BlazBlue – Phase Shift

The evening on this island unexpectedly went to night in the blink of an eye. In the short interval before the day sunk completely, the sky was dyed in burning color. The city changed color as if enveloped by scarlet veil.

While it was a fantastic and beautiful scenery, at the same time, a vague fear of something beyond human understanding could also be felt from the spectacle.

After school, Kazuma walked toward the dormitory alone, with no friends to accompanying him.

His feet were heavy. Sometimes he staggered. He still hadn"t recovered from the sudden illness he got during the end of the noon recess. Even now the light dizziness still lasted. There was still a listless pain inside his head.

Sometime before, Kazuma escaped to the infirmary"s bed. But after he gradually calmed down enough, he rejoined during the middle of the afternoon cla.s.s.

He told the worrying Trinity that there was nothing to be concerned about anymore. But the truth wasn"t like that.

While casting his eyes down as if avoiding the strong setting sun, Kazuma put his hand on his heavy head.

"Uuh... I don"t feel good..."

His bitter throat groaned.

Previously, he"d had times when headaches and dizziness had tortured him every now and then. Mostly, it occurred when he tried hard to remember the past he had forgotten.

(Still, what happened during the noon recess wasn"t like that...)

With his eyebrows furrowed, Kazuma unsteadily made his way home.

The abnormal discomfort during that time wasn"t the same as the usual dizziness. It felt like an invisible hand crawled up from inside his body, grasped his head, and started forcefully dragging it down.

Even remembering it now made him well up with nausea.

"Just what exactly is happening..."

That time, he sensed that his condition became awful just as Celica tried to touch him. But such an absurd thing shouldn"t be possible. It"s a different story if Celica had some sort of extremely troubling special ability that made anyone she touched ill.

(...I wonder if she took offense at it.)

He had unintentionally shaken off Celica"s hands. No, Kazuma himself didn"t remember if the reactions could be described with those simple words.

It seemed to have made Trinity surprised. As for Nine, he probably had entered her kill list. ...If possible, he wanted to avoid that.

"Hurk..."

It"s no good. He still didn"t feel well.

At this rate, going with the usual path would bathe his front with the setting sun while endlessly climbing the lenient hill road.

Stroking his tight chest, Kazuma strayed from the main road and went to an alley.

Sandwiched between buildings on both sides, the path was narrow enough for a car to not be able to get in. It might be because it was dark even during daytime that there were only a few pedestrians here.

The journey was plain and calm. Since it was what he wanted, Kazuma felt a bit relieved. He more or less had to take a detour, but going this direction was a much comfortable way home.

However, Kazuma felt an uncomfortable feeling. He couldn"t proceed to go forward.

(...I somehow got a bad feeling.)

The Mages" Guild had a surprisingly large number members. There was quite a population in Ishana. As the majority of them were students, although they mostly were doing club activities during this time of day, it was still unusual even for the alley to not have a single soul sighted at this time in the afternoon.

To begin with, there was no human presence.

...No.

(Wrong. Someone"s here...)

Somehow arriving at that conclusion, Kazuma stopped walking as if seized with fear.

He was being watched by someone. That feeling wasn"t something that could be measured. It was the first time he had sensed someone"s presence this clearly.

He got a somewhat very unpleasant feeling.

What should I do? Should I turn back? The moment Kazuma thought about it and started to step backwards... he heard a voice coming from somewhere.

"——Hey, watch out."

"Eh?"

"It"s coming. Dodge!"

Someone was speaking to him from somewhere. As soon as he thought about that, a tension as if being pierced by a fine thread stabbed Kazuma"s thin chest.

The next instant, a sharp noise grazed his ear.

Kazuma"s body spontaneously moved. Twisting his body, he leaped away.

At the same time, behind him, the noise of a terribly dangerous slash tore through the alley"s eerie silence.

"Wha...!?"

Kazuma turned around in a hurry.

He couldn"t believe the scene he saw there.

The stone paving which had been regularly spread all over was deeply gouged, completely changed to a horrible appearance he had never seen before. What could have been used to make it became like this? It was incomprehensible. Kazuma"s head turned like a creaking tin doll.

Nearby the hollowed ground, a mysterious figure stood up. A tiny, child-like body, triangular ears protruding on top of the head, long and thin tail branched into two. It was like a cat standing on two legs.

