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Confidential Call
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Also by Shūsuke Amagi
Chrome Shelled Regios series
Chrome Shelled Regios
Silent Talk
Sentimental Voice
Confidential Call
Emotional Howl
Red Nocturne
White Opera
Mixing Note
Blue Mazurka
Complex Days
Impact Girls
Black Arabesque
Grey Concerto
Scarlet Oratorio
Next Bloom
Spring Burst
Summer Night Rave
Crying Autumn
Initiation Log
Desire Report
Winter Fall (Part 1)
Winter Fall (Part 2)
Legend of Regios series
Riggzario Baptism
Ignasis' Awakening
The Appearance of the Regios
Confidential Call
Confidential Call
Chrome Shelled Regios Book Four
Shūsuke Amagi
Tokyo, Japan
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1: Her Idea
Chapter 2: Different Nights
Chapter 3: Envisioning and Reality
Chapter 4: Outside the Wheel
Chapter 5: The Vow on That Day
Chapter 6: The Insane Guardian
Epilogue
Appendix
Regios
Electronic Fairy
Filth Monsters/Pollutant Beasts/Contaminiods
DITE
Kei
Novel Illustrations
Baka-Tsuki
Project Staff
Translators
Editors
Updates
Prologue
As the signal sounded, the still air vibrated as of an explosion hitting the air. Sharnid rushed out like rapids of a river, moving swiftly but cautiously. The gun in his hand made no sound.
If he didn't make noise, then no one else would find out his location......That was Sharnid's current mission. He carried it out loyally. There was meaning in being true to a mission. The members of the other platoon were constantly on the lookout for Sharnid, especially the psychokinesist, who had sent out his flakes to fly back and forth in the field. Sharnid kept moving forward as he evaded detection. The tension inside him felt like something hard in his stomach, bursting to escape.
The anxiety that he was suppressing ran through his entire nerves. If he made a noise here......This unnecessary thought bounced off every corner of his mind.
Ignoring this thought for the future, he concentrated on the mission and smoothly arrived at his position. He maintained his cover, hiding from the opposing platoon's members and psychokinesist as he quietly increased the flow of his Kei to strengthen his vision.
He could have located his enemies through the psychokinesist on his team, but his own intuition and feelings were the most reliable when accidents occurred. Relying on a psychokinesist meant making time for redundant communication, slowing everything down. Speed was extremely important in a fight between Military Artists. One must eliminate what could be eliminated.
In a split second, Sharnid poured Kei into his bullet, as if the Kei had been solidified. Inside the bullet compartments were anesthetic bullets. One of the bullets was covered with Kei. Once the trigger was pressed, the Kei covering that red bullet would transform – it'd become flame-like, expand, explode into flames, and the Kei bullet would shoot forth.
Sharnid would feel all that in one swift moment. Now all he was doing was waiting for that moment to come, as the fight in the middle of the field began.
He saw the golden flowing hair that was his comrade - Dalshena Che Matelna. She wielded a huge lance as she moved, moved like a wild river, like an arrow leaving its bow.
A golden river roaring wild. That was all Sharnid could compare her with as he watched her curly hair draw numerous whirls about her. She ran forward, leading her teammates and drowning her enemies along the way.
Sharnid and one other person existed to keep that river overflowing – Dinn.
Sharnid's mission was to cut through the obstacles attempting to stop the flow of that current, Dalshena, and Dinn's goal was to extend the path that Sharnid made.
He pulled the trigger. Having confirmed the psychokinesist's information with his own eyes, Sharnid fired the Kei bullet at the enemies that were suddenly cutting in to attack Dalshena. One of the three enemies fell. Dinn finished off the other two. He was as close to them as if he were their shadow.
After covering for Dalshena, Sharnid stood up to change his position. The psychokinesist in his team informed him of approaching enemies. Even without that information, Sharnid would have to move since he had exposed his position. This already had reduced his chance of making a hit next.
Before he changed position, he glanced at Dalshena, who was dashing forward. She'd enter a fight with the defending members of the enemy team soon. That was when she could demonstrate her true potential. Sharnid must not slack off before she reached her destination. His mission was to lead her to the place where her potential could shine. He must move swiftly. Sharnid watched her back.
(We must win today.)
Following her gaze to the enemy's flag, Sharnid quickly moved, propelled by a natural feeling to hurry up.
It had been one year since then.
Chapter 1
Her Idea
"There's no way I'll do it, got that?"
Naruki pulled him up while Layfon was taking a nap on the library lawn in the morning.
Students were in holiday mode while Zuellni mined selenium. The Student President said the mining would take one week to finish at its earliest. Mechanical students dug up the selenium using heavy machines. Volunteers and students from other areas undertook supporting roles, resulting in a lack of senior year teachers, so the academy had temporarily closed.
