Volume 2
Epilogue
I was having a dream.
A bright red dream. But to me, it didn't feel like a dream.
The place was probably
Solminati Academy. However, the school building that resembled a castle wall
had collapsed, and the surroundings were a scorched wasteland with rubble
scattered everywhere.
"Ugh!
Blegh!"
Scattered around were
things that had once been people.
They were charred to
the point where their original forms were no longer discernible. The smell of
burning flesh assaulted my nose, and I couldn't help but vomit the contents of
my stomach.
In that hell, there
was a single dragon. A jet-black body with five-colored wings. There was no
mistaking it, the giant dragon that was supposed to be inside me. Tiamat.
Its mouth moved as if
chewing. It seemed to be eating something.
"Hah... hah...
hah... hah..."
A bad premonition
washed over me at that sight. My breath grew ragged, and my heart pounded like
a drum. My instincts screamed, "Don't look!" but by the time I thought
that, it was already too late.
"Ah, ah...
AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
What was protruding
from its mouth was long hair. When the owner of that hair flashed through my
mind, I screamed and charged at it.
The next moment, black
giant flames appeared before my eyes. I couldn't even evade, and I was
swallowed by the chaotic flames.
***
"Ha! Hah...
hah... hah..."
When he came to,
Nozomu was on a bed. It seemed he had woken up from the dream.
"Ah!"
Nozomu frowned and
held his head. The dream had been so realistic that he couldn't help but need
to confirm that it was truly a dream.
As time passed, Nozomu
gradually regained his composure. And he understood what had happened to him.
(Right, after that
fight, I must have been so relieved that I fainted...)
Nozomu recalled the
events after that battle. When Irisdina and Somia had walked towards him, he
had felt a wave of relief and joy, his strength had left him, and everything
had gone dark. He had probably fainted at that moment.
"How much time
has passed...?"
Saying that, Nozomu
looked around the room he was in. The white walls had no stains, and besides
the bed, there was a desk, chairs, a fireplace, and a chest of drawers. These
items had little decoration, but strangely, they had a certain elegance, and Nozomu
felt that they effortlessly exuded the dignity of this room.
Nozomu could see a
large garden from the room's window. It seemed this was the Francilt family's
mansion.
As Nozomu was looking
outside, there was a knock on the room's door, and two girls entered. When the
girls confirmed Nozomu's appearance, they gave him flower-like smiles.
"Thank goodness.
You're awake..."
"Are you alright,
Nozomu-san?"
The girls, Irisdina
and Somiliana, spoke to Nozomu with relieved smiles.
"How long was I
out?"
"About half a
day... But I'm glad. You suddenly lost consciousness, so I was worried."
"Are you feeling
okay?"
It was probably
because he had been severely exhausted from releasing his ability suppression
and the multiple use of Annihilating Light Impact. Rapid Ki depletion had a
serious impact on life-sustaining activities. He should be grateful that it
ended with just this.
"So... what about
Rugato-san?"
When Nozomu asked
about what had happened afterward, he learned that Rugato-san, just as he had
said right before Nozomu fainted, had made it impossible to fulfill the
contract by destroying the familiar's black orb and the contract itself.
Afterward, he returned
to the Dizart Empire to report this matter to the master he served.
Incidentally, the lower
and upper halves of Rugato's body, which Nozomu had bisected, had apparently
healed cleanly after a few hours. It was an incredible regenerative ability,
but according to him, "Because I was cut so cleanly, even I was surprised
at how quickly the wound healed."
"Tima and
Mars-kun are at the academy right now, but they'll come here after their
classes are over. We want to talk about various things, is that alright?"
"...Yeah,
well…………"
Nozomu hesitated
slightly at those words.
At that moment, a
"gurrrgle" sound echoed. It was Nozomu's stomach. He had been quite
exhausted, so his body seemed to be craving nutrients.
The two girls giggled
upon hearing the sound. Nozomu was embarrassed and averted his gaze.
"Fufu, you seem
to be alright. I'll bring your meal now, so please wait a little. Somia, please
help me."
"Okay~!