Was it a human? Or was it a monster? Both of that inexplicable being"s large paws... hands, tightly gripped dully shining twin short swords.

"W-wait. Give me a break already."

There was nothing to be amused about, but Kazuma"s mouth reflexively pulled into a smile.

Judging from this situation, there was no mistaking that the one who gouged and slashed that ground was the small being there. Perhaps it was done by using the pair of short swords gripped on both of its hands.

But as long as there was no remarkable difference between Kazuma"s and the world"s knowledge, hollowing out a stone paving using a pair of short swords in such a short time was nothing short of an impossible feat. It"s definitely incorrect for the cat-like being to have a disposition of needing to destroy stone paving no matter what.

What those swords were supposed to cut was not the hard ground... but Kazuma.

Cold sweat trickled down his back.

When Kazuma clumsily retreated, the cat he encountered once again prepared to reversely grip the short swords inside a gloomy shadow. Along with the cold points of those swords, the cat"s large eyes sharply seized Kazuma.

"...Kazuma Kuvaru."

The cat spoke. It was a low, hoa.r.s.e male voice.

Kazuma"s feet came to a sudden stop.

"Ye-yes. That"s me... but who might you be?"

Even for him, it was an idiotic response. But if he didn"t do so, the balance of his spirit would crumble.

It was bizarre no matter how he thought. A cat walking on two feet while wielding swords. It was ridiculous for it to exist in reality...

"I am Tomonori. ...I have come to kill you."

No sooner after he coldly spoke, the cat jumped.

Slashing noises buzzed. The two blows definitely didn"t possess threat nor suppression, but an intention that went in accordance with his declaration.

"Hii... Uwaaah!?"

It was like approaching wind. Losing himself, Kazuma started to run away. His body was lowered as if falling to the ground, then a sword grazed the tip of his hair.

He couldn"t stay still in that spot, Kazuma crawled. Then he placed his back to the wall of a building and tried to turn his face around.

"Haah, haah... W-wait. Please wait."

His heart was rampaging as if it went frenzy.

It wasn"t a lie, prank, or dream. That cat was planning to kill him. He would be killed. A fear like a needle with a stench of blood p.r.i.c.ked Kazuma"s whole body.

The cat looked over his shoulder. The cold pair of beast eyes stared at Kazuma.

"...You dodged."

"I-isn"t it natural!? Wouldn"t I die if I didn"t dodge!?"

Although he retorted with a loud voice, it seemed Kazuma himself didn"t even understand how he had been able to dodge. He did it despite the thought that he would surely die when he sensed the swords were being swung.

This time, the cat silently approached to cut him.

"Hii...!"

Kazuma ran. He had heard that when a human is driven to extreme situations, they usually display unimaginable capability. But now, it felt certainly true.

Even now, he barely evaded the a.s.saulting slashes as they grazed his skin.

However, that fortune wouldn"t last forever.

Tripping on the crooked ground which the cat had previously gouged, Kazuma fell forward and collapsed. The severe impact didn"t do anything particular to his whole body, but he got a burning pain on his arm.

Though he felt that he shouldn"t look at it, Kazuma accidentally saw it. The spot slightly below the left shoulder of his uniform was deeply cut. He felt a sensation that the shirt was wet with something.

"Ah, ah..."

Something more vivid than fear overflowed from Kazuma"s mind.

As his chin trembled, his teeth made a grinding noise. The beast looked down on him from the shadow of a building which had been deeply colored by the evening. When Kazuma raised his face to the faint footsteps, his eyes met the beast"s gaze.

The reversely gripped swords were coldly lifted. The tip of a blade was slightly wet with red.

It was wet with Kazuma"s blood. The blades" cold silver color appeared similar to a beast"s fangs that wanted much more blood and flesh than that.

He would be killed.

His chest rose and fell as his breathing got disordered. His stomach was cramped with strain and terror. His knees were shivering and made him unable to stand.

It was useless. He couldn"t escape.

(Why... Why is this happening to me...)

He would be killed without even knowing the culprit or the reason. While cursing at the ridiculous situation, Kazuma shut his eyes tightly.

He prepared himself for the sensation of the cold blades.

