Chapter 10

Episode 10: The Blue Star and the Beautiful Girl

One week.

That was the time I, Aoi Hoshi Miroku, spent together with a boy named Na Takikai.

My first impression of him was that he was quite serious.

However, during the transfer exam interview, I understood that there was something behind his seriousness.

“I have a mission.”

A mission.

That must be everything to him. He exists solely for it and is willing to lay down his life for it, just like the teacher I once admired.

So, this time.

If only he could survive, perhaps I thought it would allow me to forgive myself who had been standing still since that day.

This was my atonement, my hypocrisy, my pretense. Through Na Takikai, the boy, I was trying to save what couldn’t be retrieved from that day long gone.

And it was wrong.

■

“Toa, can you aim at that?”

Following Kei, we had come to the only beginner’s dungeon at Factom General Academy.

No, it might be more accurate to say we were in the deepest experimental facility.

The place was already collapsing everywhere, and the ceiling had caved in.

The sunlight was illuminating the room, which should have been dim.

In that light, there were students fighting.

One of them was Na Takikai.

And the other one…

“That thing, could it be that Enforcer!? No way, it’s impossible. Even hitting it would be tough, let alone defeating it!”

Toa turned her face away from the scope of her massive heavy cannon and desperately shook her head sideways.

“Right…”

The highest rank existing in the Academy City.

The symbol of absolute victory.

“S Rank”

One of the few individuals bearing that title, Rokuhara.

I knew about his existence.

Rather, if someone doesn’t know about S Rank Explorers, they’d be rare indeed.

“How did he end up here…? It must be because of the Demons Gear, probably.”

We were now observing from a hole in the ceiling. The room where they were fighting seemed to be the chamber shown last night during the broadcast where the Demons Gear rested.

The difference, if any, was that the tank where a girl slept in the video had shattered, and there was no one inside.

“Miroku, what should we do? Mizuki also seems unable to intervene. If we don’t act, Kei will—!”

How exactly Kei ended up in this battle remains unclear.

Is it related to the Demons Gear?

Or is it to protect Mizuki?

Kei was focused on dodging and defending.

Probably to avoid further provoking Rokuhara and keeping Mizuki as far away as possible.

Even without retaliating, his movements were refined, leaving me awestruck.

“Amazing… I can barely follow the attacks with my eyes, yet he’s evading all of them without even grazing them.”

Not only that, but it seemed Kei was talking to Rokuhara about something.

From this distance, I couldn’t hear, but his serious expression made it clear.

“Should we retreat with Mizuki?”

That was Toa muttering under her breath. That could be one option.

Currently, Mizuki isn’t counted as combat strength. Kei’s tactics prove that.

Perhaps we should retreat as Toa suggested. Just as I started thinking that…

Rokuhara stopped attacking. He seemed to be conversing with Kei, then appeared slightly irritated before throwing his weapon aside.

At that moment, the weapon transformed into a girl.

“Wh-what!?”

Toa and I both exclaimed in surprise. We looked at each other.

“Toa, did you see that?”

“Yeah. Could it be… one of the rumors about the Demons Gear being true?”

When the existence of the Demons Gear became public, several rumors spread alongside it.

Among them was the claim that the Demons Gear takes the form of a girl.

I thought the girl in this facility was somehow crucially linked to the Demons Gear, but it seems I was mistaken. She herself is the Demons Gear.

“This may mean we’ve gotten involved in something stranger than we imagined…”

“Hmm”

In front of our gaze, Rokuhara gave some command to the girl.

She moved a bit away and seemed to be touching the floor, doing something.

Thinking the battle was over, I was about to join them when Rokuhara deployed new armaments.

“Toa!”

“Yeah”.

Simultaneously, Toa and I understood.

The strange oppressive feeling surrounding Rokuhara had disappeared.

Assuming that sensation was due to releasing the Demons Gear…

Then the current weapons Rokuhara possesses are merely products of Dive Gear generation.

Hence, a slight chance of victory has emerged in this moment.

Mizuki also seemed to understand this as she aimed the barrels of her twin pistols at Rokuhara.

“Please fire on my signal.”

Rokuhara dashed forward with his sword drawn.

The distance between them was ten meters.

Five, four, three, two—.

“Now”.

A roaring sound of wind passed by my ear.

Simultaneously, high-density magical power bullets fired from the edge of my vision towards the center.

They landed precisely between Rokuhara and Kei, creating a pause in their thoughts.

In that instant, I carried Toa and descended into the experimental facility.

“Hmm, I see.”

Rokuhara nodded as if understanding our presence.

“You peeled Eina away from me and increased your team count. Hahaha, people often tell me I’m a real bastard, huh?”

“At my previous academy, I heard it endlessly.”

With a self-deprecating tone, Kei spoke. His face looked somewhat pained.

“Normally, this would be a reversal, but I’m S Rank, get it? Killing all of you guys is no big deal.”

