Confidential Call Read online

  When training ended, it was already sunset.

  "Next time, I'll......" Nina said with regret as she stared at the menu in the restaurant.

  Layfon got zero, Felli three points, Sharnid twelve points and Nina thirteen points...... Nina lost by just one point.

  "......I'll pay half. How does that sound?" Layfon asked.

  "No need," she replied.

  Nina's family was rich, but she didn't get any financial support here because she came to Zuellni against her parents' wishes. Layfon wasn't sure how she paid for her school fees, but all her living expenses were paid by the money she earned at the Mechanical Department.

  "Layfon, it's forbidden to sympathize with the loser," Sharnid said smugly and patted Layfon's shoulder. His attitude and wordings declared him a victor.

  "Damn, just a little bit more......"

  "That little point determined the win and loss. This world is cruel."

  "That's the truth. Ah, I want that," Harley said, looking at his menu. He was sitting next to Nina.

  "......Hang on, I didn't say I'll treat you."

  "Huh? Is that so?"

  "Of course. If you're not satisfied, then fight me."

  "No way. I can't win against a Military Artist."

  "Then you can't."

  "Tsk, never mind," Nina's childhood friend, the 17th platoon's Dite Mechanic, moved his gaze to Layfon indifferently. "Layfon, I've finished the simple version of what we talked about before. Can you drop by tomorrow? I want to run a final check."

  "Ah, sure."

  "Ah, What was it? Is it that ridiculous thing from before?"

  "The Adamantium Dite. This time I made the simpler version. It's lighter than before."

  "That means Layfon'll gradually turn vicious."

  "That's right."

  "No, saying vicious......"

  "Vicious, don't you agree? Normally speaking, it's impossible to imagine a person fighting a filth monster alone."

  "Perhaps, but......"

  "Thanks to you, we've done something out of the ordinary."

  Layfon was troubled by them, as Sharnid and Harley started chatting about it.

  "But we won't make that reckless move a second time," Nina said firmly to him.

  Everyone had placed their orders. The dishes were spread out before them.

  "Speaking of which, did Layfon come up with the training with the balls?"

  "No, it was......the Director." (Derek)

  Sudden footsteps sounded near their table, interrupting the conversation.

  "......Oh?"

  "......Uh?"

  Sharnid lifted his head. The closing footsteps ceased.

  "Yo, Dinn."

  "......You seem in high spirits," the man at the front of the group said. He was bald, small and lanky. He wasn't that thin, one could tell just by looking at him. He had a very sharp looking gaze. A badge with the number 10 was pinned on his uniform. The badge of a platoon.

  Sharnid had called him Dinn.

  (Uh, seems to be......)

  Nina searched her mind for the name of this platoon member. Dinn Dee. The captain of platoon 10. The male students behind him all bore the same badge. They must be his teammates.

  "I suppose. Did you see my active performance?"

  "I've confirmed through the video. As usual, your first shot was brilliant, but not the second one."

  "What harsh advice."

  "......The concentration of my team is much better since you left."

  "Hahaha, that's good. How's Shena?"

  "......Sharnid," Dinn placed his hand on the table. Sharnid's expression changed slightly.

  "You're not our comrade anymore. Don't act so close."

  "Oh, I'm sorry," Sharnid's words easily defused the anger in Dinn's words. Layfon noticed how Dinn wasn't too pleased with that.

  "My next opponent is your 17th platoon. Sharnid, I'll show you that you don't have a place in platoon ten."

  "Good luck," Sharnid waved. Dinn and his teammates left quickly. The back of Dinn's bald head had turned red from anger.

  "......He's still the same octopus as always," Sharnid said to Dinn's back.

  "Bu." At Sharnid's words, Harley couldn't help but spill the drink in his mouth.

  "Sharnid was in team ten last year," Felli told Layfon on the way back to the dormitories. Their dormitories lay in the same direction, so unless something special came up, the two of them usually went back together.

  "Sharnid and Dinn, and the vice-captain, Dalshena. They were all in first year. When they worked together, their team had the number 1 assault power. The 10th platoon exceeded the first platoon in its excellence."

  "But senpai left the team."

  Layfon didn't have to hear the answer from Felli. If Sharnid hadn't left the 10th platoon, then his existence in the 17th platoon would not be possible.

  "Yeah. He left in the middle of a platoon match."

  "Why?"

  "I'm not sure, but the performance record of team 10 has gone downhill from then. Even now, it only ranks somewhere in the middle."

  This was neither the problem of the three team members being unable to join hands nor that of the team losing one member. This was the collapse of a team combination, a fatal strike at the trust between team members. That was the main reason that caused the slip in the performance record of the 10th platoon.

  In the end, the relationship between Sharnid and Dinn was like fire and water.

  "I'm certain something's happened between the three of them. I don't know what, but if it's better not to know about it, then I'd rather remain in the dark."

  "True," Layfon agreed.

  They didn't know what had happened, but Layfon felt that Sharnid would tell them if the time to tell came. Although Sharnid was always flippant with an attitude of ignorance, he was able to make wise judgments in critical moments.