Onee-sama! Well then, Nozomu-san, please look forward to your meal!"
The sisters said that
and left the room together amicably. After seeing them off, Nozomu lay back
down on the bed and pondered.
He didn't know how to
explain things about himself, but in his current hunger, he was looking forward
to the meal they had told him to expect.
***
In the evening, when
the sun was gradually beginning to set, though it wasn't yet twilight, the parties
involved in yesterday's incident had gathered in a room of the Francilt
mansion.
First, Irisdina began
to speak about the secret agreement between the Francilt and Wajiart families,
which had triggered the entire incident.
The origin of the
matter was 300 years ago, when the Francilt family was apparently engaged in a
power struggle with other influential families.
However, in that
struggle, the Francilt family gradually became disadvantaged and could no
longer cope on their own.
The head of the Francilt
family at the time relied on the Wajiart family as a means to overturn their
disadvantage.
The Wajiart family was
a clan of vampires, and with the power of their unique abilities and numerous
magic tools, the Francilt family eliminated their opposing forces. In return,
they paid a large sum of wealth to the Wajiart family and made a contract to
borrow their magic tools for 300 years.
Incidentally,
according to Rugato's story, the contract familiar also had the role of cursing
and killing one of the direct descendants of the head of the Francilt family at
random if the contract became impossible to fulfill, as punishment for breaking
the contract.
According to Rugato,
who was present when the contract was made, the reason for the 300-year
interval was because it would no longer directly involve them, and by offering
a direct descendant of the family, they intended to show sincerity towards the
Wajiart family.
Also, the Wajiart
family were long-lived vampires, so the 300-year timeframe apparently didn't
matter much to them.
"...This is too
much, even for me..."
"...It makes my
skin crawl."
When Nozomu and Mars
heard this story, they felt a rage that seemed to boil their intestines.
Even the usually quiet
Tima had a very stern look on her face.
"...Absolutely!
More than anything, I dislike the idea that it's okay as long as it benefits
them."
"Really... I'm
not usually the angry type, but even I can't forgive this."
Irisdina and Somia
didn't try to hide their strong indignation.
"And the Eternal
Flame Furnace that merged with Somia-chan's soul..."
"Ah. About
that... honestly, it seems impossible even for Lord Rugato's master to separate
the Eternal Flame Furnace that merged with Somia's soul. Apparently, such a
usage wasn't anticipated... and in the first place, we don't even know why such
a thing merged with Somia's soul..."
That meant they didn't
know what would happen from now on. Everyone present fell silent.
"...Irisdina-san,
was it okay for you to tell us such a story?"
Nozomu, who had been
silent about the difficulties that might befall Somia in the future, suddenly
felt a question and spoke to Irisdina.
This story should have
been something the Francilt family couldn't disclose.
However, Irisdina
answered as if she didn't mind.
"It's alright.
Despite involving you in our affairs this time, you helped us. I don't want to
keep secrets from such benefactors who saved our lives. Even if you know about
this matter, I won't let the people of my house lay a hand on you."
Irisdina crossed her
arms and stated it as if she didn't care at all. There was no hesitation in her
expression.
"Allow me to
thank you again. Thank you for helping us this time. It's thanks to you that we
didn't lose Somia. I am truly... grateful... thank you."
"Thank you so
much for helping us!"
The Francilt sisters
lowered their heads in unison and thanked him. Nozomu felt a ticklish feeling
at their pure feelings. When he glanced over, Mars also seemed to feel the same
way, his stern face flushed red with embarrassment.
"Ah, no. It's
nothing to worry about..."
"That's not true!
When you saved me from the Grim Reaper, you were so cool!"
"Fufu, Somia is
right."
Somia leaned forward
and said excitedly, and Irisdina also praised Nozomu.
"I-I'm troubled
if you praise me that much... Besides, I…………"
Nozomu was bothered by
the fact that he had hesitated until the very end of that battle. His
expression naturally hardened.
Seeing Nozomu's state,
Mars asked with a serious look. What he probably wanted to ask was...
"…………Nozomu, can
I ask you something? What in the world did you do at the very end of that
battle?"
