"Mnn…" The first thing that reflects off of Sora"s eyes upon awakening is Laila"s sleeping face. "Uwaa! This girl"s still asleep? …She"s way too exhausted."
Sora, no longer restrained by Laila like the previous night, uses the opening to slip out of bed. He stretches with a big, "Mnn~~~" He slept a bit deeper than usual. I get the feeling I had an important dream… oh?
For some reason, a piece of paper is on top of the round table in the center of the room. Sora picks it up out of curiosity. This—
Getting in the way of your cuddling didn"t feel right, so I didn"t wake you up! I"m such a thoughtful guy! Hahaha
Mn~, there"s all kinds of things I want to say about this. I suppose I"m grateful for not being woken up. I had restful night. More importantly, how long"s this girl going to sleep?
This is so annoying… At this rate, I wonder if she"ll enter the eternal sleep.
—kon kon
Someone knocks on the door. Sora opens it while wondering, Who"s that?
Lydia is outside with a somewhat proud look on her face. In her hands is a bag. She says, "Here it is, your luggage."
"Ahh, thanks… you found me really fast."
"That"s because I"m the board chairman."
That"s not a good reason. What? Am I being watched or something?
Sora accepts his luggage and tries to close the door while saying, "…Cool, later." Lydia stops him from shutting her out by sticking her foot between the door and its frame. He says, "What is this? Are you some sort of over aggressive door to door salesman?"
"What are you… How"s slave-chan?"
"Yeah, she"s was bit too energetic, so she" right sleeping now. Also, don"t call her a slave. Her name is Laila."
"Got it, by the way, have you gone to cla.s.s yet?"
"Oh, yeah, no worries. I will properly turn in my hour."
"I see, will you be taking Laila-chan with you?"
"I"m going to let her choose."
Lydia says, "Really? Well, be careful. Juggling various things is difficult." She then separates from the door and leaves.
Sora sets his bag atop of the round table while musing over the board chairman"s words. I"m juggling various things? Yeah, I guess I am. But I"ll hit her if she says strange things about Laila.
Sora is organizing his belongings when, from behind him, comes a distracting, "Mnnaah~~~"
Laila says, "Mnn… Morning, husband."
"What, you"ve woken up? Darn."
"My, my. My husband is a shy-san."
What is she going on about? Did she lose it from sleeping too much?
Sora says, "Anyway, I"m going to school after this. What ar-"
"I"ll go."
"Haa, an immediate reply. Then, once we finish, let"s go."
–n.o.bel Diamond, n.o.bel Diamond, we"ll sing until you"re here–
Sora and Laila head for the cla.s.sroom once they finish their preparations. They don"t pa.s.s anyone since cla.s.s is currently in session. Laila is unable to calm down as she looks around, kyoro kyoro. Her restlessness annoys Sora and he says, "I won"t take you if you don"t calm down." She then follows behind him without a word.
The current lesson ends just as they reach the cla.s.sroom. The teacher emerges from the room and Sora bows as they pa.s.s one another.
Yami notices Sora before anyone else. "Masta!" She dashes up to him while saying, "Welcome back."
Sora pats Yami"s head, pofu pofu, while saying, "Yeah."
Asia says, "Welcome back, desu no~"
Shiloh says, "Welcome back!"
Ray says, "We- Welcome back."
Sura also greets him. She bounces in place as if saying, "Welcome back."
Yami says, "Masta, who"s that girl?"
"Ah, she"s-"
"I am husband"s faithful slave, Laila=Dragonica."
Everyone in the cla.s.s tilts their head at Laila"s introduction. Since she can only speak in the unique, Dragon Newt language, no one understood her.
Sora continues despite Laila"s interruption. "She"s, well, she"s kinda… my slave, but I treat her like a person."
Asia says, "Wait, a slave, desu no!?"
"Masta…"
Uwa… everyone is giving me weird looks. Looks like I need to explain this in detail.
–n.o.bel Diamond, where art thou, n.o.bel Diamond–
Sora gives a detailed explanation and everyone consents to his actions.
