Emotional Howl Read online

  "Today's training will be a match."

  Nina held two flags.

  "Hold on, wait a minute," Sharnid raised his hand.

  "What?"

  "We don't have enough people for a match?"

  "If that's all, it's simple. Layfon."

  "Yes?"

  "You stay here alone."

  "Yeah......"

  "Wait a minute," Naruki said. "Is this really ok?"

  She knew from the match with the 10th platoon of how strong Layfon was, but it wasn't possible for Layfon to win 1 against 4.

  "Well, you'll know," Nina said meaningfully. She tossed a flag to Layfon. Sharnid didn't say anything more and began his preparation. Only Naruki took out her Dite to confirm its weight with displeasure.

  Layfon was to defend his flag and waited at the location Nina had indicated. He pierced the ground with the flag. Nina had talked to Layfon before he made a move. He seemed surprised but he nodded.

  Then came the call for Naruki and Sharnid.

  "How do we attack?" Nina asked Naruki.

  "One person? Two people to stop him from moving while the remaining person aims for the flag?"

  "Let's do that then. I'll head for the flag. Naruki acts as bait and Sharnid, you stop Layfon. Felli will be my support."

  Meishen waited at a distance with a gun in her hand. Nina nodded at her, and she raised the gun and pulled the trigger with trepidation. The hollow noise dispersed to announce the beginning of the match.

  "Ten steps to your left, please move forward in the path of a big curve."

  Naruki ran as such, following Felli's instruction from the transmitter. Nina ran beside her. Layfon was closer to Naruki's right.

  "If he attacks me then you head straight for the flag. Same for the reverse. If he attacks Sharnid then we'll both move for the flag," Nina said.

  "Roger."

  Nina pulled open the distance between her and Naruki as Naruki increased her speed.

  Layfon stood leisurely before the flag with no defensive mechanisms in front of him. He hadn't restored his Dite. Naruki could clearly see him and he saw her clearly too. But this was a one against four match. He was at a disadvantage.

  When Naruki and her team had run halfway to the flag, Layfon made his move.

  No. He disappeared.

  Because she was running and enveloped in the wind created by her own movement, Naruki couldn't detect the direction of the natural wind around her. All she saw was the dust made by Layfon's feet.

  "Coming. 0400," Felli said.

  "Behind?" Naruki slid to a stop.

  "There's not enough Kei in your legs," Layfon's voice sounded from her side, then he was in front of her. The next moment he was behind her.

  (What speed!)

  Naruki swung with the baton as she slid on the ground. The baton hit air. Layfon was gone. As the thought flashed past Naruki, she felt something on her stomach. Her gaze turned down and saw Layfon there with his shoulder against her stomach, and he threw her up and away.

  As Naruki stared numbly at the sky, Layfon chased after Nina. In no time at all, he had reached her and also tossed her into the sky.

  The sound of a sniper rifle firing reached Naruki's ear. Then a small explosion in the air.

  By no means could she have immediately realized it was caused by a Kei bullet aimed at the flag struck down by external Kei. As Naruki realized that fact, Sharnid had also been tossed skyward.

  Layfon walked casually back to the flag. Felli didn't put up any resistance.

  "We lost......" Naruki watched Layfon's back with disbelief.

  "How do we attack next?" Nina said as if she was enjoying it. Naruki still had an unbelievable feeling in her.

  (That's.........Layfon?)

  Layfon was once again on the defensive side.

  The Layfon with Naruki and her friends, chatting on the way to class, always had this unreliable feel with him. Where now was the Layfon she knew? No,

  Naruki knew he was strong as a Military Artist. She could tell during the platoon matches when she was in the audience seat and when she was participating in the match. She knew he never stepped back from the famous organization of Military Artists, the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang. He even won against the Mercenary Gang's leader. He was strong. Very, very strong.

  But Naruki's feelings were different when she fought Layfon. Different from the time when she and Layfon were paired up in Military Arts course training class. Layfon had moved with consideration of her strength.

