Ryuu Kusari no Ori

Translator : PolterGlast

"Te~eiyaaaa!"

"Fu~ !!"

The outer edge of the Academic City, Arcazam.

In this place, a little far from the city, two women attacked each other with their own specialized weapons, and sparks scattered.

One of them is Mimuru, a beast girl with a flexible body and cat-like ears.

The other one is a girl wielding a rapier with long jet-black hair fluttering in the wind. She is Irisdina Francilt.

At a place, some distance away from where the two were fighting, Nozomu, Mars, Shīna, and Tom were watching their fight.

"As I thought, Irisdina-san is amazing. She can perceive Mimuru's movements accurately..."

"But that Mimuru is also quite good. Even though Irisdina pushed her, she can definitely dodge Irisdina's deadly attack."

Tom is impressed by Irisdina's abilities, but Mars is also impressed by Mimuru's physical strength.

Nozomu and Shīna were also watching the fight between the two attentively and held their saliva in their mouths due to the tension.

The reason why Shīna and the others are in this place goes back a bit in time.

***

Students who have finished their lesson come out of the classroom with the closing chime.

Nozomu and Mars, like the other students, left the classroom and walked towards the main gate.

"So, are we going to train in that place again today? "

"Yea, Irisdina and the others will come too, so let's wait at the main gate."

Nozomu and Mars were supposed to meet with Irisdina and the others at the main gate of the school in order to train at the outer edge, which is their daily routine after school.

When Nozomu and Mars arrived at the main gate, Irisdina and the others hadn't come yet, and they were killing time while chatting, but some time after they started chatting, Somia ran from Ecross's school building to them and waving her hands.

"Nozomu-sa~~n!"

"Oh~, did Somia-chan come first?"

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting! What about Ane-sama ..."

"I haven't seen her yet. Let's wait a bit longer, and if she still doesn't come, why don't we go to her classroom?"

"That's true. I think that's a good idea."

Nozomu was a little worried that Irisdina was late, but he thought it was not good to make a fuss about it, so he agreed with Mars' opinion.

At that moment, there was a voice of someone talking to them.

"Hmm? You guys ..."

A wind-like voice flowed towards the three, and they turned their gazes towards the voice as if invited by the wind.

"Shīna ...?"

When Nozomu turned his face towards the voice, there was Shīna Yuliel, an elf girl with long blue hair fluttering in the wind.

"Hello, Shīna-san !!"

"Fufu, hello Somia-san"

"By the way, are you alone? What about Tom and Mimuru?"

Somia greeted Shīna cheerfully with her carefree smile, Shīna smiled and greeted Somia back.

Nozomu realized that he couldn't see Mimuru and her lover, who was always by Shīna's side. So he asked what happened to them while looking around.

"Well, umm ..."

Shīna looked away while holding her temples down, perhaps because she had a headache. Nozomu and the others were tilting their head, to her who have such a worn-out expression.

"Well, anyway, what are you doing staying at the main gate?"

"Ah, We are waiting for Iris and Tima, because we made a promise to train at the outer edge."

"T, that's right ..."

Nozomu answered Shīna who asked another question, but his reply was a bit awkward.

"... Hey. Do you always train with Irisdina and the others after school?"

"Well, not every day. We usually do it a couple of days a week."

"Is that so……"

After hearing Mars's words, Shīna was thinking about something with her hand on her mouth for a while.

Then she raised her face as she decided, she made a request to Nozomu.

"Hey, if it's alright, but can we also participate in your training?"

"Eh?"

Her request was for them to participate in the training at the outer edge.

"We are also going to train, but to be honest, there is a limit to what we can do with just three people. And because the three of us can do different things, we have a good balance in training, but sometimes it's good to train with other people as an experience. I'll talk to the others, but if you'd like, can we join in?"

Certainly, at Shīna's party, the roles of their vanguard and rearguard were clear.

Mimuru as the vanguard was in charge of disturbing their opponent.

Shīna supported the vanguard with accurate shooting using her bow and arrow behind Mimuru.

Furthermore, Tom gave instructions using various magical support and a wide field of view at the rear.

Because their role was divided so clearly, their party was very well-balanced and it was easy to formulate a strategy, but at the same time, there were some difficulties in their flexibility.

Each role was fixed, and there was no substitute for it.

