located in this school.Unleashing five colors at the same time— the hydra in which five colors independently existed.
In other words, it was the false “Rainbow Color” he had boasted about in the past.
—That is why I won’t hesitate anymore.
Aiming at the monster before his eyes, Xins threw the gems he was gripping in his right hand.
It was simply a rapid stream of light, without shape or form. A light shining with the seven colors of the rainbow. All of the colors equally and harmoniously mixed together, into a color in a different dimension from the five Recitation Colors.
The flow of light was like a spear that pierced the hydra. The spear shot through the hydra’s body and flew out into the jet-black night. In the instant when it penetrated the infinitely wide black sea.
Black clouds split apart, giving rise to a radiance like the birth of a new world.
The whole world was enveloped in a flood of light, rainbow light that seemed to spread like what was foretold in the gospel—
Around the world, everyone closed their eyes at the dazzling light. It wasn’t simply because of the brightness. Everyone who saw the radiance realized that it wasn’t a blessing for them.
The light was only truly illuminating a single person.
It was for the sake of a girl who hadn’t basked in the sun even once.
“……Thank you.”
Only one person in the world, the Night-colored girl, continued to gaze at the light for eternity.
Part 4“……Is it over?”
When the radiance had finally ended, Kluele timidly opened her eyes.
The hydramonster’s figure had disappeared, as if it had never existed in the first place.
[It seems that it was skillfully sent back. Because it was originally an irregular existence, we shouldn’t worry about what happened to it afterward.]
Because the crisis was over for now, Kluele breathed out in relief, and turned her eyes to the boy who had fallen asleep with his back leaning against the railings on the roof. Although there had been such a commotion, he had a peaceful look on his face.
“And so, you should turn small as well. It’s tiring to have to look up at you.”
[It’s too troublesome. I’m fine staying like this.]
“Staying like this……”
After it had become dawn, support troops had come. If he continued to stay this enormous, he would undoubtedly cause a fuss.
[It’s fine. Before they catch a glimpse of me, I will have also disappeared.]
Disappear? No way, you—
She received no response. Keeping his mouth shut, Arma averted his eyes. More than anything, that gesture confirmed her premonition. ……Well, it can’t be helped.
“Fine. But I’ll stay with you until then.”
[……Don’t expect any thanks from me.]
As if he was embarra.s.sed, the True Spirit of Night turned his head away as he said that.
Gradually, the starlight in the eastern sky was concealed by the bright sun.
On the roof of the first-year school building.
Although she had come many times before, it was her first time spending the night here.
[It’s almost time……]
The lizard resting on her knees muttered. Before the sky had brightened, the Recited creature had already returned to the size that Kluele was used to.
“Is this farewell?”
[When a True Spirit completes its goal, it disappears. Even I have to follow such a rule.]
From the way he spoke, Kluele realized. This Recited creature had surely chosen to leave Neight of his own free will.
“Do you have anything you want to convey to Neight?”
[I have nothing that I want to convey. Although there are things I want to say, I can’t say them now.]
“I see.”
[I didn’t expect you to accept it that easily.]
Since Arma seemed to be playing dumb, Kluele replied in an ambiguous tone of voice.
“I just somehow understood.”
[……Well, that’s how it is.]
Seeming embarra.s.sed, he flapped his wings as if he was escaping.
“Hey, you Night-colored flying lizard.”
[……That again, even at the very end?]
Stopping the movement of his wings, the lizard that was called turned around. At his amazed voice, Kluele winked.
“Like that, you won’t forget me, right? The girl who called you a lizard until the very end.”
After a second of silence.
[What a clever idea. But there’s no meaning to it.]
Flapping his wings, his body rose into the air.
[Even without such a thing…… I won’t forget you.]
Leaving behind those words, the Night-colored Recited creature flew away.
“I wanted to talk with you for a bit longer…”
On the roof of the fourth-year school building, a coat flapped in the wind.
“I’m only accompanying you because it’s our reunion after so many days. Don’t you think that if we were to meet every day, there would be nothing to talk about?”
You’re still saying that even at the very end? Raising the collar of his coat, Xins secretly smiled.
“Even like that, I think we wouldn’t run out of topics to talk about.”
“Wouldn’t we?”
Gazing at the sun rising above the horizon, the shadow in the figure of a girl tilted its head.
For a little while, there was silence. Although they were about to part, he couldn’t find any words to say.
