No Game No Life
Vol 5 Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Fail
Part 1
At the same time – within the capital of Elkia, inside the late
king’s library.
“…Kou…Steph-kou, I’m hungry, des.”
Steph slowly regained consciousness as she was being
violently shook by someone.
She who was originally slumped onto a table and drooling
suddenly stood up and frantically surveyed her surroundings.
“- Eh!? Huh? Strange, when did I fall asleep!?”
“You fell face-first onto the table immediately after you
finished eating, des. I thought you were dead, des.”
- So she apparently had eaten her meal and filled her stomach
then – 「Fainted」.
“W-what time is it now…?”
Steph folded up the coat – that was apparently placed there by
Izuna – on her back, and asked sleepily.
After which she heard a cute rumbling sound.
Izuna placed a hand on her stomach, then looked up at Steph
and said sincerely:
“About six hours after you ate, des.”
“…What a cute clock.”
The last time they ate was about two-o-clock at night – which
meant it was morning now?
There were no windows in the library so the sun couldn’t get
in, but by then the streets were probably beginning to fill up
with activity.
“Steph-kou, Steph-kou, let’s eat, des.”
Izuna dragged one of Steph’s sleeves and requested for food,
while Steph replied:
“Ah…you’re right…so I’ll make breakfast then…huh?”
Suddenly Steph spotted a huge pile of books next to where
Izuna was sitting.
“Izuna, what is that?”
“…? Aren’t they books, des.”
“No, that’s not what I meant – why are they there?”
“…Obviously because I read them, des.”
“- Huh? I thought Izuna can’t read the Imanity language…!?”
“I said that I would learn it, des. So I learnt it, des.”
It can’t be – Steph’s eyes widened.
Steph had pa.s.sed her a book containing games comparing the
Werebeast and Imanity languages – a textbook for the
Werebeast language.
Relying on that book alone, she learnt the Imanity language
while she herself was sleeping, and even read such a large
amount of books -?
- She was terrible at anything other than games, so conversely,
as long as it’s a game –
Upon realizing that she not only had learnt the language in
such a short span of time, but also that she had read even more
books than she did, Steph’s hairs couldn’t help but stiffen in
shock.
“…No wonder she’s always so close to Sora and s.h.i.+ro.”
Sora and s.h.i.+ro had made her forget this fact, and now Steph
recalled it.
Hatsuse Izuna, this child, this Werebeast girl that was even
younger than s.h.i.+ro.
- She competed against Kuuhaku「」, and even lost only by a
tiny bit, so her skills were definitely the real thing.
However…
“…Izuna, when was the last time you slept?”
“…Huh? …I-I ate five meals, so… hmm~… des?”
Izuna started counting with her fingers, then suddenly appeared
confused.
Black heavy eyebags were gathering underneath her eyes,
which meant that she hadn’t slept for quite a period of time.
- Upon closer thought, that was reasonable.
Even if it was the「Real thing」, it couldn’t just come
naturally.
Izuna had struggled without sleeping to – learn the Imanity
language, and she had read this many books as well.
“…Sorry, Izuna, I’m the only one who slept.”
“Steph-kou, it’s fine, des. A piece of trash is a piece of trash
after all, if it wants to sleep it sleeps, des.”
Steph smiled at Izuna’s overexerting manner.
She had found a sliver of hope amongst this never-ending
a.s.signment and Steph patted her own cheeks to wake herself
up.
Anyway, she had to prepare a meal, and then – just as she was
exiting the library –
“…? Izuna, in what order are you reading these books?”
She realized the books on the floor were probably selected for
some reason or other.
“I selected the ones that have a nice smell, des.”
- Izuna said this incomprehensible statement with a matter-offact
expression on her face.
Suddenly, Steph became interested in the t.i.tles of the books on
the floor, so she held one up for a look.
Because they were – books related to where Sora and s.h.i.+ro
currently were.
“-「The Flügel, the weapons of a dead Master」… why are
you reading this?”
Steph recited the words written in the writing of her
grandfather – the late king.
Izuna sniffed it and replied:
“There’s the smell of Sora and s.h.i.+ro on it, des. They read it
about a month ago, des.”
“Those two read this…?”
- On the beach after their return from Oceande.
Sora announced that he would proceed to Avant Heim and
acquire three races.
As for the methods he would use – as usual – Steph never
heard him mention them. She flipped open the book.
A month ago – which means, they read it before they attacked
the Eastern Federation –
Steph read the contents of the book that were, as for all the
other in the books in this room, written by her grandfather.
「The Flügel – in the ancient great war, they were a G.o.dkilling
species created by the 【G.o.d of War Artosh】 -」
「The Flügel – they don’t gather knowledge due to their own
interests.」
Those were records gathered by her grandfather – the late king
from his observations of the Flügel.
Which means, they were observations of Jibril, at least they
should be… but…
「Those are actions for them to survive – no, for them to not
die.」
In Steph’s mind’s eye, that hard to understand person appeared.
「Living weapons of a deceased Master… They are just empty
walking slabs of meat.」
She recalled that person with the smile that seemed to hide her
emotions, the person that would do anything for her curiosity
and her Masters, the person that could be gung-ho at times.
「The reason why they’re living, no, what is the evidence to
deduce as to why they’re still alive?」
- Why?
The Jibril in her grandfather’s observations was completely
different from the Jibril she knew.
This apprehension caused Steph to stop unconsciously merely
after reading a few pages, and she slipped into deep thought.
…Sora and s.h.i.+ro had proceeded to Avant Heim after reading
this book.
What were those two thinking –
“Steph-kou, now’s probably not the time to be reading that,
des.”
“Huh? Ah, right, yes.”
What was important wasn’t the Flügel, but information
regarding the Seirenes – Steph rallied herself.
At this time, the grumbling noise started again.
“We should eat now, des.”
Izuna spoke with a fire burning in her eyes.
Steph smiled bitterly, and as she placed the book back on the
shelf – possibly due to overwork, she felt dizzy.
“Ah…”
The books began to fall off from the shelf she had placed them
on.
The books they had read and the ones they haven’t would be
mixed together – as she was about to collapse and begin crying
–
- A gust of wind blew past her.
That was the limit of what she could detect, as it was a speed
that Steph couldn’t react to.
Izuna sped from the door in an instant to the corner of the
room, and in her mouth – was a single book.
“…? What is this, des?”
“…I-Isn’t that my question? What’s up with you.”
Ignoring Steph who was widening her eyes in surprise, Izuna
curiously sniffed the book in her mouth.
“This is the smell of fish, des…? No, des…ah!”
She uninterestedly threw away the book and said:
“This book smells of Seiren, des. I can’t eat this, des.”
- In an instant, a lamp turned on within Steph’s muddled brain.
Regarding the order of the books she read earlier, Izuna said
she read them according to how nice they smelled.
Why did she select the books Sora and s.h.i.+ro had read – no, the
real question was –
“W-why does my Grandpa’s books smell of Seiren?”
“Who knows, des. Maybe a Seiren touched it, or maybe
someone who touched a Seiren touched this book as well, des.”
Izuna spoke with her head tilted slightly.
“Is it Sora or s.h.i.+ro… or us!?”
“…? No, des. All the books here smell like an old man, des.”
It wasn’t Steph’s smell, nor was it Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s smell.
Speaking of which, since Sora and the others went to Oceande,
they shouldn’t have been here – so -!?
“D-do you know when this person touched the books?”
Steph asked while leaning forward, while Izuna began counting
on her fingers once more with difficulty and replied:
“Not enough fingers, des.”
- However that was enough to conclude that that smell was
from more than ten years ago.
“…W-wait a moment, how can you tell?”
“Doesn’t Steph-kou know, des? There’s a smell left behind,
des.”
Who would know that sort of weird thing, although she yelled
this to herself, but – the riddle was solved.
The reason why Sora wanted Izuna to help, and the reason why
she chose the books Sora and s.h.i.+ro had read, and – all this
proved that ten years ago her grandfather came into contact
with the Seirenes!
Now all that was left was –!
“Can you find the books written after that?”
Izuna sniffed about then tilted her head and said:
“…The smell is weak, des. But if I try extra hard… I can
probably do it, des.”
- The world was filled with light.
If so, their search range would be narrowed significantly!
“Really now~ if you had that sort of convenient ability you
should have used it earlier-aaaah but thank you-aaaaaahhhh
finally found the exit from h.e.l.l –“
Steph hugged Izuna in a sudden burst of emotion and began
petting her non-stop, however Izuna jumped back all of a
sudden.
“- Uuuuuugghhhhhhhh!!”
Her hair stood up as if she was going to bite at any time, and
she hissed at Steph.
“Eh? U-um…s-sorry, did I do something wrong?”
“…Steph-kou, your petting skills are horrible, des!”
Steph surveyed her surroundings in panic as she noticed that
Izuna was still on full alert.
What she saw was –
“Ah, r-right, t-this is for you, can you please forgive me?”
“- What is that, des?”
“I-it’s a biscuit I made for myself, h-here.”
Steph ate one to prove to her that they were safe to eat – and
then she nervously pa.s.sed some to her.
Izuna sniffed the biscuits she pa.s.sed her.
“…Not bad, des. But I want to eat rice, des. And fish, des.”
- She took a biscuit in her mouth, and her mood instantly
turned better.
Izuna shook her bushy tail like a hamster and began gnawing
on the biscuit.
“Ah, s-so I’ll go make food! Grilled fish, steamed fish,
sas.h.i.+mi… which would you –“
“All, des.”
“Huh?”
“All, des.”
Izuna began drooling with a longing expression on her face,
and Steph –
“~Fine then! I have a reliable companion now anyway, so I’ll
do my best to prepare all the fish dishes I know how to!! In the
meantime, could you please search for all the books my
grandfather wrote around that period!?”
“OK, des!”
Izuna stood up after answering energetically.
Finally, she saw the exit! As Steph was about to exit the
library, behind her –She heard an explosion.
“What?”
- The reason why Steph knew it was the sound of Izuna
breaking the sound barrier was because –
It was because her heart uttered a low roar, and began beating
so fast that it seemed it would burst from her body. She held
almost ten books in her hands, and her shoulders rose and fell
along with her breathing – Izuna who was dyed completely
blood-red from using「Blood Devastation」, reported her
status.
“- Hah, hah – I found all of them, des -! Is the fish not
prepared yet? Des!”
…If she tried really hard…she could probably do it.
Izuna did try really hard as she had announced earlier.
- She had tried hard enough to challenge the laws of physics,
and she had used her physical abilities to overcome those very
laws…
She saw Izuna with her blood vessels bulging, with her mouth
drooling and her eyes having the gaze of a predator looking at
its prey –
“…C-could you please help me go out and get groceries?”
Steph chose「Delaying tactics」…
Part 2
- On top of Avant Heim that was engulfed in the night sky.
Only the faint glows emitted from the cubes and the moonlight
itself lit up the scenery of countless cubes scattered about.
Sora and others flew about shakily and clumsily in that scenery
itself – no, they floated.
“U-um…can we really win…?”
“Please don’t talk to me right now, you’ll mess up my
concentration!”
“…Nii…like this…a bit more…”
They looked as if they would fall and crash at a single mistake,
appearing extremely dangerous.
Plum who was connecting the two as their wings mumbled to
herself upon seeing their antics:
“T-the opponent are the Flügel! Even if you borrow my
power, um, both of you have never flew before…it’s
impossible to contest against the Flügel in speed…”
Sora’s tone remained relaxed even despite struggling to control
his wings.
“Relax, it’s definitely an advantage to be able to run away fast
in a game of red light, green light – but it won’t guarantee you
victory.”
“That’s true…but even if so…”
Plum in scarf form sighed upon looking at them.
- The Flügel, even disregarding their ability to teleport, their
existence itself was already defying all laws of physics.
Although Plum had never seen any of them flying at full speed,
she could easily imagine it from their physical ability.
If they used their full strength – don’t even mention the speed
of sound, they might even be able to travel faster than that.
Even though red light, green light wasn’t a contest of speed, it
would be impossible for a turtle to race against a horse anyway.