Shiloh says, "So that"s what happened? I guess you really are a good person."
Sora says, "Really?"
Ray says, "I- I also think you"re a good person."
Yami, however, is displeased. She fumes, pun pun, as she says, "Masta is a pervert."
"Haa? What"d I do…" Sora takes a breath and says, "Yami, I"ll play with you later, so cheer up."
"Okay!"
She"s such a pure girl.
Sora says, "Alright…" He then glances towards the wall and sees a large poster. Written in large letters is The Sparring Tournament. "By the way, what"s that?"
Asia says, "It"s a sparing tournament where you use all your strength to defeat you enemies in one by one battles, desu no."
A sparring tournament… That doesn"t sound all that interesting, but I am free. Maybe I"ll give it a whirl?
"So, when is it?"
"Tomorrow, desu no."
Tomorrow? How fast. Wait, tomorrow… I feel like I"m forgetting something. Well, no problem.
Sora says, "Is partic.i.p.ation mandatory?"
"It is, desu no."
"I see."
The lesson that follows is boring. Sora copes by poking Sura through the entire lecture while thinking about tomorrow"s tournament. Mandatory partic.i.p.ation means smooth sailing with no registration. Looks like I"ll be having some fun. I wonder how everyone here is like.
The moment cla.s.s ends, he turns to Shiloh and says, "So, when do we find out who our opponent is?"
"Your opponent? They already announced that this morning. Etto, you"re facing the 3rd year, Chloe-senpai."
A third year? Are opponents randomly selected with no regard to year?
Sora says, "What kind of person is Kuro-chan[1]?"
"Kuro-chan… Let that person hear you say that and you"ll be killed. Chloe-senpai is the student council president and ranks as 12th in terms of strength at this academy."
The student council president? I see, schools in this world also have proper student councils. And this guy just happens to be 12th… What"s with this match up? Am I lucky or unlucky?
Sora says, "By the way, who"s your opponent, Shiloh?"
Shiloh"s smiling face grimaces.
Ahre? Did I say something wrong? Or is her opponent that bad?
Shiloh says, "…Sora-san, do you know why we"re called, "drop outs"?"
"Eh?"
I"m pretty sure it isn"t just these guys who are falling behind. Aren"t all the students at this school useless? Well, nothing wrong with that. These guys can wield magic… or is that all they can do?
Sora says, "Because you"re useless."
"Fugi.[2] Sora-san, please don"t say that with such a serious expression."
What was with that fugi?
Sora says, "Was I wrong? Then, why?"
"You probably don"t know because you came to this school with the broad chairman-sama"s recommendation, but initially, students need to go through various exams upon enrolling. It"s a simple test where you just need to strike the examiner… We couldn"t just not hit him, we couldn"t even move."
"How come?"
"…I was scared. I can attack monsters without any mercy, but it"s different with humanoids. What if I hurt my opponent? Or worse, I might kill the person."
…So that"s it. That"s completely natural, these guys are only 15 or 16. I lost those feelings after meeting Elias, but if it were the previous me, I doubt I"d even be able to fight against a monster.
Sora says, "Therefore, all three of you got 0"s and ended up in this cla.s.s."
"…Yep."
"I see, in that case, can"t you just withdraw from tomorrow"s sparring tournament?"
Their opponents will be pupils of this academy, in other words, humanoids. Not opponents any of them can face.
Shiloh says, "Yes… we"re going on a field trip."
"Really?"
It"s better than embarra.s.sing themselves, but is that really for the best? They"re going to end up in real trouble one day if this keeps up.
–n.o.bel Diamond is not here–
Sora completes his hour"s worth of cla.s.s and, with Sura on his shoulder, gets up to return to the dorm. He tries to wake up Laila who"s sleeping in the back, but all she says is, "Mnn~"
Haa, just how many hours does she sleep a day? It can"t be helped, I"ll carry her on my back.
"Yosh."
Sura loses her spot and scurries up onto Sora"s head.