The sound of someone’s flapping wings broke the silence.
“Arma.”
The Night-colored lizard landed on the shoulder of the same-colored girl.
“Thanks, for a variety of things.”
[It wasn’t much. Anyways, it’s about time.]
After those words, the lizard’s figure was the first to disappear.
In the sunlight, the figure of the shadow-colored girl was the next to fade.
Even though it was the very end, the girl’s mouth was firmly shut. Why was she……
—I see.
Xins finally understood the girl’s intentions. She was waiting. Waiting for him to speak first.
……Really, you have such a bad habit. But it was also the same back then. In the cla.s.sroom at twilight, when we made the promise, I was always the one speaking.
“Hey, Evhemary.”
Silently, the girl waited for him to continue.
“I wonder if we’ll see each other again.”
“Someday, when Neight becomes capable of using First Scale Recitations.”
Gradually, the girl’s figure faded away. It melted in the sunlight, becoming faint. Both of her hands disappeared, the lower half of her body disappeared, and in the last moment before her whole body disappeared, the girl spoke teasingly.
“But I don’t know. Let’s think of this time as getting lucky. His one in a hundred chance came during the first time, that’s all. This may be the first and last time.”
The morning glow signifying the start of a new day approached.
She teased him even until the end. Before he could reply, the True Spirit that should have been before his eyes seemed to have completely faded.
But instead.
“I wonder why? Maybe I just want to tease you.”
The shadow-colored True Spirit disappeared, and there stood a girl with the same figure and voice; a girl who hadn’t changed at all since that time.
There stood the girl who had been crying in the cla.s.sroom at that time.
The girl he remembered.
The one difference was— the girl here right now was smiling.
“……Evhemary!”
“Bye bye, Xins. ……I’m sorry, I couldn’t say it even at the very end. I lo—”
The dawn shone behind her back. The girl tried to speak her last words.
Along with her words, she reached out her hands as if seeking for an embrace—
But— their bodies did not meet.
Before that, the girl became particles of the dawn’s light and faded away.
“……I don’t mind.”
Looking up at the sky, Xins hummed to himself. I don’t mind. I don’t need a goodbye.
“Because I will surely meet you again somewhere.”
The Rainbow Color Reciter looked at the place where the girl had stood.
Forever and ever, he hummed a Rainbow-colored song without lyrics or a melody.
He hoped that it would reach the girl who was somewhere far away.
Awarded Play: Dawn-Colored Song User
The school after a few days.
Looking out the window, the scenery still retained painful-looking scars from the events of a few days ago.
On the morning of the next day after that incident, in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the resources center that should have been forbidden to enter, the finding of a student who had lost consciousness resolved the situation.
The student seemed to confess to the majority of the incident, and was now transferred to a criminal inst.i.tution and receiving a formal interrogation. Thanks to the leadership of the Rainbow Color Reciter and the efforts of every teacher, the fact that there were no deaths was a piece of good luck among the misfortune.
“……But, that isn’t really something to smile at.”
Although there were no casualties, the one among the injured who most resembled the dead was herself.
Her left shoulder was very tightly wrapped in a bandage to the point of feeling uncomfortable. Touching the rock-solid knot with the fingertips of her right hand, Kluele heaved a large sigh. ……Really, how troublesome. Although the long-awaited summer vacation would start tomorrow, with this injury, she couldn’t play around.
The school seemed like it would use the long summer vacation to do repairs. Because of that, summer vacation began slightly earlier. Today was the last day before summer break that they needed to attend school, and was the closing ceremony.
“Kluele, good morning. You’re early today. What happened to morning practice?”
The tanned girl poked at the bandage.
“……Are you serious?”
“No, just saying.”
With a laugh, Ada jokingly ran away. The surprising thing was, like her other cla.s.smates, she didn’t receive much of a shock from the incident. Well, most of the students had immediately taken refuge in the first-year school building, so that could be the reason.
“Kluele, long time no see!”
“’Morning, Mio.”
It seemed that this girl hadn’t changed either.
“That’s right, listen! My dress from that time, when I went home and looked at it, there was a really huge hole in the knee. And even though I’d only worn it once…”
“As for me, my dress got stained with blood. ……Want to see?”
“Um…… No, I don’t need to see.”
Mio, who had unwisely imagined it, grimaced. But although the idle chatting had ended, the girl suddenly peered at Kluele’s face.
