Blue Mazurka

by Shūsuke Amagi

  But she couldn't fight him if that intruder was related to the Wolf Faces. Since she would be pulled to another side, someone needed to fight that person. Besides, it was a high possibility that the Wolf Faces knew of the Inner Court.

  "Ah, so restricted."

  Her complaint disappeared without an echo.

  "I want to see some change here, but things stay the same."

  The combination of the environment and a match had given birth to the monster called Alsheyra Almonise. Her strength far exceeded any Heaven's Blade successor. Though her strength couldn't be compared to the combined strength of all 12 Heaven's Blade successors, she far exceeded the strength of individual Heaven's Blades. But no one could lead her to that thing as long as the consciousness of Grendan remained in its slumber. Just what was she to do?

  "Should I give up?" she asked. Of course, no one replied her. She felt uncomfortable at the silence.

  "Well, shouldn't I ask Grendan about the route?" she turned, her back facing the door as her train of thought turned to the Haikizoku.

  She hadn't seen it for a long time even though she was the Queen. The encounter of that time was because Leerin was in danger, and Grendan responded to it. She knew when she first met Leerin. Tears had slid down Leerin's face in her first encounter with Synola. She knew, after looking at the figure in the depth of Leerin's pupils...... Along with the cruelty of fate, that moment had given Synola, Alsheyra Almonise, the sign that the person she was waiting for had appeared. The time was here. It was time for Grendan to fulfill its mission.

  Yes, she knew. She herself and the 12 Heaven's Blades were not enough. The royal family of Grendan lacked a true successor. But........ Why did Grendan appear in front of Leerin?

  It wasn't rare for the blood that made up of the three families of the royal line to slip into the ordinary populace. Though Grendan had a long history, it didn't have the power to enable all three royal families to live a rich life. It was rare for that strength to appear in the populace of Grendan, but it wasn't extremely unusual. But why.........? Synola asked again, gritting her teeth.

  "If possible, I want that child to be happy."

  Military Artists were born to keep the world in balance. As a normal person, why did Leerin have to face that? That was why Synola let her leave the city. If it could be done, she wanted her to stay away and live happily with Layfon. If she had stayed in Grendan, she would get caught in something bad.

  In order to head for the Mechanical Department through the secret passage in the Inner Court, Synola must first head back to the palace. Though she found that troublesome, she preferred this road over the nasty smelling maze. Because she could use this privilege, she couldn't help but think of Barmelin's expression of hate. Barmelin always talked to others like she was an elder.

  Synola hummed.

  She entered the palace and halted her steps.

  "Your Majesty," Kanaris said, waiting in the private room for the King. As a shadow Military Artist, she had been using this palace. She looked like the Queen, as if she were Synola's shadow.

  "Where have you gone to? I asked Delbone-sama, but she wouldn't tell me a thing. I've been looking for you."

  "That's one of the seven secrets of the Queen."

  "That's just........" Kanaris sighed.

  This wasn't fun at all. Synola wouldn't have minded if she kept asking "what are the other six secrets?" or something like that.

  "So what is it? It's late."

  "I have something to report."

  "What is it?" she looked at the document in her hand.

  A gene report. But the name of the person who wrote this report wasn't on the document. On the other hand, someone else's name was on it.

  "What do you mean?" Synola..... Alsheyra asked.

  ".......... I did this while Your Majesty was outside posing as Synola. I'm sorry. I wasn't interested in it at the beginning, but my thinking changed after so many things have happened."

  "Uh........"

  "Why did Grendan appear before that girl? Because of the filth monster? But Your Majesty has already controlled the Haikizoku. Your Majesty wouldn't have ignored it, besides, you were already there. You could have arrived there before Grendan showed up without the girl noticing. But Grendan appeared before her as if to become her shield."

  Alsheyra's gaze kept glued to the name on the report.

  "My doubt began there. I took a strand of hair from that girl and did an investigation......... And the result is what you're seeing now."

  It was easy for Kanaris to take a strand of hair of a normal person. And then she knew about her.

  "Your Majesty, you know........!"

  It was enough.

  "Kanaris. I knew. This isn't because you've overstepped."

  She grabbed hold of Kanaris's neck and lifted her up. Her eyes rolled to show white.

  "But you're too loyal to your duty. This isn't loyalty to me. If I weren't the Queen, you'd probably carry out your duty under the next King."

  "Ah..... Wu.......! Wu!"

  She coldly watched her struggling legs.

  Should she kill her off here? This woman knew. It wasn't strange for Alsheyra to know since she was from the royal line.

  "But you're now my subordinate. You must finish your mission under my orders. Don't you think you shouldn't do what I don't wish to be done? Though you're good at preparations, can't you give my feelings some consideration?"

  "..........."

  The legs gradually stopped struggling. No more strength to even make a noise. Alsheyra released her hold.

  "You're wrong if you think I can't kill you......... I won't allow this to happen again."

  "I'm....... very sorry."

  Alsheyra destroyed the report and returned to her private room. The Kei in her hand had turned the document into powder in an instant. The maids coming in tomorrow would clean that up. The Queen cocked her head at the powder.