Sora pays no mind that Yami cries out in displeasure, odd, and returns to his dorm. He tosses Laila onto his bed, but she continues sleeping. "Should I sleep some more too?"
Naps are important.
He pushes Laila to the side of the bed next to the wall and lays down with Sura.
–n.o.bel Diamond is still not here, try again later–
Sora says, "Mn…."
Jin is in the room, grinning, niya niya, at Sora as he wakes up. "Oh, Morning."
"Mor-ning." Sora wants to follow up with various comments about the letter on the table, but that"s too troublesome.
"By the way, did you go to cla.s.s today?"
"Yeah, for an hour."
"Seriously? Then, did you hear about the sparring matches?"
"Yeah, I heard. Who are you facing?"
"Oh, great, you heard. I"m facing a third year, vice-president-sama."
"Eh~ the vice-president? What a coincidence. I"m also facing a member of the student council."
"Ooh! Who?"
"Kuro-chan."
"Kuro…? You mean Chloe-senpai? Don"t let that person hear you say those words. Still, the student council president of all people, how unlucky."
Jin said the same thing. I guess I should stop using Kuro-chan.
Sora says, "That strong?"
"Yeah, extraordinarily so."
An extraordinary amount of strength…?
Sora says, "Strong as in, stronger than Lydia?"
Lydia is an S rank just like me. If Kuro-chan is also an S rank, then I might just have a bit of fun.
Jin says, "Lydia? Ah, you mean the board chairman-sama. No matter how strong I say Chloe-senpai is, victory against the board chairman is impossible."
"Really, then this is boring."
"? What d"you mean?"
I can"t have any fun if Lydia is stronger. This is too boring!
"…nothing."
–Again? n.o.bel Diamond isn"t here!"–
Jin wakes Sora up the following morning and takes him to the grounds for the sparring tournament. Laila, who is still sleeping like a log, is left behind. Sura is placed in charge of making sure nothing strange happens.
Sora thought they"d be using an academy venue, but they"re actually in the center of town. He and Jin are on the 3rd floor of an examination hall exactly like the one where he faced John. For now, they"re spectating. Their matches will be in the second half.
A joyful announcement is followed by a loud bell to signify the beginning of the sparring tournament. Two people clash swords in one battle, a sword strike is repelled through an ingenious use of magic in another, and various other styles follow afterwards. During the middle of all those battles, one student instant kills several people[3] with an overwhelming burst of magic. According to Jin, that person is a member of the student council.
Sora"s eyes glaze over like a boke"s. Yami stepped onto the field.
Oh, it"s Yami"s turn?
Sora says, "Do your best, Yami!" She turns towards him upon hearing his loud voice. Good job.[4]
She"s facing Dolinas[5]. What kind of name is that?
Sora says, "Hey, Jin, is Dolinas strong?"
"Yeah, that person is also a member of the student council."
"Is everyone on the student council strong? Well, Yami"s stronger."
"Haa? What are you—"
—Dogaaan
Some sort of amazing noise is followed by gasps of surprise.
Jin says, "Hey, hey, no way that happened."
"Like I said, Yami is strong."
Jet black flames surround Yami while Dolinas lies at the bottom of a crater. Yami, you"ve gotten even stronger.
—Uwooooooooooooooo!
Yami remains expressionless as she returns to the waiting area despite the thundering cheers.
Jin says, "Your imouto is incredible."
"Fuu, obviously." Sora gives Jin a light wave as he looks towards the center of the arena. "Well, I"m up, later."
"Yeah, get out there and do your best!"
His opponent is already in the arena and is waving to the audience. That black haired, twin tailed, beast eared, almond eyed person is Kuro-chan?
Once Sora reaches the field, that person says, "Ohh, you"ve come. You"re[6] Sora-kun, right? I"m Chloe, the student council president."
A bokukko[7]?
"Nice to meet you, Kuro-chan. Ack."
The racket being made by the students disappears the moment Sora utters those words. From here and there, he hears, "What are you saying, baka!" and "Apologize before you get killed!"
