Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no “Kokoro”- [LN] Volume 2: Chapter 3.1

[LN] Volume 2: Chapter 3.1

This chapter was brought to you by the collaboration between PolterGlast and Saekano Translations.
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Volume 2 Chapter 3.1
The Fairy Who Lost Her Wings Part 1
Translator : PolterGlast
After class the day after helping with Irisdina's and Tima's request, Nozomu visited the library.
His reason was simply to review the lessons he had taken today and to prepare for tomorrow's class.
The library at Solminati Academy is located a short distance away from the main school building. Near this library is one of the continent's leading research institutions, the Gloaurum Institution, which also serves as an archive of important documents.
Formerly, during the time that Nozomu was training with Shino, he studied either in his room in the dormitory or in Shino's hut. In terms of ratio, the majority of his time was spent in Shino's hut.
However, even so, Nozomu still used the library whenever possible.
In order to keep up with the lessons at school, there were limits to what he could do with just his basic comprehension skills. Therefore, it was natural for him to try to make use of the wisdom of his predecessors in the form of books.
"Iris, do you have any books on how to operate a magic circle that might be helpful?"
"Yes, I think I found something in Klauben's book that might be helpful. It should be on the shelf over there."
By the way, Irisdina, Tima, and Mars were also at the desk where Nozomu was sitting.
They were also students studying hard and often used this library.
Though it was a bit surprising to see Mars studying in the library, it seemed that he had his own reasons after witnessing the battles between Nozomu and Rugato at the end of the second year.
He had also begun to actively train and study magic as well as Qi-jutsu.
"Ugh~, the interrelationship between the attributes? The influence of topography and geological conditions on magic? What kind of code is this?"
"Mars, that's the stuff you were supposed to be studying in second grade, remember?"
Nevertheless, from the looks of the situation, Mars was not doing well in his studies.
Mars' grades were the opposite of Nozomu's, with a sharp difference between practical skills and classroom studies. While his practical skills were rated very high, his classroom studies were always just barely above the failing mark.
"Mars, how could you use magic when you didn't even study it?"
"Well, it's because of my [Abilitiy]. When it comes to the wind attribute magic, I could somehow manage to use it even if it was not great."
"You could somehow manage it, huh? ......"
Certainly, Mars is an extremely rare person who could handle both Qi-jutsu and magic to an advanced level.
Nevertheless, the fact that he claimed that he was able to use magic somehow made Nozomu, who could not use magic, look at him with a cold stare.
"You know, just because you can somehow manage doesn't mean you don't have to study, no?"
On the other hand, Tima, who has been struggling with her powerful magic power, seemed to have some thoughts about Mars' words.
"I know. That's why I'm studying it all over again."
"But why bother learning about magic now?"
"Well, there was also the incident with that old vampire ......"
Until now, Mars had used only Qi-jutsu when he fought, whether in the classes or in any other situation.
This was partly because of his own temperament, in which Qi-jutsu suited him better than magic, but it would be more accurate to say that there was no opponent who could push Mars into a corner.
Conversely, there was still room for him to grow.
It was only natural that Mars, who was confronted with his own inexperience in the battle against Rugato, would try to learn magic in reflection of his own potential.
"Ah, right. If you are not good at learning magic, why don't you ask Tima to teach you?"
"...... Eh?"
"...... Wha?"
Tima and Mars were taken aback by Irisdina's sudden suggestion.
"Tima was originally an Ecross student, so her knowledge about magic is quite good. Isn't she the right person for the job?"
"Huh? Tima-san is originally from Ecross?"
"Is that true?"
"U-, un. I came to this town when I was about seven years old. It was when I found out to have a talent for magic......"
"Seven years old, that's roughly ten years ago...... -wait a minute."
Ten years ago. It was right around the time that Arcazam and the educational institutions associated with it were established.
The calculations proceeded in Nozomu's and Mars' minds, and a single answer was derived.
"Are you, like, a first-generation Ecross student?"
"U-, un......"
Ecross is a subsidiary of the Solminati Academy, which Somia also attends, but at the same time, it gathers children with special talents from all over the continent and provides them with special education for gifted children.
In other words, Tima is one of the students who have studied modern magicology the longest, not only in this city but also on this continent.
"See, she's the right person for the job, right?"
While Irisdina proudly referred to Tima, the person in question shrank back like a scared cat.
Certainly, considering Tima's background, there is no one more suited to teach him magic.
"But are you okay with that?"
"U-, un. But I've never taught anyone before, so I don't know if I'll be able to do it well......"
"That's not true. You're there for me from time to time, remember?"
Irisdina supported Tima, who seemed to be lacking in self-confidence.
The very fact that she could teach the top student in the school year was enough to confirm that her knowledge was genuine.
"...... please."
"Ah, Un!"