...However, the cat"s swords stopped just before cutting Kazuma"s flesh.

(H... Huh?)

He thought that something was wrong. After he counted three seconds, Kazuma timidly opened his eyes. From inside the long bangs, he peeked at the bipedal cat.

The cat dropped the blades, which should have been raised overhead, and faced toward the end of a gentle curve. Its huge ears were raised.

Before long, the cat sheathed the two swords into their scabbards, gave Kazuma a glance, and abruptly vanished as it leaped.

The presence of the ama.s.sed killing intent disappeared. It was the same for the pressure which had been strangling his neck with tremendous force, and also the piercing feeling of tension.

In the same way as when he had appeared, the cat man disappeared like a pa.s.sing wind.

The day"s natural atmosphere came back, bursting free. His hips having completely given out, Kazuma could only sit still in that spot, dumbfounded.

He couldn"t comprehend what had happened, even now. He couldn"t accept it as a real incident. It felt like he saw the continuation of the strange dream from this morning.

The m.u.f.fled ears of Kazuma heard approaching footsteps. Kazuma forcibly moved his stiff neck and looked at the direction of the sound. Familiar uniforms were rushing over from the gentle curve he faced.

It was Nine, also Trinity and Celica.

As soon as he saw the figure of the girls, strength left Kazuma"s whole body. It might be because of the cleared tension that he got attacked by an intense dizziness which made him almost faint.

"Kazuma-san!"

As if sliding, Celica put her knees in front of Kazuma. Nine quickly looked around the surroundings. A bit delayed and out of breath, Trinity squatted beside Celica with a gloomy face.

"Are you all right, Kazuma-san?"

Trinity held up Kazuma"s shivering shoulders. When her green eyes looking into him, Kazuma slackened his mouth and made a feeble smile in order to convey that he still had consciousness.

Near him, Trinity began to smile broadly.

"Thank G.o.d... What on earth happened?"

"Well... I also don"t really understand."

Thanks to seeing a familiar face, he felt somewhat relieved. Even Kazuma thought that he answered with a pathetic voice. He missed her serene voice. He really thought he was going to be killed.

In the meantime, Celica touched Kazuma"s left arm and opened her warm brown eyes wide.

"You"re injured here. It"s really deep."

"Ah, don"t."

Immediately, the words escaped from Kazuma"s mouth, he tried to warn her away. Again. He got shivers.

But Celica, who couldn"t see what"s in Kazuma"s mind, interpreted his voice as hesitation. She nodded while smiling as if to encourage him.

"It"s okay. It"s going to be cured soon."

"Cure...?"

Looking to rea.s.sure Kazuma, Trinity explained.

"Celica-san is really skilled in healing magic~."

But behind the long bangs that were concealing his expression, Kazuma frowned.

"Healing..."

He hurriedly stiffened himself and trying carefully not to be rough as he removed Celica"s hands. He forcefully dragged his exhausted body to get up.

Reflexively, he showed a strained smile.

"I, I"m fine. Wounds like this will be healed fast enough... Don"t worry."

"Eh, but."

Celica"s eyes that seemed like saying "but it"ll be healed instantly" looked up at Kazuma.

Kazuma averted his eyes with all his might. He wasn"t very good in this situation. When he got an awful dizziness again, Kazuma leaned his back against the wall of a nearby building.

Nine put both of her hands on her hips and rounded on him as if blocking his way.

"Let"s start with the explanation."

The voice changed suddenly from Celica and Trinity"s gentle voice to a cautious voice.

While hiding the wound on his arm from Celica by covering it with his hand, Kazuma grimaced.

"Even if I explain..."

Worrying about the bewildered Kazuma, Trinity interrupted with gentle words.

"We came here because Nine said that she sensed an unusual force downtown. And then we saw that Kazuma-san was sitting at the roadside with the road like that~..."

"You must have witnessed what happened. Speak."

Nine glanced at the hollowed stone pavement before settling her glare on Kazuma.

He was weak against Celica"s gaze, but he wanted to be pardoned from Nine"s glare even more. He heard that she was the most skilled person in the academy, with offensive magic as her specialty. That fact made it seem like he was being threatened.

"Even if you say I saw it or got involved... A strange creature suddenly appeared and slashed around using sword. The absurd thing there is also its doing."

