Ryuu Kusari no Ori - Kokoro no Uchi no “Kokoro” - Chapter 2.01

The morning sun illuminates the city of Arcazam.

Townspeople start their day, listening to the birds chirping in the morning sun.

The city streets are full of people, and they work hard to make a living on their own.

A boy is walking along the road where such people go.

His name is Nozomu Bountis.

A student who belongs to the third year of Solminatei Gakuen, the center of this Arcazam.

It's been a month since he finished the confrontation with his master. He managed to get promoted to the third grade.

"Well ......... I was able to get promoted properly."

The confrontation with Shino was two days before the end-of-year exam, and due to the injuries he suffered at that time, he couldn't make it to the final stage, making the exam more difficult than expected.

His improved physical ability could not be utilized, and his practical test was almost wiped out. His written exam didn't go well because he remembered Shino, and as a result, he ended up taking three supplementary exams.

"That's why I ended up at the bottom ... well, I managed to pass it, so it's still okay ..."

By the way, the number of supplementary exams he took is undoubtedly the highest in the history of the school.

Because of that, his class is again the lowest, the 10th class. His scores at the time of going on to school are also the lowest, and he is still treated as a dropout in the class.

(But it might be better to keep it as it is now ………… that dragon-slaying power …… is too great )  

Yes, he has released the power of dragon slayer in the battle with Shino. But, to be precise, the release of ability suppression was not done in public.

In his third year, he had unleashed Ability Suppression several times at Shino's hut, but he couldn't control it.

Although the released power dramatically increased physical strength, too strong of a power strengthening in every skill is still too much, and it wasn't very easy to use in his student life, not to mention the skill that originally has a strong killing ability. It isn't usable anymore.

"Rocks become very small pieces just by hitting them, awfully unusable."

(And ......... there is also that guy)

He remembers Tiamat, the King of the Dragon, who is inside him. Every time he released the suppression, Tiamat rampaged in his body, trying to devour his body.

He once fought in the spiritual world and succeeded in capturing Tiamat's power, albeit in part, so he wouldn't be eaten as soon as he released it, but even so, two minutes is the time limit to release his suppression.

In fact, that two minutes were when Nozomu managed to hold back his power even after being released. If released without any control, his mind would be crushed by the force and his body would collapse in a dozen seconds. 

"Anyway, I have to think about what to do from now on." 

About the school, about dragon slayer, about Lisa.

He met Lisa several times after being promoted, but she still either ignored him or struck hostility.

He couldn't say anything to her and could only stand in front of her.

(......... I'm still running away ... )

Nozomu hasn't moved forward yet. However, although he is still running away, he has become fully aware of the fact that he is running away.

What Shino told him about his life was certainly starting to sprout and take root in him. 

***

10th class in 3rd grade. Nozomu Bountis is still treated the same as usual in this class.

"Why is that guy, why is he still here?"

"Because of him, we're treated at the same level as him, please take responsibility."

"That's right, he took the supplementary exam three times, he's only thinking about his own vessel."

When he entered the classroom, they still swearing at Nozomu. While listening to such voices, he sits in his seat, takes out his textbook, and begins his preparation.

After a few minutes

"Hey Mars, let's go to that store today, that girl is there. It's okay right."

"Did you aim for that store's daughter? You can't do it. Just stop it."

"......... You guys sure don't get tired of it ..."

It was Mars and his entourage who came in.

Apparently, they were talking about where to stop by after school, but Mars doesn't seem to be willing to talk about it.

"Hey Mars, what happened recently? You're having a bad mood."

"That's right, You have become quiet recently."

“………… Shut up, it's nothing.”

Mars goes to his seat without hearing the two of his entourage's complaints. Along the way, he noticed Nozomu.

"Mmm ..."

Mars looks at Nozomu. His eyes were so serious that he could see and discern something, not the eyes he used to scorn and despise Nozomu.