  And now it was totally different. She lost by an overwhelming margin. Even so, he defeated her by holding back. First, he didn't use his Dite. Not just that either. He didn't hit her with his bare hands. He just tossed her up. Everyone on the team's strengths were too far away from his.

  Nina and the rest of her team devised their strategy in detail once again. Anger rushed up in Naruki. She wasn't thinking of giving up, but she didn't like Layfon's arrogant attitude.

  "Then let's begin," Nina said and nodded.

  Looking at her, Naruki smiled.

  Meishen made a huge number of sandwiches and cookies for lunch. Everyone ate till their stomachs burst, as they replenished the amount of sugar they lost in training. They drank sports drinks and then continued training.

  The formation remained the same. Layfon was on the defensive side, and Nina's team repeatedly changed their strategies. They didn't once win against him. Nina stopped the match when the sky was painted red. Everyone started their own individual training. Layfon finally restored his Dite and began dancing with it on his own. Nina did the same. Felli let loose all of the flakes, sending them off to faraway places. Sharnid prepared a number of solid balls made of soil. He threw each of them and shot them down in succession.

  Naruki couldn't move at the moment. She drank from the sports drink that Meishen had brought to her and laid on the ground, breathing deeply. When she could finally sit up, she slowly drank and watched Layfon. As if penetrating the deepening red dusk with a pen, Layfon repeatedly swung the Sapphire Dite. Internal Kei filled his body. He should have been causing a lot of wind with his movements, but his surroundings were surprisingly quiet.

  Naruki had watched Nina's individual training alongside Layfon. She thought Nina's pose was very beautiful as she swung the Kei-filled iron whips like a ghost. The current Nina didn't have the air she had before. She was even more beautiful, stretching the definition of sports, but she shone less compared to Layfon. With Layfon, it felt as if something had finished. Naruki wasn't sure what it was. Every time the sword cut out a green flash in the dusk, she felt a strike in her chest.

  Loneliness, solemnity and the feeling of a wish in those sword strokes.

  All of those feelings made her hesitate. She turned around and saw that Meishen had gone. She must have gone to prepare dinner.

  (What a shame.)

  She sighed, attracted to Layfon's figure. If Meishen was here, she'd probably cry. For some reason, each of Layfon's movement exuded something painfully beautiful. They made her contemplate what kind of a past he had. The Layfon who usually appeared weak and unreliable.

  (Ah, yes......)

  She understood. This was probably the Layfon that Meishen liked. She didn't know whether Meishen realized it the time when she first entered the Academy City, but she had felt it.

  Naruki's superior, Formed, had said this. "That person has had a life that doesn't match with his age. It would be good if you observe him and understand that kind of depth."

  That was the reason why Naruki chose to stay with the 17th platoon. Just what had Formed seen? That curiosity intensified during the match with the 10th platoon. Was that depth what Naruki was seeing now?

  Probably. She couldn't really express it any better.

  She stood and began her own training. If she kept relaxing, she'd only become a burden. She could not tolerate this point on the pride of her identity as a Military Artist. She struck the air with her baton.

  Nina announced t
he end of training when dusk gave way to true darkness. The aroma of food filled the kitchen. Meishen had prepared the meal in the morning. It wasn't the simple vegetable soup that she made for them for breakfast.

  "Amazing," Sharnid groaned. His appetite grew with the aroma of meat and vegetable. The meat had been marinated for a long period of time.

  "......I, I made a lot. So......"

  "Oh, thanks very much. I'll eat lots," Sharnid sat down, and everyone else followed suit. Layfon and Naruki helped put out the dishes.

  "Ah, sorry. We'll......" Nina said.

  "Don't worry. Leave this to us," Layfon said.

  Meishen had also made salad and chicken. The helpers sat down at the desk after lining up the dishes of food.

  The food was true to Meishen's skill. The team ate without speaking, enjoying the meal. Nina was worried that the delicious taste and empty stomachs might cause terrible side effects, but seeing how everyone dug into the food without complaint, she relaxed and happily watched them eat.