  It wasn't something that words could convey.

  Layfon knew just by looking at Sharnid's performance in the platoon match. Senpai cut off his presence through his Kei, moved to the position where he was needed and fired the fatal shot at the right timing. A person's true self was revealed while he fought. The perfect sniper was Sharnid's true face. That was a part of him that no one was able to feel in his usual daily life.

  "Really?" It seemed Felli didn't agree with Layfon's opinion.

  "He's got the skill, but his personality is beyond help."

  "Not at all. I can rest assured with senpai here."

  "......As I said before."

  "Sen......Felli's psychokinesis feels different," Layfon made a hasty change in his address of Felli when she glared at him.

  "What type of feeling is it?"

  "As if my senses have been opened."

  "Of course, I'm a psychokinesist."

  The mission of a psychokinesist was to gather information in the match and convey that information to their teammates. Another duty was to facilitate communication between team members.

  "A psychokinesist is their teammates' eyes and ears, but I didn't mean that......What's wrong?"

  "Ah, no. Nothing."

  Felli seemed to have changed recently. She still hadn't been participating in training enthusiastically, but the atmosphere she exuded that caused people to dislike her wasn't as strong as before.

  If it had been the Felli before, she wouldn't have said a word about the bet in the training room. As a psychokinesist, she'd never have spoken confidently about her own ability before Nina and Sharnid. However, she still hated her own ability, and that was the present Felli.

  Even so, Felli had changed.

  (Why?)

  Felli had shown her weaker side a few days ago in the destroyed city. She was unable to give up being a psychokinesist, unable to calm down without using her abilities. This implied that she had no way of discontinuing being a psychokinesist. She looked depressed because of it.

  Layfon didn't know how to help Felli either. He also was experiencing the same problem as her. He couldn't give up his identity as a Military Artist, not because of Karian's discovery of his past, but because he couldn't calm himself down when he didn't use Kei.

  He didn't know what to do about it. Since he also faced the same problem, he could only accompany Felli and chat with her.

  "What is it?" Felli glared at him, dissatisfied with his silence.

  "No. Really, nothing."

  He wanted to know just exactly how she had changed, but he didn't voice it. Perhaps Felli would talk about it when the time came.

  Layfon decided to end the day like that since he didn't have work tonight. He planned to lock the door of his room and nap a while in the bath, but the security guard came over while he was locking the door, telling him there was a phone call for him.

  He had no choice but to leave his dormitory once more.

  The call was from Formed Garen, the Head of City Police, Naruki's boss.

  "I'm sorry about this," Formed said in greeting, wearing a pretty sly expression.

  The location was the outskirts of Zuellni. The City Police were all wearing heavy armor. They had fenced off the shops. Formed was holding something that looked like an explosive type weapon. The other Military Artists were all waiting for something with tense expressions.

  "This weapon is for suppression purposes," he lifted the cylinder shaped weapon with a bitter smile. "I'm not good at using this. I hope we can avoid a fight if possible."

  "What's it today?" Layfon said. The tension around Formed was extremely high. This felt unusual.

  "It seems there are a huge number of fake students here."

  "Fake students?"

  "People who came with fake student documentations and pretended to be students of Zuellni."

  "There are such people......" Layfon's eyes widened, hearing this for the first time.

  "Sometimes we do have people who want to learn but can't afford the fees, but our student IDs are renewed every year. The library has a record of all incoming and exiting students. They keep the record for about a year or so."

  "Ha......" Layfon didn't know about it at all.

  "Try imagining."

  "Can't."

  "Just cause you don't feel like imagining. It takes lots of money to produce fake identities. Isn't it a waste to just pretend to be a student?"

  "Then for what?"

  "Anything that's outside the purpose of gaining knowledge, such as illegal drugs, buying and selling illegal wines, stealing intelligence......things like that."

  "I see."

  "This time it's about illegal wines. Have you heard of 'DG'?"

  "The drug used to accelerate the production of Kei?"

  The discovery that the product of fermenting a certain genetically modified fruit could cause an unusual reaction to a Kei vein was made before Layfon's birth. It was once commonplace among many cities because its use could increase the power of Kei in Military Artists and psychokinesists exponentially.

  "If it didn't have side effects, it would be something that all Military Artists would dream of having."

  Yes, this wine had its side effects. The unusual flow of Kei vein was abnormal. It increased chances of developing malignant tumors by 80%, causing numerous Military Artists and psychokinesists to become useless. As such, each city had set down laws banning the production and importation of the wine according to its judgment. This wasn't a result of a meeting between cities, but it came about because of fear. Even so, not all cities had set down such measures, hence the method of production wasn't lost.

  There were Military Artists who didn't have the confidence to face their current level of strength. There were those people who wished for such a drug, not willing to face failure in battle. There were also people who sold such illegal drugs at a high price.

  "......They want to import it into the Academy City and store it up?"

  "That depends on the timing. Perhaps they think this small and insignificant city has need of it? Maybe our Student President has already sent people over to buy the stuff," Formed said with a cold smile. A joke that wasn't funny at all.