No matter what, with their cra.s.s flying skills –
To achieve victory – wouldn’t be -?
“…Huh? S-strange?”
As Plum thought to herself, she felt a sudden sense of
apprehension.
Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s posture as they flapped their wings had
stabilized and she hadn’t noticed.
Their speed began increasing slowly, and the scarf – the winds
attacking Plum became stronger.
“…Um, why did you want me to allow each one of you to
control one wing?”
Plum asked them this as she suddenly remembered.
The siblings had in an instant slowly changed the wings she
had woven for them to their own wings.
They looked at each other and smiled.
“Of course – because if we didn’t do so, our victory wouldn’t
be guaranteed.”
Conversely, if they were to do it they would definitely win, and
they both said this while holding each other’s hands.
- As long as our hands are holding onto each other.
- We won’t lose to anyone.
Part 3
Empty-sh.e.l.led weapons – merely objects – merely puppets –
the Flügel.
They were originally tools created by their master to
exterminate G.o.ds.
But it has been over six thousand years since they lost their
master – why does the Flügel race continue to exist?
In order to search for that 「Answer」, they had roamed about
with Avant Heim for an extremely long period of time until
today.
And – Jibril who had left alone herself but had returned just as
suddenly – seemed to have changed visibly.
It was just as if…yes – it was as if she had found the
「Answer」.
…
Azrael used her hands to cup her cheeks and looked up at the
night sky.
In concurrence with Sora’s conditions, on the balcony earlier –
the hundred Flügel that had been waiting there for five minutes
were looking in the same direction as well.
The images that appeared in the night sky – Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s
figures.
“…Jii-chan, the final order that Artosh-sama ever gave me –
if there’s anyone who can find the 「Answer」, I believe it
can only be the「Final Unit」 Jii-chan, nyan.”
“…”
- She had a reason for that.
However that wasn’t the real question, and Azrael continued
with that very question in mind.
“If Jii-chan’s 「Answer」 was implanted in your head
through the Pledges by the Imanity –“
- They had discussed the matter in their native Flügel language
so as to not allow Sora and s.h.i.+ro to know what was going on.
As though attempting to warn her again, Azrael smiled a smile
so fake that it made it look like she was wearing a mask, and
she said to Jibril:
“I will use my 「Special Right」- you do know what this
means right?”
“Yes, but -! Only stupid people ask questions to which they
already know the answers! Senpai.”
Upon hearing these words, the Flügel that were looking up into
the night sky suddenly tensed up, making the atmosphere much
heavier in an instant.
- The 「Representative of the Winged」- the head of the
「Council of Eighteen Wings」, Azrael –
The only special right Azrael possessed for not being the full
representative of the Flügel was…
It was something that was agreed over six thousand years ago
with an unanimous decision from everyone.
“-「The right to order all the Flügel to commit suicide」...is
there something wrong?”
Azrael’s gaze sharpened instantly at Jibril’s dismissive tone.
“It was a right originally created by Azrael-senpai while we
were still discovering our purpose to continue living after our
master was killed in order to prevent us from committing
suicide, so if you think that we have no reason to continue to
exist – please feel free.”
At this point the emotion that swept through the crowd was not
fear – the Flügel did not fear death in the first place.
They were a race created as weapons, so to them death would
even be considered an honour.
Despite this, the reasons why the partic.i.p.ants felt tense was
because they were 「Antic.i.p.ating」.
- For something to start, or possibly for something to end.
That was the only difference, but –
Everyone only felt antic.i.p.ation at that sort of prediction.
“…It’s good that you know-nyan…”
While the only one present that didn’t seem to understand what
had happened was Azrael.
Jibril looked at her somewhat disappointedly upon realizing so.
- Her gaze slowly corroded Azrael.
“Azrael-senpai, you of all people should know, we – the
Flügel have a very basic misunderstanding.”
- Sora and the others didn’t know.
But it was because Jibril had met them – after which she had
changed significantly.
Before losing to Sora and the others, Jibril – even if she was
the type to act immediately after something went amiss, she
was pretty much the same as Azrael.
Turning the unknown into known – that was the only thing that
was meaningful to her.
She had to reverse the unknown, and there was no ulterior
motive behind it, all she meant was – it was an 「Enemy」 she
had to exterminate.
Jibril was probably hungrier for combat than any other unit
against that 「Enemy」.
- However, her views changed on the very day she lost to Sora
and s.h.i.+ro.
“The knowledge that we spent thousands, tens of thousands of
years gathering was completely obliterated by the Masters who
have barely walked ten years upon this earth, and the meaning
behind this, the very significance of it – Senpai, you just don’t
understand.”
“…”
Her face was filled with a pa.s.sion that Azrael had never seen
before.
According to her memory, she had never seen Jibril do that, not
even to Artosh.
“It’s a perplexing feeling, even more intense than the pa.s.sion
of eliminating the unknown. It’s a way of life, continuously
reversing into unknowns that led me to follow my Masters by
my own will – it’s completely unrelated to the pledges.”
Azrael remained speechless at Jibril’s words.
Because to be honest, she had no idea what they meant.
Turning the known to unknown? – Wouldn’t that sort of thing
cause a person to feel horrified?
- But...
Maybe because they were moved by Jibril’s words…
Upon hearing her brief speech, the hundred Flügel that couldn’t
wait to get moving had a tint of excitement in their eyes – and
their wings trembled.
- Azrael couldn’t understand why that was, and she once again
cupped her cheeks with her hands.
At least that wasn’t the 「Answer」.
She looked up into the empty skies just like that – at the
clumsily flying pair.
“I know Azrael-senpai cares more than anyone about the
future of the Flügel, but –“
“…”
She glanced to the side, only to see Jibril with an expression of
utmost determination on her face, and she spoke in an almost
begging fas.h.i.+on:
“The answer you’re seeking for isn’t where you think it is.”
Part 4
“Hnnnnnnnnggg~……hnnnnnnnnnnnnngggg~~…. I-I’m at
my limit…too tiring, I wanna give up…”
“Hey, it’s not even been three minutes! Even Ultr*man[1] is
tougher than you, you know!?”
Plum (scarf form) was complaining since almost the very
beginning, while Sora provided her with words of
encouragement.
“I’m different from those Flügel monsters! Overcoming the
force of gravity and your weights combined is harder than both
of you can imagine!! I even have to lend you my wings as well
– please spare me –“
“If you’re gonna talk about sweat, I’ve sweated a lot already,
so you can lick it off for all I care!”
“For you two, how could I possible give up! – Right, let’s
continue on!!”
“You’ve completely ruined the atmosphere!!”
The sensation of his neck being licked sent an unpleasant tingle
down his spine.
The scarf that Plum was disguising as …
It was a disguise on her 「Physical appearance」, in order to
give others the impression that she was connecting Sora and
s.h.i.+ro in the form of a scarf.
The two ends of the scarf moved along with Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s
wills, and they served the same purposes as a pair of wings.
“Hey, to us this looks like a scarf with wings, but what does it
actually look like?”
“Lick…ah, how blissful ♥ - huh, what? Um~ I’m currently
hugging Sora-dono’s neck and licking it…and using my foot to
hook onto s.h.i.+ro -dono’s neck.”
“Heh, isn’t this a perverted way to fly!”
“…Nii, that joke was bad, you’re noisy…and it’s lame…”
“I was just saying, did you really have a need to go that
overboard!?”
A streak of tears flashed past Avant Heim’s night sky.
However Plum reb.u.t.ted impatiently:
“Let me make this clear, it’s the special right of the Elves to
cast multiple spells at once! A magic such as turning myself
into a flying scarf while allowing you both to fly at your own
will is extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemely worthy of praise, OK!!”
Plum uttered this extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeemly long sentence.
“Also, this is more tiring than I expected…if my supply of
energy gets cut, I’ll probably die within a few seconds.”
“…I’m surprised you’d agree with something this
dangerous.”
“Huh? Because if I do this I can lick Sora-dono’s neck to my
heart’s content…slurp~ delicious, delicious.”
“AHHHH! I’M TAKING THIS SCARF OFF RIGHT
NOW!!”
As Sora was considering ignoring the consequences and
stripping off the scarf altogether –
“…Nii, the time.”
Five minutes had pa.s.sed – Sora’s gaze sharpened upon hearing
s.h.i.+ro’s warning.
Which meant at this time, the Flügel that had a late start would
begin attempting to catch them.
“- Right, Plum, our lives are in your hands now, so don’t you
go running out of energy halfway!”
“No problem. Our fates are tied, so if I do run out of energy
halfway we’ll just die together at most.”
“We don’t need to think about that!! Let’s go already!”
As he said this, Sora and s.h.i.+ro immediately began flapping
their wings mightily and simultaneously – dropping their
alt.i.tude at once.
“Kyaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!”
They accelerated in that instant so quickly that even Plum had
to cry out.
The speed of their descent and the power of the wings caused
them to accelerate endless, and the strong winds rushed to meet
them –
As they were about to hit the ground – the back of Avant Heim,
they began flying laterally.
(They’re attempting to shake off our pursuers with the
momentum from our descent…probably.)
Plum didn’t say anything but merely thought to herself, after
which she grumbled: But –
A presence came up from behind, as the Flügel that had just
left were already catching up to them.
Sora and s.h.i.+ro really had completely mastered control over
their wings with an astounding speed.
But – no matter how they were to commandeer the wings
woven by Plum, they would still be unable to overcome the
laws of physics.
It was already a blessing that they could reach two hundred
kilometres per hour, however the Flügel on the other hand were
an existence that simply threw the laws of physics out of the
window.
(A-at this rate they’ll catch up to us in no time aaaahhhh what
do we do now!?)
Plum began yelling to herself, however Sora and s.h.i.+ro merely
turned around to look calmly –
“Four of them, no formation.”
“…Letters, one, three…”
“Direction, recover?”
“…One bottom of the wing 「ナ (na) 」…three left side of
stomach 「ア (a) 」.”
“- s.h.i.+ro three, let’s move!”
- They had a brief conversation which Plum completely
couldn’t understand, as they had completed their discussion
within a minute –
Huh? As Plum let out this curious expression, Sora and s.h.i.+ro
had already veered their courses slightly.
- In an instant.
“Hehe~ I’ll be the first~!”
“I’ll take that!”
As they expected, the five minutes of waiting time had meant
nothing to them, as two Flügel were already approaching.
Their hands closed in on Sora and s.h.i.+ro – but missed.
“”- Huh!?””
The two that were unable to catch Sora and s.h.i.+ro couldn’t
seem to comprehend how they managed to vanish from their
eyes in an instant, causing them to utter a confused
exclamation. At that time –
“”Ah!!””
- Behind them.
On the bottom of the wing and the left side of the stomach
respectively – the characters inscribed there were touched, and
both of them let out a gentle moan.
The other two behind them were slightly late and ended up
losing their quarry, and they began surveying their
surroundings frantically.
That was no surprise, as by then Sora and s.h.i.+ro were already
flying towards the connected cubes in a spiral pattern.
They darted and wove through the cracks – through the streets
of Avant Heim – towards the connected cubes.
The two 「Characters」 were already on their respective
hands.
“…Huh? Just now…what was that!?”
It happened in such a short instance that even Plum who was
wrapped around their necks couldn’t comprehend what had
happened.
On the other side of the disguising magic, Plum widened her
eyes in surprise, and Sora said to her:
“Barrel roll – isn’t this one of the basic techniques to avoid a
flying unit that is faster than you and is flying in a straight
direction?”
- As Sora and s.h.i.+ro noticed that they had company, they drew
them in as close as possible then slightly veered their course, in
order that among the four of them – the two inscribed with
characters would take the lead, and they merely had to turn
slightly.
And in the instant as they were about to be caught, they spread
their wings, and merely – rolled over in a diagonal fas.h.i.+on.
So, with their general direction remaining the same, Sora and
s.h.i.+ro decelerated as they spun spirals in the air. On the other
hand, the Flügel thought that Sora and s.h.i.+ro had simply
disappeared as they were too fast – simply speaking, they
merely 「Overshot」.
