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

[LN] Volume 3: Chapter 4.1

Volume 3 Chapter 4.1

Ripples of Impending Danger Part 1

Translator : PolterGlast

The first day of Special Comprehensive Exercise.

A clear and sunny spring sky. At the west gate of Arcazam, where the necessary facilities had been built, including a command center and a simple clinic, the students of the three participating grades were going through the necessary procedures.

After completing the procedures, the students were given a pendant inlaid with a cloudy white stone and gathered in front of the command center. Among them were Nozomu, Mars, and Jin.

This exercise will directly affect the student's future academic grades, and at the same time, it is a great opportunity for them, which is why their faces were filled with tension and a certain level of anticipation.

"Kukuku. This looks like fun......"

Feeling the tense atmosphere, Mars smiles fearlessly.

For those who have a strong desire to be strong, Special Comprehensive Exercise is a good opportunity to test their strength.

"And by the way, what's gotten into you? ......"

Mars frowned and looked next to him. There stood Nozomu, who remained looking down gloomily.

"...... Eh? W-what?"

"Oi, get your shit together. We're about to do a special exercise."

"A, yeah......."

Mars cast an even harsher gaze at Nozomu, who seemed to be somewhat disoriented.

On the other hand, although Nozomu raised his head, he did not make eye contact with Mars and just stared blankly at the stream of students passing by.

"G-good morning...... Nozomu-kun, Mars-kun."

At that moment, a timid voice called out to them.

Mars looked in the direction of the voice and saw Tima and Irisdina walking toward him.

"Oh, you two dropped by?"

While Mars answered Tima, Irisdina, perhaps still reeling from yesterday's embarrassment, was standing in front of Nozomu with her hands clasped behind her back, looking embarrassed.

"N-,Nozomu, good morning ......."

A greeting in a sheepish tone of voice. However, Nozomu seemed to be absent-minded and didn't seem to notice Irisdina's arrival.

"...... Nozomu?"

"Huh? A-ah, good morning ...... Iris."

Nozomu, who finally noticed the presence of Irisdina and the others for the second time, greeted them back in a flustered manner.

Irisdina frowned upon hearing his terse tone of voice.

"Ah, there he is. O~i, Nozomu!"

Then another voice was heard. It was Feo's voice.

He moved toward Nozomu while waving his hand, and beside him were Shina, Tom, and Mimru.

It was a slightly unexpected combination.

"G-good morning. Shina-san, are you teaming up with Feo?"

When Nozomu returned the greeting and looked at Shina and the others, she nodded with a slight smile.

"Yes. We are in the same class, so we decided to work together at least for the first day. Right, Mimuru?"

"Y-yes! You are absolutely right!"

After saying so, Shina put on a beaming smile. Her pure maiden's smile is very attractive from the side, but her whole body is exuding a sense of intimidation that is hard to put into words. Mimuru, standing next to her, was trembling in fear.

Perhaps she was being disciplined after she abandoned a request. In the end, Mimuru could not bear the silent pressure from her best friend and jumped into her lover's chest as if to escape.

"Ahahaha ......."

Her tail curled up and trembling, Tom patted her back as he let out a wry chuckle.

Meanwhile, Mars and the others, who don't know what's going on, involuntarily shut their mouths in front of his strained smile.

"Well, that's how it is. I'm officially a member of Shina's party, so today, we're enemies. I'm not going to hold back against you."

"Hee, bring it on then. I was also a little curious to see how strong you were."

Feo's declaration was met with a competitive response from Mars.

Meanwhile, only Shina was staring at Nozomu with a worried expression.

"Hey, Nozomu, Shina."

"Kevin ......"

Kevin and the others joined them. He walked closer, his silver fur fluttering and his tail wagging. He took a glance at Nozomu and Jin and the others behind him, and a grin appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Looks like you've formed a party. Now I can finally challenge you. Don't drop out right away."

"Challenge, huh ......."

Kevin's fighting spirit flared up, but he instantly frowned at Nozomu, whose voice lacked vitality, and he nonchalantly put his arm around Nozomu's shoulder. Then, he whispered something in his ear.

"Hey, you know ...... You better fire yourself back up."

"...... Huh?"

"Look, your face is exactly the same as Shina's when she was depressed. Right now, you're the leader of your party, remember?"

You're the leader of your party. Hearing those words, Nozomu took a deep breath.

