Episode 33 — Force Encounter
～ Part 2 ～
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Sakuma smiled sweetly and stood up, heading for the exit of the dining room.
“Himemizu too, thank you. See you.”
“Yeah. Saa-chan, see you—.”
∗Bunbun∗, waving her hands, Rin saw off Sakuma. She seemed busy after all. Even so, she still managed to find some spare time to seriously discuss about Kyousuke in this way so Rin was very grateful.
“Goubayashi-kun, I wonder if we can find him…”
“Who knows…. But, even if it takes some time, we have to look for him.”
Rin got caught up in those words a little and looked up at Kyousuke.
Recently, she felt that she was getting very sensitive toward his speech and conduct somehow. Whether they were words coming from his true feelings, or words to match with someone else, she could no longer distinguish.
“Utsurogi-kun, don’t you have something you want to do?”
“Ahh, recently, when I heard Himemizu talked about desire, I also thought about it.”
Kyousuke took a seat next to Rin and said. He gave it some thought, and Rin felt a little happy.
“What I want to do the most right now is to meet Goubayashi and Kogane as soon as possible.”
“Just meeting? Supposing you will meet soon and talk to each other, but then you are told that they don’t want to go together anymore, what would you do?”
He recalled the persuasion of Hanazono and Kaminari the other day. It was certainly important to be considerate toward his friends, but there was also the case of selfishly pushing through if it was for their sake after all. Since Kyousuke had a tendency to easily give way to others even if he himself had something he wanted to do, he had been worrying about that.
Kyousuke scratched his head with his mouth open. He might be making a bitter smile.
“About that, I’m stumped.”
He answered so to Rin question.
“I think I’m quite lost. What should I do in that situation? Should I still bid farewell with a smile?”
“From me, I cannot say anything, but 『What should I do?』 and 『What’s the best thing to do?』 are not things that you yourself want to do.”
Here, if Rin was to say 『Be selfish Utsurogi-kun!』 , Kyousuke would do so. But that wasn’t because Kyousuke himself wanted to do so, but because Rin said she wanted him to. So then, Kyousuke didn’t change anything after all.
“In that case, I may persist a little after all.”
“What if other children oppose to taking Kogane-kun back?”
“Well…”
Kyousuke started brooding with his hand on his chin.
This is, just a little, isn’t it? Substance. Rin looked at Kyousuke who seemed to be seriously troubled and patted her chest a little (there wasn’t any even when she was a human). Kyousuke isn’t complete empty.
“Does Himemizu hate taking Kogane back?”
“Nn? Me? Sure. Well, although he does make me feel uncomfortable, I would say that it’s because I don’t know much about Kogane-kun.”
When they were humans, she did greet him a few times in the class and exchanged a few words. Their relationship was only to that extent.
So putting it in a good way, she didn’t hate him, and putting it in a bad way, she had no interest in him. What exactly is Kogane’s true character? She could only guess based on the fragmented information from Kyousuke and Akira after all.
“Ryuzaki has said it well though, if all members of the class could return together, then it’s better that way.”
“Well, you’re right about that.”
Rin found some vestiges of individuality inside Kyousuke so she became cheerful. Although it’s something originated from his naivety, if his feeling is strong enough to bend Kogane’s will and the others’ oppositions, then it was a big step forward. Something like this sprout of self-consciousness, I must take care of it seriously.
“Well, there are students who hate him. Like Itomi-chan and Saa-chan. Beside them, other girls also quite dislike Kogane-kun.”
“What about Himemizu?”
“I don’t hate him. Any human will give such thoughtless words sometime. But I wonder if he will apologize properly. Whether I can come to like him as a friend or not is a talk for later.”
While choosing her words carefully, Rin said so in order to not change Kyousuke’s intention in any way.
Kyousuke muttered 『As expected, it’s like that』.
“Eh?”
“I just thought that he must apologize as well. Kogane hasn’t apologize to anyone. I recall that when Washio and the others apologized to me the other day.”
“Ah yeah. But, Washio-kun and the others’ apology didn’t come from their hearts, did it?”
For the present, they apologized in order to settle their past wrongdoing and escape from the pangs of conscience.
But well, the apology Rin wanted from Kogane was also just that degree, she thought that nearly half of the words 『I’m sorry』 which was said in society was such a thing. Those were probably not 『I’m sorry』 that came out because they felt ashamed of themselves and regretted their own actions from the bottom of their heart.
“Akira also got angry afterward. If I forgive that kind of thing, they will get carry away.”
“But Utsurogi-kun forgave them.”
“Rather than forgive, it’s because I don’t really care about it…”
Even though his body was scattered, Rin thought. Since she didn’t quite understand how serious a wound that was to a skeleton’s body, she couldn’t tsukkomi.