Layfon had just returned from his shift at the Mechanical Department and was planning to nap a little on the library lawn before the library opened. Yesterday, Meishen and her friends had suggested a schedule for him during Zuellni's break. He had wanted to return to the dormitory and sleep, then change clothes and come over, but......that seemed too troublesome, so he had laid down on the lawn with his backpack as his pillow. When he came to, Naruki already had him in her grip and was pulling him up.
"Eh? Eh?" he looked around, not sure what was happening.
Why was Naruki so angry? Meishen and Mifi stood behind her with confused expressions. It seemed even they didn't know the reason behind Naruki's actions.
"Um......What's wrong?"
"It was Layton, right? What you said to the captain."
"Ha?"
This was getting more confusing.
"I don't know what you said......But I don't agree with it."
"......I'm sorry. I don't understand what you're saying."
"......Wasn't it Layton?" she let go of his collar.
"Just what is it?"
The usually calm Naruki was worked up about something.
"The captain. Your captain came to me yesterday night at the office."
"......Ah, Aah.'
"So it really was you!?"
"No, I didn't say anything. No. Maybe I did say......ah, wait, wait. I said it because the captain wanted my advice. She noticed you before that," Layfon said hastily and prevented Naruki from grabbing his collar again.
"Why?"
"How should I know?"
Naruki groaned with an "urg." Layfon finally felt fully awake.
"Uh......I've no idea what just happened," Mifi raised her hand.
"What's going on?" Meishen asked.
"......I was scouted by Layton's captai
n," Naruki replied bitterly.
"......Eh!" the two girls said, shocked.
To put it simply, Nina had finally taken action. It looked like she was planning to add a new team member before the 17th platoon's camp. The team was in a crisis in the last investigation mission due to a lack of members. Nina had already said earlier that she was searching for more members.
Layfon didn't know which part of Naruki had attracted Nina's attention, but since Nina had asked him about her, she'd probably talk it over with Naruki herself in the future.
"This is troublesome," Naruki said as she read the newspaper in the library's study room. "I don't plan to become a platoon member."
"Yeah, I think so too, but......"
Nina probably won't give up.
The weakness of the 17th platoon was glaringly obvious. It only had just enough members to become a platoon. The maximum number of fighting members was seven, the minimum four. They could manage if the team was on the offensive in a match. As long as the captain, Nina, remained standing, then the team wouldn't have lost. Layfon and Sharnid just needed to do better when the enemies were focusing on Nina.
But when the team was on the defensive, the difference in numbers became critical. One person would have to stay back to guard the flag, leaving only three people to move freely. It'd be good for the team if their number increased by even just one person. However, students who were good enough to become platoon members had already been netted by other platoons. Even if there were some left, no senior students were willing to join a team made up of juniors. Hence, Nina had changed her targets to year 1 and 2 students.
And Naruki was chosen......
"I'm already with the City Police. I'm sorry, Layton, but I don't have time to serve in a platoon too."
"Yeah – I know."
There must be a way to resolve this......But things weren't that simple. Either way, Nina was the type to put her thoughts in action. Her enthusiasm was amazing. It seemed impossible to stop her once she'd made a decision.
"What's so bad about it? Join," Mifi said, already tired of this topic.
"Don't say that as if this has nothing to do with you."
"Huh – Why? Layton's joined a platoon and he works at the Mechanical Department. Isn't that captain also working like Layton? I don't think you can't do it."
"It would be OK if this were just about whether I could do it or not, but I don't want to do things halfheartedly. I'm not as competent as Layton, and I don't have that kind of strength."
Layfon smiled bitterly at that comparison. Though he didn't think he was that competent, he couldn't deny his true strength. Possessing excelling skills in Military Arts, he was given the title Heaven's Blade successor back at Grendan. Now that he had given up on Military Arts in Zuellni, yet still entered the Military Arts course, he could only respond to Naruki's comparison with a "never mind."
He hadn't given up on finding a path besides Military Arts. Zuellni's situation had forced him to delay his search. That was all.
"No matter what, Layton, please convey my intentions to your captain."
"......I'll try," he said, suppressing his thoughts. In the end, this conversation distracted him from concentrating on the next period. After eating Meishen's lunch, they chatted about trivial matters. The four of them parted ways when it was time to leave. Layfon said bye to the three girls and headed for the training complex.
The temperature wasn't as cold at night anymore. During the day, Layfon would sweat a bit in his uniform. It seemed the city had entered someplace hot. Zuellni had stopped for the Selenium mine. The temperature might get even higher when the city resumed its journey.
Layfon lifted his head to look at the sun, then entered the training complex.
The complex was originally very spacious. It was now divided into numerous rooms. These rooms were built with soundproof materials that nevertheless shook with the impact of training. Layfon entered the training room for the 17th platoon.
The other training rooms were noisy as if a war were going on, but in here, it was very quiet.
Very peaceful.
"Morning."
The sound of doh, doh, doh rebounded in the room. It was natural for Nina to get here even earlier than Layfon. She was hitting numerous hard spheres off the wall with her iron whips.
"Morning," Nina replied as she hit back all the balls that rebounded from the wall.