Until just a moment ago, he had been too preoccupied with yesterday's events to notice. Yes, today Nozomu had to lead them properly.

"Remember, one of the leader's roles is to relieve the anxiety of his people. If the leader is having anxiety, the whole group will be affected. If you are committed to the well-being of your people, you must leave behind any negative feelings and never let them show on your face."

Otherwise, at worst, the whole group will be annihilated. Kevin said so to him and pulled himself away.

Nozomu glanced sideways and peeked at Jin and the others he was teaming up with today. They seemed surprised to see Kevin's friendly attitude toward Nozomu.

Heat gradually returned to his cold and chilled heart.

Meanwhile, Mars, who had exchanged sparks in the previous joint class, gave Kevin a suspicious look.

"What are you whispering about?"

"I was just giving him a little advice on how to be a good leader. Since you're a lone wolf, it's none of your business."

"Ha?"

"Mars, don't."

Perhaps provoked by Kevin's mild joke, Mars responded excessively.

It'll be bad to cause a ruckus here now. Nozomu, who had regained some of his composure, reflexively called out to stop Mars, who looked as if he was about to pounce at any moment.

"Tch ......"

"So long, Nozomu. Don't let anyone beat you until you fight me."

While Mars faltered after being stopped by Nozomu, Kevin quickly took his friends and went back toward the first class.

"Well then, Nozomu, see you later~~!"

"Good luck!"

Tom and Mimuru also head off to the assembly point with Feo.

Shina was the only one left, but she was still looking at Nozomu with a peeking glance.

"W-what's the matter?"

Shina's meaningful glance made Nozomu instinctively ask her, and she opened her mouth with a somewhat worried look on her face.

"Nozomu-kun, are you all right?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Just as Kevin said, you look pretty pale. Did something happen to you about that?"

*Thump - thump*. Nozomu's heart jumped in response to her words.

"...... What are you talking about?"

Mars, who did not know what was going on, asked, but Nozomu was at a loss for words.

Irisdina behind him was also watching them with squinted eyes, as if she was concerned about what they were talking about.

Eyes that seemed to be worried about him. The reflection of himself behind those eyes reminds Nozomu of the image of himself when he was so angry that he lost control of himself.

At the same time, the nightmares came back to his mind.

Pain and fear, anger and anxiety. The negative emotions welled up one after another, and were replaced by a rush of blood drained from his body.

"I-it's nothing. More importantly, it's almost time. Let's get going ......"

They don't need to know. Nozomu bit his lip as if to endure, then averted his gaze and headed for the assembly point.

[Anxiety can be transmitted. If you are committed to the well-being of your people, you must leave behind any negative feelings and never let them show on your face.]

Remembering Kevin's advice, Nozomu was growing frustrated with himself for being so half-hearted about everything.

Most of the students had already gathered in front of the headquarters tent.

Once it was confirmed that all the students had gathered, Jihad went up on the podium set up in front of the headquarters.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen. Today we are going to start the Special Comprehensive Exercise class, but before that, I would like to explain the rules first."

Jihad took out a pendant from his pocket. It was given to him at the headquarters tent earlier.

"First, this pendant, which was given to each student when they registered for the party, will be your lifeline in this class. It is a magic tool that is able to record the damages sustained by its wearer."

This magic tool is made by engraving a magic formula on a special stone called a [Connection Stone] and pouring magic power into it.

The Connection Stone itself is rare and requires a special formula. The pendant is not widely used because it takes a long time to create and is disposable.

"The pendant is designed to glow red when it records a certain amount of damage. At that point, the wearer will be disqualified and the pendant will belong to his or her opponent's party. Of course, losing the pendant also results in disqualification."

Furthermore, it is said that each pendant has its own points, taking into consideration each student's academic performance to date. In other words, the higher the rank and class, the higher the points.

This means that they are more likely to be targeted by other parties. Probably to keep a balance between low and high-ranked students. Especially, they need a certain amount of leverage to make students willing to fight against those who have reached a high rank, such as Irisdina and others.

"In case a party is wiped out, the points that the wiped-out party had earned before will be awarded to the winning party. The points earned will be counted at the end of today's class, and we will all start from zero again tomorrow."

"We need to loot points, huh? There are going to be widespread riots all over the place......"

Just because one has earned points, it does not mean that one can rest easy. If they are wiped out, they would end up losing all of their points.

Even though the points for the first and second days are calculated separately, it is important to survive.