Wanting to get away from the concentrated gaze, Kazuma directed his line of sight at the ground, looking for sword cuts. The more he looked at it, the more splendid the slashing scars were which made them didn"t feel like they belong in reality.

Nine folded her arms confusedly.

"An odd creature you said?"

"Yes. It"s similar to both a human and cat..."

"Could it be beastkin...?"

Hearing Kazuma"s explanation, Nine frowned and supported her chin with her hand as if she was pondering.

The term Nine used, beaskin, had been covered in the lessons for sure, but today was the first time for Kazuma to actually see it.

It was a strange race located at a point exactly between beast and human. Like magic, their figure never showed up in the front side of the history and only existed in the dark.

But why did one appear in Ishana and attack Kazuma? Nine"s question was also Kazuma"s question.

"Onee-chan. For the time being, let"s take Kazuma-san back to his room. He might get attacked again."

Celica"s straightforward voice broke the silence of thought.

Moment by moment, the evening grew thicker. Presently, the eastern sky was slightly blurred with the presence of night. If the sun sunk, this side of the island which was separated from the main street would get very dark.

Trinity agreed immediately as she nodded.

"She"s right. We mustn"t let something happen to him on his way back."

"You shouldn"t burden yourself that much. I"m really all right now, so..."

"Kazuma-san."

Trinity took a step and drew closer to him.

She tightly joined her hands together in front of her chest as if praying. With height difference existing between them, her pleading eyes looked up at him as if reprimanding him.

"I beg of you, please let us escort you. I can"t return and leave you alone here~."

Even though she used the slow tempo tone he heard in the cla.s.sroom all the time, her sincerity was enough to make his heart ache. In Trinity"s eyes, apparently ready to form tears at any moment, her truly genuine concern toward Kazuma was showing. Knowing that, why did he turn her down?

(...Somehow, it feels like I"ve only been doing refusals today.)

Kazuma was corrected by the thought from inside his chest. Just like always.

As if giving up, Kazuma took a breath and pulled the sides of his mouth to make a smile. In truth, his condition got worse again. It really didn"t feel like he was able to walk.

"...Understood. Then please do so."

After he spoke his resignation, Trinity smiled tenderly and grabbed Kazuma"s arm. Supporting from below, she held his arm to her chest.

Beyond the uniform jacket, the sensation of a human body was transmitted. Rarely experiencing this sort of close contact, Kazuma didn"t know how to react.

Since a normal human would certainly have the memory of being embraced by parents, they must have the fitting emotion in regard to the touch.

Kazuma sighed and thought that it didn"t matter.

The feet he urged to step forward were aimless and felt light. Was it because of his poor condition and giddy head? Or was it because his memory-less self had this emptiness that couldn"t be filled?

"Can you walk?"

Startled by the smell of custard on Trinity"s voice, Kazuma slightly pulled his chin.

"I"m sorry."

"It"s fine. I offered after all."

Realizing Kazuma wouldn"t resist anymore, Trinity finally spoke with the usual tone. Not outpacing him nor falling behind, Trinity matched her pace with Kazuma"s while pulling his arm to urge him forward.

Although he was thankful of her compa.s.sion, Kazuma couldn"t help but have complicated feelings at accepting Trinity"s kindness.

There were many male students in the same year who admired Trinity and Nine. If he was seen like this, he would most likely be called behind the school building and get forced into a fight tomorrow.

With his consciousness receding from time to time while seriously wondering about that thought, Kazuma, accompanied by Trinity, Celica, and Nine, went toward the dormitory.

And then after taking twice as long as usual, Kazuma returned to his own room.

Since Trinity was worried, Celica said as they left that they will quickly come over if something happens. But Nine... only she watched Kazuma with doubting eyes.

After closing the door, his endurance was already at the limit. His head ached so badly. He could no longer grasp the feeling of the floor, he headed toward his bed.

But while it wasn"t clear whether he had finally arrived at the bed or not, Kazuma lost consciousness.

Kazuma was led by three girls as they left. On the rooftop of a building somewhat distant from them, there was a shadow looking over his figure motionlessly.

A small body that didn"t appear human, long tails, sharp triangular ears. It was the beastkin swordsman, Tomonori.

Silent like a still life, he kept watch over Kazuma"s retreating figure with sharp eyes. As though confirming his prey.

