Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no 'Kokoro'-

[LN] Volume 3: Chapter 2.1

Volume 3 Chapter 2.1

Smoldering Fire Part 1

Translator : PolterGlast

The head of the Solminati Academy, Jihad, is a busy man.

Although most of his work could be simplified, there was still a lot of information that he had to look over.

"I see, the Silver Rainbow Knights will be going into the southeastern part of the Spasim Forest ......."

"Yes, it seems that their purpose is to regularly subjugate demonic beasts. Just in case we were notified of this as well."

While eating a late meal of sandwiches prepared for him, he skimmed through the documents given to him by his confidant, Inda.

"What unit is it?"

"The Fifth Unit. Also, regarding Nozomu Bountis......"

"Ah, it seems that he sensed the starlight's tail. And It looks like it's safe to lower our vigilance."

"Any new information?"

"An old acquaintance of mine who knew him told me a few more details."

You did mention it before. Who is it?"

"It's Mena Manat."

'

Inda seemed a little surprised when she heard Mena's name.

"The Knight of Crucifixion, huh? She is now here in Arcazam?"

Knight of Crucifixion. That was Mena Manat's nickname twenty years ago.

At that time, during the Great Invasion, she belonged to the army sent by the Kingdom of Forsina to defeat demonic beasts, and she killed many demonic beasts with her outstanding skills.

It was during this time that she became acquainted with Jihad, and the two had fought together on many battlefields.

"Yeah, apparently she was sent by the head of the Francilt family, whom she serves, to guard his daughter. She is staying in this city because of that one incident."

There were chaotic times in those days in many ways, and naturally, they were struck by various hardships.

Perhaps because they had overcome such times together, Jihad himself regarded Mena with respect.

"So she has been interacting with Nozomu Bountis. And according to what I've heard, he's not a schemer, at least not in the sense that he's capable of scheming."

"I've done my investigation since the Abyss Grief incident as well. There are some rumors about him that are a little ...... unfavorable."

"Fumu, I'm aware of that too. However, it is not within our jurisdiction to evaluate the friendship between students, and we are not sure if it is true or not."

On this continent, one is considered an adult at the age of 15. Therefore, the school would not interfere with the relationship between students, aside from academic performance. Whether or not students can handle interpersonal relationships without any problems is also judged by the school as part of their ability. As long as it is not disruptive to the order of the school, the school will basically leave it alone.

"And one more thing. I heard that he has Ability Suppression, and although there is a difference between wielding a katana and a sword, his swordsmanship is-......"

Knock, knock, knock. In the middle of the conversation, a knock was heard on the door of the office.

Jihad urged that person to enter, and the door opened to reveal a tall, slender man dressed in well-tailored clothing.

A badge in the shape of a six-pointed star gleamed on the man's chest.

"Jihad-dono, may I have a word with you?"

"Karvis-dono. You have come at last."

Jihad and the slender man smiled at each other and shook each other's hands.

Karvis Spartim Pruma.

He is a former nobleman of the Cremazzone Empire and is now one of the councilors leading the management of this Arcazam.

Moreover, he is a multi-talented and busy man who also works as a branch manager of the Adventurers' Guild, Arcazam Branch.

He is also an influential figure in the city, serving as a link between the council and the academy.

Formerly, he served the emperor at the imperial court and was the head of the court magician who provided advice and other services to the emperor. He was also the person who advised the emperor to dispatch an army to counter the invasion of demonic beasts at the time of the Great Invasion.

Although the emperor agreed to dispatch a military force to defeat the demonic beasts, the empire, which had its own underlying conflicts, took a long time to organize the army and ended up having its own territory invaded by the demonic beasts.

As a result, he, who was in charge of organizing the military force to defeat the demonic beasts, was forced to resign from his position as a court magician and was subsequently dispatched to Arcazam.

"It's about the Abyss Grief."

"Did you figure something out?"

"I have the details here."

