BlazBlue – Phase 0

———Log 1

The collaborative research with him went favorably so far.

His knowledge and skills proved to be greatly useful to my personal research task. I"m looking forward to the development from here on after.

Relius Clover. He is truly a genius.

———Log 2

Today, an unusual visitor came. He was a suspicious man who had green hair and snake-like smile.

He seemed to be really interested in our research, to the point that he requested us to develop a particular prime field device.

It obviously should be refused, but Relius consented of his own accord. Relius had always been that kind of a guy. Always deciding something only by his own, disregarding everyone else"s.

Despite that, we never expected to be actually doing that mysterious man"s pipe dream.

However, according to that man"s words, we might have the chance to come in contact with the Original Unit. If that is what would be happening, then I would consider it as a sufficient payoff.

That man certainly had the knowledge in the areas we were lacking in. It didn"t take long for Relius to cooperate with him on a whim.

The suffocating stench of greenery could be smelled.

Then, dazzling light shone down on the opposite direction.

But he could only grasp that much. Everything else was vague. He felt like he was dreaming.

Where is this place? Who am I? What am I doing? Am I alive? Did I die? Do I even exist?

Not understanding anything, he felt like perhaps he was sitting on a gra.s.s.

"...kay?"

Suddenly, someone"s voice could be heard.

Was that person facing in this direction? The dazzling light from before started receding.

"A... you... kay?"

It was a female"s voice. The voice was pure and flowing clearly. His dazed mind was calming down because of that clear voice.

He was thinking for a reply, but his strength left his body. His voice wouldn"t come out.

He was at his limit. He could not remain conscious.

Suddenly, his body shook and felt like it was falling down. At the same time, the world around him became shrouded by darkness.

On the brink of losing consciousness, the female"s voice panicked, muttered something. Immediately, he could not hear anything anymore.

When his eye opened, he could see cracks on the wooden ceiling.

"...Where is this place?

A crude futon had been spread out to serve as a crude bed. Lying down on top of it was a figure of a white haired young man, frowning.

It was an unfamiliar scenery. His green eye was moving around to look at the surroundings. The bed was neatly tucked in. He seemed to be in a nearly collapsed simple cabin. There were very few household items; an almost broken chair and cracked tableware. The surrounding was just like that.

Just as expected, he did not recognize this place.

"What happened...?"

He could not think clearly as his head was still dazed. Just as he was about to get up, he heard a small sound from behind.

"Ah, you"re finally awake. I"m glad."

Simultaneously, a female"s voice could be heard. The young man turned around.

It was a girl with tied up gentle brown hair and a slender figure. She was getting inside the cabin.

The girl looked at the young man and made a delightful expression as she rushed to his side. She casually took the young man"s left hand and put her fingers on his wrist as she easily took his pulse.

"Does it hurt somewhere? Do you feel anything bad?"

"Not really. ...By the way, who the heck are you? How come I"m lying here?"

Not understanding the situation at all, the young man stared at the girl. She seemed to be in her teens. Her white skin was without any suntan and she had a refined look.

It was very unlikely for her to live in such worn-out cabin like this.

"That"s right. I"ve yet to introduce myself. I"m Celica A. Mercury."

The girl named Celica carelessly replied while displaying a friendly smile.

This ruined cabin became even more unsuitable for her.

"Onii-san"s name is?"

"Oh yeah, my name is..."

It was such an easy question and he was about to answer it, but the young man was at loss for words.

Name. His own name. Somehow, it wasn"t coming out.

It"s not like he never had one. It"s just that his head was in such a mess. When he tried to recall it, he felt like there was something like white haze trying to swallow his consciousness.

"...It"s Ragna."

Strongly pressing his scowling head to his left hand, the white haired young man called Ragna was able to get his name from within his confused mind.

It didn"t feel wrong when he spoke of it. Surely this meant that it was indeed his name.

"Ragna-san, then. I under..."

"Wait, wait. Just Ragna is fine. If you put "san" to it, it just doesn"t feel right."

"Fufu, okay. Nice to meet you, Ragna."

Seeing Ragna roughly messing with his unkempt hair, Celica let out an amused laugh.

Ragna then made an awkward look on his face. After that, he once again looked around between Celica and the cabin.

Since his body felt so heavy, moving became really troublesome.

"Hey, Celica. I totally don"t have any idea how I got into this situation. Only thing I get is that I somehow slept in this beat-down house. Tell me the details of what happened."

"Ah, that"s true. Well then, let me keep it short."

Celica frankly nodded and then moved to sit on the edge of Ragna"s bed to face him. Her large, doll-like eyes looked straight at Ragna without hesitating.

"Ragna, you had collapsed at the entrance of the forest located behind this village... or perhaps I should say you lied down. You had injuries all over your body, and your unstable consciousness was also very faint, so I borrowed this cabin"s bed for you to rest in."

"Did you carry me all the way here?"