If his 『I don’t really care』 meant 『Since there are a lot of things more fun than that, I can’t be bothered by every single little thing』, Rin would be relieved, but as far as she could see, that was unlikely to be the case.
“Now now, Utsurogi-kun.”
Rin shook off her thoughts, and decided to focus on one thing.
“Let’s just think about bringing back Goubayashi-kun and Kaoruko-chan as well as Kogane-kun. That’s what Utsurogi-kun wants, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. Although it maybe none of my business, but I want Kogane to apologize properly.”
Regardless of whether or not he could be forgiven or not, so said Kyousuke.
For now, Kyousuke had made a proper objective. The problem was that Akira and Sakuma would not receive this very pleasantly. Probably, the reason why Kyousuke hadn’t brought this thought up ever since Kogane was kidnapped, seemed to be out of consideration for those two.
Rin was the only one who could support this. She felt that she needed to be firm.
Just then, the ship broadcast system rang. At the same time, the «branch school» stopped and Rin’s body almost flew because of inertia.
『Ah, everyone, please gather on the deck for a moment』
Ryuzaki’s voice was heard from the speakers.
『We found something that seemed like a settlement which was destroyed long ago. I’d like to explore the surroundings of this place.』
When all the classmates had gathered on the deck, they certainly could confirmed some buildings halfway up the mountains. Although the «branch school» had been slowly advancing through the valley, when it came to going up the mountainside, it would be hindered by the densely grown conifers.Ryuzaki’s opinion was that he wanted to search around this area once, and it would also double as a survey of the surroundings.
According to the large amount of memo Selena left behind (she was still alive though), this area had wolf type monsters «Forest Wolf», mist type monsters «Misty Fogg» and fairy type monsters with the appearance of an old woman «Black Anise», or so it seemed. 『Seem』, because this area had remained unexplored for several hundreds years, so they had no choice but to analogize from considerably old data.
At any rate, the heavy cruiser branch school was anchored here, leaving a reasonable amount of people in the warship, including the liaison, several search teams were organized.
Starting from Akira who was staying in bed because of seasickness, the exploration teams were reorganized in order to prepare for the time when monsters attacked the heavy cruiser branch school. Hiding their identity during the time at the base, «Team · Useless», Kyousuke group also joined the exploration teams in earnest.
Meanwhile, students who had difficulties moving in the mountains such as were on standby at the branch school.
Also, because they were going to advance in the conifer forest with poor visibility, each team was assigned one student with flying ability in order to quickly check the surrounding situation.
“That means, Nekomiya Miya is the leader of team 4. You’re to follow behind everyone. Since you can use both attack and recovery magic, you’re basically a rearguard.”
When she got down from the gangway, the caith sith of the drama club especially gave a greeting while proudly tracing her whiskers.
Kyousuke and Rin were put in the same team as Nekomiya. The other members were the flight unit Washio and Kinogasa. There were a total of 5 people, but Kyousuke and Rin were being treated as one person. The reason being was that they participated in the combined state, so it actually became 4 people. Everyone could already grasp almost all of each other’s abilities, but just in case, they explained to each other again.
“I’m Washio the Gryphon. Let’s see, basically, I fight in close quarters combat using nails and beak. And then there’s also the technique to attack by hurling my feathers.”
“«Howling Feather» is it? You were practicing it with that name, weren’t you?”
“…Where did you hear that?”
His taste was quite similar to Akira. There was a surprising side to him as well.
“Matango, umm, is a mushroom monster. I’m Kinogasa. I’m also a CQC type. But my attack power isn’t that high. I mainly support by scattering spores.”
“When performing the spore attack, Washio should flap his wings and send them flying. Because it would be disastrous if we were to breath them in.”
Kyousuke and Rin also gave their greeting. They were a little embarrassed to explain themselves that 『We combine』 again, but since everyone already knew about it, they just spilled it without hesitation.
“For the time being, the two of you will be the corner of this party’s front line. Is that fine?”
“Ho—i.”
“Understood.”
Kinogasa carried the knapsack prepared for the search and then all of them decided to depart.
They heard that fog monsters appeared here, but this mountain range was already covered in fog to begin with. And with the existence of the densely grown conifer forest, the mountain slope where they were walking was indeed eerie. For the past few days, the weather also wasn’t very good because of the presence of the dark clouds covering the sky.
In addition, no human had set foot on this mountain for a long time, and there was hardly anything you could call roads. They could only barely go through the animal trail that they had no idea where it lead to. While Washio periodically flew up and checked their surroundings, they carefully headed to the site of the settlement.
“Say, in this case, it would have been much faster if we have the guys who can fly head there from the start…”
“There are no recovery personnel who can fly.”
“Hmm? Ryuzaki, Washio, Kagoi, Kaminari, Harui…. Oh, it’s true.”