A killing intent dominated the area.

It wasn’t like the earlier sensation of crushing everything; instead, it was sharp and lethal.

I readied my rapier and signaled to Toa.

She nodded and immediately pointed her cannon toward the girl who had separated from Rokuhara.

But Rokuhara remained unfazed, and instead mocked us with a grin.

“Just kidding. Hey, what’s your name?”

“…Na Takikai”

“Got it. Kei, it’s unfair that you’re the only one with so many weaknesses. Isn’t that fun though… You’re definitely hiding something, aren’t you?”

Kei didn’t answer.

Weaknesses… those must surely refer to us.

If he fights while protecting us, Kei won’t be able to go all out.

This undeniable fact frustrates me immensely right now.

“Kei, you’ve played all your cards at this moment. As a result, you’ve managed to raise the probability of victory from zero percent to a few percent.”

Rokuhara said this and clapped arrogantly.

Still, we couldn’t let our guard down during his actions.

We understood that even if we moved now, we’d suffer a swift defeat.

Nevertheless, we couldn’t retreat either, so we kept our weapons ready.

“Considering your guts, I’ll let you go for now.”

Indeed, Rokuhara glanced at us and said that.

“Alright.”

Kei responded curtly.

It was an unimaginably cold voice coming from him, usually polite and kind.

Had we not been here, would Kei have killed Rokuhara?

His voice was terrifying enough to make me think so.

“Then, isn’t there somewhere you should be going?”

Kei said dismissively.

Rokuhara shrugged, called the girl’s name, and left the scene after saying “Let’s hurry”.

Beside me, Toa exhaled deeply and lowered her heavy cannon.

The tense moment had finally come to an end.

“Phew.”

Kei exhaled.

The next moment, he returned to his usual self.

Just an ordinary boy who was overly serious.

But to us, he already seemed different.

“Kei…you…,” Mizuki spoke first.

She always faced facts head-on like this.

For me, her virtue and something I respected as a childhood friend, this time it wasn’t something to praise.

“Ah.”

A small voice.

Neither Mizuki nor Toa noticed his abnormality in the chaos.

Only I heard the small sound he let out.

It was like a child whose secret had been discovered or someone realizing a loss.

It was a pitiful sight that made me want to cry, familiar and heart-wrenching.

“Uh, well…”

Kei was struggling to find words. There was no trace of the earlier killing intent or intimidation.

Who would believe that this boy just fought against an S Rank opponent and returned unscathed?

Before I realized it, I had said,

“Let’s go back.”

“Eh?”

Kei emitted a bewildered voice.

I conveyed to Mizuki through eye contact not to say anything more and began walking.

They would surely follow.

“Yeah, let’s go back.”

“Mi-Miroku!? Mizuki!?”

Pattering footsteps approached, and the noisy air spread around me.

Mizuki understood my feelings, and Toa empathized with me and adjusted her actions accordingly.

“Hey!”

A voice came from behind.

We stopped our feet and waited for the rest of the words.

“…Isn’t the current me pretty suspicious?”

Such trivial words.

“Yes, but didn’t you come here to protect us?”

“That… is true.”

“Then, that’s fine for now.”

That’s right. It was just that simple.

Helping classmates from the same school.

It should end just with that.

I turned around to look at Kei.

Blue eyes.

Deep like the ocean bottom, as if reflecting his soul, such eyes.

If I didn’t reach out to him, he would surely sink to the ocean floor.

Strangely, I was certain of it.

Therefore,

“…If you ever need help, please tell us. We will surely lend you our strength.”

“…Yes.”

What was he thinking when he answered?

I couldn’t tell after knowing him for just a week.

But, there was one thing I realized.

I had made a major misunderstanding.

The almost tearful, abandoned-child-like expression he showed briefly…

That was me.

The powerless me left behind by the teacher on that day.

The me who couldn’t even cry, the failure.

Then, I understood.

What I truly saw through him.

I wasn’t seeing the shadow of the teacher.

I was seeing myself trying to become her, trying to catch up to her.

“Fufu…”

“…Miroku?”

“It’s nothing.”

An unintentional, self-mocking smile escaped me.

I understood.

He too couldn’t save that person.

That strength must be a product of regret from that tragedy.

The same as me.

He and I are reflections of each other.

Thus, there was no other choice but to accept.

Through Na Takikai, the boy, I was trying to save what couldn’t return from that day.

But it was wrong.

He himself was someone who needed saving, just like me.

At this moment, I truly recognized him as a comrade.

We were hopelessly timid.

We were irredeemable remnants of defeat.

Yet, even so…

We believed that someday we could save ourselves and continued to fight.

Suddenly, I looked at Kei.

There was a fiery emotion in the depths of my chest that hadn’t been there before.

“S, Kei, let’s go.”

This wasn’t silly love.

It was something more primal and tragic—a distorted bond between two failures.

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