  She recalled the name on the document.

  Herder Eutnohl, the eldest son of Eutnohl, one of the three royal families. He was her fiancé. If she had married him, they would have given birth to a child who would have borne Leerin's fate. But he had eloped with a normal girl. He was a fool under a curse.

  "Why did you stay in Grendan. You idiot........."

  According to the calculations based on the year when he went missing, Leerin's age matched the results perfectly. She understood that. She had already considered this possibility.

  She just didn't want to confirm it.

  Chapter 4

  Confusion

  In the morning, after discovering a city was nearing them, the siren sounded in the sky of Zuellni. Someone quickly confirmed from the flag that it was the Academy City Falnir.

  "Again....."

  Karian was having morning tea. Enjoying the time with a cup of tea was one of his hobbies. Though the siren had interfered with his pastime, it did little to affect his mood.

  After announcing the situation, he ordered all Military Artists to gather and the normal students were to evacuate to the shelters. It was after hearing the name of the other city that he started to feel annoyed. He clearly remembered the results of the past five Military Arts Competitions, along with the names of the cities. Whether it was Myath or Falnir...

  "We haven't fought this city before."

  That was strange.

  It was common knowledge that Regios wouldn't move too far away from their selenium mines. As Zuellni only had one mine, the area it moved in should be small. Normal speculation would conclude that the other city had had contact with Zuellni. However, Zuellni had yet to fight Falnir. This meant the results of the previous Military Arts Competition had caused huge fluctuations in the movement areas. The other possibility was that after the rampage, Zuellni had run across Myath, and was in turn now running across Falnir.

  "Is that really the case?"

  He wasn't convinced. The city had been moving for a long time twice now. This trip into the summer season to
ok longer time than usual. One could explain that by an error, but no detailed proof was forthcoming. Then one could only conclude the only possible explanation was chance. But was this enough to solve the problem? As the Student President of Zuellni, as the highest authority of this Academy City, how should he respond to this change?

  "Anyway, just focus on solving the present problem."

  He couldn't ignore the present because of his consideration of the future. Leaving his sister behind, he left the house.

  Before the ringing of the siren, Nina was waiting for Layfon at the entrance of his dormitory. She was already awake when the siren sounded. What she was surprised with was that Layfon had apologized to Leerin, and later on, Leerin had asked her to take the Dite from her room and bring it to him.

  Nina followed Leerin's instruction. Though it wasn't that good to enter another's room, Leerin had given her permission to do so. The light was dim, but she quickly found the box. She had seen it once, and the box jumped out to her as it stood on the desk.

  Once she handed the Dite over to Layfon, he had unwrapped the box and taken out the Dite. A metal Dite with a thread weaving around the handle.

  "This is..........."

  "Yes, this is proof of one having learnt all Psyharden skills," he held the handle with nostalgia, walked into the court in the dormitory and restored the Dite.

  The beauty of the Katana made her speechless. The length of the blade was as long as Layfon's arm. It was wide, giving off an aura of power. The morning sunlight reflecting off the blade made her squint.

  "Amazing," she said with her voice raised, attracted by the light.

  "Every part has been set carefully. The technicians have adjusted it again and again for half a year."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah," he nodded and moved away from her to ready his fighting stance. He swung the blade back and forth.

  The feeling of the blade on his hand was different. He confirmed the Katana.

  "Should it be heavier? The blade also needs....... It's a bit too long, so I should use the Sapphire Dite as a spare. If the blade can be thicker, then it can sustain the Steel Threads. This setting can be made on the Shim Adamantium Dite, but with the Adamantium Dite......."

  It looked like he wanted to change the Dites he had into Katanas.

  "..... Aren't you going to use this?" Nina pointed at the Psyharden Katana. It was an excellent Katana, yet Layfon didn't seem satisfied.

  "Of course I need adjustments made on this Katana, but when comparing the quality of the materials, white alloy far exceeds that of metal and the green alloy. When I used the Dite in the past, it couldn't sustain my skill in Kei, so I decided to go for the aspect to cut things apart."

  "Is...... Is that so?"

  "Yeah, besides, this adjustment was made when I was ten."

  Nina was shocked.

  "I'm used to wielding bigger Katana. In truth, I can use the Adamantium Dite better if it's heavier. The Shim Admantium Dite suits me more just based on that."

  He continued his explanation, facing a speechless Nina. "Of course, there's inconvenience if I keep using it. The inconvenience brought by Kei flow in a Katana used against a filth monster will cause error in the swing of the weapon."

  A siren cut through the air.

  "Emergency? Is a city near?"

  "Seems so. This is like training."

  Layfon looked at the sky and turned his gaze to the city's legs. A city did appear ahead of Zuellni.

  "Time to get ready."

  "I'm going to find Harley-senpai to make some adjustments."

  "Aa......"

  "Then I'll be leaving now."

  She watched him run off.

  ".... He's changed."

  A sudden change. He had accepted his identity as a Military Artist. That should warrant a celebration. Whether it was for Nina or Zuellni, this was good news. But somehow, she didn't feel comfortable.

  "He must have talked over this with Leerin."

  That must be it.