Karvis took out a bundle of documents from a bag in his hand and handed it to Jihad.

It was a report regarding the investigation conducted on the location of Abyss Greif's death.

"As a result of our investigation, we did find a disintegrated corpse, but only a black stain on the soil and some bones and other parts of the corpse. Magic, Qi, source elements. No response to any of them."

"That means all that remains is the Abyss Grief's magic stone, huh......"

"The Gloaurum Institute is currently investigating that as well. The director, Maruzen, is in charge of the investigation."

Maruzen, like Karvis, is also from the Cremazzone Empire. He is currently the director of the Gloaurum Institution and is the person who compiled the various magic techniques that had been scattered throughout the continent.

The chanting and formation methods of magic taught in Arcazam were created by him, and he is regarded as one of the most important figures in the world because of his achievements.

"And as for the Silver Rainbow Knights......"

"I just received that report from Inda-sensei."

The Silver Rainbow Knight Order was founded after the Great Invasion by gathering the strongest individuals from various countries. In the past, Jihad also belonged to it, and it is a single organization with the largest number of S-ranks.

The total number of members in a unit is around 50. Although it is small in scale, it is in fact the strongest knight order on the Arkmel Continent in terms of the skill level of its members alone.

"On that side, I have some corrections to make to the information. It is not only about thinning out the demonic beasts. They say it also includes the search for other Abyss Griefs that may still be out there."

"I see ...... that it is indeed an urgent matter."

"The fifth unit will be in charge of the search. The 1st - 3rd units are deployed to the Sumahya Union and the demonic beasts' domain."

"And the 4th?"

"They are on the lookout for the [The Six Bad Omens] in the Delta Zone. There was a sighting of a [Hungry Ranbow-Colored Spider]."

[The Six Bad Omens]

Among the demonic beasts that caused significant damage during the Great Invasion, there are currently six demonic beasts that have not yet been subjugated.

All of them are powerful, and it is said that even those who have reached S-rank cannot defeat them alone. Most of them are said to be hiding in the disputed territories known as the Delta Zone and in the Central Mountain Range, which is strictly inaccessible to humans.

"Understood. Thank you for going out of your way to inform me of this, Karvis-dono."

"Don't sweat it, I just wanted to see you for the first time in a long time. I heard that you are going to hold a Special Comprehensive Training soon. Jihad-dono, from your point of view, how are the students going to fare this year?"

"Let's see. I think there are a lot of promising students. Irisdina Francilt. Tima Lime. Kevin Ardinal......."

"Lisa Hounds and Ken Notice. As for me, those two are of interest to me as well."

"And then there's Shina Juliel, who has regained her ability to contract with the spirits."

As Jihad and Karvis folded their fingers while mentioning the names of some rank-A students they were paying attention to, Inda also joined in to add a few names.

"Oh, I heard about her. The elf girl who fought that Abyss Grief. When I think of my hometown, the Nebula Forest, somehow I- ...... *cough-cough*!"

Karvis, who had a cheerful smile on his face that contradicted his pale complexion, suddenly began to cough.

"Are you all right?"

"*Cough-cough*, hmmm! My apologies, I got overexcited. My body is not particularly fit to begin with....... Anyway, that's all I have to say. Now then, good luck with the Special Comprehensive Training."

Karvis, who was bent over, holding his mouth with the hem of his clothes, calmed down after a while and slowly raised himself up.

He then bowed politely to Jihad and Inda, and quietly left the office.

◆

A holiday on a sunny day in late autumn. Nozomu was waiting for Somia in the central park a little earlier than the appointed time.

Although Somia is a young lady of a rather high status, Arcazam is a free city where the status of one's country of origin is not relevant, and he thought it would be no problem to accompany her on a little outing.

However, he soon found out that he was completely wrong.

(Stare～～～～)

An intense gaze was directed at him from a distant grassy area.

He knew who it was. It was Irisdina Francilt, the older sister of his date partner this time.