The air wavered.

Tomonori"s ears moved. What wavered wasn"t air. It was time and s.p.a.ce.

"You"re such a useless pet, Tomonori. You didn"t obey your owner"s command."

From the back, an innocent voice coldly spoke.

Tomonori slightly moved his head.

The shaking just now came from teleportation. The specialty of the beloved daughter of the person Tomonori knew well.

"——Rachel, isn"t it."

In a low and small voice, he muttered the name of the person who had appeared behind him.

Rachel Alucard. A girl dressed in black dress with beautiful long golden hair tied up in pigtails. The ribbons used to decorate her hair looked like rabbit ears.

Her outer appearance made her seem around six years old, but she was a master of transferring magic that was extremely difficult to control. She possessed the ability to directly transfer to Ishana which had powerful barrier erected around it.

"...You came here because Clavis told you to?"

While asking the question, Tomonori removed his gaze from Rachel to look downward. His target"s figure had already gone. He had failed in killing him.

"Correct. What kind of other errand do you think I have?"

As she spoke with elegant tone that didn"t suit her childish appearance and voice, Rachel gently brushed away the hair which had been resting at her shoulder with the back of her hand.

There was slight interest leaking out from the tone of voice that sounded haughty.

"You tried to kill that man."

Tomonori replied with silence. Not concerned about it, Rachel continued.

"Why did you try to kill him? Do you perhaps know something?"

"...You have nothing to do with it. Enough with the tedious talk. Hurry up and take me."

Turning his back to the alley he had been watching, Tomonori moved to stand next to Rachel.

Rachel chuckled a bit. But the words she spoke were the opposite of it.

"Just like usual, you aren"t an interesting man."

As she indifferently held out her white hand, a rose-colored magic field emerged with Rachel at the center. It spread out beneath Tomonori"s feet.

"Let us return. My father is waiting."

After the pure voice muttered, a sound similar to whirlwind played and Rachel vanished from Ishana along with Tomonori.

On the sky which was wrapped with the canopy of twilight, the silver full moon was hanging.

That moon wouldn"t ever wane. This night wouldn"t ever pa.s.s. This place was sunk in eternal night. Not located anywhere in the world, the place was like solitary island floating on a valley.

A garden was stretched all over continuously. With crowded ivy crept around the once beautiful place, its appearance was appropriate enough to be called an abandoned garden.

Within the abandoned garden, a large old castle stood with majestic appearance while also entangled with ivy.

It was the residence of a more than one thousand year old vampire, Clavis Alucard.

He had been spending his overly long lifespan watching over humanity. Right now, he sat in a wheelchair facing an old friend inside a parlor, surrounded by tasteful furniture.

"Tomonori. I have too... considered about what you have been thinking."

Locking his fingers above his knees, Clavis started diplomatically.

His long hair and beard were pure white. The locking fingers were so thin it looked like they were withered branches. But, as if his blood red pupils were detached from his old body, they brimmed with the kind of dignity and intelligence that sometimes felt like they could see through up to the bottom of one"s heart.

"However, what I had requested to you was to observe, not to a.s.sa.s.sinate. You have almost killed a sinless youth... Am I wrong?"

Clavis" voice was calm like a spreading ripple on water"s surface.

There were two other presences in the room. Clavis" beloved daughter who was sitting on a soft sofa while drinking black tea with rose aroma, Rachel. And the person standing behind Clavis who was wearing refined suit on his trained body, Valkenhayn R. h.e.l.lsing the werewolf.

After looking at them with sidelong glance, Tomonori returned his gaze to Clavis and replied coldly.

"You said I was permitted to cut him down in the worst case."

"...I have certainly said that. But I truly do not think that was a situation befitting that "worst case"."

The person he was confronting was a man who had watched history play out for over 1000 years. But Tomonori, even in front of those gazing red eyes, full of endless knowledge, didn"t show a slightest hint of fear.

"That guy is dangerous. We can"t afford to keep him alive."

Since Tomonori"s words was declared without any hesitation, Valkenhyan, who had been silent while frowning until now, harshly interrupted.

"The one to decide it is not you!"

But Tomonori moved his gaze to him and stared back at the werewolf butler intensely, as if challenging him.