“—By the way, Kluele.”
“What is it? You seem so serious…”
“Although I was on the rooftop at that time, it was amazing. I saw the PhoenixDivine Bird of Dawn!”
“……Ehh. Isn"t that great for you then."
Although she tried to respond as calmly as she could, Kluele couldn’t help but avert her face.
“I mean, listen. That time, there was even a girl riding on it!”
“It was amazing, was it? I wish I’d seen it too.”
Imperceptibly, an evil look appeared in the girl’s eyes.
“……And, there was a bandage wrapped around that girl’s left shoulder.”
“Bandage? Maybe she was also injured?”
“She wore a white dress—”
“Mine was stained with blood, so it wasn’t white.”
“……I see.”
Noisily getting up from her chair, Mio smiled evilly while looking down.
“Kluele-san, do you insist on playing dumb?”
“What do you mean?”
That seemed to be the limit. Suddenly, Mio grabbed Kluele’s uniform and shook her back and forth.
“Wa-Wait! I’m still injured……”
“Aaah, that’s enough, stop it! Confess everything! What happened?!”
“W-Well, let’s talk later when I have more time.”
Seizing the opportunity, Kluele stood up from her seat. If the clock in the cla.s.sroom was right, there were still ten minutes until the closing ceremony would start.
“Ah, where are you running away to!”
“I have some things to do. If I don’t hurry, I won’t make it in time for the closing ceremony.”
Carrying a paper bag in her right hand, Kluele sneaked out of the cla.s.sroom.
She went from the third floor to the fourth floor. From the fourth floor, the stairs leading up were barricaded by a rope with a sign hanging from it that prohibited entry. Because the railings of the rooftop had been damaged, students were prohibited from entering until it had been fixed.
Ducking under the rope, Kluele went up to the roof. She opened the door leading to the rooftop. Just when she opened the door, the rising sun blinded her. She shaded her eyes with a hand to dim the sun’s light and walked slowly along the roof.
“Like I thought, you’re here.”
“……Kluele-san?”
The short boy with a still young-looking face gazed up at the sky with an empty look.
“Only your bag was in the cla.s.s, so I wondered where you were.”
“I just…… wanted to be lost in thought for a moment.”
“Thinking about something?”
“—Perhaps.”
Once again, the boy looked up at the sky.
“When I wake up, I don’t use an alarm clock. Arma doesn’t sleep, so he wakes me up every day…… But yesterday and the day before yesterday, Arma, who should have always been by my side, wasn’t there…… Kluele-san…… Did Arma really disappear?”
That voice sounded hoa.r.s.e, and at the same time, like it was crying.
“That’s right. Arma and the True Spirit you called out, both went back.”
Still with the posture of looking up at the sky, Neight closed his eyes.
After the True Spirit had completed its duty, it had disappeared. This young Reciter should have also known this. He had made the choice after acknowledging the fact. But it was still unbearable. It was so painful that it felt like his thoughts would tear apart his chest.
“I have nothing that I want to convey. Although there are things I want to say, I can’t say them now.”
At her quick speech, the boy before her opened his eyes, surprised.
“……Eh?”
“It’s a message from that lizard, addressed to you.”
“—Is there anything else?”
“Nope. That’s all.”
The dancing breeze overhead caused the unmoving Neight’s hair to sway.
“Do you get the meaning?”
With a completely confused face, the boy shook his head from side to side. Now then, what should she say? She thought about it for a few seconds. Instead of telling him the answer, Kluele held out the paper bag that had been waiting in her right hand.
“I’ll give this to you.”
“Eh…… T-To me?”
“There’s n.o.body else here but you.”
With a small smile, she forcefully placed the paper bag into the hands of her companion who acted as reserved as always.
You can open it, her gaze encouraged. From within the bag, the boy took out a cloak. At first glance it looked like a coat with a hood, but made to be looser.
“This— Is it a robe?!”
“It’s a present. Because your robe had become fairly dirty.”
A little bit of radiance returned to the grieving boy’s eyes.
“Thank you very much! ……Although it’s quite extravagant, isn’t it?”
It was a white-blue color. Kluele had chosen a pale blue color reminiscent of the dawn sky. Its vividness couldn’t be compared to the deep blue one he wore right now.
“Something this much is fine.”
Sure enough, the boy seemed embarra.s.sed to suddenly wear something of this color. But there was a reason why she chose this.
