Volume 8
Chapter 8
After finishing their meal, Nozomu and the others were guided to their prepared rooms after taking a bath.
It was a guest room
that Nozomu had stayed in once before, and a clean, white-based room with calm,
tasteful furnishings greeted them.
For the time being,
Nozomu sat down on the prepared bed, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath,
then began to calmly search for any presence in the surroundings.
A fragment of the
spirit magic that Nozomu was trying to master: to sense the presence of the
surrounding spirits.
Although Zonne had
told him to rest, he himself could not calm down without training.
"...No good, huh?
I wonder if I have to release the Soul-Sealing Shackles after all?"
Nozomu had meditated
for about twenty minutes, but the results were, as expected, not good.
Although he could, of
course, sense the presence of Mars and the others next to him, and even the
presence of the birds resting in the garden trees, he could not sense even a
shred of the presence of a will that seemed to be a spirit.
According to Zonne's
story, the Soul-Sealing Shackles, which had a strong binding power, had also
bound Nozomu's own soul and had cut him off from the outside world.
That was precisely
why, in order to sense the surrounding spirits, the release of the Soul-Sealing
Shackles was essential.
However, when he
released the Soul-Sealing Shackles, he was at his wit's end trying to control
his drastically increased ki.
So he had tried to
sense the spirits without releasing the Soul-Sealing Shackles, but as expected,
he could not sense anything. A sigh unintentionally escaped from Nozomu's
mouth.
At that moment, a
knock on the door echoed.
"Nozomu-kun, do
you have a moment?"
"Hmm? Shina,
what's up?"
What he had heard from
beyond the door was Shina's voice.
What in the world
could it be at this late hour? While tilting his head, Nozomu opened the door.
And seeing the figure of Shina standing in front of the door, he couldn't help
but hold his breath.
Shina was standing in
the dim hallway, wearing a pale blue-based nightgown.
Perhaps she had just
gotten out of the bath, as her cheeks were faintly tinged with red, her smooth
blue long hair was damp, and a sweet scent was wafting from her chest, which
was peeking out from her nightgown.
And while grasping her
own arms as if to hide herself, she was looking down shyly, while at the same
time, her gaze was furtively looking up at Nozomu.
"I have something
to talk to you about... May I come in?"
"Ah, yeah,
sure."
At Shina's meaningful
words, while at a loss for a reply, Nozomu urged her to enter the room.
While her gaze was
restlessly wandering, Shina walked around the room for a while, then sat down
on the edge of the bed by the window.
Nozomu, for the time
being, was about to pull a nearby chair closer and sit down.
"Nozomu-kun, over
here..."
"Eh?"
However, Shina had
patted the bed she was sitting on and had urged him to come to her side.
After blinking his
eyes, Nozomu began to get flustered upon understanding Shina's words.
But, urged on by Shina's
intently staring gaze, while scratching his cheek with an embarrassed look, he
eagerly sat down next to Shina.
The distance between
the two, who were sitting side by side, was about enough for one person to sit.
The presence he felt
from his shoulder at the subtle distance, and the sweet scent of after a bath
that tickled his nostrils, made Nozomu's heart pound loudly.
"S-So, what's
up?"
"Nozomu-kun, have
you been having any strange dreams recently? Specifically, a dream where a
black dragon appears."
Nozomu's expression
was dyed with surprise, and his pupils dilated.
"How do you know
that?"
"This..."
"Is this
Michael's crystal?"
What Shina had
casually taken out was a crystal with a golden earring. It was the crystal of
Michael's soul.
"Yes, I have
heard the general circumstances from Zonne-dono.
I had been holding it
until now, but he said that if you want to know about Tiamat, you should be the
one to hold it."
Shina gently handed
Michael's crystal to Nozomu.
The moment he touched
Michael, the depths of Nozomu's chest throbbed... and the impulse to crush the
crystal that had been placed in his hand welled up like hot magma.
A clear interference
from Tiamat. As if to suppress his rapidly beating heart, Nozomu took a deep
breath and then slowly exhaled.
After repeating a few
deep breaths, along with his gradually calming heartbeat, the welling hatred
also subsided.
"And one more thing,
do you want to be able to use spirit magic, Nozomu-kun?"
"So, if I can
control Tiamat's power..."
While pressing his
hand to his chest, which had been hot just before, Nozomu looked straight at Shina.
In his eyes, there was
neither bewilderment nor fear of Tiamat. They were eyes that held the resolve
to face what he had to do now.
"Even if you
become a dragonslayer, the possibility of you, who are almost human, being able
to use spirit magic is almost nil. But you might be able to at least sense the
spirits."
