, an
experimental ritual magic city.
A city designed to
utilize the dragon veins, the flow of the world's power. Arcazam is a prototype
of this concept.
Facilities built under
this concept are located in various parts of the city, which radiate weak magic
power to areas that are connected to the outside of the city and are easily
accessible to demonic beasts. At the same time, many efforts are made to
prevent them from approaching the city.
Naturally, these
facilities are also installed in the underground waterways, but a part of the
magic circle at the outlet of the sewage system was broken.
Fortunately, Tima was
able to temporarily restore the function of the damaged part by drawing a new
magic circle. Later, the guild, upon receiving the report, would repair it
completely through the City Management Department.
The sun was already
rising in the south when Nozomu and his team went outside after completing a
series of reports at the guild. It was noon.
"By the way,
Nozomu-kun, have you seen the results of the last Special Comprehensive
Exercise?"
"Hm? No, I
haven't...... Wasn't that exercise sort of ruined?"
Special Comprehensive
Exercise. A large-scale exercise that all third-year students participated in
about two weeks ago.
It is one of the
biggest events in the third grade, and one that directly affects the school's
grades.
However, there was an
unexpected problem. During the exercise, one of the [The Six Bad Omens] demonic
beasts appeared.
It was called the
[Cracked-Crown] Giant Centipede. It was a disaster-class demonic beast with a
body length of more than 100 meters.
As a result, the
Special Comprehensive Exercise was stopped halfway. Naturally, Nozomu thought
he would not receive any points.
"That's true. But
the first day of the exercise went on until the end of the day, you know. So,
the results up to that point were to be announced."
"Hee......"
Nozomu, who had been
branded as the bottom-feeder in the first place, was slow to react when told
that he might receive some points. Besides, the things that happened after that
were so much more significant that he honestly had completely forgotten about
the Special Comprehensive Exercise.
Before long, Nozomu
and his party arrived at the Ox-head Pavilion in the commercial district. It is
Mars' house, a tavern and inn, to which Nozomu is his friend. They opened the
entrance door and went inside. Perhaps because it was lunchtime, there were a
fair number of people in there. Amidst the crowd, a girl holding a tray with
food on it with both hands was running around busily.
"Good afternoon,
Ena-chan."
"Ah, Nozomu-san.
Welcome~~! Your friends are already here."
Her name is Ena
Dickens. She is Mars' younger sister and the mascot girl of this Ox-head
Pavilion.
When she spotted
Nozomu and his party, she smiled and led them to the back of the restaurant.
There, four students,
dressed in the same Soluminati Academy uniforms as Nozomu and the others, were
waiting for them at their seats.
"Welcome back.
Did everything go well?"
"Yes, for the
time being, We've done reporting to the guild."
The first person who
called out to them was a beautiful girl with waist-length azure hair.
Her long ears peeked
out from between the hair on the side of her head.
Shina Juliel. A
third-grade, second-class female student at Soluminati Academy. She is the only
elf girl in town.
"Everyone, good
work for you guys as well! Come, sit down, sit down."
A girl with cat ears
sat next to Shina and urged Irisdina and the others to take their seats.
She is Shina's best
friend, Mimuru Midir.
At the same table are
two other students, a small boy with glasses and a man with fox ears.
The one with glasses
is Tom Dale. The fox-eared demi-human is Feo Risitsa. They are also students in
the second class of the third grade at Soluminati Academy, and have become
friends with Nozomu and the others through various events.
"Thank you,
Mimuru,kun. Were you guys going to the Research Institute?"
"Yes, we did a
lot of things with Raz."
Irisdina, who sat down
together with Nozomu and the others, asked, to which Shina replied while
spreading out the menu.
The Research Institute
is in the center of Arcazam. It is a facility of the Gloaurum institution,
which is attached to the Soluminati Academy.
This institute
primarily collects and compiles magic technology from all over the world. The
Solminati Academy and Arcazam were built to educate the results of that
research and nurture the human resources that were lost during the great
invasion 20 years ago.
"Speaking of
which, why is Feo here?"
"It was a
coincidence. I happened to come across a nice place on my way home from my
part-time job, and when I went in, I saw Shina and the others here."
[Well, let's put that
troublesome topic aside for later and have some food, food!]
As Nozomu and Feo were
talking, a human-like voice sounded from Shina's shoulder.
Before one knew it, a
small bird with long tail feathers and lapis lazuli feathers was perched there.
This bird's name is
Razward. At first glance, it appears to be a small bird of an unusual color,
but it is actually a minor spirit who has made a contract with Shina, and is a
member of the most mysterious race on this Arcmel continent.
"Raz, are you at
it again? You're a spirit, you know. It's about time you learned to refrain
from sharing our senses."
[What's wrong with
that? Everyone needs a change of pace!]
