4"I thought the wound will re-open……"
I said while holding the bandage on my head.
When we fell down, I almost fell on my head as a result for cushioning Kunisaki.
I"m currently being treated at the public health room. The wound still throbs a little.
However, Kunisaki seems to try cheering me up.
Putting his manner away.
Even though I"ve told him that I"m taking an extra care for this, I"ll still accept his feeling.
Him feeling sorry might works as his apology as well.
While thinking about such things, I went to purchase a bread and headed to the rooftop.
I was late because I went to the nurse office first.
I hurriedly climb up the stairs.
"Ah, Raika kun~~"
After I opened the door to the rooftop, Sharo senpai was the first to notice me and she starts waving her hand.
No one prepared a vinyl sheet, so everyone is sitting side by side on the divider on the rooftop.
"What"s up, Raika. Is your head healed yet?"
"Somewhat."
I answered lightly when Kunisaki asked.
"What"s wrong with your head?"
Mary who hears our conversation from the side asked.
In response to that, Kunisaki hastily tried to cover the issue.
"Man, we just fell down from the tree."
"Wha! are you okay?"
Maria yelp in surprise. Then, she went to my side and reached for the bandage.
It still hurts a little when she touched it, so I gently put down her hand,
"It was already taken care of at the public health room, so it"s okay."
So, I answered her lightly with a smile.
After hearing my answer, Maria sighed in relief.
"But still, why did both of you fell down from the tree? I mean, why are you climbing them in the first place?"
Ruirui sharply throw us a question.
I shifted my gaze at Kunisaki, prompting him to answer the question.
Putting my own feeling aside, Kunisaki should be the one to defend our action (peeping).
"Aa—umm, no, you see, I just want to move my body a lot. For that, I invited Raika to have a compet.i.tion on who can climb the tree faster."
"Right after the physical fitness test~?"
"Aa—yea, um, somewhat……"
Kunisaki try to avert his eyes after listening to Ruirui grin and laugh.
With that said, Ruirui probably have realized what truly did happen.
"Oh my~~, what did you two do actually, I wonder."
At this point, she is just teasing Kunisaki to the brim.
With bitter smile, I get a seat and take out my bread.
At that time.
"Waa~ah"
Unexpectedly, I heard someone yawn.
However, none of us actually did it.
I look around the rooftop.
Then, on the top of the reservoir on the rooftop, a shadow emerges from within.
The shadow turns its back.
Based on it"s body structure, its probably belong to a boy.
Of course, the face is not visible due to him facing the other way.
But——I remember that red hair.
No way, it"s that red-haired boy!
"Huh?"
That boy gets up and flexed his arms. Then, he faces down.
That face, it"s undeniable that he is the same boy who is another divine apotheosis that we"ve fought alongside Susanoo.
This sudden encounter makes me gulps my spit.
All boys and girls who have turned into a divine apotheosis are attending this school.
I a.s.sumed that someday, this kind of event will happen.
Together with us is the supervisor for this Representative War, Tenka. This red-haired boy is ignorant of this fact.
If he is a belligerent G.o.d like Susanoo, the chance that he might attack us right here at this place is likely to happen.
However, together with us are civilian like Kunisaki and Sharo senpai.
If both of them are dragged into the battle, things won"t be good.
If we have no choice but to engage in battle, whether or not I can protect these two when I am not in optimal condition is……
A cold sweat run down from my cheek.
But, whatever happened, it depends on who emerges victorious at last.
I waited for a reaction from the red-haired boy.
The boy looks back at me.
Then, as he descended from on top of the reservoir, he suddenly headed toward us.
He is coming……!
I send a signal to Maria.
If by any chance a battle occurs, your first priority is to evacuate everyone.
Maria face turned serious instantly.
I draw out my power so that I can make a move anytime I want.
Then, the red-haired boy was 3 steps within my range.
"Hey……it might sound weird coming from myself, but——"
Suddenly, he laughed wryly, as if he was in a trouble.
"——you, do you know me?"
A super weird question came out from him.
"……wha?"
I was ready to intercept him, so all that came out of my mouth is a stupid reply.
The red-haired boy"s name is Leon Bladebright.
"I see. Raika kun is still a freshman."
Leon said. It seems that he is in third year.
On the contrary, his tone is very young-like and there is a reason for that.
Before he introduces himself, he told us about a shocking fact.
"I don"t have memories except for a day."
——Anterograde Amnesia.
It is a kind of amnesia which prevents you from remembering new events.
Ever since the Myth War 10 years ago, Leon doesn"t have a memory extending 24 hours from that time.
He jots down important things in his notepad or diary. In order to remember his friends and acquaintances faces, he always bring along a polaroid camera with him wherever he goes.
His previous question is to ascertain whether we are his acquaintances.
