Pull of the Dark Nebula

by Reki Kawahara

  UI> PLSE STP THA

  “But what about the other dish?” she asked, and a voice came from somewhere surprising.

  “Karaage.”

  “Huh?” He looked over at the speaker.

  Akira, the bouncer, had maintained her silence during the meeting, but now she repeated with an extremely serious expression, “Karaage goes with onigiri.”

  The rest could only nod wordlessly.

  Since the menu was set, Haruyuki accepted the position of grocery squad leader and hurried down to the food sales area of the mall. With the power of the Kuroyukihime-made shopping efficiency improvement app, he cleared the large shopping list in a mere five minutes and managed to get a butterfly point while he was at it before returning to his house.

  After that, he had basically nothing to do. Plus, there were ten girls crowded into the living/dining/kitchen area of the Arita house. He shelled broad beans as he shivered at the thought of what would happen if his mother was to come home for some reason.

  At any rate, they had the personnel if nothing else, so at basically the same time that Takumu rang the doorbell at one o’clock, lunch was set out on the table: shredded mackerel, edamame, myoga, and perilla mixed-rice onigiri; chilled broad bean and soy milk Japanese-style potage; and a mountain of chicken karaage.

  Stepping into the living room behind Haruyuki, Takumu set eyes on the crowd of girls and the pile of karaage and froze in place. “Haru, what is this…? I can’t even believe it’s real…”

  “It’s too soon for freaking out, Taku,” Haruyuki whispered back, beckoning Rui Odagiri with one hand. When Rui and Takumu were facing each other, he cleared his throat and raised his right hand. “Um, Odagiri, this is Takumu Mayuzumi—Cyan Pile.”

  “Hello. I’m glad we can meet in the real.” The usual Magenta smile crept onto Rui’s lips, and Takumu returned her bow with a doubtful look.

  Haruyuki cleared his throat once again and raised his left hand. “And, Taku, this is our new Legion member Rui Odagiri—Magenta Scissor.”

  “It’s a pleasure to—” After extending his right hand, Takumu reeled for once, as he uttered the strange sound, “Majenza?!”

  With an unprecedented twelve people at the historic and traditional Nega Nebulus dinner party, Chef Chiyuri and Sous-chef Utai had intended to make more than enough food, but the onigiri, potage, and karaage vanished completely in twenty minutes.

  But that wasn’t to say there wasn’t enough food; everyone thanked them for the meal with satisfied faces before they stood to clean up. Once they were done with that, the clock read one thirty PM. The group then gathered in the living room, and Legion Master Kuroyukihime and Submaster Fuko stood with their backs to the balcony.

  “First, I’ll just confirm,” Kuroyukihime began. “May I assume that all the members who go to schools other than Umesato also had the closing ceremony for the first term today?”

  Fuko, Utai, Rui, Rin, and Akira all nodded, while Shihoko, the representative for a group of three, chimed in, “You may!”

  “Mmm. Well then, that means that everyone here is on summer break starting tomorrow. I’m sure you all have exciting plans. Of course, I do as well.”

  Here, she turned her gaze toward Haruyuki momentarily, so he replied with the thought I’m excited about the trip to Yamagata, too! He wasn’t certain whether that got through to her or not, but she did smile faintly before continuing her speech.

  “And in order to make this summer break fun and full, we absolutely cannot lose against Oscillatory Universe in the Territories today. Unfortunately, I must remain behind to defend Suginami area, but we have even more trustworthy comrades now, and I firmly believe you will achieve our objective. Please. I’m counting on you.” Kuroyukihime bowed her head.

  Fuko thrust her fist high into the air. “Everyone, let’s fight as hard as we can so we can report victory to Sacchi!”

  “Yaaaah!!” the ten cried in unison, the sound filling the large living room.

  1:40 PM.

  Nega Nebulus, with a current roster of eleven people—twelve with the Archangel Metatron—formed a group with Rin Kusakabe, who still belonged to Great Wall in terms of the system, and sallied forth from the Arita house. However, they didn’t dive into the Unlimited Neutral Field like they had on previous missions. They lined up in the entryway, put on their shoes, and filed into the condo hallway in pairs.

  Their first destination was the mixed-use commercial facility Nakano Central Park near JR Nakano Station. This was just over a kilometer away, but even on foot, they could reach it in fifteen minutes.

  As Haruyuki walked alongside Takumu at the tail end of the group, his childhood friend said to him in a low voice, “Haru, it might be time to seriously think about the extreme imbalance in the ratio of boys and girls in our Legion.”

  “Agreed on all fronts,” Haruyuki answered, while girls in a rich variation of six different kinds of uniforms—Akira only was in her usual jeans—led them, looking dashing as they walked. They looked so much like they were out of a movie, and Haruyuki had to confess that he would have been lying if he said he had absolutely no desire to record them.

  “Oh, but it might improve a bit soon,” he murmured, tugging on the sleeve of Rin Kusakabe walking immediately ahead of them. When Rin looked back, he peeled her away from the rest of the girls’ squad and asked in a low voice, “Um, Kusakabe. Will Utan and Olive be okay?”

  “Oh. Yes. They’re already. On standby somewhere in. Nakano One.”

  “They are? Okay, then all that’s left is the joining procedures.”

  Listening to this conversation, Takumu cocked his head to the side, curious. Haruyuki simply said to that “I’ll explain later” and let his thoughts race for a moment.

