Red Nocturne

by Shūsuke Amagi

  Also by Shūsuke Amagi

  Chrome Shelled Regios series

  Chrome Shelled Regios

  Silent Talk

  Sentimental Voice

  Confidential Call

  Emotional Howl

  Red Nocturne

  White Opera

  Mixing Note

  Blue Mazurka

  Complex Days

  Impact Girls

  Black Arabesque

  Grey Concerto

  Scarlet Oratorio

  Next Bloom

  Spring Burst

  Summer Night Rave

  Crying Autumn

  Initiation Log

  Desire Report

  Winter Fall (Part 1)

  Winter Fall (Part 2)

  Legend of Regios series

  Riggzario Baptism

  Ignasis' Awakening

  The Appearance of the Regios

  Red Nocturne

  Red Nocturne

  Chrome Shelled Regios Book Six

  Shūsuke Amagi

  Tokyo, Japan

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1: In a Broken House

  Chapter 2: The Appearance of a Butterfly

  Chapter 3: Birds in a Cage

  Chapter 4: The Katana Without an Owner

  Chapter 5: The Center of the World

  Chapter 6: The Owner of the Blade

  Epilogue

  Appendix

  Regios

  Electronic Fairy

  Filth Monsters/Pollutant Beasts/Contaminiods

  DITE

  Kei

  Novel Illustrations

  Baka-Tsuki

  Project Staff

  Translators

  Editors

  Updates

  Prologue

  That was an extremely random meeting.

  To Synola or Alsheyra Almonise, sleeping wasn't an equivalent of being defenseless. Although her senses were clumsier than usual, even a Heaven's Blade successor would find it difficult to attack her in her sleep. Synola could prove it with Kanaris. She could tell Kanaris was within 100 steps of where she was even while she was using Kei to mask her presence. This wasn't a matter of confidence, but reality.

  On that day, Synola spent the entire night in the lab. She had had a meeting till dawn with the other researchers, and had staggered drunkenly onto the lawn outside and slept there. The air smelled fresh and crisp in the morning. An entrance ceremony was currently in progress in the senior school next door. The researchers over on this side had gone over to help, so there weren't that many people in the lab now. Synola's strange behavior was well known among her fellow researchers. Sleeping outside on the lawn was nothing to them. Since she thought no one would bother her since they were all busy, she had laid down on the lawn and slept with ease. Even if the stubborn professor found her, it would be interesting to make him mad about it. Synola's personality was created to fulfill the desires of Alsheyra Almonise. Making a professor mad was something Alsheyra would do without ever getting tired of it.

  Synola wanted to get up, but she had no motivation to do so. She knew she'd quickly tire of her life as Synola if she kept living in this identity. Life couldn't be always full of joy. There always were boredom and arguments. She took on the identity of Synola because she wanted to remove the boredom of being Alsheyra, but at the end there was still boredom, and she could do nothing about that. As she thought of that, she gradually drifted off to sleep. But she never thought someone would get so close to her before she realized it.

  (Who is it!?)

  She opened her eyes without making a noise. A seemingly slow reaction. In fact, she was reacting with ease to the next move that the person would make.

  She never thought the other person's next action was to cry.

  "Huh?"

  It was a normal girl. Synola didn't sense any traces of her hiding anything. The stirring of a Kei vein could not be masked from the sensitivity of Synola's ears.

  (This child.........?)

  Unbelievable. A normal girl walking up to her without hiding her presence and she hadn't even noticed her. That was her first time.

  "Oi, why are you crying?"

  Tears slid down her cheeks as the girl looked at Synola. If she was sad about something, she should go somewhere and cry. If she wanted someone to comfort her, then why come to interfere with Synola's sleep? And she cried after seeing her, why?

  "I'm sorry. I think I'm lost," she hastily wiped her tears.

  She looked too young to be in the research institution. Then she must be a new senior student.

  "Never mind that, but why?"

  "I......... I don't know either..."

  She didn't seem to be lying.

  "I don't know why but I feel something in my chest, and I can't turn away my gaze........."

  "Uh........."

  Synola looked into the girl's eyes. Her own reflected image......that should be in there.

  "Huh?"

  "What is it?"

  "Ah, Aaaaah......sorry. Nothing," she smiled to cover up the doubt in her, and looked at the girl's eyes again.

  The reflected image in her eyes really wasn't Synola. Why.........? Instead, she saw a beast with four legs. Grendan, the Electronic Fairy that was in charge of the Lance Shelled city, the insane Electronic Fairy that hated filth monsters. Another shadow stood behind Grendan. The other truth of the Lance Shelled City that the family of Almonise was hiding, the other soul that slumbered in Grendan. That was what the girl was seeing. Was this Synola's imagination? She was just a normal girl.

  (Is that it?)

  Only one conclusion emerged from her pondering. This girl wasn't even a Military Artist, but to be caught in such a fate.........? Or had the genes spread out to such a level?

  Regios.........The Alchemists made them to fight the world. The genes of fate. But this was also just something random. Even Alchemists weren't omnipotent. The existence of such a world as this had proven it. Perhaps this really was just something random that had happened outside expectations.