In other words, if even one person was killed, there was a danger that the party itself may collapse at once.

In fact, when they fought the black demon beasts for the first time, Tom, who was in a position to give instructions, was the first to be defeated, and their group was nearly wiped out. No, they would have been annihilated without Nozomu.

Seeing Nozomu's calm and quick judgment up close, Shīna realized that what she needed now wasn't a formidable power to repel the enemy, but the ability to respond to various situations like him. So, she approached Nozomu with that in mind.

"I see ... I think it's alright. I'll ask Iris later. What do you think, Mars?"

"Isn't it alright? It seems that Shīna and Mimuru can do quite a lot of things, and I'm not against it.

"I'm glad ... Thank you."

Shīna waited for an answer and was a little nervous until Nozomu answered. When she heard Nozomu's words of approval, she felt relieved by loosening her shoulders and smiled. Irisdina and the others haven't agreed to it yet, but at least they can be convinced since Nozomu and Mars agreed to it.

Shīna's beautiful appearance was comparable to Irisdina's. Until a while ago, she had a hard ice-like expression on her face, but now, Shīna's spontaneous smile made Nozomu's heart beat a little faster.

Just when Nozomu was about to feel nervous in another sense, they heard a groaning voice, and the three of them turned their eyes to the source of the voice.

"Uuh ... I still have a headache. Why using violence, I was just dozing off for a minute. So cruel ..."

"But, it's because Mimuru was asleep in Inda-sensei's class ..."

It was Mimuru who was groaning while holding her head and Tom who had an astonished expression while walking beside her.

"B, but! I didn't think she'll swing the textbook with all her might !? As a bonus, Inda-sensei even told me to write 20 pages of reflections by the end of school! "

Mimuru raised her voice to vent her feelings out of her mind. Looks like, she fell asleep during Inda-sensei's lesson and she was punished.

When Nozomu glanced at Shīna who was next to him, Shīna said, "Is that the reason?", then she shrugged her shoulders with a bitter smile.

"This is Inda-sensei we are talking about. If it wasn't for me, you would have had a sermon course in the staff room or interview room after school. Are you okay with that?"

"Ugh…………"

Looks like Tom was the one who suggested the writing reflection as punishment. Judging by Mimuru's facial expression, it would have been worse otherwise.

Inda-sensei is a very talented teacher, but she is also known for being serious and strict. While taking charge of the second class, Inda-sensei sometimes takes charge of the first class as the substitute of the busy Jihad Roundel. Mimuru, who fell asleep in such a teacher's class, will suffer the consequences...

"Finally, it's over. Mimuru, you're taking too long."

Shīna called out to Mimuru as if she was tired of waiting.

"It can't be helped! I wrote 20 pages of reflections !!"

"If you don't like it, just take the class seriously ..."

"I, I took it seriously!"

"Well, you slept in about 10 minutes tho... "

"Wha, Tom!"

Mimuru tried to gloss it over, but even her lover, Tom, began to find fault in her.

"... That's not how you take it seriously. You didn't take notes either, did you? I was saying that because nowadays, we might have a sudden exam on the spot."

"Uu~ ... alright! But, I'll have Tom show me his notes !!"

Mimuru glared at her traitor lover with tears and drawing closer to Tom while groaning "u~ u~".

Perhaps Tom thought he had done a little too much, he scratched his cheek and showed a bitter smile, accepting Mimuru's request.

"Haha ... well, that's okay, Mimuru."

"Tom, don't spoil your lover too much."

"Hmm! Tom is always on my side so it's okay !!"

Perhaps because Tom had returned to her side, Mimuru stuck out her chest as if she had regained her momentum and turned her proud face towards Shīna.

Originally, Mimuru had to be the one to suffer the consequences, but it seemed that for Tom, it was more important to be by her side instead. The reflection writing and her dozing off during class were no longer on her mind. In this situation, she would fall asleep again in the next lesson.

As Shīna was holding her head due to Mimuru's selfish behavior, Irisdina and Tima came and called out to Nozomu.

"Nozomu, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"S, sorry to make you wait ..."

"N, no, I haven't waited that long."

"That's right. I wasn't even bored."

Irisdina and Tima apologized for being a little late, but since both Nozomu and Mars were talking to Shīna and her friends, they didn't feel like waiting that long and told them not to worry.