Shina let out a sigh
as her partner hopped around on her shoulders, head, and between tables.
"Well, it's
certainly lunchtime, so let's order. Ena-chan, is that okay!?"
"Y~es!"
As soon as Nozomu
called Ena, each of them started to place their orders.
In case you are
wondering, Ox-head Pavilion also has a variety of menus, many of which are
reasonably priced.
Being physically
exerted, Nozomu and Mars ordered the hole-rabbit steak, a hearty meat-based
dish, for their lunch. The same goes for Feo and Mimuru, who are beastmen.
Meanwhile, Tima,
Irisdina, Shina, and Tom ordered a lunch consisting mainly of egg dishes.
Ena received the
orders and disappeared into the kitchen, and a little later she brought the
meals for everyone.
"Sorry to keep
you waiting. Enjoy your meal~~!"
She put the food on
the table quickly and returned to her work with a smile on her face.
"Finally, here
they come! Kuu, I'm starving~"
[Oi, Shi-jou, hurry
up!]
Feo immediately
stabbed his fork into the food and smacked his tongue. Razward, caught up in
Feo's joyful smile, urged Shina to hurry up, and Shina, Irisdina, and the
others began to eat as well, smiling wryly at him.
[Kua~~! It's
delicious~~! We should order dessert, after all!]
"Raz, you're
noisy, so be quiet. And you're being a bit brazen."
"As expected of
Dell-dono, what a tasty meal."
"Indeed. But I'm
kind of scared that I'll be eating as much as I want."
Irisdina smiled while
Tima groaned. While everyone was enjoying their meal, Nozomu also reached for
his knife to slice the hole-rabbit steak he had ordered.
"Ah......"
But then the knife
slipped from his fingers. The dull sound of a clang echoed through the air, and
Nozomu let out a stunned cry.
"Hey, Nozomu, are
you alright?"
"Y-Yeah. I think
I might fail a little bit."
As Nozomu picked up
the knife while replying to Mars, Tom spoke to him.
"By the way,
Nozomu-kun. How does your katana feel now that the pattern has changed?"
"Hm? I didn't see
any particular change in usability......"
(Although when I could
no longer infuse Qi, I felt as if I had fallen into a valley......)
Nozomu's katana,
[Mumei], is a very important object that was given to him by his master, Shino.
It was said to be a rather famous blade, but since the previous battle with the
[Cracked-Crown] Giant Centipede, the shape of its pattern had changed
drastically to a chain shape.
"It was recorded
that the shape and nature of this katana changed depending on its owner, so
it's no surprise that anything could happen to it. Besides, it is well known
that items that have been treasured for many years can cause phenomena similar
to magic or the work of spirits......"
Tom's eyes flashed as
he said this. A bad feeling came over Nozomu.
"Hey, let me
disassemble this sword after all......"
"There's no way
in hell I'll allow it!"
Before Tom could
finish, Nozomu shut him out.
The boy is a promising
future alchemist, but his curiosity is so great that he tends to run wild from
time to time.
He seems to be
interested in Nozomu's [Mumei] recently, and they've had the exact same
conversation before.
"Well. Leaving
Tom and Nozomu's comedic banter aside....... Although the Special Comprehensive
Exercise ended that way, the events are far from over."
"Oh, are we going
to start joint classes with other classes in earnest?"
This time, Feo brought
up another topic.
The Solminati Academy
curriculum is four years. The first and second years are focused on improving
the basic skills of the students, but from the third year, the aspect will
change drastically.
Practical lessons will
be held jointly with other classes, and students will sometimes be involved in
activities outside the academy, such as with the Adventurers' Guild. In fact,
from tomorrow, practical lessons with other classes will begin in earnest.
However, Nozomu had
been in so much trouble recently with Tiamat, Lisa, Ken and the others, and the
incidents at the Special Comprehensive Exercise made him completely forgotten
about the joint classes.
Perhaps sensing his
inner thoughts, Mars stared at him with a difficult expression and opened his
mouth.
"So, Nozomu, what
are you gonna do?"
"What do you
mean?"
"What else? I'm
talking about those bastards who have been plotting against you."
Hearing Mars' words,
the faces of everyone present rose.
Ken Notice. He is
Nozomu's childhood friend and the man who caused Nozomu's girlfriend to break
up with him by spreading false rumors. He is also one of those who have made a
direct contract with a spirit, which is rare among human beings.
When questioned by
Nozomu just prior to the Special Comprehensive Exercise, he admitted to his own
deeds and tried to eliminate Nozomu by killing him. His handsome face was
tinged with indignation.
And then there was
Camilla Vecknose. A friend of Lisa's and a female student in the same class who
cooperated with Ken.