"I decide what I"m going to do."

It was a composed and had unwavering will of a voice. A determined voice of a belief that wouldn"t let anyone trample it down.

But that belief was pointed at a direction different from Clavis".

Clavis" chest sank as he sighed.

"It is still not decided that "he" will become "so". If he remains in peace, then he can continue to be a mere student. ...After all, there are many possible futures."

"There"s only one future."

Clavis" sensitive words bore a wish and desire for something to happen. Tomonori severed it with a voice that hid strong emotions.

"That guy is aware."

There was no hesitation in Tomonori"s declaration, the same for his swords.

"...Tomonori. We are not in the position to judge."

"Your faith is like a dull sword to me."

After he said that, Tomonori turned his back on Clavis.

Clavis partly closed his eyes while watching the small stature. He believed that Tomonori"s gentle shoulders would never get yield.

Clavis recalled another man who stood in the same way.

"Well, well, well. Your stubbornness is very similar to Mitsuyoshi"s."

Clavis smiled as he muttered. Tomonori fiercely glared over his shoulder at Clavis as he did so.

"I have nothing to do with my brother. Don"t ever compare us again."

Valkenhayn displayed his anger toward that remark.

"You insolent. Who do you think you"re facing...!"

"That is enough, Valkenhayn."

The skinny hand took control of the enraged Valkenhayn.

If Valkenhayn had a.s.sumed the wolf form, then he would laid bare his sharp fangs and roared. But he was before his master. Valkenhayn withdrew with stern expression.

"...I don"t need any escort."

Tomonori turned his back again, he left Clavis" room in truth this time.

When the inhuman figure disappeared down the hallway of the old castle, Valkenhayn calmly closed the door that had been left open.

The room was soaked with Clavis" sigh.

"Are you fine with it? That man will undoubtedly..."

Go toward Ishana again. This time, it wouldn"t have anything to do with Clavis" request.

After Clavis leaned his back on his wheelchair, he looked up at a gleaming chandelier on the ceiling.

"It is inevitable, Valkenhayn."

The decaying eyelids went down. Within the closed field of vision, Clavis thought about the world. He thought about its history.

"I cannot stop Tomonori. Tomonori is also... a part of humanity."

Thinking, believing, and taking action were the privileges given to humanity. Even if those privileges came from "danger" that stuck close to the back of Tomonori"s "honesty".

And it wasn"t possible for Clavis to meddle with it. The thousand years of time he spent to gaze at history was coincidentally the same thousand years he remained a spectator. Clavis... no, including Rachel, they were beings that existed outside of fate.

"Valkenhayn. ...Just how will mankind live their life in millennia to come?"

Deciding on something, earning something.

History would continue for a long time to come.

Clavis" eyes already couldn"t see the future.

Holding back his words of reply, Valkenhayn prepared a fresh black tea and placed it in front of Clavis. The sweet and abundant rose aroma drifted.

Clavis raised his thin eyelids and gazed at the flickering amber-colored water"s surface.

"Nevertheless, he surely left something troublesome... That Relius Clover."

After he had muttered those thoughts, Clavis took a white teacup in his hand.

...This is a dream.

Kazuma was aware of it as he was in a scene he had never seen before.

The scene took place in some kind of a laboratory.

The metallic walls and floors were illuminated by cold, white light. There were a great number of flickering green and red lamps attached to some kind of gauges lined up inside the room. Windows were fitted to the walls in every direction. One could see the other side of the walls without obstruction.

When he came to, Kazuma was there.

Being aware that he was seeing a dream itself was a strange feeling. The stage was different, but this might be the continuation of yesterday"s dream.

Just as his blurred self wondered about that, his vision moved. The Kazuma inside the dream looked over his shoulder.

From here he could see the figure of young man sitting on a chair, crossing his legs.

"We really going to make use of that guy?"

With an arrogant sound, the Kazuma in the dream spoke.

Just as he thought, this dream was similar to that dream. Although Kazuma had awareness of it, he wasn"t allowed to speak as the character inside the dream. It was a dream where he borrowed someone"s point of view just to watch the scene.

But the person who was with him wasn"t a white-haired young man. It was a blonde man wearing white gown with attire that made him looked like a scientist.