"I mean, you are staring down at me hard."
"Surely, Raika was staring down at Leon"s face a little too much. All he did was yawning, really."
"……ah, that was my bad."
In the end, everything come down to my rather rash att.i.tude. I apologize obediently.
But, Leon smiled and shook his head.
"No, it"s okay. Thanks to that, we become friend!"
So, he said.
"Leon, he is nice guy—"
Kunisaki is getting along with him due to his friendly disposition.
Me too, I think he is a nice fellow.
If I think that,
『——this might be a trap. 』
Balor whispers to me.
Do not dance to his tune. Unusually, he is trying to warn me off……
Do you think he is lying to us to caught us off guard?
『——even you should"ve harbours that kind of doubt, don"t you? 』
I don"t think the probability is zero, however, the premise of his lie is too weak in that case……well, just in case, I"m going to have the church investigate Leon background.
An Anterograde Amnesia is a serious memory impairment at a level that interferes in daily life.
He can"t live by hiding in the very same surrounding.Pg. 264
Whether Leon really did lose his memories starting from 10 years ago, if we go to the place where he was before he get admitted into this island, then it"s possible to ascertain the truth.
By the way, if the divine apotheosis has an Anterograde Amnesia, then will the G.o.d that were housed inside unable to store new memories as well?
I try to confirm it with Bálor.
Looking on how he takes on Susanoo last night, there is no mistake that this guy is a divine apotheosis.
The problem here is whether he remembers it or not.
『——as I told you before, our physical ability conforms to the human body which became our vessel. Naturally, the brain condition is included. If he has a memory impairment, then he couldn"t even remember that he has become a G.o.d in the first place. 』
As expected, that is the case.
When the G.o.d is overtaking the human body, the human soul is consumed with it.
At that time, their personality itself disappears, but the memory of the person who became a vessel remains in the brain.
Take Ruirui as example——she relies on the memory of the past person, therefore playing the role as "Shishigane Ruirui".
But what will happen, if the body of the vessel has an Anterograde Amnesia?
The soul of the G.o.d, the G.o.d"s divinity——that is, the [memory of the G.o.d] is inscribed.
When the G.o.d is taking over the human body, by transferring this [memory of the G.o.d] into the brain of the vessel, the G.o.d will be able to separate the [vessel"s memory] with their own [G.o.d"s memory].
However, if the brain is incapable of memorizing new things, then he might completely forget about his own [G.o.d"s memory].
As a result, only the [vessel"s memory] remains in the body of the divine apotheosis.
In Leon case, to put it simply, it seems that the memory of "Leon" retained despite being jacked by the G.o.d.
But, even if he has an Anterograde Amnesia, there are still some issues that is not solved.
"Leon."
I call out his name.
By the way, I called him that way because he asked me to.
Since his memory was halted to 8 years old, he told me he had a sense of incongruity whenever an elder person is overly polite with him.
"What?"
Leon asked me with an innocent smile.
"Actually……last time, I saw Leon wandering alone outside the dorm at night. I am just wandering what Leon is doing."
Since Kunisaki is at his side, I am mincing word, as to not alarm him.
"Hey, hey Leon~. That is clearly a violation of the dorm"s rules. What the h.e.l.l do you think you are doing?"
Kunisaki smiles and hit Leon"s waist with his elbow.
If Leon doesn"t recognize himself as a G.o.d, he shouldn"t remember anything about the Representative War.
Yet, he was fighting Susanoo at the warehouse town three days ago.
For what reason was he there?
Why is he fighting Susanoo, despite having no recollection as a G.o.d?
I will never put my trust on him, unless he manages to give a satisfying answer from his own mouth.
"Uu~mm, you see~"
Leon makes a troubled face.
He took out his notepad from the pocket of his uniform.
There are lots of bookmarks sandwiched between the pages……apparently, they are bunches of photos.
It"s probably his memo pad where he records his memory.
That is the memo that he read every morning. As a person with Anterograde Amnesia, this is how he [remembers things].
Even if it is only a single question, as long it is related to the past, he will need to refer back to his memo pad.
He turns over pages for several times and stop his hand.
After that, he stared at the said page,
"Yeah. The things that I wrote down is not a secret or anything, so it should be fine."
Leon quickly turned back into his cheerful face.
Secret……?
"Everyone, please come close."
Leon said while beckoning us.
And then, he lowered his voice, as if telling a story,
"The truth is, I am a hero of justice."
So, he said.
"Wow—That is amaaazing!"
Tenka is the only one letting out such an amazed sound, while the others have trouble how to react.
A hero of………justice?
『——what the h.e.l.l does it mean? 』
I spontaneously responded to Bálor, but even he is clueless.
"So……in other word, what does it mean?"