Nekomiya refuted Kinogasa’s words, Kinogasa hit his palm in admiration. ∗Puff∗, and the spores scattered, Washio hurriedly blew them off.
“Thank you, Washio. I’m saved.”
“Nn, ah, ahh no…”
When Kyousuke expressed his gratitude while walking, Washio awkwardly averted his eyes.
“(Washio-kun still looks somewhat awkward)”
Rin told Kyousuke in a voice that only he could heard.
“(Even though we reconciled with much troubles)”
“(I guess his heart is filled with regret because of the halfhearted apology)”
They thought that they would encounter some kind of monster on the way, but no such things happened, and they easily reached the settlement ruins. There were lots of buildings made up of stone bricks lined up, but all of them were covered with moss, ivy, and their shape had been partially destroyed by the overgrown trees.
“What should we do for the survey?”
“Class rep probably wants to search for Goubayashi and Kaoruko. However, I don’t expect to find them in these parts. Even if we enter the site where people used to live, this is already a historic ruin.”
When he found some settlement ruins scattered here and there on the mountains, Ryuzaki seemed to have thought that Goubayashi group might have been drawn to those place. Other than that, there was naturally also the implications of finding any tools which seemed usable, or supplementing the edible protein source.
Still, as far as the original purpose was concerned, it seemed almost completely futile.
Nekomiya while stroking her whiskers, looked around the ruined site.
“For now, Washio flies up and sends a signal to the heavy cruiser branch school. Kinogasa watches out for Washio.”
“Yes.”
“Ou.”
“Utsurogi and Himemizu try to explore the site a little more. Of course, don’t stray too far from Washio group.”
“Understood.”
“Oui oui.”
As instructed by her, Washio spread his wings and slowly flew up toward the dark clouds. Nekomiya sent an eye signal to Kyousuke and Rin, then like that, they advanced deeper into the ruins. Looking at the scene where roads paved with bricks were crumbling, and many trees grew everywhere, they couldn’t help but feel the power of nature.
“Look like it’s going to rain…. I hope Kaminari is going to be okay.”
While looking at the sky, Nekomiya muttered a little.
“Ah~, Totoha-chan is no good with thunders.”
“If thunder started rumbling, I feel that she won’t be able to fly in the meanwhile. That girl…”
Certainly, it would be too lame for a flight unit who should be sending signals, to not be able to fly.
“If I’m not mistaken, Kaminari had been put to the defense of the branch school. There’s no oversight from Ryuzaki in that part.”
“Nn, is that so. As expected of class rep.”
They didn’t intend to go far from Washio and the others’ place. They planned to lightly look around the surroundings and return, but then Kyousuke group found a structure which was in an almost perfect condition, it wasn’t covered in ivies or pierced by trees.
Stained glass was embedded in a somewhat vertically long building. On the roof is a statue of a man wearing a robe.
It appeared to be a church. Naturally, there was no cross since it wasn’t Christianity.
In the village that was so messed up, only that church was intact.
“…You two, do you think that God exists?”
Nekomiya asked in a melodramatic tone.
Certainly, it was too good to be true for only the church to not receive any damage. However, since this world was a fantasy world, they felt that it wouldn’t be too surprising even if God’s divine protection did exist.
Nekomiya, Kyousuke as well as Rin. Without anyone suggesting it, they all naturally turned their steps toward the church. When they tried to put their hands on the gate, it didn’t seem rusty in particular and opened pretty easily.
“Oohh…”
Voice of admiration leaked out of Kyousuke’s mouth.
“This, by any chances, there could be people here.”
“I know. I wonder if a hermit or something lives here.”
Nekomiya also nodded, and the three people set foot in the church. And then, they stiffened.
Standing there were a man and a woman.The woman was wearing a plain dark blue habit covering her body’s lines which could be understood as sensual with a glance. A so-called nun. She’s a sister. This was still all right. They felt that she was a little too tidy to have been living in this place and her clothes were much too similar to the nuns’ of Kyousuke and the others’ world, but it was natural that there was a sister in the church.
The problem was the man.
“Huh?”
That guy who turned his eyes toward Kyousuke and the others with a somewhat wild smile plastered on his face, seemed to be a boy around the same age as them.
Before the boy dressed in an unexpected get-up, Kyousuke and the others completely stopped in their track. Looking at them, the boy in question said.
“What’s this, when I came looking for the reincarnated ogre…. Some unexpected bunch have stopped by.”
The clothes the man was wearing was a student uniform with stand-up collar. Furthermore, he was wearing an arm band which had words that was clearly Japanese.
“I’m Suou the Knight. This here is Akeno the Bishop. Welcome, Municipal Jindai High-school 2nd year class 4.”
Next Episode: Long Goodbye
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