Volume 5
Chapter 6
"Yo, Nozomu. Got a minute?"
Feo
Lizitsa spoke to me with the casualness of a friend asking for a small favor.
"You…"
I
found myself staring at Feo with suspicious eyes. He possessed a seemingly
gentle expression and a refined, sweet face, yet his expression felt
unsettling. This was because I felt a gaze that seemed to see right through me
from deep within his thin, thread-like eyes, whose true intentions I couldn't
discern, and it gave me an indescribable feeling of suspicion. That gaze was
the same one I had felt from the man before me previously, as well as the one I
felt when my classmates called me to the back of the school building, and just
now in front of the main gate.
Iris
and the others also seemed surprised by the sudden visitor, their gazes
completely fixated on Feo.
"Um.
Do you know him?"
"Oh,
he's our classmate, Somicchi. He always wanders around, so he doesn't belong to
a fixed party, but he's quite capable. …Though I don't know why he's
here…"
Somia-chan
asked about Feo whom she had never met before, and Mimuru answered her
question, but I couldn't take my eyes off Feo.
"…What
do you want?"
I
asked Feo the reason he was here, but perhaps because the incident behind the
school building and the gaze I felt at that time were still on my mind, I
naturally spoke in an intimidating tone.
"Why
so stiff~? No need to be so wary, you know?"
"…"
Feo
spoke to me casually.
His
voice seemed to smoothly enter a person's heart and loosen their guard, but
now, that voice only further heightened my wariness.
"…Haaah,
I wonder why you're being so wary… Why is that?"
Feo
murmured in a voice that made it seem like he genuinely didn't understand why I
was being so wary. There was no sense of acting in his gestures or expression.
"Feo-kun,
what's wrong?"
"That's
right. Why are you, who always wanders around, here again?"
My
guard hadn't lowered at all, but Tom and Mimuru, who didn't know the reason,
frankly asked Feo the questions they felt.
Come
to think of it, they were students of the 2nd tier, the same as Feo…
"I
told you, didn't I? I have business with Nozomu."
Saying
an unhelpful answer, Feo began to walk towards me. He walked slowly but with
steady steps.
Only
the sound of Feo's footsteps crunching on dirt and grass echoed in my ears, and
everyone else naturally fell silent at the sight.
"Well,
my business, to sum it up…"
Eventually,
when the distance between me and Feo closed to a few meters…
"!!"
I
suddenly felt a chill down my spine and leaped backward with all my might.
The
next moment, I thought a gust of wind had whipped up, and the long, slender bag
Feo held was swung with a roar, passing right in front of me.
I
was surprised by the sudden event, but I immediately drew my katana to prepare
for a follow-up attack.
"Oh,
so you dodged after all, huh."
Feo
skillfully twirled the raised slender bag and returned to his original standing
posture. However, he didn't pursue further and just stood there with the same
nonchalant attitude as before.
"Stop!
Feo! What do you think you're doing!!"
"That's
right! What do you mean by suddenly attacking us!!"
Iris
and Shina shouted at Feo, who had suddenly attacked, but Feo's expression
didn't change.
On
the contrary, he didn't even look at Iris and the others who had raised their
voices, as if they weren't in his sight.
"Hey
Nozomu. Will you duel me?"
"…?"
"You
bastard! What are you saying after suddenly attacking us!!"
I
was trying to gauge Feo's intentions at his sudden proposal, but perhaps Mars
was enraged by his words, as he thrust the greatsword in his hand at Feo.
However,
Feo still seemed uninterested in Mars, paying no attention to him and keeping
his gaze fixed on Nozomu.
"Sounds
good, right, Nozomu~?"
"You
bastard! That's enough…"
Perhaps
exasperated by his apparent unwillingness to listen, Mars tried to close in on
him, but Feo parried Mars's greatsword with the thing he held in his hand, then
spun his body and, with a fluid motion, moved into Mars's guard.
"Whoops!"
"Wha!?"
The
next moment, Mars was pinned to the ground. In Feo's hand was a stick... a
staff/cudgel, which he had apparently picked up without me noticing. The cudgel
was pressed against Mars's face, whom he had pinned down.
Everyone
present was speechless and captivated by his incredible agility.
The
long, slender bag Feo had been holding had somehow been thrown away and had
fallen to the ground, swaying in the wind.
"…You
bastard."
"Could
you please be quiet for a moment? I'm talking to Nozomu right now."
Mars
tried to curse, but Feo admonished him in a tone that allowed no argument.
"…Don't
you think that's enough?"