  Layfon confirmed the shop again. The message on the sign showed the shop sold water guns, a fairly popular sport in many cities.

  "Are they hiding in there?"

  "Yeah, we've confirmed the presence of ten fake students. I'm not sure......if there are any military artists."

  "There are."

  "As I thought......Can you tell?"

  Layfon's hand naturally reached out to his weapon harness. He wasn't surprised at Formed's information.

  "Yeah......and they're provoking me."

  Those people weren't even hiding their presence. The Kei they were releasing covered the entire shop. The Kei opposite the opened door swept through Layfon in intense waves. Layfon canceled out their Kei with his own.

  "The movements of Military Artists on our side are slow, so I called you over with that suspicion. And you were right where I wanted, which was great."

  Even though Formed and his team couldn't see the Kei with their eyes, they could still feel it in the atmosphere. Seeing how relieved Formed was, Layfon once more focused his attention on the shop.

  They were veterans, Military Artists whose power was way beyond the group of thieves Layfon had encountered previously. Surrounded on all sides, these guys exhibited the attitude "just come if you dare." This insolence......provoked Layfon's Kei and aroused his fighting spirit.

  "Leader......We've surrounded the building," Naruki said.

  "Good, then......"

  "......They're coming," Layfon interrupted.

  "Huh?"

  A sudden explosion......behind the speechless Naruki.

  "Uwah!" Formed fell, blown by the waves of Kei. The door was blown off its hinges to fly towards them. Naruki moved swiftly to defend Formed, whereas Layfon......

  "Don't get carried away," he restored the Dite he had pulled out of his weapon harness. The sword cut through the door in the middle.

  On the other side was......

  "!"

  Layfon blocked the attacker's strike with his sword. The owner of the assaulting Kei laughed in the air. A one-sided sword...... katana. The material was also steel alloy. Derek flashed through Layfon's mind......and quickly disappeared.

  The face beneath the attacker's nose was covered by a mask. Red hair bounced in the air as if it was firing up the darkness of the night. Male, a young man......He looked to be about the same age as Layfon.

  "Don't think you can escape!"

  "Damn, go in! Go in!" came Formed's shout from behind.

  Layfon chased after the young man. The attacker sped on the roads and jumped from rooftop to rooftop without any unnecessary movements. He was extremely fast.

  "Heh."

  If Layfon kept on chasing, this might take quite a while. He gathered the Kei at the soles of his feet.

  Internal Kei variation – Whirl Kei.

  The next moment he was right behind his target, swinging down with his sword. He aimed for the shoulder of the weapon arm. He'd smash the bone so the guy couldn't use his weapon anymore and surrender.

  That was his intention at least.

  "Wha!?"

  His target had dodged the attack.

  The young man stood at someplace higher than Layfon's current location. He seemed to have timed Layfon's attack.

  (Damn.)

  If this guy escaped......but the price of using Whirl Kei had left Layfon with the only choice of moving in a straight line now. This guy would have escaped while Layfon tried to stop his headlong rush.

  "That was pretty dangerous."

  A feeling of something expanding came from above Layfon's head. Layfon turned in midair to face his attacker. The young man readied his pose, also in midair, his body surrounded by Kei. As his foot landed on the wall of a building, he suddenly disappeared.

  At the same time, Layfon was attacked on all sides.

  Internal type Kei variation – Fleeting Shadows.

  "What!"

  Shocked, he swung at his right. The crisp sound of metal clashing against metal rang out, and the heavy impact ran up Layfon's arm. As Layfon hadn't yet stopped his headlong rush, the impact of that strike sent him flying backward.

  "As expected, you can read my moves."

  The eyes of the young man sparkled with joy.

  Layfon blocked the consecutive attacks with his sword. The young man was attempting to stop him from braking his headlong rush. As Layfon moved, his weapon clashed numerous times with the young man's. Each strike from his attacker was heavier than the previous strike. As they exchanged blows, Layfon was prevented from changing his direction.

  "Ha!"

  "!"

  The young man's strike went from low to high and Layfon reacted by leaping up. As his flying momentum reached its peak, he finally managed to slow himself down. He confirmed his location in the air.

  He was still in the outskirts of the city, moving along Zuellni's outer area. This was the practicum area of the Construction course. Nobody was around at night. One could say it didn't matter if you destroyed the buildings here.

  (Good.)

  He increased the density of Kei running through his body, and swung downward at the young man following him from below.

  External Kei – Whirl Kei.

  Kei in the form of a twisting whirl embedded with Kei bullets spun towards the young man. The young man raised his katana in the direction of the air flow and struck down every single Kei bullet. In the sound of successive explosions, Layfon charged his opponent.

  "Too naive!"

  The young man received Layfon's strike. The two types of Kei joined together, then rebounded off each other in all directions. Sparks flew off the Dites and lit up the young man's face. The left side of his face that wasn't masked was carved with a tattoo.

  "Wolfstein......is only at such a level?"

  Words that were like the rumbling of thunder to Layfon.

  At the same time, Layfon felt something wrong with his sword.

  "Ha!"

  Internal type Kei – Fleeting shadow.