"I"m making use of him since he"s useful. He possesses a field of study different from mine. His knowledge and skills are rather interesting. ...Then again, I have already seen those techniques plenty enough."

"The a.s.sistant possessing that excellent knowledge and skills seems like a very hardworking person. He secretly went to the hidden room, secluded himself, and ended up engrossed with whatever his work is, y"know."

"I see... If it doesn"t turn out to be a hindrance to my work, then it doesn"t matter. In any case, it is not something of importance."

The tone of the blonde man when he said that was terribly frank. Neither sarcasm nor joke, he regarded the a.s.sistant who had been raised as the topic simply just as a "tool". There wasn"t any human-like enthusiasm in his way of speaking at all.

"Ha!" said Kazuma... rather, the Kazuma in the dream as he laughed.

"Indeed. Well, you did bring along Shuuichirou Ayatsuki. Do whatever you want, Professor Relius."

Shuuichirou Ayatsuki. Relius. Both of them were names that Kazuma had heard. Especially Relius.

What he was reminded of was that Relius Clover was his guardian whose appearance and background were unknown to him.

Could it be that this blonde man was Relius Clover? Kazuma considered examining the face. But before that, the vision inside the dream moved.

The "someone" who had become Kazuma"s point of view once again faced the huge window. From there, a s.p.a.cious lower floor could be seen.

Inorganic floors and walls. Inside of them, a bizarre object had its mouth open.

Figuratively speaking, it looked like the crater of a volcano.

As if a ring"s p.r.o.ng for holding jewelry, there was some squirming stuff like boiling red lava in the place of diamond at the other side of the device.

Staring it, the Kazuma inside the dream bore a weird uplifting feeling as if it was his missed hometown.

"Is that OK?"

"At present, there is no hindrance."

A frank voice answered from behind.

The Kazuma inside the dream placed both of his hands on the gauges which purpose weren"t clear and showed a fearless smile.

"Good work, good work. Then I suppose you can afford taking one more request."

"...What is it this time?"

"It"s on your field of expertise. ...It also got something to do with the Azure."

"Oh?"

There was a slight hint of interest from the blonde man"s voice.

As if something had been let slip, "he" averted his gaze and smiled.

"My next..."

The sound was no longer heard.

Then the scenery blurred.

Everything became incomprehensible.

Eventually, it got darker and turned black.

The dream came to an end abruptly.

Hearing himself let out a small groan, Kazuma woke up.

Opening his thin eyes, there was scenery of room he used to see beyond the troublesome bangs. It was a room of the Mages" Guild"s school dormitory, his own room.

The room was dark with only the faint orange light of the bedside lamp to illuminate it. He didn"t know the exact time, but it seemed to be night.

It seemed his had lost consciousness while on the bed. It looked like he had been sleeping all this time. The clothes of his uniform got a bit wrinkled.

He saw a dream.

Just like last night"s dream, the dream was in an unknown place and had men he didn"t recognize. The details were blur as if they had been rubbed roughly with an eraser. He couldn"t remember it well.

Since then... Just how long had pa.s.sed after he was accompanied by the three girls, Trinity, Celica, Nine, and came back here? Placing his hand on his dazed head as he was still half asleep, Kazuma abruptly raised his body.

The horrible condition of his body was already completely healed.

The wound on his left arm was fully recovered without leaving any trace.

"Aah... Again."

In the room which made it hard to breathe, Kazuma removed his gaze from the torn tunic and dropped his shoulders.

He realized this around two months after he entered the academy. While in cla.s.s, he cut his finger with notebook paper. In the brief time he was grimacing as the stinging pain ran through, the shallow cut on his skin quickly closed. The small wound disappeared as if it was absorbed.

When he had already forgotten about it, Kazuma got burned in the middle of alchemy experiment. He went to the infirmary as instructed by the lecturer. But as most of it was already healed when he arrived, the doctor laughed while saying he was exaggerating it.

In short, even if he got hurt, it would get immediately healed if he left it alone.

At first he thought that everyone else was like that too. But he found out soon that that wasn"t the case.

Unlike the memory loss, no one knew about this strange const.i.tution. If possible, he wanted to keep it hidden and unknown to anyone else. The memory loss might stir sympathies, but this just felt creepy.

"I"m glad... that I declined that girl"s healing magic."