Shina swallowed hard.
A moment of silence.
While holding the same resolve as Nozomu in her eyes, Shina slowly opened her
mouth.
"I will give you
that chance."
Shina quickly got on
her knees on the bed and circled behind Nozomu.
"Take off your
jacket and show me your back."
"Eh?"
At Shina's sudden
words, Nozomu held his breath for a moment.
The question of what
in the world she was planning to do crossed Nozomu's mind, but affected by the
serious presence he felt from Shina behind him, he slowly rolled up the hem of
his clothes.
"Like this?"
"You and I are
connected by a contract. If you and I connect more deeply, you might be able to
share my senses and sense the spirits as well."
Shina placed her hand
on Nozomu's back. At the cool sensation on his back, Nozomu's body trembled.
Shina's words were not
wrong in theory. Contract magic was the specialty of the fairy and spirit
races, starting with the elves.
The problem was
whether they could construct such a strong link with Nozomu, who had not
released his Soul-Sealing Shackles.
"..."
"Mmph."
A blue magic power
seeped out from Shina's body and slowly flowed into Nozomu through the hand she
was touching.
Nozomu also, while
feeling the warm sensation that was entering his body, focused his
consciousness to try and sense the spirits.
"...How is
it?"
"...It's no good,
I can't feel anything."
Perhaps because he
couldn't feel anything, Nozomu shook his head with a disappointed look.
Shina released the
hand she had on Nozomu's back and crossed her arms as if thinking.
"Is the influence
of the 'Soul-Sealing Shackles' really that strong..."
"Should I release
it?"
At Nozomu's proposal, Shina
shook her head.
"No, if you
release the Soul-Sealing Shackles in a place like this without even a barrier,
it will cause a huge commotion. Wait a minute..."
"? Shina, what in
the world are you... huh!?"
What the turned-around
Nozomu saw was the figure of Shina with her pajamas open. Her modest yet
beautiful twin mounds were illuminated by the moonlight that was shining in
from the window.
Furthermore, Shina
casually put the index finger of her left hand in her mouth and bit it. From Shina's
finger, which was as white as deep snow, a single crimson drop fell.
Next, Shina took
Nozomu's left hand from behind, put his thumb in her mouth, and bit it in the
same way.
Along with a sharp
pain, blood seeped from Nozomu's finger.
Shina placed her own
index finger, from which blood was dripping, on the thumb of Nozomu that she
had bitten, and after letting it slide over his palm, she hugged Nozomu from
behind.
"..."
"H-Hey, what in
the world are you doing?"
"Don't look this
way, concentrate."
"U-Umm,
umm..."
At Shina's sudden
action, the flustered Nozomu was trembling like a broken clockwork toy.
On the other hand, Shina
was clinging to Nozomu's back and would not move. Furthermore, Shina gripped
the hand she had been holding tightly.
"I'm temporarily
strengthening our contract, so please be quiet. I-I'm also embarrassed, you
know..."
At Shina's
high-pitched voice, and at the soft sensation on his back, Nozomu's entire body
turned as red as heated iron.
And in their joined
hands, the blood that had flowed from the two was mixing.
The sensation of the
viscous blood that was melting and spreading, along with a decadent scent, was
melting Nozomu's reason.
"W-Was there no
other way?"
"O-Other way?
S-Such a thing, I can't do it..."
Although it seemed
there were other ways, it seemed they were more embarrassing than this one.
Shina's cool body grew
hot, and the hand she was holding with Nozomu was gripped tightly.
At her endearing
figure, Nozomu was also writhing inwardly.
"U-Uuh..."
"Calm your heart
and concentrate. If you have any distracting thoughts, we won't be able to
share our senses properly."
"I-I
understand..."
Nozomu let out a deep
breath once, closed his eyes, and switched his consciousness.
His vision turned
completely dark, and at the same time, Nozomu felt a sensation as if he were
falling into himself. However, that sensation, after passing a certain point,
suddenly changed its direction.
The sensation that
should have been sinking changed into a sensation as if he were jumping up, and
his consciousness rapidly expanded from the inside to the outside.
At the same time, here
and there in his expanded consciousness, he began to be able to feel the
presence of something.
A large presence next
to him, the presence of several small animals under the eaves, the presence of
the birds sleeping in the trees outside.
The countless
presences of life that he felt. But there, Nozomu felt a completely new
presence that he had never felt before.
Something like a mist
was drifting in a corner of the room.
"...Ah."
"Did you feel
it?"
"I feel like
there's something there..."
Nozomu pointed at the
corner of the room where he had felt the presence. Seeing that, Shina's cheeks
relaxed.