They had heard about
this whole story from Nozomu's mouth about two weeks ago, right after they had
fought the out-of-the-standard demonic beast called the [Cracked-Crown] Giant
Centipede in the forest.
"Are you sure
about Ken Notice having a contract with a spirit?"
Feo asked such a
question while glancing at Shina, another spirit-user. She shook her head
slowly with a sullen look on her face.
"I'm sorry, I
couldn't sense it at all. What about you, Raz?"
[......Who knows.
We're not flawless, either, and this town is a bit noisy.]
While Shina was at a
loss for words in response to Feo's question, Razward, who was prompted by her,
replied while thinking about it a little. Irisdina asked a series of questions
in response to the little spirit's somewhat implied comment.
"What do you mean
by noisy?"
[This whole town is
like an altar. It's kind of dense and noisy in many ways.]
"Dense?
Noisy?"
[In your terms, I
think it's like being in the middle of a crowd all the time. There are so many
micro-spirits that they interfere with each other, making it difficult to
distinguish between them. Besides, I was kind of out cold just a few days ago.]
"Are there that
many?"
Nozomu asked Razward,
and the lapis lazuli-colored little spirit replied while chirping.
[Yeah, it's a density
approaching that of the Nebula Forest.
At the same time, it
gives the impression of being somewhat unnatural.]
"There is also
the matter of the [Cracked-Crown] Giant Centipede. We need to be careful with
that spirit."
Following Razward,
Irisdina spoke up. The whole group fell silent at her words.
The [Cracked-Crown]
Giant Centipede. Originally thought to have lived in the eastern part of the
continent, it invaded the human sphere along with other demonic beasts during
the great invasion 20 years ago. It is a unique demonic beast that has caused a
great deal of casualties.
It is said that even
the best warriors of mankind could never defeat such a beast on their own. Such
a demonic beast appeared at a Special Comprehensive Exercise held two weeks ago.
Naturally, the
situation at the site was chaotic. Arcazam issued a state of emergency and
closed all the gates of the city.
The beast then went
into battle against Nozomu, Irisdina, and the others who were in Shino's hut at
the time. It was wounded and fled before Nozomu, who used his Dragon Slayer
powers.
A week or so later,
Arcazam's emergency order was lifted, and peace was restored to the area.
But Nozomu and his
friends knew. A spirit emerged from the wounded [Cracked-Crown] Giant
Centipede, which had just collapsed to the ground, and then it disappeared as
if fleeing.
"Iris, you said
the spirit had the appearance of a little girl, is that true?"
"Yeah, it's just
the appearance though. On the inside, it looked like a winged insect...... Does
that ring a bell?"
"The spirit's
outer appearance looks exactly like the little spirit named Mefi that Ken had a
contract with......"
A spirit that
controlled the [Cracked-Crown] Giant Centipede.
Everyone pondered this
clue with difficult expressions on their faces.
"Is it really
possible? For a mere minor spirit to control a demonic beast as powerful as the
[Six Bad Omens]?"
Mars looked at
Razward, who was perching by Shina's side. No matter how mysterious the spirit
may be, it is a different story if the other party is one of the [Six Bad
Omens].
When manipulating the
mind, the amount of one's magic power is a major factor in the success or
failure of the technique.
The [Cracked-Crown]
Giant Centipede has a huge physique and a huge amount of magic power to match
it, and it showed no signs of exhaustion at all while firing countless
lightning spells. It is hard to believe that such a being could be so easily
manipulated.
[It should be
impossible, even for me. And from its appearance, that spirit is quite young. Besides,
when it comes to controlling the mind of a demonic beast of that caliber, the
sheer magnitude of its difficulties is insane.]
"......Iris, how
is Lisa doing in class lately?"
Hearing Razward's
statement, Nozomu looked a little surprised, and then he asked Irisdina how
Lisa was doing. She was silent for a moment, as if she was thinking about
something, but then she began to talk about her recent condition in the first
class.
"Nothing unusual.
But after knowing everything, it's eerie how normal it seems."
"How is Camilla
doing?"
"She's with
Lisa-kun, as usual. Is there something wrong with her?"
"No, I'm a little
concerned. She seemed to be having a disagreement with Ken when I questioned
her before, so......"
Camilla Vecknose is a
female student who has been Lisa's best friend since first grade and was
friends with Nozomu as well. However, she collaborated with Ken to bring Nozomu
down.
[As long as
you are my collaborator, I am willing to cooperate with you. But if you're
going to walk away, then I don't have a choice ...... You know what I mean,
don't you?]
[Good. Just
make sure you don't give us the wrong idea.]
Nozomu was lost in
thought, remembering the time he questioned Ken in the forest. Ken and Camilla
had been working together from the beginning, but Camilla seemed to be being
threatened, rather than cooperating willingly.
Camilla, too, had a
secret she couldn't tell anyone. Nozomu could not help but feel that way.