There were several other presences in the shadows of the grass. They were probably Tima and Mars, who were forcibly dragged along by Irisdina.

"......Well, I can understand Iris's feelings. I would be worried if I heard that my only precious sister was going on a date with a guy, even if I knew the person she was going on with."

It had been a long time since he had gone out to play like this.

When he was dating Lisa, he wanted to catch up with his two excellent childhood friends, so he spent his days training hard.

Aside from when he was back in his hometown, he rarely had such an opportunity after coming to this academy.

*Sting.......*

The pain running through his chest caused him to involuntarily look into the distance.

Indescribable negative feelings. The image of his girlfriend, who did not believe in him, came back to his mind, and his hand, which had been lowered without effort, naturally clenched tightly.

Since realizing his own escapism, Nozomu has occasionally felt a sense of hopelessness, emptiness, and anger toward reality.

"Nozomu-sa~n! Sorry to keep you waiting!"

While Nozomu was lost in thought, Somia came running with a loud voice from the street leading to the administrative district.

She was wearing a beautiful white one-piece dress with frills and freshly polished shoes. On her head, she wore a hat with a pretty ribbon to protect her from the sun, and her glossy black hair was fluttering in the wind.

"Haa-haa, sorry. Did I keep you waiting?"

"Nope. I also just came here a few minutes ago. You came in a hurry, huh? I don't think you need to be in such a hurry though......"

Nozomu gently wiped her sweat with a handkerchief he had taken out.

"T-thank you very much. But if I were to be late, that would shorten the time we could be together, wouldn't it?"

"......Well, that's true. Shall we go then?"

"Yes!"

Somia's slightly puffed face turned into a beaming smile, and she jumped into Nozomu's arms and began to pull him along with her. She must be looking forward to the date.

Seeing her like this, the gloomy feelings Nozomu had felt earlier disappeared, and his cheeks naturally relaxed.

Although he was concerned about the presence behind him, he wanted to make the girl next to him happy as much as he could.

With this in mind, Nozomu ignored the needle-like gaze directed at him and headed into town with Somia.

◆

Irisdina, who had been following Somia all the way from the mansion, was staring intently at the two as they headed toward the commercial district. Behind her, Tima, who was involved, tugged at her best friend's clothes.

"Hey Ai, let's stop......"

"............"

"No use. She's not listening to you."

"Au~......."

Hearing Mars' point, who was beside her, Tima slumped her shoulders without any effort.

While they were conversing so, Irisdina, on the other hand, kept staring at Nozomu and Somia in the distance.

"Somia, I think it's still too early for you to go on a date with someone of the opposite sex!"

"I'm not saying that Nozomu is a bad person, and I don't think there would be any problem with dating him, but I'm can't absolutely sure about that as well, and also, you two are way too close, you need to get further away from each other......"

Irisdina's mood plummeted as she watched her sister being wiped off her sweat by Nozomu.

"So, what are we gonna do about this? I want to go continue my training, you know......"

"I-I'll be in trouble! Please help me stop Ai. I can't do this on my own!"

"Even If you say that ...... can we really stop her?"

Tima could not answer Mars' question. The current Irisdina is out of control in a lot of ways.

Even if they were to use force, would they be able to stop this "siscon"?

To be honest, Tima had no confidence at all.

"Ah!"

While Tima was in agony, Irisdina let out a small scream.

When she looked beyond Irisdina's line of sight, she could see Somia embracing Nozomu's arm.

(Whoa, Somia-chan, you are so bold......)

Somia pulled Nozomu's arm and disappeared into the crowd.

"Let's go after them!"

"Eh? Ai, wait! Mars-kun, let's go!"

"Wha, don't pull my a~rm. O-oi!"

Tima pulled Mars' arm so as not to be left behind by Irisdina, who started chasing after Nozomu and Somia. And so began the chase by the curious trio.

◆

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