"That"s impossible! Ragna, you had almost no consciousness left, but you managed to walk here on your own. Of course, I lent you my shoulders to support you, too."

While saying “you were really heavy!” and laughing, Celica turned her tiny shoulders around and around.

She was a girl with a cheerful smile. A strange laughter which wouldn"t make anyone upset. Instead of just a plain laughter, it gave off such gentle warmth, just like being in the middle of a place where the sun was shining down softly.

(...This kind of smile... I"ve seen it somewhere before.)

Still feeling the thick haziness within his mind, Ragna"s faint memories were a.s.serting themselves like they were being stirred. But whose smile was that? Where did he see it? Whether those were truly his memories or not... he had no confidence in them.

"Then I treated Ragna"s injuries. After that, I cleaned your dirty face and clothes, too. Just as I got back from washing the towel, you awakened."

"You keep saying I had wounds. Why can"t I see any here?"

Ragna then looked down upon his own body.

Black clothes and a long red jacket. The holes on them were patched and remains of dirt could still be seen. However, there was no trace of any scar left by the treatment.

Celica seemed to be a little troubled as her eyebrows furrowed, and she started to scratch a cheek with her fingertip.

"Ah, about that. How should I put it...?"

"Just tell me already."

"...The thing is, I healed Ragna"s wounds by using magic... I would say, but would you believe me?"

Her huge eyes stared at Ragna intensely as if examining him. A slight bit of uneasiness had spread on her smiling face.

Realizing it, Ragna wondered slightly.

"Oh. So you"re a magician. And a healing magic user on top of it. First time I actually saw one."

"Eh?"

This time, it was Celica"s turn to wonder around. Blinking with surprise, she slightly leaned her small body forward.

"That talk about magic, do you really believe me?"

"Huh? Even if I don"t wanna believe it, it"s not like it"s a weird thing to be actually true."

Magic was a special kind of skill that had existed a long time ago. To able to handle it was largely determined by the qualities of a person. Because of it, there weren"t many of its users, but the existence and term of magic was supposedly known by most people.

At the very least, it was common sense according to what Ragna remembered.

(Hm? But where have I seen magic used before?)

He was sure that he had seen someone use it before, but yet again it was buried by the white haze within his mind as he tried to remember.

In front of him, Celica looked dumbfounded as she fixed her gaze at Ragna.

"Ragna... You"re surely a weird person."

"The h.e.l.l was that?"

"After all, any ordinary person would say that magic is very unscientific and then simply dismiss its existence."

Ragna tilted his head, as if puzzled. If he was not to believe any of her words, it would be that one. But Celica explained it in a serious manner of speaking. It was unlikely for her to be joking.

It was a weird feeling. It was as if the world had suddenly changed after he awakened from sleep.

While Ragna was still confused, Celica had already come to her own conclusion. It was shown by the same attractive cheerful face from the beginning that had blossomed. She then raised her lean figure back up.

"But I"m glad. Now I don"t have to explain about magic and all of its details anymore."

"Seems so."

Ragna let out a bitter smile. His expression changed bit by bit.

"Ah... but still."

Suddenly, a sad look appeared within Celica"s eyes. Her small hands slowly and gently touched Ragna"s right arm.

"No matter what, I can"t heal your right arm and right eye back to normal..."

"Seems like it."

Snapped out, Ragna had noticed something ever since Celica entered the room.

Thanks to Celica"s healing magic, there wasn"t any single scratch left on his body.

However, his right arm and right eye were not the same case. They were in their usual shape, but it felt like there wasn"t any existence in them, and neither could they be moved.

He could only twitch the arm"s fingertips. The eye had lost its ability to perceive light.

"I don"t mean to pry, but what exactly happened?"

Slightly leaning her head, Celica glanced at Ragna while he felt his right arm.

Ragna started to remove the glove which covered his right hand. The hand that appeared looked similar to a solidified shadow. It was dyed pitch black, and there were claws on the end of it.

Stroking it, he knew that it was human skin, but there wasn"t any sensation whatsoever when it was touched.

It was as if a totally different person"s arm had been attached to him.

"...I can"t remember why."

"You mean the reason why your arm is like that?"

"Nope. Not just that."

Ragna sighed. It was about time he finally admitted it no matter what. He was well aware that his arm and eye were not like the others.

"How did I get here? Where did I come from? To begin with, what kind of person I am...?"

As he talked, his voice seemed to be more distant. He had a bad feeling about his questions.

"Except my name, I can"t remember anything else."

A brief pause. It seemed Celica had finally understood what Ragna was trying to convey. Her eyes slowly but surely widened an impressive extent in response.

Memory loss. It sure was easy to speak of, but it"s not as if Ragna forgot everything.

For example, the world had air, water, and soil. This kind of knowledge was implanted within his brain. He had already understood any common sense that didn"t require any thinking process.

The memories he had lost were mainly anything that concerned his own background. He barely remembered his name, but he forgot who had given him that name. Did he have parents? How about siblings? Where was he born? Where had he been raised? What were his friends" names?