Puzzled, I asked him frankly.
Ruling him out as a weirdo, I think it is too soon to do that.
"Umm."
Leon flipped his notepad again.
"Everything begins when my cla.s.smates start disappearing."
Leon starts talking while reading his memo pad.
"The girl"s name is Lizette. I secretly left the dormitory in search for her."
The way Leon talks are like reading a story from a storybook.
For him who can"t retained his memory, if he can relive his memory with the help of his imaginary skill, perhaps that way he can tell what the exact thing is happening.
"I keep walking on the island during that night, and then I met a murderer."
"……!? ……eh!?"
I am not the only one who gasped, even everyone else were shocked.
"A murderer?"
"That is right. That person, I"m sure Lizette was killed by that person at that night."
"……Eh!?"
This time, Kushinada senpai raised a small scream and covered her mouth.
This is bad. This topic about missing student getting killed was too shocking for her.
"Sharo senpai, can you please bring Kushinada senpai over there?"
"Un. I got it."
"Maria, you go and help her."
"Yes. Then, Kushinada senpai, please come over here."
Maria and Sharo senpai helped Kushinada senpai stand and bring her to the corner of the rooftop.
These two will be able to calm down Kushinada senpai somewhat.
I will leave her to them. Then, I turned to Leon.
"Hey, can you show me that memo pad?"
"Sorry. That is one thing I can"t let you see."
Leon said while hugging his memo pad to his chests.
……well, in a way, that must feel like I"m stealing his memory.
It"s normal for people to be upset when someone is rummaging through their diary. In his case, it must be more frustrating.
"I"m sorry for being unreasonable. Please continue."
"Un……So, while I was searching for my cla.s.smate, I encountered a homicide."
Leon resume talking.
"The murderer aimed to kill me next. But at that time, I awakened to a special power."
"A special power?"
"Yeah!"
"What kind of power is it?"
"An amazing power!"
"Anyways, I fought back against the murderer with that power!"
I start thinking about what I have listened to him so far.
The current premise is, Leon has no consciousness that he is now a divine apotheosis.
However, there is no doubt that he is one of those vessels, the G.o.d power that he wielded is the proof.
The one that he refers to as a special power, it might be one of the G.o.ds divinity.
The problem here is how he was able to use that power without awareness. Based on his story, he awakened to that power when the murderer went after him.
So, it"s ability is to counterattack in response to an enemy attack.
Or, a skill that is close to it.
Also, the murderer that he fought.
That person might be the culprit behind the student"s missing cases. At the same time, that person might be another divine apotheosis.
"Then, what happened to your battle with the murderer?"
I urged Leon to continue.
"That person was defeated right away!"
This is the third time I"m surprised today.
That person was defeated……right away?
That divine apotheosis?
No, if we considered the ability that he has shown during our confrontation at the warehouse town, it"s no wonder that the other divine apotheosis will……
I"m getting unrest, and it shown.
"Please wait."
"What?"
"That murderer, it is not a mistake to a.s.sume that person to be the culprit for the continuous missing student cases happening in our school. You said that person was defeated, however the missing case is still going on."
Right , that is a contradiction point.
At least, three nights ago, I"m witnessing the body of the victim with my own eyes.
"What time was it when Leon faced against that person?"
"Umm, that is…"
Leon scratches his head.
"Actually, the murderer is not alone."
"Not……alone?"
"Yup. According to my memo pad, I"ve met the murderers many times before. They are giving off the same vibes."
"When you said many times, how often did you actually encounter them?"
"Weell, 2, 3……8, ah, nine times in total."
Leon said after counting the total number from his memo pad.
I asked for the pictures of the nine murderers that he encountered. Unfortunately, he didn"t take it.
Thanks to that, my understanding become lesser and lesser.
There are seven mythologies partic.i.p.ating in this war.
If one of them can send nine representative, then this war would have long ended.
……what is happening?
『——as expected, he is acting, or maybe straight out lying to you? 』
It is unknown whether he is lying or not. However, there is no way a single mythology can send out until seven representatives.
『——if that"s the case, what is the meaning of this? 』
There are two possibilities.
The first possibility is that Leon is fighting against the enemy"s summons.
Freyja, who is known as the Queen of War Maiden (Lord of Valkyrie) did managed to summon down Brünhilde. I"m not surprised if there are others who have this summon-based skills too.
The other possibility is, instead of "annihilating" the enemy, the reality is Leon only manage to "repel" them away.
Repelling away the enemy can also be categorized as "defeat".
This is especially true for Leon, as his memories are kept in his memo pad.
Even if it carries the same meaning, if the subtle nuance is different, based on that we should be able to derive the right meaning.
However, if Leon who are equal if not better than Susanoo is fighting this guy nine times, this enemy who just wouldn"t drop dead is…….