"Everyone ~~. I'll start the morning homeroom ~~~~"

Anri-sensei came and the students in the classroom took their seats. Even after the morning assembly was over and the lesson started, Mars is still thinking about Nozomu. 

***

Mars’s POV

There is the guy. That's natural because this is the class he belongs to. But I couldn't get rid of my doubts inside.

Why is he in this lowest class? With his current ability, at least, he should be in a higher class than the 10th class.

In the mock battle at the end of the school term, he is able to drove and brought me down.

I was losing to him at that time.  I was deprived of my composure and defeated. On the actual battlefield, I would have been killed by him at that time.

However, I do have a lot of practical skills. That's enough to bypass four grades.

Why is the guy who can beat me in the 10th class? 

"By the way, he seems to have been injured before the exam, and it looks like he was carrying luggage and was thrown down the stairs."

"Idiot ~~. Well, He sure is a fool."

…… Injured? That guy is? Such thing? 

I feel doubt started to swell within me. No matter how much he falls down the stairs, he won't be so seriously injured. Even though it was a dummy sword, he wasn't hurt much when he was blown away by my greatsword, which was strengthened by Qi, and he took classes the next day normally.

Did he get hurt before the most important exam, such as the end-of-year exam?

At that moment, I was convinced that something was going on with him. 

***

The morning class is over and the lunch break begins. The students are spending a moment of peace with their friends.

Nozomu is looking for a place to buy bread and eat it.

By the way, this school has a fairly large cafeteria for students, and the canteen for students is correspondingly large, but there are not enough quantity of popular items for hungry beasts such as students, and it is always on a battlefield-like state.

Moreover, since the students have the same ability, in some cases it can become a real battlefield where magic flies.

However, unpopular products are easier to get.

Nozomu always bought unsold bread and walked around the school building.

When he suddenly looked at the courtyard, he saw a crowd, and two maidens were eating in the center.

Nozomu knew the two. Because they were famous students.

One of them is Irisdina Francilt.

Long glossy black hair that reached up to the waist and a well-organized appearance. Dignified expression and black eyes that resembled that hair. 

She is a student of the 1st class in the same grade as Nozomu, and is called "Black Haired Princess", and is the best talent in the grade in terms of overall scores.     

The other one is Tima Lime.

Like Irisdina, she is a student of the 1st class in the third grade, and she is a talented woman called as "Four-Scale Spinner."

She has brown hair trimmed at her shoulders, and her appearance is rather ephemeral, unlike Irisdina.

She has an extremely huge amount of magical power, and that magical power is said to be at the legendary level.

Her ability is also called as "Four-Scale Concerto" because it gave her a high degree of aptitude for four attributes of earth, water, fire, and wind.

They are the students who represent the third grade, and they are also the students who have reached the A rank, which is only a few in this school.

By the way, Nozomu's rank is still D-, not to mention in 3rd grade, it is considered as a lower rank even in 2nd grade.

"Nozomu ku~~~~n, I found you ~~~~"

(Gee, this voice is)

When he was looking at them, he was called out with a voice from the side. Looks like Anri-sensei and Norn-sensei approached him.

Anri-sensei was energetically waving like a child, and Norn-sensei was watching at such Anri-sensei with a bitter smile.

"Nozomu-kun, haven't you had lunch yet ~~? If you're okay with it, won't you eat together with us ~~"

"I'm sorry, Nozomu-kun. Anri really wants to eat with you. Would you please go with us?"

Anri-sensei and Norn-sensei invite him with a smile. Both of them have a fascinating smile, but apart from Norn-sensei, Anri-sensei has a strong atmosphere that is the exact opposite of her smile. The atmosphere clearly states that even if she is failed, She will definitely bring Nozomu. 

(Anri-sensei ………… so, you haven't given up yet ……)

Anri's smile caused a cold sweat, but Nozomu couldn't reject them and was taken away.

The place where Nozomu was taken is the infirmary, the workplace of Norn-sensei.