He knew this information existed within his brain, but he couldn"t find them. Consequently, he couldn"t guess the reason why he collapsed near a deserted village.

"...Hey, hear me for a bit, will ya?"

The sun had steadily leaned westward. It was already noon. Ragna and Celica were walking through the rough path of a mountain which seemed to be unexploited by human hands.

Celica turned out to not have any relation with the abandoned village. She was there by chance when she was en route to her destination. Discovering Ragna was a coincidence.

Her destination was a port city not too far from here. Unlike the abandoned village within the mountain, the port city had many people living there. Ships and buses always traveled around to various places. It seemed she was about to board a ship there to continue her journey to search for her father.

It was possible to obtain information regarding memory loss there. In any case, it was better than just staying at that abandoned village. For that very reason, Ragna decided to accompany Celica.

Along the way, Ragna took a step ahead and spoke with a heavy tone while looking at Celica.

"This might be my imagination, okay?"

"Mm, what is it?"

Celica answered while looking straight ahead. Her tied-up long hair swayed around while she walked.

Although he was distracted by it, Ragna talked with a grimaced look.

"...Aren"t we back on the same road?"

The port city was on the bottom of the mountain. But the road they were taking continued to be steadily ascending. The inclination felt just the same as when they were getting out from the abandoned village. Celica turned to Ragna and smiled.

"It"s just your feeling. That can"t happen. You worry too much, Ragna."

"Yeah, if only that was the case. Then am I seeing that wrong?"

As he said that, Ragna pointed at the object he was looking at.

The thin path hadn"t been explored by many people. To even see traces on the road might have been a stroke of luck.

On the sloppy road from before, bit by bit, houses could be seen lining up.

Residences.

But there wasn"t any sight of people.

Of course, it"s because that was the abandoned village.

"...Eh?"

Her eyes followed Ragna"s finger. There was a brief pause. With an innocent voice, Celica leaned her head, looking puzzled.

"Don"t gimme that "eh"! Are you an idiot!? We actually circled back here!"

"No way... This is strange. It was a straight road."

"The heck does it lead?! You"re the one br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence when you said we should cut through the forest!"

"Oh dear, was that right?"

"Yes, it was! Wait, don"t you have any idea that we"re currently lost!?"

Celica frequently ensured Ragna when she unhesitatingly went on trackless paths. Her confidence on moving forward never wavered even once. That"s why Ragna kept burying his emerging uneasiness deep within. Until now.

"But if we"re to climb down the mountain, shouldn"t we just keep going downward?"

If that was the case, how did they go back there again?

Ragna wondered while holding his head by his still functional left hand.

"You have a map?"

"I got one."

Celica grabbed a map from her dangled bag and spread it. It was a world map.

"Let"s see. If we"re heading to the town, then I think we"re probably here."

Her white finger pointed at an area near a town around seash.o.r.e. The actual distance, however, was quite hard to imagine.

Even then, she said things like "I think" and "probably" when pointing at the world map. It pretty much made her credibility nonexistent.

Ragna had finally understood. He always had been suspicious of her.

Why would a person go through a deserted village located in a mountain? How he collapsed in that place was one thing, but why would a girl like Celica end up in that place, too?

The questions weren"t that important anymore. He felt it as if it was natural.

"Celica."

Ragna put his hand on her shoulder.

"You don"t have any sense of direction at all, do you?"

"Eh? That can"t be true."

"It"s TRUE!"

Hearing the girl"s confused reply, Ragna instinctively raised his voice.

"I"m not gonna say anything bad, but you have to realize it yourself. It"s because of this disaster that we"re so slow. From now own, when you"re wandering alone, we got to have a counter measure..."

Raising the corner of his eye, Ragna began to preach at Celica. Suddenly, Ragna stopped mid-sentence. He sensed ominous presences.

Influenced by his hunch, Ragna grabbed a large sword which had been hung on his waist.

It was a peculiar sword with a broad blade. Ragna couldn"t recall how he obtained it.

"Eh? W-What"s wrong?"

"Just get behind me for now."

Guarding the confused Celica behind his back, Ragna directed the bulky tip of his sword toward their surroundings.

As if awaiting them, black silhouettes jumped out from within the surrounding forest near the abandoned village.

"What the heck are these things...?"

Ragna was bewildered by the figures.

What had jumped out were four-legged beasts. Their heads were at Ragna"s knee level. There were six of them, their fangs resembling that of dog. However, it was unusual for wild dogs to group up like this.

They discharged muddy drool which resembled pus as they slowly closed the distance. Rather than dog, their obviously grotesque appearances were more similar to h.e.l.lhounds straight from a nightmare.

Their needle-like fur seemed as if it was stained by black soot.

"This is caused by the Black Beast."

Celica said that while frowning behind the cover of Ragna"s back.

"Black Beast?"

"A monster resembling a ma.s.sive amount of shadow. Six years ago, it appeared all of a sudden in j.a.pan and destroyed everything indiscriminately. Any wildlife that has received its influence will immediately become ferocious and attack humans."

