Volume 4 Chapter 2.2
Patchwork Obsession Part 2
Translator : PolterGlast
A room in the boys'
dormitory.
Nozomu, the owner of
this room, was getting ready for school in a brisk manner.
The town was still
enveloped in dim darkness. It was clearly too early. He dressed in his school
uniform and was about to put his katana at his waist......
"......!"
The numbness that
suddenly ran up his arm made him wince. He frowned at the numbness that
suddenly ran up his arm. He put strength into his arm, which was about to drop
the katana.
He managed to put it
strapped to his waist without dropping his master's memento.
"That was-......
as expected."
The numbness quickly
subsided and the sensation returned. Nozomu could guess what was causing this
numbness. Last night, too, he had dreamed of the Dragon King.
"Phew.......
alright."
He took a deep breath.
Although the anxiety lingered, it quickly calmed down.
After checking his
appearance and steeling himself, Nozomu left his room with a bag containing his
breakfast and study materials that he had prepared in advance.
Upon leaving the
dormitory, Nozomu headed north. The border between the civil and administrative
districts. There, he found the building he was heading for.
The Solminati Academy
girls' dormitory. Nozomu waited for the person in question to come out of the
main gate across the street.
Female students came
out of the entrance of the dormitory one after another. When they saw Nozomu in
front of the girls' dormitory, they all tilted their heads in unison. Waiting
in a place like this would naturally attract attention.
However, Nozomu paid
no heed to their stares and kept his eyes fixed on the front gate of the girls'
dormitory.
Then, the expected
person appeared.
"Lisa, are you
all right?"
"Like I said, I'm
fine......"
There stood two girls,
Lisa with a somewhat gloomy expression on her face, and Camilla, who was
standing by her side showing concern for her.
The face of Lisa was
pale and she had dark circles under her eyes. She was obviously sleep-deprived.
Despite his concern about her condition, Nozomu shifted his mind and walked
over to them.
"You......!?"
Camilla wore a
surprised expression, then stepped in between Lisa and Nozomu as if to protect
her.
But her eyes wavered
erratically and lacked composure.
She, too, was one of
the people who had framed Nozomu, but at the same time, she was carrying some
special circumstances. Nozomu took a deep breath to relax himself, then slowly
opened his mouth to Lisa and Camilla.
"Lisa, it's been
a while. I believe it's been about two weeks?"
The voice that came
out of his mouth as he faced them once again was calmer than Nozomu himself had
expected.
"So do you,
Camilla. Though I lost myself in anger in the forest, sorry about that."
"How......?"
(......Yep, my mind is
calm.)
Facing them like this,
Nozomu came to realize something.
His anger did not well
up anymore.
Camilla probably did
not expect to be spoken to in such a calm tone. She was surprised by Nozomu's
quiet and calm voice. Her eyes widened.
"A-A-......."
"Lisa?"
However, on the other
hand, Lisa's behavior was strange. Her complexion had gone pale. Her eyes were
unfocused and wide open.
Her expression did not
seem to indicate that she was okay.
Another important
person also appeared here.
"W-Why are you
here ......!?"
"Ken,
huh......."
Ken was so surprised
to see Nozomu here that his face contorted into an ugly smile for a moment, but
then he immediately smiled as usual. After that, he ignored Nozomu and walked
toward Lisa.
"Good morning
Lisa. Sorry, I'm late. It must be a disaster to get tangled up with this guy so
early in the morning. Come on, let's go ......"
Ken tried to take
Lisa's hand with a deft gesture, as if he was accustomed to doing so.
"~,
-no......!"
"Huh?"
But the next moment,
slap! With a dry smack, Lisa brushed Ken's hand away.
Ken's face twitched in
pain, followed by a look of disbelief.
Lisa, on the other
hand, also stiffened, her eyes widening at her own actions. Silence fell, as if
time had stood still.
"L-Lisa
......?"
A trembling voice
escaped from Ken's mouth. Lisa, also realizing what she had done, her face grew
pale with fear.
"~......!"
Then she ran away.
While Ken was taken
aback by the abruptness of the event, Nozomu hurried after her.
Lisa went from in
front of the main gate of the girls' dormitory to the main street of the civic
district. She was physically talented by nature. By the time Nozomu reached the
main street, Lisa was already on her way into intricate alleyways.
"Lisa,
wait!"
Nozomu called out to
her, but she did not stop, instead, her steps became faster and faster.