"That's
right. You've always been hard to grasp and irresponsible, but this is simply
inexcusable."
"…Huh?
I understand the Black-Haired Princess, but why Shina too?"
Perhaps
Iris and Shina couldn't overlook Feo's actions, as they took out their weapons
and tried to intervene. The voices they used when they called out to Feo were
different from their usual selves, changing to a more intimidating tone.
However,
Feo remained calm despite their intimidation, showing no signs of tension.
The
fact that Feo had pinned down Mars showed that he possessed considerable
ability, one of the best in this academy, but I didn't feel any of the unique
authoritative presence of such a strong person from the current him.
But
that only further stimulated my wariness.
His
ability and his lack of imposing presence that didn't match it. His
self-control, enough to completely hide his true abilities. Frankly, he is a
dangerous opponent.
Some
magical beasts completely hide their fangs, letting their opponents drop their
guard, then exploit that opening. And usually, the fangs of that type of
opponent are intended to kill the opponent with a single blow.
The
current Feo was like a snake hiding and waiting for its prey.
"…Of
course. If a classmate suddenly commits such an outrageous act, it's only
natural to intervene!"
"…Somehow,
it's different from the usual Shina…"
Feo
tilted his head, seemingly sensing something odd in Shina's words and actions.
However, perhaps he decided to set that question aside for now, as he
self-concluded with, "Well, it's fine for now!"
"Hmm.
Shina aside, fighting the Black-Haired Princess also sounds interesting~. But,
if we really fought, it wouldn't end without consequences, so I'm sorry, but
I'll have to pass!"
Saying
that, Feo grabbed Mars by the collar and waist, whom he had pinned down.
Suddenly, magic power surged from his body. Effortlessly lifting the large
Mars, Feo then threw Mars towards Irisdina and the others.
"Whoooaaa!!"
"Wha!!"
Irisdina
and Shina caught Mars, who was thrown at them. Meanwhile, Feo reached into his
pocket and took out a piece of paper, into which he channeled magic power. It
was a specially processed paper used in Eastern magic, talisman arts.
Feo
then slammed the talisman imbued with magic power onto the ground, and lines of
light ran across the ground.
The
extending lines of light surrounded Iris and Shina and the others in a
hexagonal shape. Along the traced lines, walls of light rose up like a
fortress.
"Is
this, a barrier magic!?"
"Sorry~.
But I don't want to be disturbed. My bad, but could you stay there
quietly?"
Iris
let out a cry of surprise.
Everyone
else except me was completely isolated and trapped by Feo's barrier magic.
However,
even if they were trapped by magic, Iris and Tima and the others undoubtedly
possessed first-class mage abilities.
In
fact, Tima immediately tried to destroy the barrier magic that was trapping
them.
"A-anyway,
destroy this barrier…"
Magic
power surged from Tima's body. A torrent of magic power gathered at her raised
staff, and a storm of magic power raged within the narrow barrier.
"Whoa!"
"Kyaa!"
"Tima-san!
Consider the location!"
Everyone squinted
their eyes against the strong wind caused by the surging magic power, raising
their arms to shield their faces.
Incidentally, and
utterly irrelevant, I pretended not to see the girls holding down their skirts.
Eventually, the raging
magic power gathered at the tip of Tima's staff, and she slammed the magic
power-infused staff into the ground. Then, the ground suddenly swelled and
lifted, and the lifted ground transformed, becoming a gigantic rock spear.
The gigantic rock
spear became so large that ten adults couldn't lift it, and its tip was aimed
at the barrier in front of it.
"Piercing Rock
Dance"
It was a magic that
slammed rock formations shaped like spears into the opponent, similar to
"Icicle Dance," the magic Iris used when she sparred with me earlier.
However, the size of
the created rock spear was incomparable to Iris's icicles. Tima's magic was
incomparable even to Iris's, the top student of her grade. That alone showed
the immense potential she possessed.
Tima swung her staff
once, and the gigantic rock spear instantly accelerated and crashed into the
barrier Feo had created. Feo's barrier easily shattered before Tima's rock
spear, but...
"No way…"
The barrier that
should have been destroyed immediately regenerated and returned to its original
state.
"Wow~, I'm
surprised. As expected of the Weaver of the Four Tones, a legendary level of
magic power is no joke... If it weren't for this, my barrier magic would have
been blown away in one hit..."
Saying that, he took
out a magic stone. Two talismans were affixed to the magic stone, and unknown
characters were written on its surface. Looking closely, one of the talismans
seemed to be the same as the one Feo used earlier when setting up the barrier.