“Night Color Recitations are naturally a dark color, so I think wearing a refreshing color makes a pretty contrast— When someday, that Night-colored flying lizard rides on your shoulder again.”
“……Eh?”
Shocked, with the robe still waiting in his hands, Neight let out a sigh. Leaning her back against the railing, Kluele gently brushed Neight’s forehead with her fingertips.
“Although there are things I want to say, I can’t say them now. That was his message, right? In that case, you should call out that lizard again and listen to the things he wanted to say. If you don’t, you can’t help but be worried.”
“I should call out Arma….. again……?”
Slowly, as if like a baby, the boy repeated her words.
“The one who first called that guy out was your mother, right? This time, you should call him out yourself.”
The things that he wanted to say were as much as a mountain, and he couldn’t rely on people to pa.s.s on all those messages.
Therefore, for the sake of allowing him to say them, he would be called out once again.
‘The truth is, I just want to see him again’, but that perverse lizard would never directly say such a thing.
As evidence, that Night-colored flying lizard didn’t say anything similar to “goodbye” even until the very end.
“—Kluele-san, may I try this on?”
He put on the dawn-colored robe over his uniform. Although it was his first time wearing it, he felt a familiar feeling like he had worn the robe for many years already. With regards to both the material and the color, what a wonderful robe it was.
“Yeah. Not too bad. It suits you!”
At the moment when he wanted to express his grat.i.tude once again to the girl who sounded satisfied.
—It’s still slightly too big for you—
Was that a trick of the wind?
It was a voice that sounded like it was teasing, but was also familiar.
“……What’s wrong?”
“N-No, it’s nothing.”
Excitedly, Neight waved his hand. It seemed that only he had heard it.
Suddenly. This time it was real; the clear sound of the bell rang out. It was time for homeroom to start. In today’s case, it was a bell signaling the start of the closing ceremony.
“Well, let’s go, Neight.”
After saying that, the girl walked in the direction of the stairs. Nodding, Neight followed after her.
I see. That’s right.
Wait for me.
Wait for me, Arma. And you too, Mother.
Someday, definitely someday.
I will meet you two again.
“Hurry up, Neight, hurry up. The closing ceremony will start soon!”
The girl who descended the stairs one step in front of him raised her voice.
“Ah, I’m coming!”
Without looking back, Neight ran down from the roof.
It’s okay to not look back, right?
Because I will definitely meet you again!
On the empty rooftop.
—Arma, what’s wrong? You have a displeased look in your eyes—
—That little girl……—
—What’s wrong with Kluele-san? —
—My name certainly isn’t ‘that Night-colored flying lizard’……—
That faint murmur was not heard by anyone.
However, it was certainly carried over by the dawn-colored wind.
Afterword by Sazane KeiNo matter how closely you look at it, I seem like I’m singing a storyshowing off my tone of voice. Has it already been four years since I took on this pen name and started submitting my works?[1] I’ve thought up many stories during this time, and the fact that I can show everyone a work like this— Once again it makes me feel the meaning and mysterious power behind my name.
Nice to meet you, my name is Sazane Kei. Thank you very much for reading my work ‘Evhe Smiles at Dawn’.
Was it boring or interesting? Unsatisfactory or satisfying? I think there will be a variety of thoughts from everyone who has read it.
It reminds me of books and music.
I sometimes think there is nothing that divides people’s interests as much as those two. A friend may not be able to appreciate the music I like and I may not be able to appreciate the books that my friend recommends me. Everyone has probably experienced that at least once. (For me who is very picky, that is sadly an everyday occurrence.)
There isn’t an ultimate music that will be praised by everyone, nor is there an ultimate book. But because of that, there can be as many new books and pieces of music created as the number of people in this world. That’s how I feel.
……That’s right, there is surely no work that can be accepted by every single person. After all, everyone perceives things differently and this difference is what makes things amazing.
But even while I think like that—
I hope that this work can bring pleasure to many people, or even one person— The fact that I wish for this from the bottom of my heart is also an honest truth. ‘I’m glad I read this book.’ To this day, it’s been my dream to make someone think that.
And in the process of heading towards that dream, I have been supported by a great number of people.
Those who read over my rough draft. Everyone in the Fujimi editorial department who allowed my work to enter the final round.[2] And finally, the judges who chose my work as the honorable mention in the final round.
When I was revising the ma.n.u.script after winning the award, I was tru