  (But if things have become this......)

  "I'm Synola, you?"

  "Ah......Leerin Marfes."

  "Uh, if possible, can we be friends?"

  If this defenseless girl was caught in a fate that even Synola couldn't fight against.........

  (I'll do my best to protect her.)

  No matter what that means. And this moment witnessed the real birth of Synola as a person.

  Chapter 1

  In a Broken House

  This wasn't the first time she had been in an Academy City, Myunfa Rufa thought as she stood beside the leader.

  No Academy City would be very wealthy. Most of its income would have been spent sustaining the livelihood of students and maintenance of facilities. As such, the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang that Myunfa was in usually wouldn't be given VIP treatment. Though she didn't have a map, she knew around an Academy City existed strong Military Artists or another city, which explained the low probability of filth monsters attacking Academy Cities. One probably wouldn't know this truth if one only spent his entire life in one city, but someone had planned the locations of different Regios.

  (I never thought of that before I entered the Mercenary Gang.)

  Even so, the Mercenary Gang would sometimes visit Academy Cities not to work as hired mercenaries to fight, but to work as teachers. To allow student Military Artists to taste the atmosphere of a real fight – probably just a taste of what was left of a fight though – the previous leader of the Mercenary Gang said that was the best way to teach.

  .........Everyone else said it was boring though.

  But Myunfa herself had been really busy when visiting an Academy City. Of course, the problem of resupply
ing was part of it too. Seven years. That many years had passed by since the Mercenary Gang picked up Myunfa. Her strength wasn't enough for her to fight on her own so she hadn't really fought before, but she thought it incredible that she hadn't died in the past seven years. This thought surfaced in her mind because the Mercenary Gang constantly moved from city to city. They were constantly exposed to the danger outside.

  "There're larvae within the investigating area. 500 of them. They've noticed us." An electronic voice broke Myunfa's train of thought.

  They were in one of the bus stations on the edge of Zuellni. Myunfa was on the roof of the roaming bus. The vehicle was bigger than a normal roaming bus, built to house the Mercenary Gang. It looked like a moving fortress. As such, it needed three times the normal length of rope to hold it down at the bus station. The Mercenary Gang currently had 43 Military Artists and a number of technicians. The large size of the roaming bus was needed to house these people, their living space, the Dite preparation space and other storage.

  No matter how far Myunfa's gaze roamed, all she saw were the multi-legs of the city and the arid land.

  But Fermaus, the man with the electronic voice, saw something different.

  "Anything~?" the person sitting on Myunfa's left asked. He was Haia Salinvan Laia, the leader of the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang.

  "I got them. I think the location of my flake is good but I still can't beat the abilities of a genius. She discovered them faster than I did."

  Fermaus was the one who had picked up Myunfa. He had looked after her for seven years now, but she had only recently managed to understand how he thought.

  Fermaus sighed at the strength of the genius psychokinesist – Felli Loss.

  "If you two fought, who would win~?"

  "I don't like this childlike thinking. But......if our strength was the same, no, if she's at 40 percent and I am at 60, I'll win. She relies too much on her ability. Not like Wolfstein. He's got perfect skill."

  "But he's a bit rusty now~" Haia said. He was the leader but he still failed to hide the childish side of him. But Wolfstein......since meeting Layfon Wolfstein, that side of Haia was more obvious and intense than before.

  Myunfa understood. She was about the same age as Haia when Fermaus picked her up, so she grew up together with him. But now, the relationship between them was as a leader and a student. This gap between them made her lonely. However, she could stay by his side with this identity, so she was happy too.

  "You still can't win. That's the truth," Fermaus said.

  Haia curled up his lips.

  Fermaus continued, the shaking of his mask denoting the shaking of his head. "He is a bit rusty, but that is his heart and not his skill. He was once called Wolfstein, yet he isn't any worse than he was even though he now chooses to use a different weapon."

  Although the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang was formed in Grendan, out of the three people here, only Fermaus was born in Grendan. Some of the other Gang members entered the Gang while the Gang roamed from city to city. Only the seniors who were about to retire and the 2nd head of the Gang were born in Grendan. Fermaus was the only person left in the Mercenary Gang who was Grendan-born.

  The youngsters heard of Grendan's Heaven's Blade successors from the older generation. The truth was beautified and exaggerated, hence, Myunfa didn't think a Heaven's Blade successor was really that strong. She never thought anyone could win against Haia until the appearance of Layfon Alseif. A Grendan-born, former Heaven's Blade successor, exiled from Grendan.

  Layfon was now fighting the larvae in a place Myunfa couldn't see.

  "But the sword that he can't use to its fullest potential is the same as a rusty katana. It's the fate of giving up."

  Myunfa heard loneliness in Fermaus' voice. When Layfon arrived at the destination on his bike, the ground had already cracked apart, spilling out the larvae. The larvae crawled out of the hard ground like water shooting forth from a broken pipe. They spilled out and spread across the earth.

  "I've confirmed it through my eyes."