"Also, tasks are written on the paper provided at the time the pendants were distributed. You are not necessarily obliged to complete these tasks, but if you do, the party will be rewarded with the points corresponding to the task. As for the task of escorting, we, the teachers, will be in charge of the escorting target and will judge whether or not it is successful."

"What do we do? We can earn more points if we complete the tasks ......"

"...... Honestly, I can't say for sure because I don't know how the other parties will act, but let's put them on the list as potential ways to earn points."

Jin asked Nozomu what his decision would be, but Nozomu decided to put it on hold.

It would be nice if they could earn points by doing their tasks, but the other party would naturally consider stealing their points.

Should we be aggressive in earning points, or should we hide ourselves and think about conserving points and strength? The tactic will be important as well.

"Another important point is that the area around the headquarters is a no-combat zone. Parties that engage in combat in this area will have their points deducted."

In a sense, this is natural. It would be intolerable if the management was impeded due to the fighting in the vicinity.

"Furthermore, there will be a special target in the exercise area. We, teachers, will become the special target, and the party that defeats this special target will receive more points than any other task. However, this special target will attack you on its own and rob you of the points you have earned. But if you win, you will also get all the points that the special target has stolen."

"Teachers will also participate, huh? ......"

"They probably play the role of powerful demonic beasts."

Cami, who was behind Nozomu, held her head in her hands, and Jin put his hand over his mouth and groaned.

Or maybe it's to stir up the surroundings so that the exercise doesn't get stagnant. Either way, it would be a huge obstacle.

"This concludes the explanation of the rules for this exercise. I wish you all the best ...... That's all"

After Jihad's explanation was over, a bell was brought to the podium. When this bell rings, the exercise will begin.

"Nozomu, what are we gonna do?"

Jin asked Nozomu for his opinion. Nozomu looked at the bell as it was being prepared and whispered in a quiet voice so that the others could not hear him.

"......First, we need to get as far away from this place as possible, and then we can formulate a strategy. If we don't move quickly, we will either be attacked by another party or get caught up in a battle, and if that were to happen, we would be the first to be wiped out."

The other members nodded at Nozomu's words. They slowly moved to the edge of the field. As soon as the signal to start comes, they will dash and get out of this place as fast as they can.

"Sprint as fast as you can as soon as the signal comes. Head for the west side of the exercise area. Got it?"

Nozomu once again reminded them of their next actions, and when everyone nodded their heads, the bell was ready to ring.

"Hm?"

Nozomu, who was bracing himself for the signal to begin the exercise, suddenly felt a gaze directed at him.

He turned his attention to one of the areas where the students were crowded to find the owner of the gaze and found Lisa staring at him.

A surge of rage, accompanied by pain, made his heart beat wildly once again. Reflexively, he averted his gaze.

"Nozomu, what's wrong?"

"...... it's nothing."

While swallowing his anger along with his saliva, Nozomu strengthened his legs.

"Well then. Let this year's Special Comprehensive Exercise begin!"

The next moment, Jihad's declaration was accompanied by the chiming of a bell, and Nozomu and the other students kicked the ground with all their might.

All the students present scattered in all directions as if they turned into bullets.

Eventually, as soon as there were no more students in the assembly area, thunderous roars, angry shouts, and screams began to be heard from all over the place. It seemed that the moment they left the non-combat zone, fighting broke out all over the place.

"Hey, Nozomu! Where exactly are we heading to!?"

"To the west of the exercise area, for now! The grass and trees are dense there, so it's easy for us to hide!"

Nozomu and the others ran as fast as they could to avoid getting caught up in another party's battle.

He had been forced to run through the Spasim forest many times during his training with Shino, so he was familiar enough with the surrounding area.

The forest on the west side. Especially the one near Arcazam is densely covered with trees of short stature, and thus there are relatively many places to hide in.

Because of this, its visibility is poor, so one needs to be careful of unexpected encounters......

"There they are, the tenth class, catch them!"

"Oh, no, from the front- ......"

"Don't stop, keep running!"

Unfortunately, Nozomu and his party encountered another party as they crossed each other's paths.

The other party consisted of five students from the eighth class. They were three in the vanguard and two in the rearguard. Perhaps, like Nozomu and the others, they had changed course in the process of escaping, so their paths crossed each other.

"Just perfect, it's time to warm up!"

While Jin and the others were panicking, Mars gleefully began his assault.

"Wha~, isn't this guy Mars of the tenth class!?"