If one looked closely,
one could see the residue of magic power covering her body. She was
unconsciously boosting her physical capabilities with her magic power.
Strengthening only by
magic power without any magic spells would not have much effect. But even so,
an ordinary person would easily be shaken off.
At this rate, he would
lose sight of her. Nozomu, who had made this judgment, released his Qi,
strengthened his physical abilities, and pursued after her.
But as he rounded a
few alleys, his eyes widened at the sight of an object blocking his path.
"Is this ...... a
wall of water?"
A three-meter-high
wall of water towered over the alleyway.
Nozomu immediately
sprang up, putting all his Qi into his legs, and leaped. He leaped over the
water wall with his hand on the eaves of the roof of a house.
When the water wall
failed to block Nozomu, it crumbled down with a splashing sound.
But by the time he
landed, it had already reconstructed itself in the direction he was going.
"The work of
Ken's contracted spirit, huh?"
Nozomu, aware of the
entity controlling the water wall, applied his Qi to the katana at his waist
and drew it. With a single stroke, the water wall was cut in half and
collapsed. This time, he broke through the water wall without slowing down.
However, the other
party must have decided that a simple wall would not be enough to stop Nozomu.
This time, they took a different approach.
"Mist......!?"
Suddenly, a dense fog
formed around Nozomu. His vision was so white that he could not see a single
meter ahead of him. Naturally, Lisa's back was completely obscured. The next
moment, a huge stone wall rushed in front of Nozomu, who was running.
"Damn
it......!!"
Just before he slammed
into the wall, Nozomu reflexively put his foot on the wall and changed the
direction of forward momentum to upward. He ran up the wall of the house and
onto the roof.
By the time Nozomu was
on the roof, the fog had dissipated and the gentle spring sunlight was
illuminating the rows of houses.
Lisa was already out
of sight, not a shadow remained.
"I lost
her......"
He bit his lip and
clenched my fists. But there was one thing he knew.
He had to do something
about that spirit if he wanted to talk to Lisa again. That means he can't do it
on his own.
"I'll have to
start over......"
Nozomu looked once
again in the direction in which she would have run away. What came to mind was
the promise he made to support her when he was a little boy.
(A promise that I
clung to in order to escape, a promise that no longer has any meaning. But
still......)
After closing his eyes
for a moment, Nozomu turned on his heel and jumped down from the roof.
Once again, he held
the once-forgotten determination in his heart.
†
The civic district
where Nozomu left. In a corner of a damp back alley, there were two figures.
One was Lisa. The other was Ken. If one were to look closely, one could see
another small shadow floating in the air beside the two.
"Mefi, are you
not done yet......?"
[Just a little
more.......]
Its appearance is
reminiscent of a light blue child. Called Mefi, it was a lesser water spirit
who had contracted with Ken.
A light blue source
element flowed from the spirit's hand as it raised toward Lisa, enveloping her
entire body. This power erased the events that had just taken place from her
memory.
"What do you
mean? Why is she rejecting me!?"
Ken's voice was
hoarse, as if he couldn't stand it any longer. Mefi had created a soundproof
barrier around them so that no one could hear what they were saying, but the
expression on his face was clearly that of someone who was being cornered.
"Her memories are
coming back. It wasn't supposed to be like this. ...... Alright, I'm done
resealing her memories."
Nozomu sent a letter
saying he wanted to talk to her, and Ken tried to get rid of him. Having seen their
exchange in the forest, Lisa half realized that Ken had tricked her and Nozomu.
Not wanting to let
Lisa go, Ken took measures to seal her memories, but the reversal of the facts
she had believed had devastated her more than Ken had anticipated.
As a result, she had
been seeing her sealed memories repeatedly in the form of nightmares, and even
his spirit's suggestion was becoming ineffective.
[Like I said, when you
were in the first year, I told you that you should have just killed him. But
you prolonged it so badly just because you wanted to see him fall, that's why
this happened~~]
Ken gritted his teeth
at Mefi's words.
The reason Ken decided
to remove Nozomu from Lisa's side was because of the manifestation of Ability
Suppression.
A flashback of his old
days ...... back in his hometown of Oire Village came back to his mind.
Unlike Nozomu, who was
an only child, Ken had many brothers and sisters. There were eight of them.