  (150 larvae. The mother and the other larvae beneath the ground show no life signals.)

  The larvae had probably eaten the mother and then each other. Layfon stopped his bike and took out the Adamantium Dite. Different Dites were placed in the slots in the Adamantium Dite. The best feature of the Adamantium Dite was its ability to combine and use these different alloys.

  (But, tracking again.........)

  Layfon put the thought of Felli aside, poured his Kei into the Adamantium Dite and spoke the keyword. "Restoration AD."

  A weapon left with only its handle formed in his hand. Numerous steel threads were attached to one end of the handle.

  "I trust Felli. I'll calculate the number I have to defeat. You just need to track them with your eyes."

  [......I know]

  Whether she had heard of the word "trust" ......or that she was tired of the same conversation, Felli didn't say anything else. She spread the flakes, including the one on her helmet, into the sky.

  She knew where her flakes were heading without having to explore her surroundings with the steel threads. Even Layfon found that terrifying. At the same time, he felt a murky feeling in his chest. He dismounted from the bike without cutting off the engine, and he ran his Kei into the steel threads.

  In that one second, he clearly felt something murky in his heart. Something heavy in him had slowed down his thought. His body felt all right though. A fulfilled feeling inside him once he got to use Kei as much as he could out here, whereas back in the city, he had to suppress it. But this feeling was exactly the problem.

  "I must hurry and finish this......"

  His steel threads went hunting for the larvae.

  Why is it like this? He knew the answer but the question hovered in his mind. That day...... Loneliness and tension greeted Layfon after the cooperated fight with the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang. One of the reasons revealed itself straight after that fight.

  Layfon and the Mercenary Gang were greeted by Zuellni. They went in the city through the entrance in the bottom half, taking off their masks to breathe in the purified air. The people who greeted them were the Student President Karian, Vance, other members of the Student Council, Harley, the senior Military Artists of the Mercenary Gang...... and Felli. Then came Sharnid, Naruki and Dalshena.

  But not Nina.

  That was the source of his loneliness. How strange. Nina was the captain of the 17th platoon, and Layfon and Sharnid were the team members. Nina wasn't one to not welcome back her team members. This gave him a really bad feeling. A crack showed on Felli's usually indifferent face. Harley was cheerful as usual, but his countenance was a bit stiff and green. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it and his gaze darted around. That was enough for Layfon to raise the question.

  "Where's the captain?"

  He had to raise the question. Now that he knew, he had to. Standing next to him, Sharnid also felt that something was wrong. But Layfon didn't push the responsibility to him. His gaze swept across the people before him.

  As such, a senior gave a reply to his question. Karian waved and stopped Felli and Harley from speaking.

  "She's missing," he said.

  Layfon's heart thumped......it made that kind of a noise.

  "What's going on?" Sharnid said, putting his hand on Layfon's shoulder. His voice trembled like Layfon's but in it was calm. He glanced at Felli. She should know where Nina was up till when she went missing.

  ".........I failed to find the Captain once she entered the center of the Mechanical Department."

  "Meaning she's missing now?" Sharnid asked, shocked.

  She nodded. "Her presence suddenly disappeared. I checked the area around but didn't find her."

  "How......" Layfon was speechless.

  "She might have invaded the very center of the Department. That's a secret even we can't touch," Karian added. "But in that case, we can only give up. It's a place
we can't reach. Perhaps there's a failure there. But I can't risk stopping the city from functioning."

  A certain feeling rushed up in Layfon.

  This had become his responsibility.

  Not too much time was needed to defeat 500 filth monsters. The larvae were nothing to Layfon. Although his skill in using the steel threads was only a thousandth of Lintence's...... Lintence liked to describe with numbers and exaggerated them. In truth, with Layfon's level of Kei, he could defeat these many larvae in one moment. Yes, even though his skill wasn't on Lintence's level. The filth monsters rushing towards Zuellni from behind him were heading straight into a trap. If Layfon was in Grendan, other Military Artists would have taken care of this crisis, but not in Zuellni.

  People of high talent were so labeled by others, so they could be used equally by other people. That was the cruel reality. All sorts of policies were created to protect these elites so they could be used for a long time and for maximum potential. Military Artists were people who could die easily, and as such, cities gave them the best protection possible. Many families that gave birth to Military Artists were given wealth and the best living conditions. But that didn't change the fate where they were used as commodities.

  The purpose of an Academy City was to nurture elites, not to consume them. That was why any situation with students dying must be avoided as much as possible. Zuellni being attacked by filth monsters was, to any city, the biggest crisis.

  [Thanks for your hard work.] Felli's soft voice sounded in his ear.

  "Any other reaction?"

  [Straight in your path. The information came from the flake on the drone so the psychokinetic power is lacking. I doubt the accuracy of the intelligence. I can get more detailed information if we get three days closer.]

  "I got it. Please return for resupplying."

  [Right. Take your time resting.] Weariness filled Felli's voice.

  Next......Running desperately in weariness. The city should be avoiding filth monsters, not attacking them. Did other cities have the same level of confidence to overcome this crisis?