"Yes, a spirit of
darkness is looking this way. Because you are a strange person.
From over there is a
spirit of light, illuminated by the moonlight. In the trees outside the window,
a spirit of wind is resting. Can you tell?"
Nozomu once again
turned his consciousness outside the room.
Then, he felt the
presence of something that was dancing in the luxurious garden that was
illuminated by the moonlight, and something that was circling around the branch
of a tree where a small bird was resting.
"Umm... I can
somehow tell that it's there. But I have no idea what it's thinking..."
"I see, so this
is probably my limit..."
"No. Still, I was
able to sense the presence of the spirits. That's a huge progress. Thank
you."
"I see... I'm
glad."
Although Shina was
looking down with a disappointed look, she relaxed her lips at Nozomu's words
of thanks.
While letting out a
sigh of relief, Shina gently moved away from Nozomu and straightened her
disheveled pajamas.
Shina, who had
finished straightening her disheveled clothes, but while holding her chest,
which had been touching Nozomu, with both her hands, she suddenly had a grave
expression.
At the heavy presence,
which was different from the heated atmosphere from before, Nozomu also
straightened his expression.
"Nozomu-kun, now
that you can sense the spirits and Michael-dono is by your side, I think the
opportunities to get a glimpse of Tiamat's past will increase
dramatically."
"..."
Nozomu nodded at Shina's
words.
The sensing of the
spirits, the presence of Michael. Both of them were things that would stimulate
Tiamat, and perhaps due to the effect of the ritual from before, Nozomu felt as
if his connection with that dragon had become even stronger.
At the same time, it
also meant that the danger of Nozomu being instigated by Tiamat had also
increased.
That danger was carved
into the bodies of the two so much that there was no need for an explanation.
"But I ask you
this one thing. Don't be swallowed by that memory. Stay as you are,
Nozomu..."
"Yeah, I know.
Thank you, Shina."
At Shina's plea,
Nozomu firmly nodded. At Nozomu's eyes, which held a strong will, Shina smiled.
"Well
then..."
Shina stood up and
quietly left the room.
Nozomu, after seeing Shina
leave the room, casually dropped his gaze to his own palm.
The blood that had
flowed had dried and had turned into something slimy and sticky.
When he thought that Shina's
blood was mixed in with that blood, Nozomu's heart could not calm down.
"I should take a
walk..."
He probably needed to
calm his heart in various ways. Thinking so, Nozomu slowly stood up from the
bed he had been sitting on and reached for the door that Shina had just left.
***
Shina, who had left
Nozomu's room, was walking down the long, white hallway with a quick pace.
When she reached the
front of the room that had been assigned to her, she let out a deep sigh.
What was spreading in Shina's
chest was joy, relief, and self-reproach.
Why did she feel
self-reproach? In fact, in the ritual she had just performed on Nozomu, there
was something that Shina had not told him.
"It's cowardly, huh..."
"What's
cowardly?"
"Eh?"
Her muttered words
were returned, and Shina couldn't help but turn around to see Mimuru in her
nightgown, tilting her head with a pillow in her hand.
While trying to
suppress her inner turmoil, Shina maintained a straight face.
"M-Mimuru, what
in the world are you doing?"
"Umm, I was just
going to the bathroom..."
"Even though
there's one in your room? With a pillow?"
"Ah,
ahahaha..."
While hiding the
pillow she was holding behind her back, Mimuru had a wry smile.
It was obvious where
she was going and what she was trying to do.
"And you, Shina,
what are you doing at this time? And this smell... blood?"
At the sight of
Mimuru, whose nose was twitching, Shina couldn't help but move her left hand
behind her back.
"I-It's nothing.
I'm going to sleep now, so good night."
"Ah, wait!"
She quickly opened the
door, and before Mimuru could question her, Shina slipped into her bedroom.
Closing the door
behind her, Shina let out a sigh of relief.
The name of the ritual
she had just performed was the Ritual of the Blood Pact.
It was a powerful
contract ritual that was incomparable to a contract magic that was simply
mediated by magic power.
Those who have made
this pact can sense each other's existence without the medium of magic power,
no matter how far apart they are.
Naturally, there was
no way such a powerful contract could be something as light as
"temporary." It was a contract of the soul that would never be broken
unless a situation where the other party died occurred.
Furthermore, that
connection of the soul had a special meaning for elves.
Without telling Nozomu
those meanings, Shina had performed the ritual.
Because a simple
contract magic was not enough to further strengthen her connection with Nozomu,
whose soul was bound by the Soul-Sealing Shackles.
