Volume 4 Chapter 5.1
Acceleration to Collapse Part 1
Translator : PolterGlast
After being
hospitalized for several days for examinations, Nozomu was finally allowed to
go to school today.
"Good grief, I'm
finally freed......."
Nozomu breathed a sigh
of relief as he walked along the street to the school. Although he was under
observation, he had been told to rest and was bored out of his mind during his
stay in the hospital.
"But the rumors
haven't been completely dispelled yet. What do I do? ......"
Nozomu was able to
dispel the rumor that he was weak during the mock combat, but the main issue
here was the rumor about him being the worst scumbag who betrayed Lisa. Nozomu
believed that the mock combat would have no effect on this one.
"Well, it's no
point dwelling over it. At any rate, let's go to the school first."
After arriving at the
school, Nozomu headed to his classroom.
It was already the
second period. The hallway was deserted, and Nozomu's footsteps were the only
sounds echoing in the spacious hallway.
Nozomu looked over to
the windows and saw first-year students engaged in basic training.
They were being taught
how to swing wooden swords and wield weapons, just as Nozomu and his classmates
had done two years earlier.
In his hometown, he
himself wielded a wooden sword as part of his training, but here was the first
time he learned how to wield it properly.
If one were to look
closely, one could see among the sword-wielding students, there were Eldor and
others that Nozomu had rescued in the sewers recently.
(Which means, this
class is the 1st class of the first grade, huh?......)
Nozomu kept looking at
the training grounds with a sideways glance as he proceeded down the corridor.
When he passed by the first-grade classrooms, the bell rang to announce the end
of the second period.
"Did you
understand the lesson just now?"
"No, not at all!"
First graders came out
of their classrooms, their voices filled with excitement.
Nozomu is currently at
the crossroads that connects the first-grade classrooms and the crossing
corridor. Inevitably, the underclassmen coming out of their classrooms would
head toward where Nozomu is.
And then Nozomu's eyes
met those of one of the girls coming out of the classroom.
"Ah......."
"Hm?"
The female student who
saw Nozomu had a surprised expression on her face. Nozomu tilted his head at
the strange reaction of a girl he didn't know.
When he looked
closely, he saw that the other students who were with her were also looking at
him with surprised expressions for some reason.
At first, Nozomu
thought the reaction might be because they knew about the bad rumors about him,
but he could not detect any negative feelings of contempt or ridicule in their
gazes.
At that moment, the
female student whose eyes met Nozomu's stepped forward.
"U-Umm. Nozomu
Bountis-senpai, right ......?"
"Well,
yes.......?"
The girl was looking
up at Nozomu while fidgeting and intertwining her fingers in front of her
chest.
To a junior who spoke
to him with a timid air, Nozomu also replied awkwardly
"Umm, I'd like to
ask you something... I heard that you possess Ability Suppression, is that true
......?"
While tilting his
head, Nozomu nodded his head slightly. The girl in front of him suddenly smiled
widely and leaned forward. Her eyes were shining with a sparkling light of
admiration.
"U-Umm! I saw the
mock combat the other day!"
"I-I
see......."
Nozomu couldn't help
but flinch at this underclassman's strangely forceful words.
On the other hand, the
excited girl, unaware of his reaction, kept on speaking like a broken dam.
"I was very
moved! You can't move well due to your Ability Suppression, and yet you're able
to compete with that Jihad-sensei!"
"Well, I wasn't
really exchanging direct blows with him, though......"
Unlike Nozomu, whose
perceptions tend to deviate in odd angles, the girl in front of him is just an
ordinary student with normal perception.
He made Jihad, who was
known as a hero, drew his treasured sword and even managed to take one of his
arms from him. Combined with her admiration for Nozomu, she perceived him to be
as powerful as Jihad.
"I was able to
enter this academy, but it didn't go as smoothly as I expected....... There are
a lot of students who are much better at magic and Qi-jutsu than I
am......"
But suddenly, the girl
looks dejected.
It is true that this
school attracts many talented students from all over the continent. However,
there are many who are hailed as child prodigies in their hometowns but are
confronted with reality when they come here. This girl may be one of them.