They were still unused to their wings, and they would never be
able to reach the speeds of that of a Flügel’s no matter how
hard they tried, so –
“Since we can’t control our wings we just have to stop in our
tracks, and for the Flügel who completely ignore aerodynamic
studies at the like – they are merely fighter planes flying along
a fixed path…”
“…Even if they know…they never bothered about it…”
Both of them smiled mischievously, and on their hands were
exactly what s.h.i.+ro had declared earlier – the characters 「ナ
(na) 」and「ア (a) 」 were swirling about there.
Plum was speechless, having just realized what had happened.
“…Don’t tell me – you memorized the positions of all the
characters!?”
Sora smiled bitterly and replied:
“Plum, are you underestimating my glorious sister?”
This sentence alone made even one such as Plum feel
pressured, and she shut her mouth.
“Anyway…s.h.i.+ro, the words we really need…you should
know them right?”
“Of course.”
“So we need to get hold of those people, also our opponents
aren’t exactly dimwits, so our aerial strategy won’t work all the
time.”
“…Mm, understood…”
- Get hold of. Those two declared that naturally as if it was
bound to happen, causing Plum to widen her eyes in shock.
They were clearly playing a game of red light, green light
against the Flügel, however they themselves acted as if they
were the pursuers.
Sora and s.h.i.+ro flew about in the city of Avant Heim just like
「Pa.s.sing through cracks」.
Part 5
- On the floor where only two people remained after the rest of
the Flügel had left.
Jibril and Azrael stood together and watched the events
unfolding in the air before them.
The feelings within Jibril’s chest – turned into 「Shock」
extremely quickly.
s.h.i.+ro had memorized all the characters and the people who
possessed them, and even where they were.
That was why they could pull off the avoid and recover
maneuver so flawlessly earlier – however, what shocked her
even more was that they knew the city like the back of their
hands, as they were flying about as if it was their own
backyard. Jibril couldn’t hide her shock at her two Masters.
The city of Avant Heim with countless cubes stacked up in
complex formations was lit up extremely dimly under the
moonlight in the surrounding darkness, however they could
still duck and weave throughout the s.p.a.ces between the cubes
like skilled weavers pa.s.sing threads through needles.
They were still lacking in speed, however in this case if their
pursuers were to go too fast they would lose them instead.
The narrow, dark alleyways and cracks that were formed
between the cubes –
Even the cracks that could barely fit a single person through
were easily overcome by the flying two, so if their pursuers
were to go too fast – if they were to let down their guard they
would crash into the cubes, leaving them a clear escape route.
(…They’re really something…but if so -)
There was one part she couldn’t explain, and Jibril began
questioning it.
Jibril couldn’t deny the fact that the Flügel as a race – did have
the tendency to achieve victory through brute force.
But despite this, they could still 「Coordinate」. If they
couldn’t, they wouldn’t deserve the right to be called
「Weapons」.
Even if they didn’t have 「Speed」 , they would switch to a
「Surrounding」 strategy – and –
“Huh!? Huh, why -!?”
A Flügel female uttered a lamenting cry, as they were all
standing guard by the crack Sora and the others flew into
which had only one exit – however both of them flew out
through a way they hadn’t expected.
Sora and s.h.i.+ro avoided their grasp easily.
They had only caught an extremely short glimpse of the map,
and they had gotten such a deep understanding of the entire
city (Avant Heim) within that period of time?
- Impossible. If it was one of the Masters – s.h.i.+ro, there was a
possibility that she could memorize the map within seconds.
However the city was built from various, countless complexly
stacked cubes of different structures and heights, so it would be
impossible to truly master the alleyways and shortcuts of the
city with the map alone, if so how did they do it –
Just like that, even Jibril who was observing them for the
longest time finally realized that she suspected her own
explanation more than anyone else.
Part 6
(Huh? Y-you’re joking right?)
Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s tightly interlocked hands – Plum saw that
their fingers were moving about intricately.
Plum was resisting the urge to moan pitifully as hard as she
could since earlier, and as for her theory behind how those two
could duck and weave between all those narrow caves and
alleyways – it could even be called fallacy – and this fact made
Plum so shocked she was unable to say a word.
Which meant, possibly, probably, although somewhat
unbelievable – it could be the case.
s.h.i.+ro would fly along the streets according to her memory, and
confirm the average size of the cubes.
After which she would calculate mentally to decipher the order
of the patterns of the stacked cubes, then find the small
pa.s.sageways created due to those height differences.
And she transmitted that information to Sora not through
words, but instead through hand signals.
While Sora would reply with ways to shake off, trick, bait, and
deceive their pursuers.
- What other response could Plum have other than remaining
speechless?
To Plum, no, possibly to anyone, that would be beyond
comprehension.
Communicating using finger movements, but it wasn’t
information on a mere level of 「Move here」 or 「Go
there」.
From the touch of their hands, they could decipher each other’s
intentions, as these two Imanity that had a wing each flapped
their wings in the air and moved seamlessly, without any form
of hesitation, as though their clutched hands were a combined
part of their reflexes.
There was no doubt about it that they still weren’t completely
used to the procedure.
Their flying still carried a slight hint of jerkiness – and because
of that.
Plum was even more surprised at this unbelievable sight.
Holding each other’s hands – the two formed a pair of wings.
When a wing on one side were to master the wing woven by
Plum more efficiently and overcome the forces of gravity.
The other wing would simply master the other half’s
movements and play along just before being thrown off.
Throughout the span of each flap, they learnt from each other
and pa.s.sed down their knowledge between them as well,
without any mistakes nor hiccups.
- They were endlessly improving at a stunning speed.
Upon seeing this, Plum sensed a chill rolling down her spine,
those two – were more than she imagined –
- At this time, the previously silent two spoke.
“Left four, four pull.”
“…Left サ (sa) と (to) オ (o) ス (su), right カ (ka) マ (ma)
ヌ (nu) ク(ku) missing one.”
“Return, top, twelve?”
“…Character five, complete…but dangerous.”
Both of them conversed in a code-like manner, however Sora
finally replied cheerfully in a normal fas.h.i.+on.
“Even if it’s dangerous we still have to do it -! Let’s begin our
attack!!”
“…Understood! s.h.i.+ro left Nii right, left shoulder right wing
left hip left arm!”
Immediately as she finished –
“Yaaaahhhh!!”
They spun about a breakneck speeds as if their wings – which
meant Plum – had split into two, and they flew into a narrow
hole –
“-! We’ve finally got them cornered!”
“Pincer attack, this is my time to s.h.i.+ne!!”
Sora and s.h.i.+ro accidentally – according to Plum’s point of
view – stumbled into a wide road.
What awaited them was four Flügel on their left and right
respectively – and as they had said, it was a perfect pincer
attack.
However Plum suddenly remembered what they had said
earlier.
- 「Left right four, four pull」…Draw them out – then attack?
The Flügel which were a total amount of eight were closing in
at an extremely rapid pace, but – if so –
“Let’s move, s.h.i.+ro!!”
“…OK!”
- Who exactly were the ones driven into a corner –
Sora and s.h.i.+ro clapped their open palms together, forming a
「Word Spirit」.
The characters that were originally on their respective hands
combined – and emitted light.
Facing the onslaught of the eight Flügel, the two – yelled with
their palms facing opposite directions:
“”- 「Hole (アナ ana) 」!””
- In an instant.
The eight Flügel that were charging towards Sora and s.h.i.+ro –
“--…Huh?”
Pa.s.sed through them, and them appeared on opposite sides.
“Ah!”
Leaving behind eight moans, Sora and s.h.i.+ro once again flew
into the cracks between the cubes.
In a narrow pa.s.sageway that could just about fit one person,
Sora flew horizontally and laughed.
“サ (sa) と (to) オ (o) ス (su) – what do you think, s.h.i.+ro, I
got all of them!”
“…カ (ka) マ (ma) ヌ (nu) ク(ku)…now we have eight…”
The both of them confirmed the four glowing characters that
were spinning around on their respective palms in a matter-offact
fas.h.i.+on.
- Plum asked them fearfully.
“…Um, just now…what was that…”
“What else, it was a 「Hole」, a 「Word Spirit」 that would
take effect on anyone it comes into contact with – which is the
rule of this game.”
“…So…we opened a hole…in 「Reality」.”
Plum began recalling what had happened.
They had opened holes on their left and right using themselves
as the center, then connecting them together in order to avoid
the Flügel.
Once they were to emerge from it they would of course be
facing Sora and others with their backs – and to return the
「Characters」- however more important than that…
“…Could it be, you’re only baiting the people that have
characters on them!?”
“Of course, but we haven’t got all the ones we want yet.”
Sora admitted nonchalantly, and he looked up in satisfaction
after looking at his wrist that had various letters strung up
around it like beads.
- Plum looked up along with him.
…After which four, five, eight – twelve Flügel began darting at
them at an astonis.h.i.+ng speed.
“Waaaah what are we going to do-aaaahhhhh!”
“Return, from the top, pull twelve – everything’s going
according to plan, don’t panic.”
“…Nii, can you make it?”
Sora and s.h.i.+ro flew at high speeds through a crack that could
just about fit one person.
Which meant, when they were to reach the next open s.p.a.ce, the
amount of Flügel that would be swarming them at once would
be – twelve.
While Sora smiled c.o.c.kily –
“Yep, no prob-lem-aaaaahahahhhhhhhhh!?”
Sora’s body lost its balance as his neck was being licked by
Plum all of a sudden.
They reached the open s.p.a.ce – and in front of twelve oncoming
Flügel, Sora had lost his balance, and because of that his center
of gravity –
“…Nii!?”
“….Waaaaahhh!?”
As he was about to be thrown off, s.h.i.+ro frantically flapped her
wing in an attempt to maintain their balance.
However Sora who almost crash-landed had no time to
properly capture the figures of the oncoming Flügel.
“s.h.i.+ro, gooooooo!”
- Sora immediately made a decision, as he had no time to get
back in position.
Sora stretched his hand out to s.h.i.+ro – he trusted that s.h.i.+ro
could understand his intentions, and pa.s.sed his 「Word
Spirits」 to her.
s.h.i.+ro grasped Sora’s hands, allowing the characters to move,
after which she let them go and threw them into the sky –
“- 「No entry (トオサヌ toosanu)」…!”
- As she said this, the twelve approaching figures, just as they
were about to come into contact with Sora and s.h.i.+ro, suddenly
–
“Ouch!”
“Ah!”
Pitter-patter – no, it wasn’t such a gentle noise.
A huge, cannon-like explosion was heard, and the Flügel all
violently slammed into an invisible wall.
But the problem was -!
s.h.i.+ro looked over at Sora, and according to the plan – they
were supposed to spiral upwards rapidly.
- 「No entry」. She was forced to create a barrier with these
four words in order to prevent their enemies from pa.s.sing
through.
And in the instant when that would occur, they would only act
on the five that had characters inscribe on them, or at least that
was the plan –
“Heh-aaaaaahhhh!”
- He made it, s.h.i.+ro thought while appearing immensely
relieved.
While he left the activation of the 「Word Spirits」 to s.h.i.+ro,
he spent that time to regain his composure and turn to his
original position.
Sora even began sweating cold sweat, and he flapped his wing
while s.h.i.+ro cooperated –!
As the twelve Flügel slammed into the invisible wall and were
stopped in their tracks, the two pa.s.sed through the Flügel
crowds –
“Dammit, s.h.i.+ro – it’s up to you!”
“Mm!”
s.h.i.+ro didn’t manage to tell Sora which one of them had
characters on them.
s.h.i.+ro stretched out her hand, and then –
Since it still wasn’t enough, she used her two legs – and even
her wing to gather up all the characters.
“Uggghhhhhh~~~ don’t think about running –“
“Dream on!”
s.h.i.+ro’s wing was nearly grabbed onto, however Sora flapped
his wing and s.h.i.+fted their centre of gravity.
They had avoided a death trap extremely narrowly, and the two
landed below the invisible wall – flapping their wings just as
they were about to hit the ground – then flew into another
narrow corridor…before they could say they were safe.