"………………"
At Mars's words,
Irisdina and the others also fell silent. They were probably curious too, as
all eyes in the room gathered on Nozomu.
"I knew you were
much stronger than what the guys at the academy say. But you were abnormal back
then. What in the world did you do at that time?"
In the silence that
dominated the room, Nozomu slowly began to speak.
"That was... the
release of ability suppression..."
"Release of
ability suppression?"
Somia tilted her head,
but Nozomu continued his explanation.
"Do you know
about my ability 'Ability Suppression'?"
"If I recall
correctly, it was an ability that suppressed the user's own abilities to a
certain level, right?"
"Yes, I have that
ability, and my Ki, strength, and magic power are restricted."
While affirming
Irisdina's words, Nozomu explained his ability.
"I've never heard
of it either, but at the end of my second year, I became able to release this
ability."
"...Could it be?
Was the reason you were so badly injured back then..."
"Ah, yeah. There
were various things that happened then, and I became able to release my ability
suppression. Well, thanks to the injuries, my practical exam at the end of the
semester was a disaster though…………"
"Then, why didn't
you use it until now?"
"That
is…………"
The scene from today's
dream flashed back. The scorched wasteland of Arcazam and the smell of the
burnt townspeople. And her being eaten by "it."
"!"
"...Nozomu-kun?"
"Ah, no... Sorry.
I was spacing out. ...When I release my ability suppression, it's always at
full power and uncontrollable, so I didn't use it. Plus, I can only release it
for about two minutes."
Nozomu answered,
trying to conceal the anxiety within him. His answer didn't tell the whole
story either.
"Because just
punching makes rocks crumble. I can't use it against people at all."
"…………Certainly,
with that, it's not easy to use. ...Or rather, all your techniques are like
that."
"...I'm aware."
***
In the end, even after
this, Nozomu still couldn't bring himself to tell them that he was a Dragon
Slayer.
After some time had
passed and twilight began to dye the sky, Nozomu and his group decided to head
home, and Irisdina and the others came to the mansion gates to see them off.
"Well then, we'll
be going."
"See ya."
"Ah, see you at
the academy..."
"Yeah, see
you."
Nozomu and the others
exchanged farewells. Then suddenly, Somia, who was beside Irisdina, took
Nozomu's hand.
"W-what's wrong?
Somia-chan."
"Nozomu-san!
Thank you for saving me! At that time, I thought I wouldn't be able to see
Onee-sama again... but I'm so happy to be with her again now!"
Somia thanked Nozomu
again, flustering him with her sudden action. Then Irisdina took his other hand
and thanked him again as well.
"Yeah, if you
hadn't saved us at that time, Somia would have definitely been taken away. I...
I don't think I could have endured that. ...Thank you so much."
Nozomu felt a slight
lightness in his heart at the words of gratitude from the two of them. There
were many things he couldn't talk about, and the anxiety he held within was
great. Although that lingered in his mind, he felt that at least releasing his
ability suppression at that time hadn't been a mistake.
"...Oh yeah, I
still hadn't given this to Somia-chan, had I?"
"???"
Somia tilted her head
at Nozomu's words. Nozomu took something out of his pocket and presented it to
her with belated birthday wishes.
"Happy belated
birthday."
What he took out was
the birthday present he had intended to give Somia.
White and black
strings were tied together in a ring, with more strings attached to the ring,
and a bell used in the East was attached to the end.
It was something he
had made in imitation of the bracelet she cherished as a symbol of her family's
bond.
"I used that
bracelet as a reference, and I'm not very good at crafting, so I wondered if I
should even give it to you..."
"No! I'm so
happy! Thank you, Nozomu-san!"
Somia said that and
put on the bell bracelet. It was mismatched for someone as graceful as her, and
it certainly wasn't a fine piece, but Somia seemed very happy and cheerful.
Irisdina watched her
younger sister with a smile.
Tima and Mars also had
smiles on their faces at the sight.
It had been an
eventful day. Smiles that they had once thought they would never see again. The
scene that everyone here wanted to protect was certainly there.
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