One time, then, another time——there is a possibility that the enemy this time is an immortal.
Bálor. If a G.o.d with an immortality is incarnated on Earth, will their immortality persist?
『——nah. As for their physical ability, once they acquired the body, they are tied to that vessel. 』
In other words, even if they are a divine apotheosis, they will die if they get killed.
With that said, it"s highly possible the murderers that Leon encountered are one of the enemy"s witchcraft.
I keep on thinking, yet I"m unable to arrive to an answer.
Eventually, the mystery remains.
But, we have made a progress.
I"m doubtful till the end, but I do believe that Leon deserves credits.
The question remains whether the "murderer" that he said is real or not, but, rather than thinking about the legitimacy of his story, I should focus on the enemy"s ability.
I couldn"t ask anything more since Kunisaki and the others are present. There are other things that I like to ask, like his fight with Susanoo, however that might be caused by that girl asking him for a duel.
Looking at the characteristic of these two, that is most likely the outcome.
After we separated them both, Freyja mentioned how Leon quickly fled the scene.
In short, he was tailing the murderer who killed his cla.s.smate. He never intended to get seriously involved fighting the other G.o.d. There is no indication that he is going to exploit his power.
At least, there is low possibility for him to turn hostile against us.
For him, and also for myself, our ultimate objectives are not to win this Representative War.
A small relief spread inside me,
"Anyways, now that we know the murderer is active during night time, I hope everyone don"t go out wandering at night, okay?"
Leon cautioned us at the end.
Now that the talk has concluded, Kunisaki finally take out a large breath.
"Yeah, yeah, understood. I will do as what Leon says. Either way, it is a violation of the dorm rule anyways."
Kunisaki smiled and answered. Then he looks at me.
"Now that I think about it, you"re just 8 years old inside, right? Let"s have a talk over here."
So, I caught it in my ears.
Apparently, Kunisaki is more interested on the fact that he is a child from the past.
"Understood."
I replied to him sharply with a loud voice.
That is easier for me to think that way.
I smiled to Leon,
"If you have any trouble, please don"t hesitate to tell me. I will lend you my help."
I will pretend that whatever Leon said is just his delusion, for reasons.
This time, I"m the one who brings my mouth closer to Leon"s ear.
"……actually, I have the same special power as Leon, too. That"s why let"s catch the murderer together, okay?"
Leon was shocked to hear it, then his eyes shines.
"Is that the truth!? Raika kun, are you……"
"Sshh. That"s bad. Please keep this a secret, for my sake."
"Ops! I understand!"
Leon quickly close his mouth with his hand. Then, he shows me an "understood" pose.
Kunisaki who are unable to hear our secret interaction tilted his head sideways.
Suddenly, Leon hit his hands
"That"s right! I need to take our picture. I need to take a note as well."
"Sure. Right, Kunisaki."
"Well, that is a given. Right! Tenka chan? Ruirui chan?"
"Of course! Maria and the others too. H~ey!"
"Let me straighten my hair first."
Then, we all took pictures together with Leon.
Afterwards, he wrote some notes behind the pictures that was taken.
Perhaps he is making a bullet list on what kind of relationship he is having with each of us.
He wouldn"t show us what he wrote, but it looks like he is writing quite a long note behind the photo.
Am I being recognized by him as his friend for real?
If I"m able to bring him to my side, capturing Susanoo will not be far-fetched anymore.
Surely, this is the biggest harvest for me today.
"Now then, since the lunch time is ending soon, why don"t everyone clean up and prepare to go back to the cla.s.sroom?"
We clean up and leave the rooftop.
"Leon."
While we are going down the stairs, I latched to his ears once again.
"For some reason, Leon has always encountered the murderer. How did that happen?"
This is the last question that I have for him.
Hearing my question, Leon t.i.tled his head a bit,
"A hunch?"
So, he answered.
"Is that so."
Well, considering that he suffered from memory impairment, there is no reason I can get a clear answer from him.
Nonetheless, it"s hard to believe that he has encountered the murderer nine times solely on his intuition alone. This island isn"t that small.
Moreover, he mentioned that he has no pictures of the murderer.
In other word, he doesn"t recognize their faces.
Nevertheless, the only way he can recognize the murderer without fail is by being present there during the accident.
Coincidence?
I think not. It must be due to his special skill.
That skill must enable him to intuitively identify the whereabouts of all divine apotheosis on this island.
In term of information gathering, he is far superior than any other G.o.d.
Having him at my side is an advantage.
But, if by any chance he turns into an enemy……
I believe that he is trustworthy.
Still, I can"t shake off the possibility of his betrayal. Perhaps I"m being too harsh on him.
I thought about it while I went down the stairs with everyone.