  After dinner, Layfon watched Nina and Sharnid play their game. Naruki went over to him and said. "Layton, do you have a second?" She then walked out of the room. Meishen was outside too.

  Layfon thought the time had finally come. Neither Nina nor Sharnid noticed. They were concentrating on the game, and Felli was reading her book in a corner. He stood up and went after Naruki.

  Nina's gaze shifted to look at Layfon's back.

  "What will come will come. Either way, it's difficult to keep your secret in the team. Since it'll come out anyway, it should come from you, not anyone else. You're the one to make the decision in the end."

  Nina had said that in the Mechanical Department, but that didn't lessen Layfon's worry.

  "Well, there has to be a way," Sharnid said as he played with the dice.

  "Naruki plans to join the police force, so she's got a strong sense of morality. That is worrying."

  "Even someone as stubborn as you accepted him, so it should be all right."

  "I'm not stubborn."

  "The only one who truly doesn't understand you is yourself, is it?" Sharnid smiled as Felli left the room stealthily. She must have gone after Layfon.

  "Aren't you going?" He asked Nina as if he had eyes on his back.

  "No," she gave a curt reply and continued to look at the board.

  Sharnid's smile was bitter as he rolled the dice.

  Layfon left the building. The half moon and the stars gave off the only light besides the light in the building. He could have used internal Kei to strengthen his night vision, but he only followed Naruki and Meishen, submerging himself in darkness. As if feeling unease at walking in the dark, Meishen held Naruki's hand.

  They kept walking like that on uneven ground, under the lights of the sky. If they went any further, they might encounter danger. But Layfon didn't say that. Probably nothing would happen with him and Naruki here. He stole a glance back and saw that the light from the dormitory was within sight. That eased his heart.

  In the end, the three of them reached the edge of that place. The line of trees cut through the field as if dividing it from another field. Meishen stopped before the wall of trees, and Naruki stopped too. Layfon did the same. Meishen turned around. He couldn't see her expression in the dark. Naruki broke the silence.

  "If Mi were here, the formation would be complete......but that can't be helped. Layton, we want to know more about you," she said in the straightforward way of a Military Artist.

  "Yeah," he nodded in the dark.

  Silence once again enshrouded them.

  ".........I hope you can understand this curiosity of ours. We've had a good relationship with you for half a year. We aren't worried of leaving our home city. The relationship between us three girls is very good, so we were shocked when Layton came among us. We don't want our relationship with you to remain as it is. We want you to join our group. Therefore, there are things we want to know."

  Meishen trembled and swallowed.

  "......What is a Heaven's Blade successor?"

  As expected, Naruki was the one to voice the question. She then explained how she knew of that term, of how Leerin's letter was wrongly delivered to Meishen's mailbox, and how Meishen had read the letter.

  Layfon was shocked. That was the letter that Nina had handed him. At that time, he hadn't known why Nina had the letter. She said she had picked it up in the changing room in the Training Complex. The doubt of why she had that letter had always been with him.

  "......I'm sorry," Meishen apologized with a trembling voice. A tear rolled in her eye.

  "It doesn't matter."

  Even if he had felt anything, he didn't plan to scold her.

  "A Heaven's Blade successor......" Releasing the breath that had at some point accumulated inside him, he explained everything.

  There were twelve Heaven's Blades, twelve Dites in Grendan that only twelve people could gain. Those people were called Heaven's Blade successors, and Layfon was one of them. He was the twelfth Heaven's Blade successor, called Layfon Wolfstein Alseif. But he was neither happy nor boastful of receiving that title. He only concentrated on making money with the skill that he had, and that was all he cared about. Money was needed for survival. The Layfon back then was like a gear leaving its path to spin in the air. The crisis of the food shortage had passed, but as long as one had money, one could buy as much food as one wanted. He was still small during the most difficult time. He understood the basics of an economy, that food was scarce, but his adopted father, Derek, did live a poor life. Layfon blindly followed his own desire in his actions. He believed it was correct to break the principles of Military Arts. He didn't feel repulsed at participating in underground matches.