“…Phew….phew!”
Sora’s shoulders convulsed violently as he breathed, and he
finally managed to regulate his breathing, just as s.h.i.+ro was
about to ask about his condition –
“A-about that… are both of you alright?”
- The culprit that had brought this crisis upon them (Plum) did
it before her.
Sora bit onto the scarf and yelled with his voice m.u.f.fled.
“- Plum~~~! Do you want us to die together!?”
“I-I-I-I-I’m sorry! It was because of that sudden spiral, my
mouth left Sora-dono’s presence – and I even previously said
that if I were to lose a source within a few seconds I would
die!! So of course if we’re going to die we might as well die
together, see you all in h.e.l.l!!”
This fellow must have a huge amount of courage to say things
like that.
While s.h.i.+ro managed her own violently breathing heart – and
spoke while looking the characters on her hand:
“…Nii…ソ (so) ワ (wa) ケ (ke) ユ (yu) ラ(ra)…we have
them…so now…”
“Yep, we’ve finally completed it.”
「ラ（ra）ユ（yu）ス（su）マ（ma）ク（ku）ケ（ke）
ソ（so）カ（ka）ワ（wa）」- the two chuckled upon
thinking of the 「Word Spirits」 those characters could create.
As they exchanged glances and nodded at each other – they
flapped their wings mightily.
The two who were darting through the cubes earlier, were now
– climbing up into the skies.
“- Ah, found it!”
“Hmm…are they changing their strategy again?”
They were spotted immediately. However their pursuers
reacted more vigilantly this time at Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s
appearance.
They didn’t travel in a straight line, and instead approached
their circuit in a circular formation as if to surround them.
- No one had probably thought of it.
Because Plum didn’t manage to predict it either.
In front of the Flügel that surrounded them, the two clasped
their open palms together to form a 「Word Spirit」.
- As three characters disappeared, they touched them and
yelled:
“- 「Accelerate[2]」-!!”
Part 7
Not only the pursuers.
Even Plum and Jibril who was spectating the entire thing were
speechless.
From the beginning of the game, from the time they got their
wings, barely fifteen minutes had pa.s.sed.
They were merely two Imanity each with a single wing created
by Plum.
- They merely left behind a shockwave while they themselves
were already long gone.
- They had charged straight through the oncoming Flügel, who
could have predicted that?
Although, if it was an acceleration created by the 「Word
Spirits」, it could actually happen.
That was why they could overcome the limitations of physics
upon their wings.
Acceleration, speed, light speed – the two had planned to
collect and form those 「Word Sprits」 before the game had
even began. If not, facing an enemy that could adapt to and
change their strategy according to Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s actions –
essentially an opponent that could 「Learn」 and 「Adapt」,
they wouldn’t be able to survive for an hour. Thus they flew
about between the cubes at a speed, focusing more on baiting
and collecting – as Jibril saw this, her eyes narrowed as if she
had just seen the light
- Because it meant that the two trusted in the Flügel.
“Hah! This is fun!”
“…Mm!”
Both of them soared and spun about in the air like dancers, and
their laughter – spread across Avant Heim.
- Lovebirds.
This term sprung up from Jibril’s mind.
However – this term didn’t seem quite right, and she shook her
head.
What she was looking at wasn’t the figurative kind of lovebird.
She was sure that it was the true, original meaning of the
「Lovebird」.
The males and females each had one eye and one wing and
would fly together with their bodies combined, a fictional
organism.
(…And a being just like that is flying happily right over there.)
Jibril watched them closely and seemingly proudly – but…
“…”
Azrael who was gazing from them afar, appearing rather bored
and disinterested, still didn’t seem to manage to grasp the
meaning of it.
- Upon seeing her like that, Jibril said silently:
“Senpai, do you know the reason why I’m against the
「Equality Law」?”
“…Because Jii-chan is close minded and doesn’t like other
people touching her books-nyan?”
“No, it’s because – I enjoy reading the same books over and
over.”
- It was the first time Azrael had heard of such a thing, and she
stared at her in shock.
“…Why is that so-nyan? Wouldn’t it be fine if you just
memorize them?”
“Yes, I knew you would say that, which is why I never said it
previously…”
Jibril sighed, and she continued again in a fit of determination:
“Even if you’ve read a book once before, after you gather
more knowledge, you’ll learn even more things even after
reading them again.”
“…”
“So if you want to read them again you can’t, wouldn’t that
be annoying – don’t you get it?”
“...Don’t get what-nyan?”
“- Once you memorize it, it’s over.”
Jibril bent her head low while giving her this painful piece of
advice – however…
- Azrael still seemed extremely confused.
Ignoring Jibril’s opinion for now, what she didn’t understand
the most was –
“- What does have to do with what’s going on now-nyan?”
…
…Jibril looked into her eyes – extremely sadly.
Her gaze wasn’t that of underestimation, nor was it a mocking
one.
It was one of betrayal at her antic.i.p.ation being ignored, a gaze
of gradually increasing disappointment and sadness at having
her antic.i.p.ation being betrayed every single time.
- She couldn’t understand her sister’s antic.i.p.ation, which
pierced her heart even more than anything else.
“What is it-nyan…what did I do wrong-nyan…!”
Part 8
Above Avant Heim, a single silver trail cut through the night
sky.
The sound barrier had been left behind long ago, and the flying
Sora and s.h.i.+ro – couldn’t be caught by anyone.
“Now as long as we don’t get too careless, we won’t get
caught.”
Sora and s.h.i.+ro held each other’s hands and sped through the
night sky, and although Sora said this, but –
“…But, the collecting…of the 「Characters」…”
“Yes, I know, although we want to play, we definitely have to
collect all the characters to finish this level perfectly, and…”
Sora agreed with s.h.i.+ro’s words, after which he continued
solemnly:
“- I’ve already figured out a 「Word Spirit」 to retaliate
that person.”
“That person…? Who are you referring to?”
Plum asked a question, however Sora ignored it and turned
around.
Relying on speed to increase their distance between them was
good – but in order to collect the 「Characters」 they had to
get close, and that always came with the risk of being caught,
not to mention that their opponent was the Flügel. Also – Sora
thought to himself in a cautious tone:
- Don’t forget, this game was something we didn’t expect – it
was a game on their home turf.
No matter how much they kept their guard up, it was
impossible to completely avoid it.
“…Huh, interesting.”
Sora mumbled to himself, very good - this is truly a game that
deserves to be played!
So let’s decrease the risk as much as we can – so we had better
collect as many characters as we can.
That was sort of their insurance policy, which was increasing
their 「Word Spirits」, so even if they get into an
unpredictable situation - and Sora who was facing behind –
suddenly had a glint in his eye.
“…Huh?”
s.h.i.+ro let out a curious mumble upon seeing that glint, but –
“- Cheh~~!?”
This was the 「Unpredictable Situation」 Sora was thinking
about earlier, and to this Sora had reacted in advance.
He took himself as a pendulum and swung downwards – and
while still going along the same direction, he s.h.i.+fted their
「Axis」, and spun around in a curve.
“U-um, what are you doing – kyaaaaaahhhhh!?”
A burst of light shot through the 「Position」 they were in
previously, cutting off Plum’s words.
- s.h.i.+ro was just about to praise her brother’s unbelievably fast
reaction speed and judgement time, however before that –
“Jibri~~~llll!! What is that! I never heard you mentioning
anything about that! We can attack!?”
…His composure earlier had completely disappeared, and Sora
yelled suddenly, and above his head – with a small poof…
A tiny Jibril of about four heads tall appeared to explain the
situation.
“No, Masters, that wasn’t an attack, it’s a 「Capturing
Magic」 that stalks its target.”
“Are you telling me that wasn’t a 「Bullet」?”
“No, that thing does no damage at all, as it’s just a magic
that binds the enemy and pulls him to yourself, it doesn’t
have any potential for destruction as its aim is merely to
capture its target. So it’s different from the 「Bullets」 in the
Masters’ world –“
Sora scratched his head and roared in response to Jibril’s
chatter:
“So let me rephrase my sentence, you never mentioned that
long-distance tools could be used! Don’t we have any? Plum!!”
“Don’t go so hard on me! Double casting is a talent natural
only to the Elves, also if I continue to use another spell, I’m
actually going to shrivel up and die! I’ve licked Sora-dono’s
neck so much that it’s starting to swell!”
“I don’t care whether it’s swelling or not! I’m covered in cold
sweat anyway, so why don’t you just lick my back!”
“Really!? Let’s eat~! Ah~ mm ♥”
Her wails suddenly turned into groans of pleasure, and Sora
turned around, speechless at Plum’s actions.
Being a match on the Flügel’s home turf, Sora was just
thinking about unforeseen circ.u.mstances – and as he thought
about that they occurred immediately!
The opponent did say they would 「Ban teleportation」- but…
- They never said to 「Ban magic」-
“Dammit – I realized it too late!”
“…We should have expected it…!”
- Regarding the 「Word Spirits」, the rules would be too much
in their favour if they could win through the 「Word Spirits」
alone.
When they realized their mistake of not realizing that earlier,
Sora and s.h.i.+ro – no, s.h.i.+ro gnawed on her fingernails, feeling
extremely frustrated.
Rules to attack the opponent… this language loophole was her
responsibility to discover since she was the one that would
memorize everything word for word.
Sora stroked s.h.i.+ro’s head and said:
“It’s normal for games like these that we couldn’t antic.i.p.ate,
so there’s no use crying over spilt milk, what’s important now
is –“
“…Mm.”
- Being a surprise game that they didn’t have complete
knowledge about, it was reasonable to think that unpredictable
things like that could happen.
Despite this they could still win – because adapting to their
opponent’s actions extremely quickly was the true ability of
Kuuhaku「」- there was no time to regret!
“- Jibril, how many shots can that thing fire?”
“Let me think…it varies for the abilities of different people,
but about six shots I guess?”
“- It’s hard to handle, but since there are only six shots our
opponents won’t waste their ammunition, thus –“
“Ah, it’s not like that, Master.”
At this point Sora who was facing behind saw multiple
shadows land on the cubes – the Flügel.
They raised their palms – and the night sky turned so bright it
was like daylight.
“It’s that 「Up to six shots can be fired at once」, there’s
no limit to the amount of shots!“
“I actually thought that monsters like you would have such
things as 「Limitations」 for a moment there, I’m so
stupid!”
“…Nii, over here -!”
This time s.h.i.+ro was the faster one to react, and she flapped her
wing vigorously.
Sora immediately left behind the mini-Jibril and followed s.h.i.+ro
without reply, and they accelerated together.
The 「Binding Light」 drew a complex pattern in the air as it
approached – although if it was homing as Jibril had said –
“…Mm!”
s.h.i.+ro flapped her wing once as hard as she could, and Sora
played along, having understood her intentions from her hand
motions.
Countless streaks of light approached them, and even Sora and
s.h.i.+ro who had used the acceleration 「Word Spirit」 from
earlier couldn’t escape their clutches.
And as the light approached their backs - 「Chandelle」[3].
They turned diagonally upwards at a forty-five degree curve
from flying straight, turning their speed to alt.i.tude, and
climbed upwards – since the 「Binding Light」 would
probably activate its proximity fuse as it reached a certain
distance away from them – a flash of light burst from behind
them as their sharp ascent caused their speed to decrease which
allowed the 「Blinding Light」 to approach – and it triggered.
“Aaaaaahhhhh!”
Ignoring Plum’s cries, s.h.i.+ro immediately cancelled their
original sharp ascent with a slight flip of her wing.
She didn’t turn around, instead she flapped her wing again and
once again began their ascent, distancing themselves from the
exploding lights behind them.
- They dodged it. Just as they were catching their breath,
streaks of light once again surged at them, and s.h.i.+ro attracted
them all to her then swapped her direction.
She baited them with the exact same method from earlier,
however this time she darted diagonally downward, changing
alt.i.tude to speed. As for the countless lights that exploded
behind them, she escaped them with the same momentum, and
she acquired speed from this –
“Yaaaaaaahhhhh!”