"Impossible...!"

As he was replying, Ragna got interrupted and couldn"t finish his sentence. The six beasts, which had been lowering their stance, simultaneously leaped at them.

"s.h.i.t! You"re annoying!"

Protecting Celica, Ragna drew a half-circle with his sword to shake off the beasts.

Although the head couldn"t remember how to handle the sword, the body clearly did. His body was moving faster than his thinking process.

The dull sensation meant he had sliced one of beast"s abdomen. But the slashing speed mismatched what he had remembered.

His arm felt heavy. He had fortunately grown accustomed to handling the sword by only his left arm, but the fact that he couldn"t move anything above his right elbow was extremely inconvenient. His body balance felt amiss.

Moreover, because he couldn"t see anything on his right side anymore, it was hindering his movement.

Ragna roughly kicked the body of a wild dog that had been aiming for his feet.

As if its throat was torn, it let out an eerie shriek. Along with it, black powder and saliva scattered around.

"Scram!!"

The poor balance of his body made any lightweight technique insufficient. With all his might, he swung his sword in succession to repel attacks using the front frames, and then used the back of his sword to smash the skull of the beast that had leaped.

The bone hadn"t even been crushed, but the beast fainted and collapsed to the ground. Four left.

Ragna took the chance to thrust the tip of his sword when the beasts were howling to each other, using its bulky side to hit one of them on the nose.

Instead of feeding it meat, Ragna gagged another beast with the sword"s blade. He proceeded to bash the beast as if he was swinging a hammer.

Another one had leaped, but Ragna used the momentum to slam it down using his feet before doing a straight slash intended to kill it. The last beast had jumped with its fangs bared. He avoided it and used his body weight to strike the beast"s spine.

"Guh, haah... hah..."

Before long, the six beastly figures had laid weak on the dry ground.

Still, Ragna"s breathing had become disordered. Faint tongue clicking could be heard as he looked at his right arm. If the arm could at least move, he would be more at ease when fighting. Since his arm was completely restrained, he had to be exceptionally careful.

"Those things...caused by the Black Beast?"

Ragna pierced the ground with the ma.s.sive sword. As he leaned his unbalanced body to the sword, Ragna groaned. The right half of his body became excessively heavy.

"And it appeared six years ago? Don"t give me that joke."

"What do you mean?"

From behind Ragna, who had stabilized his breathing, Celica slowly appeared while frowning and looking puzzled.

Ragna roughly pondered in his mind. As if something big had clung on, his mind gave off a bad feeling.

"What, did I say something weird? The Black Beast"s appearance is a hundred year old fairy tale, right? And what"s with j.a.pan? Wasn"t j.a.pan the utterly destroyed country from a long time ago?"

"What do you mean by long time ago? Sure, j.a.pan had ceased to be a country, but both the Black Beast"s attack and nuclear strike happened six years ago, you know?"

"That can"t be..."

Ragna"s words stopped midway.

Celica was looking at him with a confused look. She didn"t seem to be kidding. Rather, surely this girl wouldn"t pull a stunt to tell lies and deceive him, right?

Despite that, Ragna"s faint memories kept shouting in denial, as if clawing around his mind. He couldn"t comprehend what she had said as truth or not.

"Hey! The h.e.l.l do you think you"re doing?!"

"Eh?"

Cutting off his thought, Ragna raised his voice at Celica. She once again looked puzzled as she turned to face him.

Before Ragna noticed it, Celica had approached one of the defeated wild dogs and knelt beside it.

"Get away! Those things are still..."

"It"s okay."

I still haven"t finished them off yet. That was what Ragna was about to say before Celica replied softly.

Celica held her white hands over the defeated and helpless wild dog. The hands were slightly enveloped with a warm-looking light. She gently brushed the dog"s fur and the black soot filth was dissolved.

What had happened was obvious. His first time seeing it. Healing magic.

He was about to stop her, but after seeing Celica"s expression when she watched the dog, Ragna froze. It was a very affectionate face. It was breathtaking.

"...It"s all right now. Please return to your home."

That whisper felt nostalgic. Ragna suddenly got minor dizziness as he thought that.

The wild dog got up, letting out a pitiful whimper.

Reflexively, Ragna put himself on guard, but the awakened wild dog had lost the ferociousness from before.

Instead, it looked startled and ran to the forest after seeing its collapsed comrades.

One by one, Celica cured the other wild dogs. While she was doing so, Ragna watched her, antic.i.p.ating for any attack the whole time.

Soon, the defeated wild dogs had all gone to the forest. Celica stood up and brushed off the dirt on her knees. Ragna then let out a big sigh of amazement.

"Hey, you. That stunt you did just now, do you always do that?"

There was no more danger lingering about. Ragna put the sword back to his waist and scratched his head.

Celica crossed her arms behind like a kid and let out a wry smile.

"It"s not good?"