"Let's get back
to the main topic. So, what do you want to do, Nozomu?"
Irisdina opened her
mouth as if to pull Nozomu back, who had begun to think about it with his hand
over his mouth.
"What do I want
to do, huh......"
Nozomu took a sip of
the water in front of him to calm himself and looked up at the ceiling.
"I've told you
all about this before. I came to this town to support Lisa's dream."
Irisdina and the
others nodded their heads slightly upon hearing Nozomu's words. After the
battle with the [Cracked-Crown], the girls had heard about how Nozomu and Lisa
had met and how they came to Arcazam.
"I'm angry with
Lisa for not believing in me, but more than that, I'm also sad."
He shifted his gaze
out the window as if staring into the distance. Nozomu's mouth tightened.
Denounce them in anger
and cast them away. It's not that he hadn't thought of doing so.
In fact, he had once
exploded with rage and attempted to do more than verbally abuse Lisa and the
others.
Just before he was
about to kill Lisa, Nozomu hesitated and stopped by reflexively turning the
entire attack on himself, but his actions to that point had left him severely
depressed. As a result, he lost sight of himself and his relationship with
Irisdina and the others cracked, which had various negative effects on him.
All because he did not
expose his heart.
But once he had let
his anger out and spoken his mind to Irisdina and the others, Nozomu, to his
own surprise, was able to look at his current self with a cool head.
"But I don't want
things to go on like this. It's okay to run away, but if they don't even
acknowledge it, they'll end up like me. So......"
He closed his eyes and
heaved a small sigh as if to confirm his own feelings.
"I want to know
the Lisa of the past two years that I didn't know, as well as the current her.
That's what I think."
He looked up, then
opened his eyes again, and in a quiet but clear tone of voice, he expressed his
intention. Irisdina looked at him anxiously.
"How......"
"Well, I'll try
some things in that regard."
Nozomu, with a look of
determination on his face, not of resignation but of a sense of relief, put the
bill for the meal on the table and left his seat.
"Nozomu, where are
you going?"
"Shishō's hut. It
was destroyed in the battle with that demonic beast, so I want to clean it up
while I still can."
Nozomu has mastered
the Mikagura-style swordsmanship. The master, Shino Mikagura, is already dead,
and the hut she lived in was destroyed in the battle with the [Cracked-Crown]
Giant Centipede.
However, for Nozomu,
it is a place of memories of someone important to him. He wanted to keep it
clean while he is still in Arcazam.
"Well then,
everyone, see you tomorrow......."
"H-Hold on a
second!"
Stopped by Irisdina's
voice, which sounded a little impatient, Nozomu stopped and turned around.
He found that she had
gotten up from her seat as if in pursuit of him and rushed up in front of him.
[By my
side......]
A pretty girl looked
up at him with an upward glance. Her voice, which had called out to him when
Tiamat had swallowed his consciousness, came back to him. Nozomu's heart
skipped a beat.
"Umm, ...... do
you still need something?"
"C-Can I come
with you? You're gonna need some help to clean up, right?"
"Well, yeah,
but......"
Hesitation escaped
from his mouth. Perhaps assuming that she would be rejected, she suddenly came
closer to him. Seeing the plea reflected in the depths of her obsidian eyes.
Nozomu involuntarily gulped.
"A-And also.
Training in the same place where that Shino Mikagura lived, would be
interesting. R-Right?"
It's just a humble
little hut. And a place that will eventually be destroyed and buried in the
forest. For Nozomu, it was certainly a little awkward to ask for help with his
own self-indulgence. But .......
"I'd like to help
you. ...... Is that okay?"
The pure feelings
directed at him made his hesitation melt away.
".......Thank
you."
Nozomu found himself
smiling as he replied.
Hearing Nozomu's
approval, Irisdina also let out a big smile, as if feeling relieved.
"Good! Let's go
then. Everyone, see you tomorrow."
"Ou."
"Ai, see you
later."
Irisdina gave a small
wave to Tima and the others and walked out of the restaurant along with Nozomu.
The blue-haired elf girl watched their backs with wistful eyes.
At that moment, Mars
suddenly stood up and went to stand in front of Tom.
"W-What is
it?"
While Tom was startled
at being looked down by the imposing Mars, Mars opened his mouth with a
mysterious expression on his face.
"Are you
interested in the kind of sword that Nozomu had?"
"Huh? Y-Yeah. I
don't think there's a single alchemist who wouldn't be interested in a
spiritual sword, or a magic sword......"
"I see! In that
case, I've got some good news for you!"
Tom involuntarily
shrunk back as Mars smiled with his mouth hanging open in a somewhat inhuman
smile.
But then he widened
his eyes upon hearing Mars' next words and smiled the same inhuman smile that
he had.
†
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