"Iris, actually, Shīna and her friends have a request to participate in our training."

"Hmm? Is that so?"

Nozomu conveyed Shīna's request to Irisdina.

"Yes, would you please let me participate?"

"... I think it's fine. What about Ai?"

"I think it's okay. Didn't Nozomu already agree to it?"

Neither Tima nor Irisdina had any reason to decline, so they were willing to accept Shīna's request.

Shīna was also relieved that her request was accepted.

"I'm glad. Then, please treat me well."

"Oh, about that, I also agreed to it!"

Mimuru listened to Irisdina and the others' conversation and raised her face. She regained her energy due to Tom's voice, but she was still rubbing her head, looked like the place that was hit by Inda-sensei is still hurts.

"Su~re, with more people training together, we can have a variety of experiences and the range of training will expand."

"Alright! If we've decided to do so, let's go! Let's go right away!! Hurry up!"

Perhaps Mimuru was in a good mood since their request was accepted, she wrapped her arm around her lover's arm, grabbed Mars' arm with her other hand, and rushed out.

"Wha, Oi!"

"Mi, Mimuru! Uwa!"

"Ah, Mars-kun !?"

"Please, wait a minute!"

Tima and Somia hurriedly start chasing after Mimuru who suddenly rushed out while dragging the two men.

"Haa, good grief ..."

"Haha! It looks fun. Alright, we'll follow them too."

"Eh~? Wa!"

"Wait, Iris !?"

Shīna was astonished by Mimuru being suddenly in high spirits, but Irisdina wondered if Mimuru was having fun, so she also grabbed Nozomu and Shīna's hands and started running after Mimuru.

"Wait a minute! Fast, it's too fast!"

"If we don't hurry, we'll lose sight of them! Do your best, Shīna-kun!"

"Hahaha ..."

Shīna couldn't keep up with the sudden change in the situation, and sometimes her legs would get tangled, but Irisdina kept running. Nozomu gave himself up, and only a bitter smile appeared on his mouth.

However, at that moment, Nozomu noticed something strange. Someone was peeking at him.

"Hmm?"

Nozomu traced the source of the gaze he sensed, but could not clearly identify it. However, Nozomu remembered about this gaze.

(This is……)

"Nozomu, we don't have time to be in a daze. If we don't hurry, we'll lose sight of them!"

"......Eh?"

Nozomu tried to find the figure of the owner of that gaze, but suddenly the power pulling his hand became stronger, so he hastily accelerated.

In the end, when they arrived at the outer edge of the city, Nozomu and Shīna were exhausted, and Irisdina was in a good mood as she smiled, probably because she felt like she was returning to her childhood for the first time in a long time. 

***

"Take this!"

"Fu~!"

After discussion, it was decided to first know each other's abilities and way of fighting, so that Irisdina and Mimuru would fight in a mock battle first.

Mimuru tried to take advantage of her high physical ability which was the characteristic of the beastman, but she still couldn't break through their power gap due to Irisdina's swordsmanship and high-speed magic casting by *Immediate Deployment*.

In the beginning, Irisdina didn't going offensive because she was waiting and see, but perhaps she had already determined Mimuru's abilities after exchanging blows to some extent, Irisdina gradually increased the intensity of her attacks.

"Hyaah!"

"Ha~ !!"

Irisdina's rapier grazed Mimuru's cheek. Moreover, Irisdina immediately activated her magic, wind swirling around Mimuru. Mimuru and Irisdina were trapped inside the wall of wind.

"This is bad !!" 

A voice escaped from Mimuru's mouth.

The generated wall of wind completely separated the space between them and the outside, and within that narrow space, Mimuru couldn't make full use of her agility.

Of course, that was Irisdina's goal, and she didn't miss this opportunity.

Irisdina used her body strengthening magic, closed the gap with Mimuru in an instant, and unleashed a storm of thrust towards Mimuru.

"Haaa !!"

"Wawwa wawwa!"

Mimuru managed to dodge the storm of thrusts with her reflexes, but Irisdina's thrusts which were strengthened by physical strengthening, were not only fast but also heavy, and Mimuru was gradually pushed.

Perhaps Mimuru had reached the limit, the knife was blown away from her hand and the rapier was struck at her throat.