"It"s obviously not, you idiot! What are you gonna do if they attack again? Don"t do things without knowing the consequences!"

"But I can"t just leave them."

Looking straight at the lecturing Ragna, Celica showed no sign of regret. She answered clearly with no hesitation.

Since he actually said a sound argument, Ragna seemed to be astonished upon hearing her reply.

"What are you babbling about? Being kind is one thing, but you can"t go being soft-hearted to everything."

"Aha... thanks. I already heard that from various people. But I can"t do it. Once I see them like that, I can"t just avert my eyes from them."

Celica looked up at Ragna, smiling and narrowing her eyes as if crying.

"I knew that I was being naïve. However, I often see something hurt before my eyes and I have the power to heal them. If I don"t use it, they may die. If I use it, they can live for at least a little more."

"You"re hopeless."

As if cut by Celica"s words, Ragna shook his head while looking dumbfounded.

Celica bashfully tilted her head.

"Besides, Ragna would save me if I were attacked, right?"

"Idiot."

"Eh? What"s with that?! Why did you call me idiot? Speaking of, you"ve called me idiot before, too!"

"Finally realized it, huh? You"re a hopeless idiot."

While saying that, Ragna was actually surprised. What Celica said probably was true to him.

Even when he didn"t know who and where he came from, perhaps as Celica had said he would save her if she were in danger.

If he saw someone being attacked, he would draw his sword to help. At that time, thinking about what to do first would be a meaningless argument. That was probably what Celica wanted to say. However, Ragna couldn"t bring himself to say he understood her. After all, what she did was truly careless.

Since he couldn"t remove his discomfort, Ragna tried to hide it by s.n.a.t.c.hing the map from Celica.

"Ah. My map!"

"Lend me it. It"s useless in your possession."

Though, anyone wouldn"t be able to make any sense from the sketchy map by seeing it.

"But Ragna, you"ve lost your memories, right? Moreover, I think it"s better if I hold on to it."

"Nope. I"ll trust you only when you lose your memory."

"I see, that might work! Maybe that way I can stop getting lost!"

"So we really ARE lost!"

"Ah. Oops."

Whoosh. Celica clamped her hands over her mouth.

An emotion that was neither irritation nor shock appeared. Unsatisfied, Ragna walked to her with a trembling functional left hand, wondering if he should hit her.

Just after he took a step, a gust of wind suddenly slashed across and thrust itself between them.

"Wha...!?"

"Hyah!?"

Ragna jumped back and Celica ducked.

This time, a short figure wearing a low hood stood up. Within the shade of the hood, a pair of sharp eyes peeked out and shone, focusing on Ragna.

The abnormally large hand discharged a single swing of sword. The gleaming drawn sword pointed at Ragna, deciding him as its target.

"Who the h.e.l.l are you, a.s.shole?!"

Ragna yelled at the unexpected intruder.

He was shorter than Ragna, shorter than even Celica. Even with the tiny figure, his lowered stance surprisingly lacked any opening.

"Only a traveler pa.s.sin" by."

The small intruder replied using a male voice which clearly didn"t fit with his appearance at all. Though the voice intonation sounded young, his composed way of speaking and the unwavering point of his sword suggested his capability.

Ragna grabbed the handle of the sword that he had returned to his waist not too long ago. His heart beat faster.

"I ain"t the type to meddle in someone"s problem. But I can"t just shut my mouth an" walk away when I see a frail woman got attacked by a b.a.s.t.a.r.d deep in the mountain."

"Huh? Wait a sec. I"m not attacking anyone..."

Just as Ragna was about to explain himself, the hooded man made his move.

It was similar to a squall.

Ragna barely caught his breath as he reflexively drew his sword. Immediately, swords clashed in front of his eyes, scattering red sparks.

"It"s shameful to make cheap excuses. Ye written yer sins, scoundrel!?"

Before Ragna"s eye, the fearless hooded man grinned.

Ragna"s eye widened in surprise at the hooded man"s true appearance.

"Beastkin!?"

The face of the man, who intended to slice Ragna, wasn"t that of a human.

The hidden face was that of a beast, complete with white and dark brown fur. The protruding nose tip got a darker tawny brown fur.

His symmetrical eyes were large and their pupils stretched vertically. His sneering lips were slim, and within the gap, short but sharp fangs peeked.

On closer look, there were a set of triangular ears on the hood. If his back was to be observed, you could find the sword"s scabbard attached and two split long tails swaying around.

The cat-faced man revealed his amused laughter

"Know about beastkin, eh? What an interestin" chap."

"Kuh...!"

The beastkin unleashed his swordplay one after another. Ragna had to use all his strength to handle it.

His clothes got torn, and along with it pain ran across Ragna"s shoulder.

Barely able to block the huge swing from the sword, Ragna"s left hand trembled because of the big impact.

The impact also made his mind shake.

Dizziness appeared. Deep within his mind, fragments of memories seemed to be saying something.

(I... Do I know this guy?)