  Kuroyukihime had already been informed of the application to join Nega Nebulus from the three-person group of Ash, Utan, and Olive. To be more precise, what they wanted was a limited transfer until the fight with the Acceleration Research Society was settled, but Kuroyukihime had assented without hesitation. No matter how much power they had, it could never be too much, and there was no need to consider the possibility of Ash and the others being spies.

  “Come to think of it, in the space of a week, we’ve gotten loads more comrades, huh?” Haruyuki said, half to himself, as they waited for the elevator.

  The three members of Petit Paquet. Magenta Scissor and Avocado Avoider—although he wasn’t yet a member. Ash and his two friends. Adding in Metatron, they were a total of sixteen. Plus, Haruyuki was waiting on a message from one more person, more reliable than anyone else.

  And in less than an hour, Nega Nebulus would take on the negotiations for a merger with Prominence. If everything went according to plan, a new Legion with nearly fifty members would be born in an instant, a fighting force that didn’t pale in the slightest in comparison with the Legions of the other Kings.

  Of course, he was anxious about the Legion growing. Would the suddenly large organization be able to come together as one? Would differences of opinions invite their split again?

  No. What I’m really afraid of is losing the Nega Nebulus of now, the cozy and comfortable Nega Nebulus. Of being buried among Burst Linkers with higher levels, more skills, of Silver Crow losing this place where he belongs. It’s an entirely egotistical, selfish anxiety. But I can’t deny that I do have these feelings in one corner of my heart.

  “Haru.”

  Abruptly, Takumu’s voice descended near his ear.

  “Nega Nebulus at first was just you and Master, and you’re the reason it’s gotten so big now. You kept trying your hardest, and now this many people have come together under the black flag. I’m no exception, either.”

  “I just did what I did,” he whispered in response, receiving a solid slap on the back.

  “Then you just have to keep doing that, don’t you?” Takumu laughed. “You still got our sights set on a lot of stuff, yeah? You just have to keep your eyes on those goals off in the far distance and fly without
getting distracted. If you do that, I—all of us, will come chasing after you. Forever.”

  “Makes my back itchy when you say that…But it’s true we don’t have time for standing still. First, we have to give it our all in the Oscillatory fight today.” Haruyuki gently touched the place on his left hand where the level-up bonus he had just obtained would be equipped.

  No matter how large the Legion got, the fact that Kuroyukihime was its center would never change. Just like the first fixed star emitting an enormous gravitational pull in the center of a dark nebula.

  The elevator arrived, and all twelve piled in, albeit like sardines in a can, and descended to the ground floor. The Saturday afternoon shopping mall was quite busy, but it seemed that their group with its mix of ages and uniforms was drawing attention nonetheless. But the squad of girls seemed to pay this absolutely no mind and proudly cut across the galleria with the two boys in tow at the end until they came to a stop in a corner of the entrance hall.

  In the front garden that opened up outside the main building, the redbrick paths shone, pale in the midsummer sun. Beyond this light, the merger meeting that would determine the future of the Legion awaited—and the battle with Oscillatory Universe.

  Kuroyukihime spun around, her black hair swinging gently. Standing in the powerful sunlight, her outline shone hazily, almost as though she were wrapped in an aura of light. The Legion Master looked at each of the party in turn and made her crisp voice ring out.

  “Now…let’s go!”

  To be continued.

  AFTERWORD

  Thank you so much for reading Accel World 19: Pull of the Dark Nebula. Although, when I wrote that, I thought Wait. Is it really the nineteenth book? It’s not, like, number seventeen? I had to check, but it is indeed Volume 19. Aah, in the blink of an eye, there are so many volumes…

  I started the current arcs of Big Sister and White King in Volume 17, so this means those are already on their third book. Finally, all the bits and pieces have been put in place, so it’s at last time for the big battle. I do hope I can bring that fight to a conclusion in the next volume somehow. (From here on, I will be touching on some details from the novel, so please do be aware!)

  In this nineteenth volume, the situation with Nega Nebulus changes significantly. Initially, I thought the number of Legion members would increase steadily after Fuko and the rest of the Four Elements joined, but for some reason, everyone all joined at once in this volume. Takumu himself said it in the book, but the imbalance in the ratio of boys and girls in the Legion is at last starting to feel dangerous, so I’d like to get some balance there going forward. Although I don’t get the sense that that will be easy. (LOL.)

  To start with, if the merger with the neighboring Legion happens, then the number of M-types on the roll should increase a fair bit. At any rate, on the cover, too, we finally have seen the other members of the Triplex, Cassi and Pokki. I think they’ll be powerful allies, so I do hope you’ll be rooting for them!

  Now, then. I believe this will also be announced in the Dengeki Bunko Fall 2015 Fair ahead of the release of this Volume 19, but they’re going to make a new anime of Accel World! Production will, of course, be done by Sunrise Studio No. 8, and the main personnel will be coming on board from the TV anime. I’m deeply grateful to all of them, as well as everyone who expended every effort to make this project happen, and of course, all the readers who have been cheering for Accel World all this time.

  I believe the details will be announced in all mediums going forward, but time-wise, the story will be a little in the future from the current White Legion arc. In advance of the package release, there will also be a theatrical release, so I’d be delighted if you could enjoy it on the big screen.

  I must once again thank illustrator HIMA, who continues to draw the most impressive spreads of the squad of girl characters who continue to grow in number, and my editor, Miki, who manages the tightrope schedule with deft beauty. All right, everyone, I’ll see you again in Volume 20!

  Reki Kawahara

  A day in September 2015

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