Plum who was still in wing form let out a cry, as
Part 1
At the same time – within the capital of Elkia, inside the late
king’s library.
“…Kou…Steph-kou, I’m hungry, des.”
Steph slowly regained consciousness as she was being
violently shook by someone.
She who was originally slumped onto a table and drooling
suddenly stood up and frantically surveyed her surroundings.
“- Eh!? Huh? Strange, when did I fall asleep!?”
“You fell face-first onto the table immediately after you
finished eating, des. I thought you were dead, des.”
- So she apparently had eaten her meal and filled her stomach
then – 「Fainted」.
“W-what time is it now…?”
Steph folded up the coat – that was apparently placed there by
Izuna – on her back, and asked sleepily.
After which she heard a cute rumbling sound.
Izuna placed a hand on her stomach, then looked up at Steph
and said sincerely:
“About six hours after you ate, des.”
“…What a cute clock.”
The last time they ate was about two-o-clock at night – which
meant it was morning now?
There were no windows in the library so the sun couldn’t get
in, but by then the streets were probably beginning to fill up
with activity.
“Steph-kou, Steph-kou, let’s eat, des.”
Izuna dragged one of Steph’s sleeves and requested for food,
while Steph replied:
“Ah…you’re right…so I’ll make breakfast then…huh?”
Suddenly Steph spotted a huge pile of books next to where
Izuna was sitting.
“Izuna, what is that?”
“…? Aren’t they books, des.”
“No, that’s not what I meant – why are they there?”
“…Obviously because I read them, des.”
“- Huh? I thought Izuna can’t read the Imanity language…!?”
“I said that I would learn it, des. So I learnt it, des.”
It can’t be – Steph’s eyes widened.
Steph had pa.s.sed her a book containing games comparing the
Werebeast and Imanity languages – a textbook for the
Werebeast language.
Relying on that book alone, she learnt the Imanity language
while she herself was sleeping, and even read such a large
amount of books -?
- She was terrible at anything other than games, so conversely,
as long as it’s a game –
Upon realizing that she not only had learnt the language in
such a short span of time, but also that she had read even more
books than she did, Steph’s hairs couldn’t help but stiffen in
shock.
“…No wonder she’s always so close to Sora and s.h.i.+ro.”
Sora and s.h.i.+ro had made her forget this fact, and now Steph
recalled it.
Hatsuse Izuna, this child, this Werebeast girl that was even
younger than s.h.i.+ro.
- She competed against Kuuhaku「」, and even lost only by a
tiny bit, so her skills were definitely the real thing.
However…
“…Izuna, when was the last time you slept?”
“…Huh? …I-I ate five meals, so… hmm~… des?”
Izuna started counting with her fingers, then suddenly appeared
confused.
Black heavy eyebags were gathering underneath her eyes,
which meant that she hadn’t slept for quite a period of time.
- Upon closer thought, that was reasonable.
Even if it was the「Real thing」, it couldn’t just come
naturally.
Izuna had struggled without sleeping to – learn the Imanity
language, and she had read this many books as well.
“…Sorry, Izuna, I’m the only one who slept.”
“Steph-kou, it’s fine, des. A piece of trash is a piece of trash
after all, if it wants to sleep it sleeps, des.”
Steph smiled at Izuna’s overexerting manner.
She had found a sliver of hope amongst this never-ending
a.s.signment and Steph patted her own cheeks to wake herself
up.
Anyway, she had to prepare a meal, and then – just as she was
exiting the library –
“…? Izuna, in what order are you reading these books?”
She realized the books on the floor were probably selected for
some reason or other.
“I selected the ones that have a nice smell, des.”
- Izuna said this incomprehensible statement with a matter-offact
expression on her face.
Suddenly, Steph became interested in the t.i.tles of the books on
the floor, so she held one up for a look.
Because they were – books related to where Sora and s.h.i.+ro
currently were.
“-「The Flügel, the weapons of a dead Master」… why are
you reading this?”
Steph recited the words written in the writing of her
grandfather – the late king.
Izuna sniffed it and replied:
“There’s the smell of Sora and s.h.i.+ro on it, des. They read it
about a month ago, des.”
“Those two read this…?”
- On the beach after their return from Oceande.
Sora announced that he would proceed to Avant Heim and
acquire three races.
As for the methods he would use – as usual – Steph never
heard him mention them. She flipped open the book.
A month ago – which means, they read it before they attacked
the Eastern Federation –
Steph read the contents of the book that were, as for all the
other in the books in this room, written by her grandfather.
「The Flügel – in the ancient great war, they were a G.o.dkilling
species created by the 【G.o.d of War Artosh】 -」
「The Flügel – they don’t gather knowledge due to their own
interests.」
Those were records gathered by her grandfather – the late king
from his observations of the Flügel.
Which means, they were observations of Jibril, at least they
should be… but…
「Those are actions for them to survive – no, for them to not
die.」
In Steph’s mind’s eye, that hard to understand person appeared.
「Living weapons of a deceased Master… They are just empty
walking slabs of meat.」
She recalled that person with the smile that seemed to hide her
emotions, the person that would do anything for her curiosity
and her Masters, the person that could be gung-ho at times.
「The reason why they’re living, no, what is the evidence to
deduce as to why they’re still alive?」
- Why?
The Jibril in her grandfather’s observations was completely
different from the Jibril she knew.
This apprehension caused Steph to stop unconsciously merely
after reading a few pages, and she slipped into deep thought.
…Sora and s.h.i.+ro had proceeded to Avant Heim after reading
this book.
What were those two thinking –
“Steph-kou, now’s probably not the time to be reading that,
des.”
“Huh? Ah, right, yes.”
What was important wasn’t the Flügel, but information
regarding the Seirenes – Steph rallied herself.
At this time, the grumbling noise started again.
“We should eat now, des.”
Izuna spoke with a fire burning in her eyes.
Steph smiled bitterly, and as she placed the book back on the
shelf – possibly due to overwork, she felt dizzy.
“Ah…”
The books began to fall off from the shelf she had placed them
on.
The books they had read and the ones they haven’t would be
mixed together – as she was about to collapse and begin crying
–
- A gust of wind blew past her.
That was the limit of what she could detect, as it was a speed
that Steph couldn’t react to.
Izuna sped from the door in an instant to the corner of the
room, and in her mouth – was a single book.
“…? What is this, des?”
“…I-Isn’t that my question? What’s up with you.”
Ignoring Steph who was widening her eyes in surprise, Izuna
curiously sniffed the book in her mouth.
“This is the smell of fish, des…? No, des…ah!”
She uninterestedly threw away the book and said:
“This book smells of Seiren, des. I can’t eat this, des.”
- In an instant, a lamp turned on within Steph’s muddled brain.
Regarding the order of the books she read earlier, Izuna said
she read them according to how nice they smelled.
Why did she select the books Sora and s.h.i.+ro had read – no, the
real question was –
“W-why does my Grandpa’s books smell of Seiren?”
“Who knows, des. Maybe a Seiren touched it, or maybe
someone who touched a Seiren touched this book as well, des.”
Izuna spoke with her head tilted slightly.
“Is it Sora or s.h.i.+ro… or us!?”
“…? No, des. All the books here smell like an old man, des.”
It wasn’t Steph’s smell, nor was it Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s smell.
Speaking of which, since Sora and the others went to Oceande,
they shouldn’t have been here – so -!?
“D-do you know when this person touched the books?”
Steph asked while leaning forward, while Izuna began counting
on her fingers once more with difficulty and replied:
“Not enough fingers, des.”
- However that was enough to conclude that that smell was
from more than ten years ago.
“…W-wait a moment, how can you tell?”
“Doesn’t Steph-kou know, des? There’s a smell left behind,
des.”
Who would know that sort of weird thing, although she yelled
this to herself, but – the riddle was solved.
The reason why Sora wanted Izuna to help, and the reason why
she chose the books Sora and s.h.i.+ro had read, and – all this
proved that ten years ago her grandfather came into contact
with the Seirenes!
Now all that was left was –!
“Can you find the books written after that?”
Izuna sniffed about then tilted her head and said:
“…The smell is weak, des. But if I try extra hard… I can
probably do it, des.”
- The world was filled with light.
If so, their search range would be narrowed significantly!
“Really now~ if you had that sort of convenient ability you
should have used it earlier-aaaah but thank you-aaaaaahhhh
finally found the exit from h.e.l.l –“
Steph hugged Izuna in a sudden burst of emotion and began
petting her non-stop, however Izuna jumped back all of a
sudden.
“- Uuuuuugghhhhhhhh!!”
Her hair stood up as if she was going to bite at any time, and
she hissed at Steph.
“Eh? U-um…s-sorry, did I do something wrong?”
“…Steph-kou, your petting skills are horrible, des!”
Steph surveyed her surroundings in panic as she noticed that
Izuna was still on full alert.
What she saw was –
“Ah, r-right, t-this is for you, can you please forgive me?”
“- What is that, des?”
“I-it’s a biscuit I made for myself, h-here.”
Steph ate one to prove to her that they were safe to eat – and
then she nervously pa.s.sed some to her.
Izuna sniffed the biscuits she pa.s.sed her.
“…Not bad, des. But I want to eat rice, des. And fish, des.”
- She took a biscuit in her mouth, and her mood instantly
turned better.
Izuna shook her bushy tail like a hamster and began gnawing
on the biscuit.
“Ah, s-so I’ll go make food! Grilled fish, steamed fish,
sas.h.i.+mi… which would you –“
“All, des.”
“Huh?”
“All, des.”
Izuna began drooling with a longing expression on her face,
and Steph –
“~Fine then! I have a reliable companion now anyway, so I’ll
do my best to prepare all the fish dishes I know how to!! In the
meantime, could you please search for all the books my
grandfather wrote around that period!?”
“OK, des!”
Izuna stood up after answering energetically.
Finally, she saw the exit! As Steph was about to exit the
library, behind her –She heard an explosion.
“What?”
- The reason why Steph knew it was the sound of Izuna
breaking the sound barrier was because –
It was because her heart uttered a low roar, and began beating
so fast that it seemed it would burst from her body. She held
almost ten books in her hands, and her shoulders rose and fell
along with her breathing – Izuna who was dyed completely
blood-red from using「Blood Devastation」, reported her
status.
“- Hah, hah – I found all of them, des -! Is the fish not
prepared yet? Des!”
…If she tried really hard…she could probably do it.
Izuna did try really hard as she had announced earlier.
- She had tried hard enough to challenge the laws of physics,
and she had used her physical abilities to overcome those very
laws…
She saw Izuna with her blood vessels bulging, with her mouth
drooling and her eyes having the gaze of a predator looking at
its prey –
“…C-could you please help me go out and get groceries?”
Steph chose「Delaying tactics」…
Part 2
- On top of Avant Heim that was engulfed in the night sky.
Only the faint glows emitted from the cubes and the moonlight
itself lit up the scenery of countless cubes scattered about.
Sora and others flew about shakily and clumsily in that scenery
itself – no, they floated.
“U-um…can we really win…?”
“Please don’t talk to me right now, you’ll mess up my
concentration!”
“…Nii…like this…a bit more…”
They looked as if they would fall and crash at a single mistake,
appearing extremely dangerous.
Plum who was connecting the two as their wings mumbled to
herself upon seeing their antics:
“T-the opponent are the Flügel! Even if you borrow my
power, um, both of you have never flew before…it’s
impossible to contest against the Flügel in speed…”
Sora’s tone remained relaxed even despite struggling to control
his wings.
“Relax, it’s definitely an advantage to be able to run away fast
in a game of red light, green light – but it won’t guarantee you
victory.”
“That’s true…but even if so…”
Plum in scarf form sighed upon looking at them.
- The Flügel, even disregarding their ability to teleport, their
existence itself was already defying all laws of physics.
Although Plum had never seen any of them flying at full speed,
she could easily imagine it from their physical ability.
If they used their full strength – don’t even mention the speed
of sound, they might even be able to travel faster than that.
Even though red light, green light wasn’t a contest of speed, it
would be impossible for a turtle to race against a horse anyway.