He heard this voice somewhere. He recognized the face and the eyes.

"You... Are you Jubei?"

The white haze that had always locked up his memories started to crack. He could feel pieces of it crumbling. Things he had forgotten slowly flooded his mind.

Jubei. A cat-type beastkin that once had taught Ragna how to wield a blade.

Two-toned dark brown and white fur, tan pupils, and two parts of a branching tail. The voice also matched. Ragna, who had a sword pointed at him, thought that the beastkin had too many resemblances to his master.

But there was one thing definitely wrong. His master had an eye patch covering his right eye, while the beastkin before him didn"t.

(Is he the wrong guy...?)

While Ragna was lost in his thought, the beastkin moved.

Using the blade"s intersection point as the center of gravity, he twisted his small body like a spring and landed a kick on Ragna"s abdomen. Against the unusual attack, Ragna was blown off backward and groaned.

"Jubei? Who"s that fella?"

While he was preparing the sword again, the beastkin"s cat-face twisted into a dubious look as he asked.

Ragna swallowed his vomit back and coughed as he rose. He held his slightly disordered head and shook it lightly.

"Tch... You can"t possibly know nothing about him. He"s one of the Six Heroes who beat the Black Beast a hundred years ago."

That"s right. The Six Heroes.

One hundred years ago, a group of six people who happened to be heroes had defeated the Black Beast. For the Black Beast to exist despite that was ridiculous.

However, Ragna could see the beastkin"s facial expression grow even more warped as his dubiousness increased.

"Beat... the Black Beast? Hey, if yer tryin" to be funny, I"m not laughin", y"know."

"I"m not joking. Seriously, you really don"t know Jubei!?"

Losing his patience, Ragna raised his voice. He couldn"t believe there was a person who didn"t know Jubei"s name—even more when it came from a cat-type beastkin.

But the young cat man who resembled his master just stared at him suspiciously while shaking his head.

"Dunno. Also, the name"s Mitsuyoshi. Ye speak like me, but I never met whatever guy yer spoutin" as someone who beat the Black Beast!"

The man who called himself Mitsuyoshi became more cautious and abruptly narrowed his cat eyes. He was preparing his sharp claws and sword.

"Tryin" to confuse me and escape will get ye nowhere! Prepare yerself, scoundrel!"

With an unworldly physical strength, he kicked the ground with the small feet. Instantly, he leaped straight to Ragna.

Too fast. The approaching wind pressure made such a burden to Ragna"s head, caused him grogginess. He couldn"t move at all.

A moment after, he caught a short breath...

"Stooooooooooop!"

The moment the girl"s scream was heard, Mitsuyoshi"s sword stopped.

Between Ragna and Mitsuyoshi, there was a slight gap where a person might be able to slip into. Celica had leaped into the gap.

The silver blade tip had been aimed at Ragna"s chest. It was now pointed to Celica"s forehead.

Celica slightly opened her eyes. She had spread both of her arms as if to protect Ragna.

Ragna and Mitsuyoshi"s eyes opened wide in surprise. Several seconds later, the stiff tension slowly began to dissipate. Feeling the same sense of relief, both Ragna and Mitsuyoshi instinctively dropped their respective weapons.

In the deserted village within the mountain from before, there was an overgrown weed field. Ragna had been sitting on it, while receiving treatment for his slashed shoulder.

Celica"s hands were shining, warm but faint. Her fingertips traced the sliced skin"s surface to heal the wound. The warm light gave such a strange feeling that couldn"t be put into words.

"Hahaha. So that"s what happened. In short, ye collapsed and got memory loss, huh?! Ye should"ve told me sooner."

Mitsuyoshi had received the explanation from Celica. He slapped his furry knee with his bulky paws, and burst into laughter happily.

Hearing that, Ragna scowled and glared at him.

"The one who actually didn"t listen to my side of story and proceeded to cut me is you."

"Is that right? Well, I thought a pretty girl got attacked by a mountain bandit. It ain"t possible to think otherwise, y"know? Why woulda pretty young lady be goin" inside a deserted mountain? Why, she got kidnapped by a bandit, that"s why."

"...Yet she didn"t."

Resting his chin on the knees, Ragna glanced at Celica.

"Ah, ahahaha... I-I guess I was kind of lost..."

Laughing awkwardly, Celica put Ragna"s cured shoulder back in his red jacket.

Mitsuyoshi continued to laugh merrily.

"A collapsed person an" a lost child, eh. I met many kinds of people on my long trip, but this is the first time I met such an amusin" combination."

"And that"s where a misunderstanding beastkin freak comes in."

"Don"t say such a bad thing. It"s not very polite. Don"t be fussin" over minor details."

Jubei kept laughing hard and Ragna watched him with a sullen face.

Mitsuyoshi said he had no relation to Jubei. It"s true that he didn"t wear an eyepatch, but Ragna also felt that Mitsuyoshi gave a different impression than the Jubei he remembered.