"I saw Naruki."
"......Ah," she replied, distracted. A ball crashed on the wall behind her. The ball was hit with the Kei of a Military Artist. It didn't slow down, but rebounded off the wall to attack Nina. Nina avoided it and once again struck it with her iron whip.
"I got blamed," Layfon said as he restored his Dite. The green blade shone under the light. He checked his body condition by letting the internal Kei run through his body. Nina struck the balls at Layfon. All of them.
Layfon hit them all back with his sword.
"I didn't think she'd hate it to that level," she said in surprise, as she hit back the balls.
They struck the balls at each other while continuing the conversation.
"Why did you have to meet her at the office?"
"I said before that I noticed her, right? Besides, the limit's almost here."
"Limit?"
"The Military Arts Competition......the fight between cities. We still haven't received notices?"
"Oh, I see."
Although the Academy City Alliance set down and managed the rules for the fights between Academy Cities, humans didn't get to decide on when a Competition was to be held. The City's consciousness made that decision. Until the day of the fight, no one was able to predict just when it would happen.
"The referee from the Alliance hasn't yet showed up, but there are many cases of cities holding competitions without a referee. I think it's about time."
"Why?"
"Because of the selenium mines. If we lost after the competition, we couldn't even resupply, so isn't this the best time to have a match?"
"I see. That's true. If we're to fight, it would be best to do so in our best condition."
"Exactly. For cities to meet each other, they must move from their territories. That means resupplying is necessary."
Having listened to her, Layfon now truly felt the harsh reality of the Military Arts Competition. If they lost in this Competition, Zuellni would have lost its one and only selenium mine. What awaited it was a slow death. In that case, Layfon would face his second move. Though he could start fresh by moving out of Zuellni, he couldn't ignore the Competition. Because he had met Nina here, as well as Felli, Meishen, the members of 17th platoon and everyone in his classes. He'd have lost the time he could have spent with these people in Zuellni.
After he left Grendan, he hadn't had the opportunity to meet with the children at the orphanage, and he could only communicate with Leerin through letters. He couldn't let his meeting with everyone in Zuellni end like that.
"Even with a new person, our team still has a gap in strength. Let's just leave the question of whether our strength can catch up or not. It's too late to start training for our own particular positions in the match."
The conversation returned to Naruki. Nina missed the ball again. The ball rebounded off the wall and flew underneath her armpit in a direction that Layfon's sword couldn't reach.
"Hey!"
The ball flew straight for Sharnid's face. He had just opened the door to the room.
"Uh-oh!" he just managed to dodge it. The ball bounced off the wall in the corridor.
"This game again? You two are enthusiastic," he said, grabbed hold of the ball jumping back and forth in the narrow corridor and brought it back into the room.
"Come join us."
"Then Felli-chan would join too, and we'll see the scene of hell like last time."
"If I lose, I'll treat you to dinner. How about that?"
Surprised at Nina's unusual provocation, Sharnid joined in.
"Pretty good." br />
He restored two of the three Dites from his weapon harness. They were guns made in black alloys and they looked quite heavy. One glance showed they were made for close combat. Although Sharnid was a sniper, he had had training in close quarter gun combat. His participation in the game made the bouncing of the balls more intense.
The rules were simple. One would get a black mark against him for failing to hit back a ball or hitting back a ball with a large margin of error in terms of direction. The person accumulating the most number of points in the time limit lost. The time limit was the time till training hour ended.
It wasn't as simple as hitting back a ball. Because everyone included feints in their actions, this made the timing of the hit difficult.
Felli entered as Sharnid was starting to warm up. She wasn't willing to join in, but in the end accepted Nina's proposal.
"The one who will lose is probably captain or senpai," she said lightly and restored her Dite. Flakes in the shape of flower petals scattered in the air in response to her power of psychokinesis.
The flakes were like a part of Felli's body, and their uses weren't limited to just sensing. Some used the flakes to attack and some used them to defend. Hitting back the hard balls wasn't a problem to Felli at all.
"Hey now, is it OK to say that?"
"Yes. I can't lose to you two."
As Sharnid and Nina conversed, they gave each person five hard balls.
"Ready?" Nina said, and the twenty hard balls went into a rampage, drawing out the picture of a hellish scene. Sharnid called it a game, but it was a very proper and formal type of training. Layfon was the one to suggest this type of training. Nina had then brought in a large number of hard balls.
Training with the balls scattered on the floor helped to increase the basis of internal Kei. As for today, hitting the balls back and forth trained reflexes and also increased coordination. When that reached a certain level, one could even use Kei to hit a ball and cancel the Kei of someone else. This way, one could also increase one's basic skill in external Kei. There were many different types of skills in the use of internal and external Kei, but if one managed to master the basics, then one could better adapt them. Compared to spending a large amount of time learning a new skill in Kei, it was better to increase the level of the basics first...... that was Layfon's suggestion, and Nina found it plausible.