"Just hold him back! Let's get rid of the bottom feeders first...... gah~!"

While the opponent was momentarily flustered by the presence of Mars, Nozomu also activated his [Flash Step]. He struck one of the vanguards in front of him with a palm strike to the jaw and ripped off his pendant.

"This bastard!"

The other one, enraged by the defeat of his comrade, pulled out his sword and slashed at Nozomu with a diagonal strike.

The slash was monotonous, perhaps because it was a quick counterattack. Nozomu drew his katana in a fluid motion, easily parrying the approaching sword to the side and circling behind him. Then, he struck him with the back of his katana.

"Wha~...... gah~!?"

He took a slash in a defenseless state, and his pendant turned red with a single blow. That's two down.

While his opponents waver, Mars managed to subdue one vanguard and one rearguard.

"Uwaaaa!"

With most of his party suddenly rendered incapable of combat, the last one, cornered, raised the staff in his hand while letting out a scream-like cry. Magic power poured into the staff, and the tip of the staff began to glow.

Perhaps the staff itself is imbued with a magic circle. Without chanting, the magic was activated just by pouring magic power into it. A light bullet was released toward Nozomu.

Nozomu reflexively tried to slice the approaching magic bullet with [Qi-jutsu・Phantom]...... but the burden returned to both of his arms made him frown.

"Kuh~!?"

Normally, it would be easy for him to cut such a magic bullet in half, but now, he can't do it.

Reflexively twisting his body in response to the unexpected situation, he parried the magic bullet with all his strength.

"Wha~!?"

"Fuh~!"

He shifted his body and stepped forward, striking his opponent in the jaw with his left fist. He snatched the pendant from his opponent, who collapsed unconscious, and then ran off again.

Following Nozomu, Mars also followed closely behind without losing his breath.

"Amazing ......."

"They knocked five people down in seconds ......."

Nozomu glanced down at his katana as Deck and the others behind him let out surprised voices.

(I couldn't send my Qi into it. Why?......)

Nozomu tried one more time to pour his Qi on the katana without being noticed by the others as he ran.

However, there was no change in the blade.

The blade pattern had suddenly changed. There was a possibility that something was wrong, but it was worse than he expected.

He could not even generate a Qi-blade. This meant the loss of Nozomu's only weapon, which was already under the influence of ability suppression.

(How is this possible? ......)

Is it gone? Everything I have been accumulating is gone?

(~......)

Nozomu moved his feet frantically, as if to cover up the sense of loss that was crumbling under his feet.

After running for a while in this manner, they all finally decided to stop.

"Haa, haa, haa ...... Hey, isn't everything alright now?"

"I think so. Looks like there's no one around anymore."

"Fuh, fuh...... I see. Thank goodness."

Hearing Mars' words, Jin and the others finally let out a sigh of relief.

Even Hamuria, the mage, had slumped down on the spot.

Seeing how tired they looked, Mars snorted and took a sip of water from his canteen.

"Nozomu, after this-...... Nozomu?"

"...... Ah. Sorry, I was in a daze. What did you just say?"

"Oi, get a grip, man. We're supposed to be talking about what we're going to do now."

"Ah, right. I'm thinking of using this area as a base for now and then divide our party into two groups, one to do tasks and the other to do defense ......"

Nozomu's suggestion was to divide the party into two groups, one to earn points by completing tasks and the other to set up a defense base.

The task team will consist of Mars, who is a skilled fighter, Tommy, who is an agile swordsman, and Cami, who is a dagger wielder. The defense team would be the remaining four: Nozomu, Jin, Deck, and Hamuria.

"As for me, I think it would be better for all of us to continue working together......"

"No. It would be more dangerous for us to stay together. We do not have many effective ways to defend ourselves against wide-area magical attacks. If we are attacked first while moving through the forest, we could be wiped out in one fell swoop."

Jin voiced his concern at the suggested course of action, but Nozomu shook his head at his words.

Among them, the only ones who have effective defenses against magic attacks are Mars, who has a lot of Qi, and Hamuria, who is a mage. Considering the fact that they would be fighting against higher-ranked opponents, their numbers were inevitably small, and a head-on battle should have been avoided as much as possible.

"Therefore, we split the party into two, and we'll simultaneously do the tasks and the defense."

"But even if we call it a defensive base, we don't have much time to build a big one, do we?"