Ragna knew that Mitsuyoshi was a different person, although the beastkin bore many resemblances to his master. He didn"t find the situation to be amusing or appreciated, however.

"Still, why would you come here, Mitsuyoshi-san? Though... this might sound weird coming from me, but this place is in the middle of a mountain and not many people pa.s.s through here."

Celica let out a strained smile while she asked the question. She at least understood the "not many people pa.s.s through" part. Regarding that one point only, Ragna and Mitsuyoshi had a slightly better opinion of Celica.

"I... went to j.a.pan searchin" fer somebody. I heard there"s a boat leavin" fer j.a.pan at the port city at the bottom of this mountain. Pa.s.sin" through here seemed to be the fastest way. In other words, a shortcut."

"Ah, shortcut! Then, I was also taking the shortcut..."

"That"s not true."

"...Okay."

At Ragna"s interruption, Celica"s shoulders dropped. She seemed to be finally aware of her poor sense of direction.

Celica then let out a "hm?" voice as if noticing something. The tied long hair sprung up as she raised her head.

"j.a.pan? Mitsuyoshi-san is also going to j.a.pan?"

"Also? Ye mean y"all goin" there?"

"Yup, that"s right! I"m also searching for someone. Guess we"re the same, then."

With a friendly smile, Celica stared at Mitsuyoshi with her innocent eyes.

Mitsuyoshi looked astonished. His large triangular ears flapped about.

"That face... Is that the face of someone who wants to tag along to j.a.pan?"

"Look, aren"t we fellow travelers? Also, we have to bring Ragna to the town. It"ll be more rea.s.suring if we can go along with Mitsuyoshi-san, right?"

"You"re smarter than you look, ma"am..."

Celica stared at Mitsuyoshi with begging eyes. Ragna looked at them both and raised his eyebrows as a silent reply to Mitsuyoshi.

"...Guess it can"t be helped. If I were to leave ye two here, it"d be like leavin" ye to rot. I won"t have a nice sleep."

"That"s great~. Thank you, Mitsuyoshi-san."

"Seriously, thank you. I don"t have any confidence getting down the mountain with her. I mean, I"m sure it"d be a disaster."

Standing beside Celica, Ragna bowed deeply. He was truly showing his grat.i.tude.

Mitsuyoshi"s cat face made a wry smile.

"Don’t ye worry about it. After all, I"m not some heartless demon."

And then suddenly his tails straightened out as if remembering something.

"Oh yeah, Celica. If you"re goin" to j.a.pan, then ye must"ve a connection to it, right? Ye mind if I ask ye a few questions?"

"It"s about the person Mitsuyoshi-san"s looking for, isn"t it? If I can help you, sure."

"Well, this is unlikely, but I"m just makin" sure. Have ye ever heard of a scientist named Shuuichirou Ayatsuki?"

Not really expecting anything, Mitsuyoshi asked in a light tone. But suddenly, his nose started twitching after Celica changed her expression.

Ragna once again turned to the girl beside him and frowned.

Celica had a shocked look, as if her soul had left her. Her face was reflected on the cat man"s big tawny eyes.

She was speechless for such a long time. Soon, she answered faintly.

"He"s... my father."

Just after the silence, Celica, with rising vigor, leaned forward. Crawling over the weeds, she went closer to Mitsuyoshi.

"W-Why are you searching for my father!? Are you related to his research? In that case, perhaps you know his whereabouts?"

"Hey, Celica. Calm down a bit."

Ragna reached out his arm to calm Celica, whose gaze was piercing Mitsuyoshi. Celica brushed it off, however, and leaned her body even further.

"I, too, am searching for Shuuichirou Ayatsuki. Six years ago, before the attack of the Black Beast and the following nuclear strike, he was supposed to be in j.a.pan. But after all that, I haven"t been able to get in touch with him. At last, there have recently been ships heading for j.a.pan. Because of that...!"

No matter how much time pa.s.sed, she couldn"t confirm her father"s welfare. Believing that no one had been searching for him, she left her home without grabbing the right map.

Celica had been overcome by her emotions. She grabbed Mitsuyoshi"s soft paws tightly with both of her hands.

"Please. If you know something about my father, please tell me."

Mitsuyoshi looked troubled. He had something disheartening to say, judging by his expression.

The cat man"s unwillingness to answer made Celica"s anxiety grow stronger. His mouth looked like something big was about to burst from within. Before long, he heavily opened it.

"I"m sorry... There ain"t any specific place reported that I know of. Also, I ain"t one of yer old man"s research buddies, companions, or pals. This is just a mission."

"Mission?"

The one who cut the conversation with a question was Ragna. Mitsuyoshi furrowed his eyebrows and pulled his chin backward.

"That"s right... It"s to find Shuuichirou Ayatsuki, the scientist who put mankind to unimaginable crisis, an" bring "im back to the client. That"s my mission."

Celica gathered the new information to her mind. She couldn"t believe it. Her pupils flickered, face paling. Her father had been said to be someone related to the crisis concerning mankind.