Including his parents,
he had a large family of ten. Among them, he was the sixth child. He was not as
young as the younger ones, but not as dependable as the older ones. Moreover,
his younger siblings were born in rapid succession, and as soon as he could
remember, his parents and older siblings had already stopped paying attention
to him.
He had to take care of
his young siblings, and above all, farm work required manpower. Inevitably, Ken
was expected to do some work ahead of being pampered.
Ken felt isolated amid
a large family. This cast a shadow over Ken's childhood.
It was not that he had
any ill will toward his family. He just happened to be a little out of the
family circle.
He became friends with
Nozomu and Lisa, who were the same age as him.
[What's wrong~~?]
"............"
The first friend he
made.
The first time he was
not lonely. How comforting that must have been to him.
So it was inevitable
that Ken was attracted to Lisa.
And he knew that
Nozomu and Lisa would be attracted to each other. They were two of his beloved
people.
He was happy for them.
But at the same time, he also felt a stale, comatose feeling.
Why it wasn't
ime? Why did she always look at Nozomu first?
I want her to
look at me. Such small jealousy had been smoldering in his heart for a long time.
It was still good in
the past. Ken was rather quiet at that time, and Nozomu was the one who pulled
Ken along.
So he was able to
express his blessing. He was able to rejoice. Even if there was a small lump in
his heart.
It couldn't be helped.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was able to think that way and give up.
It was around this
time that he met Mefi. She had repeatedly told Ken that he had talent and that
there was no need to be reserved, but he had always shaken his head at her
words.
But when they came to
Solminati Academy, their positions were reversed.
Ken grew up to be one
of the best students in his grade, while Nozomu fell to the bottom of the
class.
And the jealousy that
had been building up since he was a child began to grow. Before he knew it, the
sight of Nozomu crawling around in the practical class made his heart ache, and
his stomach began to churn every time Lisa stood by him as he was unable to
grow, no matter how hard he tried.
Then, his growing
jealousy exploded. He took advantage of Camilla, who was close to Lisa at the time,
by holding on to her secret and using it to blackmail her and bring down
Nozomu.
[That being said, what
the hell is that Camilla doing?]
While Ken remained
silent, Mefi complained about Camilla, who had yet to arrive. She had already
sent a telepathy to tell her where they were, so she should have arrived by
now. At that moment, Camilla appeared from the shadows of a back alley.
[What have you been
doing!?]
"She ran out of
nowhere, so there's no way I can catch up with her easily."
Camilla rushed toward
Lisa, brushing aside Mefi's complaints.
Camilla frowned and
bit her lip at the sight of Lisa standing there unconscious as if she were a
doll.
"......Forget it.
Mefi, go assimilate with Lisa. The commotion has grown too loud. Now that it's
come to this, you'll need to manipulate Lisa's memories at all times."
[It can't be helped,
huh.]
While Camilla was
shocked upon hearing the word "assimilate," Mefi's body transformed
into a light blue source material and entered into Lisa's body.
"How selfish are
you going to be......!?"
"What a bother.
You're also our accomplice, remember? You sold Nozomu out to save your own
skin."
"That's because
you- ......"
"No matter how
you try to fix it, the fact remains. Or do you want to be handed over to your homeland?"
Hearing these words,
Camilla's expression, which had been exuding anger, turned completely pale.
"After fleeing
from the Empire to the Free City, how many people sacrificed their lives so
that you could live? Don't act so innocent now. Your mother is dead, what can
you do now that you're alone?"
Ken glanced at
Camilla, whose shoulders were trembling, and left with Lisa, who was
assimilated with Mefi. As the two disappeared into the shadows of the alley,
the barrier that had been deployed around them disappeared.
The silent space
disappeared, and Camilla crumpled to the ground as the bustle of people
streamed in from the main street.
"*Hic hic*
......"
Sobs leaked from the
gaps between the palms of her hands that covered her face, and the tears she
could not catch formed a smear on the dimly lit ground.
End of Chapter 2
-----
Thank you for my Patrons !!
[Platinum]
Aiden Elliott
Christian Schaffer
Duncan Rodgers
Elite
Max Kneifel
Swagaraga
[Gold]
-
[Silver]
blue shooting
CoolmanMTD
Creris
Frédéric Bertrand-Hudon
Glasses Kun
Pristia
Siyamti
Anton Lim
Ctdela
Curious Panda
Hikigaya Hachiman
Read Advanced Chapters only on my Patreon
-----