"That's not a problem. It's not about building a solid fortress. Just build something to distract the opponent's attention. And when the time comes, we can just abandon the base."

Nozomu reminded everyone that the important thing is to survive.

"If so, this might be useful."

Saying so, Jin took out two stones from his pocket that were as transparent as crystals. The symmetrical shape of the stones clearly indicated that they were magic tools of some sort.

"Are these [Twin Stone of Misfortune]?"

In response to Nozomu's words, Jin nodded as he handed the two stones he was holding to Nozomu and Mars.

The two stones are linked to each other, and if one of them breaks or changes color, the other one will also change to the same state.

"...... I see, with this, we can know each other's condition, huh?"

"I think it's a good idea. There is a huge tree and a large rock next to it north of here, in case of emergency we will meet up there. If we fail to meet up after an hour, just assume that one of us has already dropped out. If that happens, Mars will take the lead ......"

While Nozomu was giving instructions in case he was defeated, Mars stared at him while playing with the [Twin Stone of Misfortune] in his hands.

"Mars, what's the matter? Is there something you don't agree with?"

"No, it's fine. Let's go."

Mars' expression seemed to be a bit troubled for a moment, but he quickly put the [Twin Stone of Misfortune] in his pocket as if nothing had happened, and disappeared behind the bushes with Tommy and Cami in tow.

Although he was a little concerned about Mars' attitude, Nozomu's attention immediately turned to the katana at his waist.

He once again sent his Qi to the sheathed katana. Again, there was no sign of Qi flowing into the katana.

"Nozomu-kun, what do we start with?"

"A-ah. For the time being, let's start with some simple things, such as traps."

Some physical activity might be a good distraction. Nozomu swallowed his rising frustration and immersed himself in the work of making traps with the remaining members of his party.

◆

In Spasim forest, where demonic beasts are rampant. A single spirit was heading deep into it.

Mefhi, a lesser spirit with a figure reminiscent of a light blue fairy, remembered what her contractor had asked her to do, and let out a sigh.

We are going to eliminate Nozomu in the upcoming Special Comprehensive Exercise. Please lend me your strength.

That was Ken's request.

[This is bad~~. That guy is definitely dangerous.]

Recalling the foreign power she had witnessed, she had a grim expression on her face.

It was about six years ago that she made a contract with Ken. It was when he was still a child.

She met Ken when she visited his hometown, Oire village, on a whim and found him in the shade of a tree looking at Lisa in the distance.

[Six years have passed since we met. From the perspective of someone who only has a short lifespan, that's a pretty long acquaintance ......]

Since that time, Ken has been attracted to Lisa.

He wanted her to turn around and look at him. He looked at her with such faint feelings.

However, Lisa already had someone she had feelings for.

Nozomu Bountis. Ken's childhood friend and best friend.

At the time, Ken was thinking about Lisa's happiness and keeping his distance from her.

[Well, that's why I was so interested in him~~. Because he had such beautiful feelings.]

Phew~ ...... The little spirit, reminiscent of a young child, let out an erotic sigh, which is so unlike her appearance.

Spirits rarely appear in public. The chances of them signing a contract are as slim as a star falling from the sky.

However, Mefi was drawn to Ken's emotions as he swallowed his own feelings and thought about the happiness of the person he had feelings for.

Another factor that may have encouraged her to make a contract with Ken was the fact that she was originally young for a spirit and had only been born a few decades earlier. She was young in mind and her emotions often swayed to the extreme.

But even so, Mefi was confident that she would still have made a contract with Ken.

The boy's emotions were that attractive to this spirit.

[And I made a promise. I'll lend him my power to make Lisa happy......]

Having arrived at her destination, Mefi quickly let her body burrow under the ground.

Eventually, she arrived at a huge underground chamber.

The semi-spherical hollowed-out earth is illuminated by a pale light, despite being underground.

It is the light of the source element that exudes from the walls. And at the bottom of the chamber, a huge shadow was lurking.

Wrapped in a lustrous black carapace and coiled like a serpent, it seemed to be sleeping, or perhaps not moving at all.

[Now then, forgive me for disturbing you while you sleep, but please let me borrow your body.]

Mefi approached the head of the huge body that lived underground and assimilated into it as if dissolving. Eventually, as her body completely dissolved ...... and a purple flash ran through the underground chamber, and a shadow reminiscent of a crown appeared on its head.

Then, four pairs of eyes lit up, and the giant shadow slowly raised itself.

◆

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