"It has to be a mistake, isn"t it? Father would never do any dangerous research."

"It"s from the information. I don"t know the details of the research, but Shuuichiruo Ayatsuki"s experiments made that thing appeared."

"That thing...?"

Even if she didn"t ask him, Celica could guess what Mitsuyoshi was about to say.

"The Black Beast."

Celica gasped. Ragna"s eye went wide.

By pressing the lips with her fingers, she covered her mouth. Celica weakly shook her head.

"...It"s a lie, isn"t it?"

Mitsuyoshi kept silent, but his seriousness could be seen from his eyes that contained no falsehood. It alone was enough as an answer. Celica"s fingertips slightly trembled.

"But that—such a thing couldn"t possibly be born from his personal research...!"

"I got a doubt as well. I didn"t think Shuuichirou Ayatsuki"s intention was to create the Black Beast. But it"s a safe bet to think that he must have done somethin" in his research to awaken that monster. For the sake of determinin" the cause, I have to search "im no matter what."

The Black Beast.

It manifested all of a sudden. The monster crushed the place it was born. It vanished after its fangs annihilated everything. Then, it abruptly appeared again somewhere.

It could not be constrained within every man-defined system and theory. If any, it was as if the very concepts of system and theory were something to be destroyed. It was truly a being that was all about destruction.

Even Ragna knew and remembered what kind of monster the Black Beast was. It was outrageous to think that it was unleashed by the hands of Celica"s father.

"I can"t believe it. Father would never..."

Tears welling up, Celica embraced her trembling fingertips to her chest. Her previous vigor when leaning her body forward seemed to be gone as she weakly sat down on the weeds.

Witnessing that, Mitsuyoshi dropped his shoulders and sighed while slowly standing up.

"...We"re lookin" fer the same person, but maybe we can"t work together after all. I"ll escort ye two until the port city. After that, we"re splittin" up."

Mitsuyoshi was being considerate, but Celica shook her head as if clearing it from something, and made her bundled up hair swing around.

"No... No, you can"t do that! I will go along with Mitsuyoshi-san!"

"Hey, hey, young lady. Don"t you understand? I"m on the opposin" side of yer old man, y"know?"

"I know. That"s why I"m doing this. I want to know what Father has truly done. If Father was actually innocent, I"ll protect him from Mitsuyoshi-san."

Before her face had been on the verge of crying, and yet Celica raised her chin and looked straight to Mitsuyoshi.

Mitsuyoshi pulled himself back, twitching where a part of a human"s forehead would be.

"Now, look here... It"s certain that Shuuichirou Ayatsuki has somethin" to do with Black Beast. I got no doubt about it. Besides, do ye think I would"ve just kindly guided the way for someone who just up and declared to interfere with my mission?"

"But I won"t know the truth if Father has really done bad things if I don"t make sure of it. He may have just got caught in all of it!"

"I don"t have the time to play detective with ya. Doin" it will be nothin" but trouble."

"Please, I won"t disturb your investigation! Besides, I can discern Father"s belongings. I also remember his handwritings and writing habits. I"ll be useful, so...!"

Squeezing both hands tightly, Celica kept being persistent.

Mitsuyoshi scratched his throat using his big hand. He was bewildered. He had plenty of reasons to refuse her, but Celica"s enthusiasm really portrayed her seriousness. To just flat out reject her would be a bit awkward.

Seeing all of that, Ragna, who was observing the development from the beginning, sighed and interrupted.

"Isn"t it fine? Just bring her along."

"Ragna!"

"C"mon. Not ya too...!"

Poof, Celica"s face lightened up in contrast to Mitsuyoshi"s darkening one.

The girl and the cat beastkin. Their confrontation made Ragna sneer. The spectacle looked more like something out of a fairy tale rather than a delicate issue.

"It"s not a ha.s.sle if you can just dump her somewhere whevener she becomes a nuisance, right? Besides, Celica is a healing magic user. You can"t deny her of being a useful companion... when you"re not trusting her with maps, that is."

"I"ll just keep it short. First, it"s dangerous!"

"More reason to bring her."

Ragna had been sitting on the weed with his legs crossed. He gazed at the troubled Mitsuyoshi and expectant Celica one by one.

"If you want someone to look over her, I guess I can tag along, too. If anything happens, I"ll grab her and run."

In any case, he didn"t have anything to be done soon. Even then his goal was much further away than their current destination.

"Thank you, Ragna!"

"Uwah!"

As Ragna was shrugging and saying those words, Celica, excessively joyful, jumped at him. On the opposite, Mitsuyoshi, full of resignation, was holding his forehead.

"Oh man. I picked up some unexpected burdens..."

Getting caught between two people with contrastive reactions, Ragna once again departed from the deserted village within the mountain.

And after a few hours, the sun had descended as it was the time for the sky to be dyed in the colors of night. Ragna and Celica, along with Mitsuyoshi, were able to reach the port city on the bottom without any disaster.