However, the girl's
downcast expression quickly changed, and she once again turned her passionate
eyes on Nozomu.
"But! When I saw
Nozomu-senpai's appearance at that time, I understood! Even if I can't win by
sheer strength, there are so many things I can do! I don't have much talent!
I'm also in the tenth class, but I've come to think that it doesn't
matter!"
"I-I
see......"
Leaving the bewildered
Nozomu behind, the girl became even more heated.
Then, with a hint of
heartfelt admiration, she suddenly took Nozomu's hand.
"Huh!?"
"I'm rooting for
you, Nozomu-senpai! Please do your best!"
"T-Thanks......."
After letting go of
his hand and bowing, the girl quickly returned to her friends.
The friends who
welcomed the girl back were somewhat squealing, but Nozomu was stunned, unable
to follow the situation at all.
"Huh? Something's
wrong......"
"Not really.
Their reactions are completely normal."
While Nozomu was
bewildered by the unprecedented reactions of the people around him, Norn called
out to him with a hint of a smile on her face.
"Norn-sensei,
what is this all about?"
"While Nozomu-kun
was hospitalized, the school was full of talk about you. It's a hot topic,
especially among the underclassmen, and they're all very curious about
you."
Surprised, Nozomu
turned his gaze once again to the corridor in front of the first-grade
classrooms and saw many underclassmen peering at him from inside the classrooms
and from the corridor.
Of course, they even
asked me about the rumors regarding Lisa-kun. Whenever they asked, I told them
that the rumors were nonsense and unfounded. The underclassmen haven't been
around long enough after hearing the rumors. So, when they saw you fighting so
valiantly against Jihad-sensei, they believed you weren't the scumbag they had heard
about."
Nozomu's eyes widened
at what had transpired while she was resting.
However, what Norn
uttered next left him completely speechless.
"But I think, the
most significant of all was because of Irisdina and the others."
"Eh?"
"As soon as you
collapsed, Irisdina and Shina were the first to rush to your aid, and they
desperately tried to save you."
According to Norn, the
way the girls, who were admired by everyone and looked up to by teachers,
desperately tried to save him touched the underclassmen's hearts.
"Moreover, you
helped Eldor and his friends recently, right? It was also significant that they had told the stories
of that time to their surrounding schoolmates. After hearing that you actually
helped those close to you, everyone realized that you are not the cold-blooded
bastard that you are rumored to be."
"So that's how it
was......"
They heard about the
real Nozomu from Irisdina and the others, from Norn-sensei, and from Eldor and
his friends. These things helped to dispel the false image of Nozomu that had
been imprinted on the underclassmen.
However, Norn, who had
been smiling earlier, suddenly grew gloomy.
"But I'm still
skeptical about the third- and fourth-graders who have been enrolled since
those rumors started circulating......."
Aside from the
first-graders who just enrolled in the school and the second-graders who did
not know when the rumors circulated, the students who have heard the rumors for
a long time apparently still haven't entirely dispelled the false rumors.
Considering that only
a few days have passed since Nozomu and Jihad had their mock combat, it is
hardly enough to dispel the rumors that have been circulating for several
years.
"No, considering
all that has happened, it's enough. Really ...... it's more than enough."
His friends sentiments
touched Nozomu's heart as he recalled their struggling efforts.
A sense of fulfillment
filled his heart like never before. A smile naturally formed on his lips.
"Alright, I'm
heading back to the infirmary. You should go to your classroom as soon as
possible. Everyone in your class has been worried about you."
"Yes, thank you
very much."
Nozomu watched Norn
with gratitude as she turned on her heel and walked away. At that moment, a
woman's voice was heard coming from behind him.
"I'm glad you are
alright."
"This voice,
Camilla......?"
He looked in the
direction of the voice, but there was no one there. Even after looking around,
he could not see anyone at all. It seemed that the voice was coming from far away.
"Let's have a
little chat after school. There's something I'd like to talk to you
about."
"......What a
coincidence. I also have something I want to talk to you about."
"Good....... See
you at the central park then."
†
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