Actually, Nozomu was sometimes caught by Anri-sensei and brought to this infirmary after he became a 3rd grader. The reason is,

"Hey Nozomu, why did you get that kind of injury during the second year's final exam?"

"Therefore Anri-sensei. As I said before, "Did you really fall down the stairs?"....... That's right."

Lunch is going fairly well, Anri began to question Nozomu.

Yes, she has been asking him for the past month about his injuries after the duel with Shino.

"Lying is not good ~~. Because that wound is a sword wound. I can't leave it be if you get injured like that"

“…………”

"As Anri says, Nozomu-kun. We can't overlook it if you've been injured so many times and there's an obvious slash from someone."

"……………………”

Nozomu does not answer anything. He couldn't really talk about what happened with Shino and his own dragon-slayer power.

However, he can't escape from it anymore. He didn't know how to make any more excuses over the past month. 

“………… What would you do if I couldn't do it? Would you hand me over to the military police and makes me spit out the details ?”

Because of the irritation that things didn't go well, abusive language came out from his mouth by mistake.

"It's not that~~! I'm just worried ~~~~~~ !!"

"That's right! I and Anri are simply worried about you !!"

(Oh, I'm running away again. I didn't mean to say this ...)

"......... I'm sorry ... I said too much."

"No, it's okay. We were also  a little too aggressive."

The unpleasant atmosphere fills the infirmary.

"......... Hey ~~, Nozomu-kun. Are we so unreliable?"

Anri-sensei asked with a sad voice, and Nozomu feels painful seeing her expression.

(Such foolish escape, I am)

Nozomu hated his compassion. He just can't move on. He may have been a little on edge because he had been ridiculed until now.

(………… I don't want to make her face look like that ……………… I can't talk about everything, but.... I'll try to talk about what I can tell.)

That face is a little, overlapping with Shisho's face. Her face was almost crying because she couldn't convey her feelings. 

"It's not unreliable. I know sensei are both worried and caring about me ... I'm purely happy about that ... I don't know who would eat lunch with me like this."

Nozomu slowly but firmly began to convey his thoughts. He doesn't want Anri to look like Shino.

"At that time, I certainly had a lot of things going on. There were so many things that I still couldn't organize myself."

He stared straight into the eyes of the two and spun words one by one.

"But I learned something important. In order for me to move forward ......... It's necessary for me to do that .......... I'm sorry, I can only say this for now."

Nozomu bows deeply. He gets angry at his weakness that he can only talk about this much, but nevertheless, he should do his best. 

"......... I see. Anri, as he says, we'll wait until he talks."

“……………… But ~~”

"I know you're worried, but it's not good right now, because he hasn't organized it yet."

“…………………… I understand ……”

He seems to have managed to convince Anri, but she still looks at Nozomu with anxiety.

"I'm sorry Anri-sensei"

"......... I know ~~. Nozomu had a hard time  ~~~~. I'm sorry ~~. You were forced to talk ~~"

"No ... I am happy to be worried on."

"Norn-sensei too, thank you."

"It's okay. We were a little too impatient. I knew there was something wrong with you, but I didn't know what to do about it."

The atmosphere softened, and the facial expressions of the three people became smiles, albeit a little.

"Now, let's tidy up this lunch. The bell for the start of class will ring soon, and I can't remain so carefree. Teachers can't be late when they meet the students."

"Fufu, that's right ~~. Let's eat it fast ~~" 

"Yes, there may be rumors if you don't eat it fast. Bring it on."

They joked with each other, the atmosphere became peaceful, and the three started to enjoy the rest of the lunch.

However, at that time, there was a shadow rushing into the infirmary.

"Excuse me. Norn-sensei, looks like she is injured. Can you treat her?"

What came in was a beautiful girl with long glossy black hair and deep jet-black eyes.

Irisdina Francilt is there lending her shoulders to a student who was suspected of being injured.