"Game over ... right?"

"... Ahh, that's right. I lost."

After Mimuru admitted defeat, Irisdina put her rapier back into its scabbard and Mimuru also picked up the blown knife.

"Thank you for your hard work. It was a good match."

"Thank you, Nozomu"

Nozomu handed the water bottles to the two who came back.

"Thank you! A~a, I couldn't win after all"

She didn't think she could beat the A-ranked Irisdina, but she still felt disappointed, and Mimuru dropped her shoulders for short time. Her ears, which were usually moving energetically, seemed to hang down.

"But Mimuru is amazing. You can last that long against Irisdina-san, so I think you can have a little confidence."

"Is that so? Ehehe..."

However, as expected, Mimuru recovered so quickly. As soon as Tom complimented her a bit, she smiled and her ears rejuvenated. Still, her face became red, perhaps she was embarrassed at being praised by her lover.

"Next, Nozomu and I will do it. Be my opponent for a bit."

"Alright, but wait a minute"

"Mars-kun ..."

"... I know ..."

Mars asked Nozomu to be his opponent, and Nozomu agreed.

Tima was worried that Mars would do something reckless again, she called out his name in a faint voice.

Mars knew he was a little reckless in today's mock battle, but maybe because there was still a hint of impatience in his heart, he answered Tima's plea but his voice was a little stiff.

Nozomu and Mars faced each other and prepared their own specialized weapons.

Mars took out the greatsword from its scabbard and held it in a Seigan-no-Kamae (Kendo Stance), and Nozomu lowered his back and put his hand on the hilt of the katana that was still in the scabbard.

"Who do you think will win?"

"Hmm. Mars has higher physical strength, but his opponent is Nozomu..."

"I don't know what would happen if he uses attacking techniques such as *Phantom* ..."

"He has never used it in mock battles until now. It's because it's too deadly ...... Anyway, how come Shīna, Tom, and Mimuru know about his technique?"

When Mimuru asked about which one would win, Tom and Shīna predicted it would depend on what tactics Nozomu used, but Irisdina responded to the conversation by asking why they knew about Nozomu's technique.

Shīna and her friends were petrified at once.

Irisdina's doubts were justified, and both Somia and Tima by her side also turned their gazes to Shīna and her friends.

They didn't know how Nozomu befriended Shīna and her friends.

Nozomu and Shīna had been told by Jihad that they shouldn't talk about the black demon beast to anyone else, not even Irisdina and the others.

However, Irisdina and the others also felt concerned about this matter.

Because Nozomu was clearly acting strange before the incident with the black demon beast happened.

Nozomu didn't want to answer no matter how many times he was pressured to answer the questions, even though it was so obvious he did something reckless again.

They knew something was going on, but they couldn't step on it as if they were being blocked by a transparent ice wall.

Two weeks after the incident, Nozomu and the others seemed to be gradually recovering over time, but what stuck to their chests had not disappeared.

Irisdina thought she shouldn't interfere too much, but just as she was wondering why Shīna knew about Nozomu's technique, she instinctively asked.

And now, because of her own words, the lid covering her heart opened albeit slightly and resulted in a strangely awkward atmosphere.

"Well, various things happened ..."

Shīna whispered so to Irisdina who stared at them.

"Various things……?"

"Yes, various things ..."

The two were completely silent.

Everyone couldn't say anything and remained silent. However, Nozomu and Mars looked at each other's appearances, perhaps because they weren't aware of the conversation between Irisdina and the others.

Finally, when Nozomu lowered his body's center of gravity further, Mars also exhaled and started sending his Qi throughout his body.

Nozomu also focused his Qi on his feet, and as he tried to move forward, a voice called out to stop the battle can be heard.

"Could you give me a minute?"

It was not a loud voice, and when everyone turned to the source of the voice, they could see a male student in Solminati Academy uniform was walking towards them.

"……You"

"Yo, Nozomu. Can you give me a little of your time?"

Golden hair, ears and tail. His slit pupils and the smile that appeared on his neat face should have been attractive, but on the contrary, his smile looked suspicious because they had no idea what he was thinking, and in his right hand he carried something like a sling bag.

3rd year, 2nd class, Feo Rishitza.

He was the previous Fox-tailed boy who collided with Nozomu in the corridor.