If the healing which wasn"t related to magic had begun to take place, he wouldn"t be able to dodge the issue no matter what his excuse was.

As his drowsiness gradually cleared away, his brain slowly started to function.

When he thought about it, a series of odd things had happened today. Waking up from a strange dream. Setting Trinity aside, having Celica and Nine kept an eye on him had opposing significances to it. Having his physical condition deteriorate without understanding the cause. Being attacked by an a.s.sailant without knowing the reason.

Moreover, as if it finally returned, he had seen a weird dream again.

"Just what is really happening?"

After the complaint spontaneously came out, the fatigue spread.

It looked like he saw those dreams as the result of his brain adjusting his memories. Might it have something to do with the memories he lost? Is it okay if he a.s.sumed that he was remembering something?

As his mind became clearer, he recalled words from the details of the dream he had mostly forgotten.

Shuuichirou Ayatsuki. Relius. And...

"Azure..."

"You interested in Azure?"

Someone suddenly replied to the muttering he let out.

His drowsiness disappeared at once. Kazuma turned around with force as if electrocuted.

The dormitory"s room was a room for one person. There was no one else in the room and no friends visiting here. Besides, he had been fast asleep until a while ago.

There shouldn"t be anyone else with the exception of Kazuma. Within the room that should have been empty... was an unknown person.

The chair that should have been in front of the desk was moved close to the room"s wall. ...Someone was sat in it. The unreliable light from the side lamp made their appearance unclear. Naturally, Kazuma gazed at the staring figure of a person.

It was a thin man. It wasn"t clear as he was sitting, but his height seemed about the same as Kazuma"s.

Regardless of the darkness, Kazuma couldn"t get a look at his face since he was wearing hood low over his eyes. But when he saw the shown splitting mouth that was like a crescent moon, Kazuma became aware of the eerie smile.

"Wh... who? Who... might you... be?"

While still petrified sat on his bed, Kazuma asked awkwardly.

He got a feeling that he had asked this question just a few hours ago. Unpleasant premonition chilled up his spine.

It couldn"t be that he would get suddenly slashed again, could it?

Kazuma reflexively put himself on guard, but this proved unnecessary, the man only shrugged his shoulders while still sitting and didn"t show even pretense to stand up.

"Hey, hey. Really, Kazuma-chan? You seriously said that? What a cold greeting. You don"t recognize me?"

"No, uh, sorry. I don"t remember that we"ve met..."

The man spoke like he met an old friend, but Kazuma didn"t have any idea about this man.

Within the darkness, the man shook his head in disappointment.

"And I helped to save you from danger back then, too. So you forget about the person who saved your life? Is Kazuma-chan perhaps an idiot? Maybe stupid?"

As he said it, Kazuma suddenly remembered. Now that he mentioned it, back when the beastkin attacked, there was a voice instructing him on the verge of it.

It wasn"t Trinity, Celica, or Nine"s voice, but a young man"s. If the voice weren"t there, Kazuma would have swiftly died from the first stroke of sword.

"From... from back then?"

"Finally remembered? Then again, you still don"t know about the important part. Aah, how annoying."

The man grinned, but he quickly sighed in dejection.

Kazuma was at loss since he didn"t understand the meaning of what the man said. For some reason, he corrected his posture while sitting on top of bed.

Stretching his long legs forward while still sitting, the man looked at Kazuma with snake-like eyes from his hood.

"Since you pa.s.sed out on the floor, I purposely came here, y"know? After that, I"ve been here all this time. Weeell, since you didn"t wake up, I got lot of free time. And because this room isn"t that decent, I wonder why your mind hasn"t gone mad living in here."

"Haa. Well, I"ve been here for seven years."

Just who is this person? Even while he still had questions, Kazuma moved his mouth while still being dumbfounded by the unexpected development.

"So, umm, and you are...?"

"Yuuki Terumi."

"Eh?"

"T-E-R-U-M-I. That"s my name."

Kazuma felt like there was a strange air about the name. As if there was a special meaning about it...

"So you have it. Say, Kazuma-chan."

Even though he wasn"t being pressed in intimidation, Kazuma gulped. For some reason, he suddenly got captivated by this man"s words.

The crescent moon mouth smiled.

"So hear me about this again. ...You want the Azure?"