No matter what, with their cra.s.s flying skills –
To achieve victory – wouldn’t be -?
“…Huh? S-strange?”
As Plum thought to herself, she felt a sudden sense of
apprehension.
Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s posture as they flapped their wings had
stabilized and she hadn’t noticed.
Their speed began increasing slowly, and the scarf – the winds
attacking Plum became stronger.
“…Um, why did you want me to allow each one of you to
control one wing?”
Plum asked them this as she suddenly remembered.
The siblings had in an instant slowly changed the wings she
had woven for them to their own wings.
They looked at each other and smiled.
“Of course – because if we didn’t do so, our victory wouldn’t
be guaranteed.”
Conversely, if they were to do it they would definitely win, and
they both said this while holding each other’s hands.
- As long as our hands are holding onto each other.
- We won’t lose to anyone.
Part 3
Empty-sh.e.l.led weapons – merely objects – merely puppets –
the Flügel.
They were originally tools created by their master to
exterminate G.o.ds.
But it has been over six thousand years since they lost their
master – why does the Flügel race continue to exist?
In order to search for that 「Answer」, they had roamed about
with Avant Heim for an extremely long period of time until
today.
And – Jibril who had left alone herself but had returned just as
suddenly – seemed to have changed visibly.
It was just as if…yes – it was as if she had found the
「Answer」.
…
Azrael used her hands to cup her cheeks and looked up at the
night sky.
In concurrence with Sora’s conditions, on the balcony earlier –
the hundred Flügel that had been waiting there for five minutes
were looking in the same direction as well.
The images that appeared in the night sky – Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s
figures.
“…Jii-chan, the final order that Artosh-sama ever gave me –
if there’s anyone who can find the 「Answer」, I believe it
can only be the「Final Unit」 Jii-chan, nyan.”
“…”
- She had a reason for that.
However that wasn’t the real question, and Azrael continued
with that very question in mind.
“If Jii-chan’s 「Answer」 was implanted in your head
through the Pledges by the Imanity –“
- They had discussed the matter in their native Flügel language
so as to not allow Sora and s.h.i.+ro to know what was going on.
As though attempting to warn her again, Azrael smiled a smile
so fake that it made it look like she was wearing a mask, and
she said to Jibril:
“I will use my 「Special Right」- you do know what this
means right?”
“Yes, but -! Only stupid people ask questions to which they
already know the answers! Senpai.”
Upon hearing these words, the Flügel that were looking up into
the night sky suddenly tensed up, making the atmosphere much
heavier in an instant.
- The 「Representative of the Winged」- the head of the
「Council of Eighteen Wings」, Azrael –
The only special right Azrael possessed for not being the full
representative of the Flügel was…
It was something that was agreed over six thousand years ago
with an unanimous decision from everyone.
“-「The right to order all the Flügel to commit suicide」...is
there something wrong?”
Azrael’s gaze sharpened instantly at Jibril’s dismissive tone.
“It was a right originally created by Azrael-senpai while we
were still discovering our purpose to continue living after our
master was killed in order to prevent us from committing
suicide, so if you think that we have no reason to continue to
exist – please feel free.”
At this point the emotion that swept through the crowd was not
fear – the Flügel did not fear death in the first place.
They were a race created as weapons, so to them death would
even be considered an honour.
Despite this, the reasons why the partic.i.p.ants felt tense was
because they were 「Antic.i.p.ating」.
- For something to start, or possibly for something to end.
That was the only difference, but –
Everyone only felt antic.i.p.ation at that sort of prediction.
“…It’s good that you know-nyan…”
While the only one present that didn’t seem to understand what
had happened was Azrael.
Jibril looked at her somewhat disappointedly upon realizing so.
- Her gaze slowly corroded Azrael.
“Azrael-senpai, you of all people should know, we – the
Flügel have a very basic misunderstanding.”
- Sora and the others didn’t know.
But it was because Jibril had met them – after which she had
changed significantly.
Before losing to Sora and the others, Jibril – even if she was
the type to act immediately after something went amiss, she
was pretty much the same as Azrael.
Turning the unknown into known – that was the only thing that
was meaningful to her.
She had to reverse the unknown, and there was no ulterior
motive behind it, all she meant was – it was an 「Enemy」 she
had to exterminate.
Jibril was probably hungrier for combat than any other unit
against that 「Enemy」.
- However, her views changed on the very day she lost to Sora
and s.h.i.+ro.
“The knowledge that we spent thousands, tens of thousands of
years gathering was completely obliterated by the Masters who
have barely walked ten years upon this earth, and the meaning
behind this, the very significance of it – Senpai, you just don’t
understand.”
“…”
Her face was filled with a pa.s.sion that Azrael had never seen
before.
According to her memory, she had never seen Jibril do that, not
even to Artosh.
“It’s a perplexing feeling, even more intense than the pa.s.sion
of eliminating the unknown. It’s a way of life, continuously
reversing into unknowns that led me to follow my Masters by
my own will – it’s completely unrelated to the pledges.”
Azrael remained speechless at Jibril’s words.
Because to be honest, she had no idea what they meant.
Turning the known to unknown? – Wouldn’t that sort of thing
cause a person to feel horrified?
- But...
Maybe because they were moved by Jibril’s words…
Upon hearing her brief speech, the hundred Flügel that couldn’t
wait to get moving had a tint of excitement in their eyes – and
their wings trembled.
- Azrael couldn’t understand why that was, and she once again
cupped her cheeks with her hands.
At least that wasn’t the 「Answer」.
She looked up into the empty skies just like that – at the
clumsily flying pair.
“I know Azrael-senpai cares more than anyone about the
future of the Flügel, but –“
“…”
She glanced to the side, only to see Jibril with an expression of
utmost determination on her face, and she spoke in an almost
begging fas.h.i.+on:
“The answer you’re seeking for isn’t where you think it is.”
Part 4
“Hnnnnnnnnggg~……hnnnnnnnnnnnnngggg~~…. I-I’m at
my limit…too tiring, I wanna give up…”
“Hey, it’s not even been three minutes! Even Ultr*man[1] is
tougher than you, you know!?”
Plum (scarf form) was complaining since almost the very
beginning, while Sora provided her with words of
encouragement.
“I’m different from those Flügel monsters! Overcoming the
force of gravity and your weights combined is harder than both
of you can imagine!! I even have to lend you my wings as well
– please spare me –“
“If you’re gonna talk about sweat, I’ve sweated a lot already,
so you can lick it off for all I care!”
“For you two, how could I possible give up! – Right, let’s
continue on!!”
“You’ve completely ruined the atmosphere!!”
The sensation of his neck being licked sent an unpleasant tingle
down his spine.
The scarf that Plum was disguising as …
It was a disguise on her 「Physical appearance」, in order to
give others the impression that she was connecting Sora and
s.h.i.+ro in the form of a scarf.
The two ends of the scarf moved along with Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s
wills, and they served the same purposes as a pair of wings.
“Hey, to us this looks like a scarf with wings, but what does it
actually look like?”
“Lick…ah, how blissful ♥ - huh, what? Um~ I’m currently
hugging Sora-dono’s neck and licking it…and using my foot to
hook onto s.h.i.+ro -dono’s neck.”
“Heh, isn’t this a perverted way to fly!”
“…Nii, that joke was bad, you’re noisy…and it’s lame…”
“I was just saying, did you really have a need to go that
overboard!?”
A streak of tears flashed past Avant Heim’s night sky.
However Plum reb.u.t.ted impatiently:
“Let me make this clear, it’s the special right of the Elves to
cast multiple spells at once! A magic such as turning myself
into a flying scarf while allowing you both to fly at your own
will is extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemely worthy of praise, OK!!”
Plum uttered this extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeemly long sentence.
“Also, this is more tiring than I expected…if my supply of
energy gets cut, I’ll probably die within a few seconds.”
“…I’m surprised you’d agree with something this
dangerous.”
“Huh? Because if I do this I can lick Sora-dono’s neck to my
heart’s content…slurp~ delicious, delicious.”
“AHHHH! I’M TAKING THIS SCARF OFF RIGHT
NOW!!”
As Sora was considering ignoring the consequences and
stripping off the scarf altogether –
“…Nii, the time.”
Five minutes had pa.s.sed – Sora’s gaze sharpened upon hearing
s.h.i.+ro’s warning.
Which meant at this time, the Flügel that had a late start would
begin attempting to catch them.
“- Right, Plum, our lives are in your hands now, so don’t you
go running out of energy halfway!”
“No problem. Our fates are tied, so if I do run out of energy
halfway we’ll just die together at most.”
“We don’t need to think about that!! Let’s go already!”
As he said this, Sora and s.h.i.+ro immediately began flapping
their wings mightily and simultaneously – dropping their
alt.i.tude at once.
“Kyaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!”
They accelerated in that instant so quickly that even Plum had
to cry out.
The speed of their descent and the power of the wings caused
them to accelerate endless, and the strong winds rushed to meet
them –
As they were about to hit the ground – the back of Avant Heim,
they began flying laterally.
(They’re attempting to shake off our pursuers with the
momentum from our descent…probably.)
Plum didn’t say anything but merely thought to herself, after
which she grumbled: But –
A presence came up from behind, as the Flügel that had just
left were already catching up to them.
Sora and s.h.i.+ro really had completely mastered control over
their wings with an astounding speed.
But – no matter how they were to commandeer the wings
woven by Plum, they would still be unable to overcome the
laws of physics.
It was already a blessing that they could reach two hundred
kilometres per hour, however the Flügel on the other hand were
an existence that simply threw the laws of physics out of the
window.
(A-at this rate they’ll catch up to us in no time aaaahhhh what
do we do now!?)
Plum began yelling to herself, however Sora and s.h.i.+ro merely
turned around to look calmly –
“Four of them, no formation.”
“…Letters, one, three…”
“Direction, recover?”
“…One bottom of the wing 「ナ (na) 」…three left side of
stomach 「ア (a) 」.”
“- s.h.i.+ro three, let’s move!”
- They had a brief conversation which Plum completely
couldn’t understand, as they had completed their discussion
within a minute –
Huh? As Plum let out this curious expression, Sora and s.h.i.+ro
had already veered their courses slightly.
- In an instant.
“Hehe~ I’ll be the first~!”
“I’ll take that!”
As they expected, the five minutes of waiting time had meant
nothing to them, as two Flügel were already approaching.
Their hands closed in on Sora and s.h.i.+ro – but missed.
“”- Huh!?””
The two that were unable to catch Sora and s.h.i.+ro couldn’t
seem to comprehend how they managed to vanish from their
eyes in an instant, causing them to utter a confused
exclamation. At that time –
“”Ah!!””
- Behind them.
On the bottom of the wing and the left side of the stomach
respectively – the characters inscribed there were touched, and
both of them let out a gentle moan.
The other two behind them were slightly late and ended up
losing their quarry, and they began surveying their
surroundings frantically.
That was no surprise, as by then Sora and s.h.i.+ro were already
flying towards the connected cubes in a spiral pattern.
They darted and wove through the cracks – through the streets
of Avant Heim – towards the connected cubes.
The two 「Characters」 were already on their respective
hands.
“…Huh? Just now…what was that!?”
It happened in such a short instance that even Plum who was
wrapped around their necks couldn’t comprehend what had
happened.
On the other side of the disguising magic, Plum widened her
eyes in surprise, and Sora said to her:
“Barrel roll – isn’t this one of the basic techniques to avoid a
flying unit that is faster than you and is flying in a straight
direction?”
- As Sora and s.h.i.+ro noticed that they had company, they drew
them in as close as possible then slightly veered their course, in
order that among the four of them – the two inscribed with
characters would take the lead, and they merely had to turn
slightly.
And in the instant as they were about to be caught, they spread
their wings, and merely – rolled over in a diagonal fas.h.i.+on.
So, with their general direction remaining the same, Sora and
s.h.i.+ro decelerated as they spun spirals in the air. On the other
hand, the Flügel thought that Sora and s.h.i.+ro had simply
disappeared as they were too fast – simply speaking, they
merely 「Overshot」.