There was no other
technique that could enable such a strong contract other than the Ritual of the
Blood Pact.
"If I had
told him the true meaning of this ritual, Nozomu would have felt responsible
and might have suppressed himself in order to repay me somehow."
That would be to deny
the words she herself had just sent to Nozomu.
"I am an elf, and
he is a human. This connection alone is enough..."
While collapsing onto
her bed with a plop, Shina looked at her left hand, which had been on top of
his until just before.
The blood that had
flowed from her bitten index finger had completely dried.
While gently placing
her mouth on the scar, she curled up on her bed and fell asleep.
While feeling a
seeping joy in the depths of her chest, and a sense of guilt as if she were
"dragging a chain."
***
Nozomu, who was taking
a walk through the Francilt mansion to distract himself, suddenly noticed that
there was a light on in the kitchen.
Wondering what it was,
he peeked in to see the maid, Mena, cutting a citrus fruit and arranging it on
a plate.
Mena, who had noticed
Nozomu's presence, raised her face.
"Nozomu-sama, is
something wrong?"
"No, I just
couldn't sleep... What are you doing, Mena-san?"
"My master and
Lady Mazarinette are having a drink in their room, so I am preparing something
to cleanse their palate."
Mena returned to her
cooking again. This time, she was placing cheese and smoked meat on thinly
sliced bread.
Although Mena had been
concentrating on her cooking for a while, as if she had suddenly thought of
something, she looked at Nozomu.
"Nozomu-sama, I'm
sorry to trouble you, but if you wouldn't mind, could you please help me carry
the food?"
Although there were
two plates on which the snacks were placed, they were quite large. About the
size that Nozomu could hold with both his arms.
The amount of food on
the plates was also considerable. It would be quite heavy for a single woman to
carry.
"Understood. I
just have to carry them, right?"
"Thank you very
much. The food is more than enough, so let's carry it."
The two of them each
took a plate and headed for Victor's office.
A weight that matched
its appearance was on both of Nozomu's arms, but for Nozomu, who was used to
training, it was nothing.
When Nozomu glanced at
Mena, who was walking beside him, she was also carrying her plate with a calm
look.
Eventually, the two of
them arrived in front of Victor's office.
Nozomu had been questioned
by Victor in this room before, and when he stood in this place, he couldn't
help but remember the time when he had been harshly criticized as if he were a
shipwreck.
"I wonder
how things are now..."
He had been drilled
into himself that if he did not become strong, so strong that he could master
Tiamat, his comrades would be in danger, when he had been attacked by Azel.
That was precisely why
he was continuing his training, trying to grasp the Soul-Sealing Shackles with
all his body and soul.
With the support of
his friend, he had also become able to sense the spirits just a short while
ago.
But in the depths of
his chest, Nozomu also felt as if something were missing.
"And
there's also the matter with Irisdina..."
The fact that
Irisdina's glossy black hair had faded to white was, in a sense, also something
that had been brought about by Nozomu's carelessness.
There was no way that
Victor, who loved his daughter more than anyone, would not be enraged at the
sight of the current Irisdina.
Nozomu had thought
that the reason he had not been reprimanded until now was probably also because
of Irisdina and the others.
But now they were not
by Nozomu's side, and if he were to face the current Victor, he might be beaten
to a pulp like a rag.
But that was also
something that the current him should accept, Nozomu had steeled himself, and
just as he was about to knock on the door...
"Oooooooooooh!"
A deep, hoarse voice
echoed from beyond the door.
"Eh?"
Nozomu's hand, which was
about to knock, stopped in spite of himself.
"Nozomu-sama,
what is it?"
"N-No. I just
heard a terrible cry..."
"There is no need
to worry. Let's go in."
Leaving the frozen
Nozomu behind, Mena knocked on the door and then opened it with a click.
"Sorry to have
kept you waiting."
"Welcome back,
Mena. Oh, you've come too."
Victor's office,
illuminated by the light of a candle.
On a sofa set up in a
corner of that room, Madam Parline was sitting with a glass of wine in her
hand.
But what caught
Nozomu's eye most of all was the dozens of liquor bottles rolling on the floor,
the scattered books and furnishings, and the master of this room, who was
crouching in the seat opposite the lady, sobbing.
A tragic scene, as if
it were the aftermath of a battlefield. In the midst of that, the figure of the
lady, who was tilting her cup with strangely elegant gestures, was exuding an
incongruity that could not be greater.
"Just in time,
you come here and have a drink too."
Madam Parline was
beckoning to Nozomu, as if to say, "Come here." A unpleasant sweat
ran down Nozomu's back.
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