  This was probably a good thing, but on the other hand, she knew it was something she couldn't have affected. Having experienced the setback in Grendan, Layfon's current change did not come about because of Nina or anyone else.

  Never mind.

  She couldn't do this because she wasn't Leerin? Or because she forced herself too much?

  "............" Nina shook her head and breathed out as if to let loose the feelings piling up inside her. Sunlight shone into the court. Today was another hot day.

  Layfon ran. His feet were light, so light. In fact, his entire body felt light, as if power had filled him. Looking at the usual streetscape before him, it felt refreshing. Why was that so? He knew the reason behind it lay in the wooden box in his right hand.

  He ran on an empty street. He ran, knowing clearly that he hadn't been abandoned and forgotten. He already knew when he was little. The children of his age had all been adopted by other people. Only he and Leerin had stayed in the orphanage. The kids who had been adopted and taken away never did return to visit them. When he grew up and had a talk with father, he knew this was a fact. At the same time, he realized he was still immature. This didn't mean Derek didn't care for the kids who had left the orphanage. In truth, some kids caused trouble for their adopted families and were sent back to the orphanage. When that time came, Derek faced the adopted parents with determination and persistence. And Layfon didn't know that, as he was still little. Though he didn't feel it daily, he felt he had been kept behind when it was time for other kids to be taken away. One after another, the children left. Only he was left behind, and that made him feel lonely. Every time the day for a kid to leave rolled around, Layfon was always holding Leerin's hand. Leerin, usually strong and talented, always turned gentle and weak on that day. Even though he felt uncomfortable with her sweaty hand, he held onto it and never let go. And every time, she would tell him of her trouble. And Layfon would want to become stronger, stronger and stronger, so he could always stay by her side. So he would never let go of that hand. He didn't know when he had forgotten that feeling. The shortage of food in Grendan had shrouded that feeling, leaving it to hide deep in his heart.

  He was always with Leerin in Grendan. It was the same when people challenged him for the title of the Heaven's Blade successor. Leerin's letters encouraged him when he was confused. And Leerin had come to Zuellni because of him. For that alone, he must not let go of her hand. Hence he must hold it tight. Hence he must win this battle.

  The siren was a summon.

  Holding the Dite in the box, holding the thoughts of Derek and Leerin, Layfon ran for battle.

  It was after midday when Falnir contacted Zuellni. The sound of the edges touching echoed throughout the city. Layfon heard this sound in the building of the Alchemy course.

  "........ Made it~~" Harley collapsed on a chair. "Come over and see."

  The restored form of the Shim Adamantium Dite lay on the table. Compared to the Katana, the Shim Adamantium Dite was now longer in length. Light sparkled in the dark blade.

  "I took the mode of the metal Dite and made it in powdered form. That should raise the sharpness of the blade."

  Layfon prepared his stance. He couldn't make any large movements in the narrow room, but he nodded at the feeling of the blade in his hand.

  "Perfect," he smiled.

  "Re, really?" Harley smiled too.

  "Well, this doesn't have much to do with the Military Arts Competition since you aren't allowed to hurt your opponent. But I tried merging the aspects of the Dites........"

  "Then I'll go ahead. Counting on you for the Sapphire Dite."

  "Ah, yes."

  Layfon jumped out the window. Felli's flake was already waiting. It flew into his pocket.

  "Sorry."

  "Please hurry and get changed. A plan's already been drawn up."

  "What do I do?" he asked as he lept from building to building.

  "........... Instead of that, let's just solve what happened la
st night. I'm sorry."

  "Ah, not at all........ It was my fault. Sorry."

  "No...... So you've decided to hold the Katana."

  "Yes, you and the Captain are right. I was wrong," he felt flustered at the seeming shadow in her words.

  "I don't mean that. I mean your heart. Have you decided to continue fighting as a Military Artist?"

  "Ah........." he breathed in deeply and didn't give an instant reply.

  "What?" her tone was icy.

  "No, I haven't thought of that yet........"

  Submerged in the joy of being allowed to use Psyharden, submerged in the feel of the Katana in his hand, he had totally forgotten it. No........ He had forgotten. That probably came about as a burden on his spirit from fighting as a Military Artist. He now held the Katana, but he hadn't resolved his past in Grendan. Still, this had nothing to do with whether he should continue to be a Military Artist or not.

  "This feels like your style."

  "....... Are you underestimating me?"

  "I was just saying the truth."

  "Wu..........."

  True. He could only see what was before him. He didn't protest against her words as he arrived at the Training Complex. He took out the flake before entering the change room. He took up the clothes.

  And next, he quickly made his way to the outer area of Zuellni.

  "Sorry."

  "No, it's good that you caught up."

  Under Felli's guidance, he had arrived at where Nina was to confirm the situation. The signing of contract had already begun.

  "Eh? That person..........?" He noticed the older man standing beside Falnir's Student President.

  "He's the representative of the Academy City Alliance."

  "Eh, so it's that person."

  That person wore a grey coat. He looked to be in his thirties. The Academy City Alliance. It managed all Academy Cities and exchanged information between cities. It was also responsible in buying and selling information to other Academy Cities.