They were still unused to their wings, and they would never be
able to reach the speeds of that of a Flügel’s no matter how
hard they tried, so –
“Since we can’t control our wings we just have to stop in our
tracks, and for the Flügel who completely ignore aerodynamic
studies at the like – they are merely fighter planes flying along
a fixed path…”
“…Even if they know…they never bothered about it…”
Both of them smiled mischievously, and on their hands were
exactly what s.h.i.+ro had declared earlier – the characters 「ナ
(na) 」and「ア (a) 」 were swirling about there.
Plum was speechless, having just realized what had happened.
“…Don’t tell me – you memorized the positions of all the
characters!?”
Sora smiled bitterly and replied:
“Plum, are you underestimating my glorious sister?”
This sentence alone made even one such as Plum feel
pressured, and she shut her mouth.
“Anyway…s.h.i.+ro, the words we really need…you should
know them right?”
“Of course.”
“So we need to get hold of those people, also our opponents
aren’t exactly dimwits, so our aerial strategy won’t work all the
time.”
“…Mm, understood…”
- Get hold of. Those two declared that naturally as if it was
bound to happen, causing Plum to widen her eyes in shock.
They were clearly playing a game of red light, green light
against the Flügel, however they themselves acted as if they
were the pursuers.
Sora and s.h.i.+ro flew about in the city of Avant Heim just like
「Pa.s.sing through cracks」.
Part 5
- On the floor where only two people remained after the rest of
the Flügel had left.
Jibril and Azrael stood together and watched the events
unfolding in the air before them.
The feelings within Jibril’s chest – turned into 「Shock」
extremely quickly.
s.h.i.+ro had memorized all the characters and the people who
possessed them, and even where they were.
That was why they could pull off the avoid and recover
maneuver so flawlessly earlier – however, what shocked her
even more was that they knew the city like the back of their
hands, as they were flying about as if it was their own
backyard. Jibril couldn’t hide her shock at her two Masters.
The city of Avant Heim with countless cubes stacked up in
complex formations was lit up extremely dimly under the
moonlight in the surrounding darkness, however they could
still duck and weave throughout the s.p.a.ces between the cubes
like skilled weavers pa.s.sing threads through needles.
They were still lacking in speed, however in this case if their
pursuers were to go too fast they would lose them instead.
The narrow, dark alleyways and cracks that were formed
between the cubes –
Even the cracks that could barely fit a single person through
were easily overcome by the flying two, so if their pursuers
were to go too fast – if they were to let down their guard they
would crash into the cubes, leaving them a clear escape route.
(…They’re really something…but if so -)
There was one part she couldn’t explain, and Jibril began
questioning it.
Jibril couldn’t deny the fact that the Flügel as a race – did have
the tendency to achieve victory through brute force.
But despite this, they could still 「Coordinate」. If they
couldn’t, they wouldn’t deserve the right to be called
「Weapons」.
Even if they didn’t have 「Speed」 , they would switch to a
「Surrounding」 strategy – and –
“Huh!? Huh, why -!?”
A Flügel female uttered a lamenting cry, as they were all
standing guard by the crack Sora and the others flew into
which had only one exit – however both of them flew out
through a way they hadn’t expected.
Sora and s.h.i.+ro avoided their grasp easily.
They had only caught an extremely short glimpse of the map,
and they had gotten such a deep understanding of the entire
city (Avant Heim) within that period of time?
- Impossible. If it was one of the Masters – s.h.i.+ro, there was a
possibility that she could memorize the map within seconds.
However the city was built from various, countless complexly
stacked cubes of different structures and heights, so it would be
impossible to truly master the alleyways and shortcuts of the
city with the map alone, if so how did they do it –
Just like that, even Jibril who was observing them for the
longest time finally realized that she suspected her own
explanation more than anyone else.
Part 6
(Huh? Y-you’re joking right?)
Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s tightly interlocked hands – Plum saw that
their fingers were moving about intricately.
Plum was resisting the urge to moan pitifully as hard as she
could since earlier, and as for her theory behind how those two
could duck and weave between all those narrow caves and
alleyways – it could even be called fallacy – and this fact made
Plum so shocked she was unable to say a word.
Which meant, possibly, probably, although somewhat
unbelievable – it could be the case.
s.h.i.+ro would fly along the streets according to her memory, and
confirm the average size of the cubes.
After which she would calculate mentally to decipher the order
of the patterns of the stacked cubes, then find the small
pa.s.sageways created due to those height differences.
And she transmitted that information to Sora not through
words, but instead through hand signals.
While Sora would reply with ways to shake off, trick, bait, and
deceive their pursuers.
- What other response could Plum have other than remaining
speechless?
To Plum, no, possibly to anyone, that would be beyond
comprehension.
Communicating using finger movements, but it wasn’t
information on a mere level of 「Move here」 or 「Go
there」.
From the touch of their hands, they could decipher each other’s
intentions, as these two Imanity that had a wing each flapped
their wings in the air and moved seamlessly, without any form
of hesitation, as though their clutched hands were a combined
part of their reflexes.
There was no doubt about it that they still weren’t completely
used to the procedure.
Their flying still carried a slight hint of jerkiness – and because
of that.
Plum was even more surprised at this unbelievable sight.
Holding each other’s hands – the two formed a pair of wings.
When a wing on one side were to master the wing woven by
Plum more efficiently and overcome the forces of gravity.
The other wing would simply master the other half’s
movements and play along just before being thrown off.
Throughout the span of each flap, they learnt from each other
and pa.s.sed down their knowledge between them as well,
without any mistakes nor hiccups.
- They were endlessly improving at a stunning speed.
Upon seeing this, Plum sensed a chill rolling down her spine,
those two – were more than she imagined –
- At this time, the previously silent two spoke.
“Left four, four pull.”
“…Left サ (sa) と (to) オ (o) ス (su), right カ (ka) マ (ma)
ヌ (nu) ク(ku) missing one.”
“Return, top, twelve?”
“…Character five, complete…but dangerous.”
Both of them conversed in a code-like manner, however Sora
finally replied cheerfully in a normal fas.h.i.+on.
“Even if it’s dangerous we still have to do it -! Let’s begin our
attack!!”
“…Understood! s.h.i.+ro left Nii right, left shoulder right wing
left hip left arm!”
Immediately as she finished –
“Yaaaahhhh!!”
They spun about a breakneck speeds as if their wings – which
meant Plum – had split into two, and they flew into a narrow
hole –
“-! We’ve finally got them cornered!”
“Pincer attack, this is my time to s.h.i.+ne!!”
Sora and s.h.i.+ro accidentally – according to Plum’s point of
view – stumbled into a wide road.
What awaited them was four Flügel on their left and right
respectively – and as they had said, it was a perfect pincer
attack.
However Plum suddenly remembered what they had said
earlier.
- 「Left right four, four pull」…Draw them out – then attack?
The Flügel which were a total amount of eight were closing in
at an extremely rapid pace, but – if so –
“Let’s move, s.h.i.+ro!!”
“…OK!”
- Who exactly were the ones driven into a corner –
Sora and s.h.i.+ro clapped their open palms together, forming a
「Word Spirit」.
The characters that were originally on their respective hands
combined – and emitted light.
Facing the onslaught of the eight Flügel, the two – yelled with
their palms facing opposite directions:
“”- 「Hole (アナ ana) 」!””
- In an instant.
The eight Flügel that were charging towards Sora and s.h.i.+ro –
“--…Huh?”
Pa.s.sed through them, and them appeared on opposite sides.
“Ah!”
Leaving behind eight moans, Sora and s.h.i.+ro once again flew
into the cracks between the cubes.
In a narrow pa.s.sageway that could just about fit one person,
Sora flew horizontally and laughed.
“サ (sa) と (to) オ (o) ス (su) – what do you think, s.h.i.+ro, I
got all of them!”
“…カ (ka) マ (ma) ヌ (nu) ク(ku)…now we have eight…”
The both of them confirmed the four glowing characters that
were spinning around on their respective palms in a matter-offact
fas.h.i.+on.
- Plum asked them fearfully.
“…Um, just now…what was that…”
“What else, it was a 「Hole」, a 「Word Spirit」 that would
take effect on anyone it comes into contact with – which is the
rule of this game.”
“…So…we opened a hole…in 「Reality」.”
Plum began recalling what had happened.
They had opened holes on their left and right using themselves
as the center, then connecting them together in order to avoid
the Flügel.
Once they were to emerge from it they would of course be
facing Sora and others with their backs – and to return the
「Characters」- however more important than that…
“…Could it be, you’re only baiting the people that have
characters on them!?”
“Of course, but we haven’t got all the ones we want yet.”
Sora admitted nonchalantly, and he looked up in satisfaction
after looking at his wrist that had various letters strung up
around it like beads.
- Plum looked up along with him.
…After which four, five, eight – twelve Flügel began darting at
them at an astonis.h.i.+ng speed.
“Waaaah what are we going to do-aaaahhhhh!”
“Return, from the top, pull twelve – everything’s going
according to plan, don’t panic.”
“…Nii, can you make it?”
Sora and s.h.i.+ro flew at high speeds through a crack that could
just about fit one person.
Which meant, when they were to reach the next open s.p.a.ce, the
amount of Flügel that would be swarming them at once would
be – twelve.
While Sora smiled c.o.c.kily –
“Yep, no prob-lem-aaaaahahahhhhhhhhh!?”
Sora’s body lost its balance as his neck was being licked by
Plum all of a sudden.
They reached the open s.p.a.ce – and in front of twelve oncoming
Flügel, Sora had lost his balance, and because of that his center
of gravity –
“…Nii!?”
“….Waaaaahhh!?”
As he was about to be thrown off, s.h.i.+ro frantically flapped her
wing in an attempt to maintain their balance.
However Sora who almost crash-landed had no time to
properly capture the figures of the oncoming Flügel.
“s.h.i.+ro, gooooooo!”
- Sora immediately made a decision, as he had no time to get
back in position.
Sora stretched his hand out to s.h.i.+ro – he trusted that s.h.i.+ro
could understand his intentions, and pa.s.sed his 「Word
Spirits」 to her.
s.h.i.+ro grasped Sora’s hands, allowing the characters to move,
after which she let them go and threw them into the sky –
“- 「No entry (トオサヌ toosanu)」…!”
- As she said this, the twelve approaching figures, just as they
were about to come into contact with Sora and s.h.i.+ro, suddenly
–
“Ouch!”
“Ah!”
Pitter-patter – no, it wasn’t such a gentle noise.
A huge, cannon-like explosion was heard, and the Flügel all
violently slammed into an invisible wall.
But the problem was -!
s.h.i.+ro looked over at Sora, and according to the plan – they
were supposed to spiral upwards rapidly.
- 「No entry」. She was forced to create a barrier with these
four words in order to prevent their enemies from pa.s.sing
through.
And in the instant when that would occur, they would only act
on the five that had characters inscribe on them, or at least that
was the plan –
“Heh-aaaaaahhhh!”
- He made it, s.h.i.+ro thought while appearing immensely
relieved.
While he left the activation of the 「Word Spirits」 to s.h.i.+ro,
he spent that time to regain his composure and turn to his
original position.
Sora even began sweating cold sweat, and he flapped his wing
while s.h.i.+ro cooperated –!
As the twelve Flügel slammed into the invisible wall and were
stopped in their tracks, the two pa.s.sed through the Flügel
crowds –
“Dammit, s.h.i.+ro – it’s up to you!”
“Mm!”
s.h.i.+ro didn’t manage to tell Sora which one of them had
characters on them.
s.h.i.+ro stretched out her hand, and then –
Since it still wasn’t enough, she used her two legs – and even
her wing to gather up all the characters.
“Uggghhhhhh~~~ don’t think about running –“
“Dream on!”
s.h.i.+ro’s wing was nearly grabbed onto, however Sora flapped
his wing and s.h.i.+fted their centre of gravity.
They had avoided a death trap extremely narrowly, and the two
landed below the invisible wall – flapping their wings just as
they were about to hit the ground – then flew into another
narrow corridor…before they could say they were safe.
“…Phew….phew!”