  He felt something from Naruki when he mentioned underground matches. For someone working in the City Police with a strong sense of morality, she'd probably find this unbelievable.

  "......And then?" Meishen asked as if squeezing her voice out.

  "I was exposed, stripped of my title and exiled from the city. It was Her Majesty's mercy to give me time before the punishment and not to confiscate all my possessions. Because of that, I could leave some money for the orphanage."

  Yes......Derek managed the orphanage with the principle of being poor. The orphanage lacked money because of all sorts of problems. Layfon could solve it. His way was correct. While he was a Heaven's Blade successor, he donated money to other orphanages too, so he didn't have much money left when he was exiled.

  "......That's why you're here?"

  "Yes," he nodded after calming down. He was extremely tense when coming over here with them, but he had calmed down after explaining his past.

  (Let it go as it goes.)

  He didn't deny his feelings. Meishen and Naruki were the ones to decide what to do after listening to his past. He couldn't do anything. He knew his past actions were wrong, but he didn't think his way of thinking was wrong. Perhaps the power of Military Artists, Layfon's ability, was necessary to protect the city. But Layfon couldn't accept the fact that he could not protect the people around him. Naruki had said before that for a choice between the city and the people, she'd choose the people. Layfon probably had the same thinking as she. Because of that, he could not become a Heaven's Blade successor.

  "But the real problem isn't my participating in the underground matches."

  The match with Gahard Baren was the real reason behind Layfon's exile.

  "All Heaven's Blades are monsters whose Kei far exceeds that of any other Military Artists. If that monster betrayed the principle of Military Arts and felt nothing for it......Nobody must know of that. Heaven's Blades can easily overwhelm the Military Artists that other Military Artists can't win against. Nobody must know of that."

  The problem was Layfon trampling Gahard with Kei that far exceeded what was normal.

  "I......am a monster," he called himself. "So it's right to fear me."

  Naruki held her breath. Meishen trembled, wrapping her arms around
herself. Had they received his message? He couldn't tell with Meishen but Naruki should have gotten it. She had gone through training with him and she had seen his fight with Haia. Though they only showed one part of Layfon's true strength.

  Layfon had said what he had to say. Now he waited for their response. He couldn't see their expressions in the dark. Were they shocked? Scared? Crying......

  "......I," Meishen said. "I......"

  Her trembling voice stopped.

  "I......"

  Rumbling......

  "Huh?"

  The ground suddenly shook. Moonlight lit up Meishen's face as she took a step forward. Tears filled her eyes. Her expression turned stiff at the change of the environment. A bad feeling hit Layfon. He rushed out to grab hold of her wrist.

  "Nakki!" he called.

  The ground vanished underneath them and gravity pulled them down.

  (We're falling.)

  Naruki reacted quickly. She snatched out her Dite and restored it, tossing up the rope that Harley made. Layfon heard the sound of it wrapping around something.

  "Layton!" Naruki reached out her hand to him. With one arm wrapped around Meishen, he stretched out his other arm......and couldn't reach. His fingers brushed past Naruki's, and he fell into darkness with Meishen.

  Chapter 3

  Darkness. And Then...

  Plunged into the depths of the earth, Layfon's left hand reached out for his weapon harness, took out his Dite and restored it. The sound of rumbling shook his eardrums. He extended his Kei to the blade. The weak moonlight reflected off the soil falling down on them and sustained his vision. It'd have been great if he could use the steel threads, but they would be trapped in the rain of soil.

  "Tsk!"

  At the moment the flash of green light burst forth from his blade, the situation left Layfon speechless. He swung the blade with Meishen in his arm. Huge slabs of soil fell down above them. Even though the soil was soft, that size and mass was enough to kill anyone underneath it. Kei shot out from the tip of the blade to destroy the soil slabs. But that wasn't just it. Layfon detected the sound of soil striking metal. That must be it. That was the metal fence used to support and protect the city. Since it was falling for such a long time, it seemed even the ground of the organic field had collapsed. The falling soil blocked Layfon's sight and hid within it a large number of killing weapons.