"That is…"
"Hm? This? This
is a homemade magic tool I made by attaching talismans to a magic stone bought
in town. The talismans attached absorb the stored magic power, allowing it to
continuously cast the same spell as long as the magic stone's magic power
lasts. However, once activated, it tries to use magic until the stored magic
power is exhausted, and on top of that, practical magic stones are expensive
and disposable... Thanks to this, my wallet is empty..."
Feo slumped his
shoulders, looking dejected.
The magic stone with
the talisman attached, which he had taken out, continued to emit a faint light,
and seeing the barrier synchronize with that light, Feo's words were probably
true.
Maintaining barrier
magic requires continuously channeling magic power. And given that it
regenerated even after being destroyed, Irisdina and the others would have no
choice but to destroy Feo's magic tool or wait for the magic power stored in
the magic stone to run out in order to escape.
Feo had said he wanted
to fight me, but I didn't know what he was thinking. However, I didn't know why
Feo was so concerned about me, but it was true that I was curious. This might
be a good opportunity to find out.
"Well, what's
done is done, so shall we begin!"
I was pondering what
to do, but Feo, putting the magic tool into his pocket, cheerfully readied the
staff he held in his hand, ignoring me completely.
However, I still
hadn't taken a stance, even though I had drawn my katana.
"…Huh? You're not
going to do it?"
"Why are you
looking so puzzled? Barging in and challenging someone to a duel out of nowhere
isn't normal, is it...?"
Perhaps suspicious of
me for not taking a stance, he tilted his head and asked.
It was unavoidable
that a voice of exasperation escaped me in response to his childlike innocence,
like a child begging for a toy.
"But…
alright."
Although I still
hadn't taken a stance, my own warning bells continued to ring regarding Feo.
However, in order to ascertain Feo's objective, I agreed to his request.
"…Honestly, I
have something I want to ask you too."
"Heeh? What is
it?"
"You were the one
who had my classmates call me to the back of the school building before,
weren't you?"
"…Why do you
think so?"
Feo answered my
question after a slight pause.
His thin, thread-like
eyes. I felt as if the gaze from deep within them wavered slightly as he looked
at me.
"…I know very
well what people in this academy think of me. Most of them only show negative
emotions towards me."
He was acutely aware
of how I was perceived at the academy.
Only a few people,
such as Anri-sensei, Iris and the others, and Shina and the others, treated me
normally.
"However, there's
no such thing in your gaze. What there is, is a prying gaze, like an observer
watching from afar."
That's why it was rare
to feel a gaze other than one of negative emotion. And more than anything, the
gaze I felt from Feo now was the same as the one I felt then.
"…And it was the
same as the gaze I felt behind the school building at that time."
And the talisman of
the scrying art I found in the direction of the gaze. There were hardly any
users of talisman arts in Solminati Academy.
"And the person
watching was a user of talisman arts, just like you. So then…"
Of course, what I was
saying was merely circumstantial evidence. As it wasn't concrete physical evidence,
if he simply denied it as "unrelated," I would have no way to refute
it.
"Heeh, I'm
surprised. I never thought you'd notice..."
But the Fox-tailed
youth in front of me affirmed it with a happy expression. Like a mischievous
child whose prank had been discovered.
Feo was no longer
wearing his usual unreadable smirk.
His thin, thread-like
eyes opened wide, shining brightly, and his lips curled upward. An imposing
presence, which I had hardly felt until now, rapidly swelled, and I almost
unconsciously took a stance with my katana.
"This is more
than I expected. I never thought you'd notice that much... Well, shall we do it
then!"
Honestly, I didn't
know why he was so concerned about me, but Feo's eyes now were not normal. He
was like a hungry dog that had been kept waiting for a long time. The fact that
he challenged me to a fight without question, even with Iris and the others
present, suggested that even if I skillfully avoided the fight, he might resort
to even more extreme measures, which wouldn't be a fundamental solution.
Then, I had no choice
but to fight him and find out his reasons.
Judging by how he
restrained Mars and his subsequent talisman arts, it was clear that he
possessed abilities at least on par with the upper ranks of the grade. He was
not an opponent who could be dealt with in a half-hearted manner.
I steeled my resolve,
circulated Ki throughout my body, and took a stance with my katana ready.
Thump
"!!"
For a moment, my
vision was dyed red.
The nightmare I had
just seen this morning and the carnage I had caused resurfaced in my mind, and
a burning, sour taste rose from the depths of my throat.
"Alright! Here I
come, Nozomu!"
But Feo didn't wait.
Facing the approaching Feo, I forcibly swallowed the nausea and charged
forward.
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