Kuro-chan gives Sora a smile. "Fuu fufu, that"s some nerve." She"s smiling, but there"s a vein twitching, piku piku.
Sora says, "I probably don"t need to ask, but are you angry?"
Chloe continues to smile. "Do I look that short tempered?"
Do you look… you have a pretty smile, but your vein… I can totally see it.
—Go-n
Chloe attacks with earth shattering speed the moment the match begins and swings at him with the nails on her right hand. Sora dodges with nimble footwork,
But too late…
"Kuuuuuuuuu!"
Sora is sent flying away.
Kuro-chan got serious way faster than I thought she would. But that"s it…? I don"t even have to use [Reinforcement Body]. Is this girl seriously the 12th strongest at this academy? More than that, she"s been using the same attack over and over again.
Kuro-chan stops attacking as she says, "What is this!!"
"You"re wondering, "Why"s it hurt me when I"m hitting you!"?"
"It hurts me? You"re taking my attacks just for that!?"
Would there be any other reason? I"d have to be an M otherwise.
Sora says, "Pretty much."
"Why!?"
What"s this girl… What the? That serious Chloe feels like a complete different person than she just was. Are you plotting something? Is it an attack that takes time to prepare? In that case, I should take a small precaution.
"Remember what you just said…?"
"Something about it hurting…"
What is she trying to say?
The ground cracks under Chloe"s feet as she says, "—Then, I"ll use an attack that won"t hurt!"
"Uh!?"
So you are plotting something. Sora leaps to the side. Well, something like this is easy to avoid— uh! He leaps right into where Chloe"s attack lands.
Chloe says, "Hahaha, got ya!" She then pulls out an enormous sword from somewhere and swings.
That"s dangerous.
Sora says, "Dwell in my fist, [Darkness Sorcery]." Jet black flames envelop his fist as he reacts with an impossible speed and punches the large sword. The flames envelop the sword and change it into rubbish in an instant.
Chloe"s balance is wrecked as her attack fails. Sora then hardens his heart into that of an oni"s as they pa.s.s one another. He needs to so he can drive his jet black, flaming, fist into the stomach of a girl.
Kuro-chan coughs out blood, "Guu…." as she falls to the ground.
—Batan
—……Uwooooooooooooooooo!
The outrageous cheering somewhat embarra.s.ses Sora. He"s honestly surprised by it. I could go without any of this… He returns to his seat, growing more bashful from cheering as he progresses.
Sora runs into Jin midway back and they exchange high fives. "Go get"em, Jin."
"Yeah! I"m gonna pierce straight through to victory!"
Jin steps onto the middle of the arena—
—Dogoooooon!
A ridiculous sound and shockwave blast forth.
T/N: Poor Jin! This must be the rice-president"s revenge for Kuro-chan. Speaking of Kuro-chan, her naming switching between that and Chloe was inconsistent within the chapter. Yes, I said rice-president. Whenever I hear the word vice-president, I want to follow up with "rice president." Now, about Sora"s fight, Elias must have influenced Sora more than I thought. I"m not saying this because he somewhat admitted to it during cla.s.s. I"m saying it because he"s totally letting someone hit him the same way she did. One more thing, does anyone feel as though Lydia-chan and Maou-chan are a bit similar??
-Gandire Alea
[1] Chloe is spelled ku ro ri, hence kuro. That said, kuro means black.
[2] The kana reads ふぎぅ. In kanji, it can mean injustice, adultery, or murdering one"s teacher or government official. A different kanji composition reads debatable. Personally, I think it"s just a sound effect, the kind you make when someone says something that makes you cough blood.
[3] They were talking about individual opponents earlier, but now it became a free for all.
[4] The actual kana reads グチョブ をしてくれた. The proper way to spell "good job" is グッジョブ. I"m a.s.suming this is a vernacular variation, but I could be wrong
[5] ドリナス
[6] Kuro-chan says Kimi
[7] Bokukko is a girl who refers to herself with the masculine "I" p.r.o.noun, Boku
2.8 Vera and Sora>>