Sora’s shoulders convulsed violently as he breathed, and he
finally managed to regulate his breathing, just as s.h.i.+ro was
about to ask about his condition –
“A-about that… are both of you alright?”
- The culprit that had brought this crisis upon them (Plum) did
it before her.
Sora bit onto the scarf and yelled with his voice m.u.f.fled.
“- Plum~~~! Do you want us to die together!?”
“I-I-I-I-I’m sorry! It was because of that sudden spiral, my
mouth left Sora-dono’s presence – and I even previously said
that if I were to lose a source within a few seconds I would
die!! So of course if we’re going to die we might as well die
together, see you all in h.e.l.l!!”
This fellow must have a huge amount of courage to say things
like that.
While s.h.i.+ro managed her own violently breathing heart – and
spoke while looking the characters on her hand:
“…Nii…ソ (so) ワ (wa) ケ (ke) ユ (yu) ラ(ra)…we have
them…so now…”
“Yep, we’ve finally completed it.”
「ラ（ra）ユ（yu）ス（su）マ（ma）ク（ku）ケ（ke）
ソ（so）カ（ka）ワ（wa）」- the two chuckled upon
thinking of the 「Word Spirits」 those characters could create.
As they exchanged glances and nodded at each other – they
flapped their wings mightily.
The two who were darting through the cubes earlier, were now
– climbing up into the skies.
“- Ah, found it!”
“Hmm…are they changing their strategy again?”
They were spotted immediately. However their pursuers
reacted more vigilantly this time at Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s
appearance.
They didn’t travel in a straight line, and instead approached
their circuit in a circular formation as if to surround them.
- No one had probably thought of it.
Because Plum didn’t manage to predict it either.
In front of the Flügel that surrounded them, the two clasped
their open palms together to form a 「Word Spirit」.
- As three characters disappeared, they touched them and
yelled:
“- 「Accelerate[2]」-!!”
Part 7
Not only the pursuers.
Even Plum and Jibril who was spectating the entire thing were
speechless.
From the beginning of the game, from the time they got their
wings, barely fifteen minutes had pa.s.sed.
They were merely two Imanity each with a single wing created
by Plum.
- They merely left behind a shockwave while they themselves
were already long gone.
- They had charged straight through the oncoming Flügel, who
could have predicted that?
Although, if it was an acceleration created by the 「Word
Spirits」, it could actually happen.
That was why they could overcome the limitations of physics
upon their wings.
Acceleration, speed, light speed – the two had planned to
collect and form those 「Word Sprits」 before the game had
even began. If not, facing an enemy that could adapt to and
change their strategy according to Sora and s.h.i.+ro’s actions –
essentially an opponent that could 「Learn」 and 「Adapt」,
they wouldn’t be able to survive for an hour. Thus they flew
about between the cubes at a speed, focusing more on baiting
and collecting – as Jibril saw this, her eyes narrowed as if she
had just seen the light
- Because it meant that the two trusted in the Flügel.
“Hah! This is fun!”
“…Mm!”
Both of them soared and spun about in the air like dancers, and
their laughter – spread across Avant Heim.
- Lovebirds.
This term sprung up from Jibril’s mind.
However – this term didn’t seem quite right, and she shook her
head.
What she was looking at wasn’t the figurative kind of lovebird.
She was sure that it was the true, original meaning of the
「Lovebird」.
The males and females each had one eye and one wing and
would fly together with their bodies combined, a fictional
organism.
(…And a being just like that is flying happily right over there.)
Jibril watched them closely and seemingly proudly – but…
“…”
Azrael who was gazing from them afar, appearing rather bored
and disinterested, still didn’t seem to manage to grasp the
meaning of it.
- Upon seeing her like that, Jibril said silently:
“Senpai, do you know the reason why I’m against the
「Equality Law」?”
“…Because Jii-chan is close minded and doesn’t like other
people touching her books-nyan?”
“No, it’s because – I enjoy reading the same books over and
over.”
- It was the first time Azrael had heard of such a thing, and she
stared at her in shock.
“…Why is that so-nyan? Wouldn’t it be fine if you just
memorize them?”
“Yes, I knew you would say that, which is why I never said it
previously…”
Jibril sighed, and she continued again in a fit of determination:
“Even if you’ve read a book once before, after you gather
more knowledge, you’ll learn even more things even after
reading them again.”
“…”
“So if you want to read them again you can’t, wouldn’t that
be annoying – don’t you get it?”
“...Don’t get what-nyan?”
“- Once you memorize it, it’s over.”
Jibril bent her head low while giving her this painful piece of
advice – however…
- Azrael still seemed extremely confused.
Ignoring Jibril’s opinion for now, what she didn’t understand
the most was –
“- What does have to do with what’s going on now-nyan?”
…
…Jibril looked into her eyes – extremely sadly.
Her gaze wasn’t that of underestimation, nor was it a mocking
one.
It was one of betrayal at her antic.i.p.ation being ignored, a gaze
of gradually increasing disappointment and sadness at having
her antic.i.p.ation being betrayed every single time.
- She couldn’t understand her sister’s antic.i.p.ation, which
pierced her heart even more than anything else.
“What is it-nyan…what did I do wrong-nyan…!”
Part 8
Above Avant Heim, a single silver trail cut through the night
sky.
The sound barrier had been left behind long ago, and the flying
Sora and s.h.i.+ro – couldn’t be caught by anyone.
“Now as long as we don’t get too careless, we won’t get
caught.”
Sora and s.h.i.+ro held each other’s hands and sped through the
night sky, and although Sora said this, but –
“…But, the collecting…of the 「Characters」…”
“Yes, I know, although we want to play, we definitely have to
collect all the characters to finish this level perfectly, and…”
Sora agreed with s.h.i.+ro’s words, after which he continued
solemnly:
“- I’ve already figured out a 「Word Spirit」 to retaliate
that person.”
“That person…? Who are you referring to?”
Plum asked a question, however Sora ignored it and turned
around.
Relying on speed to increase their distance between them was
good – but in order to collect the 「Characters」 they had to
get close, and that always came with the risk of being caught,
not to mention that their opponent was the Flügel. Also – Sora
thought to himself in a cautious tone:
- Don’t forget, this game was something we didn’t expect – it
was a game on their home turf.
No matter how much they kept their guard up, it was
impossible to completely avoid it.
“…Huh, interesting.”
Sora mumbled to himself, very good - this is truly a game that
deserves to be played!
So let’s decrease the risk as much as we can – so we had better
collect as many characters as we can.
That was sort of their insurance policy, which was increasing
their 「Word Spirits」, so even if they get into an
unpredictable situation - and Sora who was facing behind –
suddenly had a glint in his eye.
“…Huh?”
s.h.i.+ro let out a curious mumble upon seeing that glint, but –
“- Cheh~~!?”
This was the 「Unpredictable Situation」 Sora was thinking
about earlier, and to this Sora had reacted in advance.
He took himself as a pendulum and swung downwards – and
while still going along the same direction, he s.h.i.+fted their
「Axis」, and spun around in a curve.
“U-um, what are you doing – kyaaaaaahhhhh!?”
A burst of light shot through the 「Position」 they were in
previously, cutting off Plum’s words.
- s.h.i.+ro was just about to praise her brother’s unbelievably fast
reaction speed and judgement time, however before that –
“Jibri~~~llll!! What is that! I never heard you mentioning
anything about that! We can attack!?”
…His composure earlier had completely disappeared, and Sora
yelled suddenly, and above his head – with a small poof…
A tiny Jibril of about four heads tall appeared to explain the
situation.
“No, Masters, that wasn’t an attack, it’s a 「Capturing
Magic」 that stalks its target.”
“Are you telling me that wasn’t a 「Bullet」?”
“No, that thing does no damage at all, as it’s just a magic
that binds the enemy and pulls him to yourself, it doesn’t
have any potential for destruction as its aim is merely to
capture its target. So it’s different from the 「Bullets」 in the
Masters’ world –“
Sora scratched his head and roared in response to Jibril’s
chatter:
“So let me rephrase my sentence, you never mentioned that
long-distance tools could be used! Don’t we have any? Plum!!”
“Don’t go so hard on me! Double casting is a talent natural
only to the Elves, also if I continue to use another spell, I’m
actually going to shrivel up and die! I’ve licked Sora-dono’s
neck so much that it’s starting to swell!”
“I don’t care whether it’s swelling or not! I’m covered in cold
sweat anyway, so why don’t you just lick my back!”
“Really!? Let’s eat~! Ah~ mm ♥”
Her wails suddenly turned into groans of pleasure, and Sora
turned around, speechless at Plum’s actions.
Being a match on the Flügel’s home turf, Sora was just
thinking about unforeseen circ.u.mstances – and as he thought
about that they occurred immediately!
The opponent did say they would 「Ban teleportation」- but…
- They never said to 「Ban magic」-
“Dammit – I realized it too late!”
“…We should have expected it…!”
- Regarding the 「Word Spirits」, the rules would be too much
in their favour if they could win through the 「Word Spirits」
alone.
When they realized their mistake of not realizing that earlier,
Sora and s.h.i.+ro – no, s.h.i.+ro gnawed on her fingernails, feeling
extremely frustrated.
Rules to attack the opponent… this language loophole was her
responsibility to discover since she was the one that would
memorize everything word for word.
Sora stroked s.h.i.+ro’s head and said:
“It’s normal for games like these that we couldn’t antic.i.p.ate,
so there’s no use crying over spilt milk, what’s important now
is –“
“…Mm.”
- Being a surprise game that they didn’t have complete
knowledge about, it was reasonable to think that unpredictable
things like that could happen.
Despite this they could still win – because adapting to their
opponent’s actions extremely quickly was the true ability of
Kuuhaku「」- there was no time to regret!
“- Jibril, how many shots can that thing fire?”
“Let me think…it varies for the abilities of different people,
but about six shots I guess?”
“- It’s hard to handle, but since there are only six shots our
opponents won’t waste their ammunition, thus –“
“Ah, it’s not like that, Master.”
At this point Sora who was facing behind saw multiple
shadows land on the cubes – the Flügel.
They raised their palms – and the night sky turned so bright it
was like daylight.
“It’s that 「Up to six shots can be fired at once」, there’s
no limit to the amount of shots!“
“I actually thought that monsters like you would have such
things as 「Limitations」 for a moment there, I’m so
stupid!”
“…Nii, over here -!”
This time s.h.i.+ro was the faster one to react, and she flapped her
wing vigorously.
Sora immediately left behind the mini-Jibril and followed s.h.i.+ro
without reply, and they accelerated together.
The 「Binding Light」 drew a complex pattern in the air as it
approached – although if it was homing as Jibril had said –
“…Mm!”
s.h.i.+ro flapped her wing once as hard as she could, and Sora
played along, having understood her intentions from her hand
motions.
Countless streaks of light approached them, and even Sora and
s.h.i.+ro who had used the acceleration 「Word Spirit」 from
earlier couldn’t escape their clutches.
And as the light approached their backs - 「Chandelle」[3].
They turned diagonally upwards at a forty-five degree curve
from flying straight, turning their speed to alt.i.tude, and
climbed upwards – since the 「Binding Light」 would
probably activate its proximity fuse as it reached a certain
distance away from them – a flash of light burst from behind
them as their sharp ascent caused their speed to decrease which
allowed the 「Blinding Light」 to approach – and it triggered.
“Aaaaaahhhhh!”
Ignoring Plum’s cries, s.h.i.+ro immediately cancelled their
original sharp ascent with a slight flip of her wing.
She didn’t turn around, instead she flapped her wing again and
once again began their ascent, distancing themselves from the
exploding lights behind them.
- They dodged it. Just as they were catching their breath,
streaks of light once again surged at them, and s.h.i.+ro attracted
them all to her then swapped her direction.
She baited them with the exact same method from earlier,
however this time she darted diagonally downward, changing
alt.i.tude to speed. As for the countless lights that exploded
behind them, she escaped them with the same momentum, and
she acquired speed from this –
“Yaaaaaaahhhhh!”
Plum who was still in wing form let out a cry, as