Tima accepted Mars' request with a big smile on her face, which was rather bold and not something one would expect from someone who was accepting a favor.
After getting Tima's approval, Mars flipped through his textbook to see what questions he wanted to ask.
Irisdina, watching the two of them with an amused expression, approached Tima without being noticed by Mars, and began whispering something in her ear.
The next moment, Tima's cheeks turned bright red.
"Well, first of all, please tell me about this......"
"H-, hya! Umm, ummm......"
Seeing Tima's sudden fluster, Nozomu guessed that Irisdina must have said something strange again, but Mars, who did not catch on, just tilted his head.
"Hey, are you all right? You don't have to worry about it if you don't want to."
"I-, I don't mind at all! I'm totally fine!"
"O-, oh ...... Then, please."
Pressured by Tima's sudden loud voice, Mars presented his textbook to her.
"Tima, you should be quiet in the library~~"
"Ugh! U~~, u~~, u～～～～."
Meanwhile, Irisdina, the main culprit of the situation, started teasing Tima again with a smile on her face.
"I knew it, Tima's cute after all. Now then, shall I get back to my studies?"
"...... I'm going to go look for some reference material, but Iris, if you keep doing something like that, I think you're going to get hurt someday."
Irisdina, after teasing her best friend for a while, casually returned to her study, and Nozomu let out a sigh and got up from his seat.
"Ah right, Nozomu, have you given any thought about what you're going to do from now on?"
"...... You see, I'm thinking of showing up at the Adventurers' Guild again."
"I see......"
Nozomu who stood up from his seat, hesitated for a moment before responding to Irisdina's words from behind his back, and then went straight to the bookshelf where the reference materials were placed.
Irisdina stared at Nozomu's back with a sideways glance.
Her eyes, without her noticing, were filled with a quiet heat that she had never felt before.
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"Let's see... The Complete Catalogue of Military Magic, and then, the Introduction to Klauben Military Warfare, and then......."
After parting from Irisdina and the others, Nozomu went to check the countless bookshelves lined up to find the book he was looking for.
Arcazam's library has two types of bookshelves, open and closed, and Nozomu is currently in the open bookshelf section. This library also contains research materials from the Gloaurum institution, which are located in the closed-case section. To enter the closed section, one must pass through a special passageway, and of course, permission is required to enter and leave this section, as well as to borrow the materials.
Having obtained the desired book for the time being, Nozomu sat down at an empty desk and began to read.
The students around him were sparse, everyone concentrating on their own assignments, and all he could hear was the sound of pages being turned and pens being run through the pages.
The silence was both gratifying and a little painful at the same time for Nozomu.
What bothered Nozomu was Irisdina's earlier words, "have you given any thought about what you're going to do from now on?". Along with her words, his master's words also come back to mind.
(Shisho told me it was okay to run away. But maybe the very fact that I am studying like this is also a way of moving forward......)
What popped into Nozomu's mind was his childhood friend and girlfriend who had left him.
He still could not understand why she had suddenly rejected him, even though she had been supporting him through his poor grades ever since he came to this school.
At the same time, however, Nozomu couldn't help but feel a heavy, indescribable feeling in the pit of his stomach, as if he had swallowed lead.
(But, Is that really the case? Because I still haven't quite figured out the important thing......)
Nozomu himself did not want to remember those days, and since he had been devoting his body and mind to training with Shino for so long, he did not think much about it anymore.
It was a form of escapism that he himself had turned away from, but at the same time, now that he was aware of his own escapism, he could no longer turn away from it.
(Certainly, by the time Lisa dumped me, I was starting to see her less and less......)
At the time the [Ability Suppression] manifested, Nozomu increased the amount of training he did by any means.
Naturally, from that time on, Nozomu had fewer opportunities to talk with Lisa.
However, no matter how much he thought back on it, he could not understand why she had turned him away so coldly.
And now that he became aware of his own escapism, he found it frustrating that he had to stand still.
He was aware of his own escapism but was unable to come up with an answer as to what he should do about it.
(This one is back to normal as well......)
Looking down at his right hand, he squinted his eyes and saw the invisible chains that wrapped around his body .......
It was proof of his [Ability Suppression], and at the same time, a lifeline that contained the giant dragon he had taken in.
Although it has been ripped off several times before, it has since reappeared and keeps binding Nozomu's body.
(Iris and the others don't seem to be asking for more details about this power yet, but ......)
Nozomu hesitated while remembering the conversation at yesterday's launch.
Should I tell them about it? Wouldn't it be better if I didn't have to tell them about it?
Anxieties and negative thoughts welled up within him.
But at the same time, the desire to tell them also welled up.
Conflicting emotions became mixed up, swirling around and making countless reasons pop up in his mind.
"Haa~, this is no good......"
Having lost his concentration significantly, Nozomu decided to stop his search for books and take a break, as he could not find the desired book on the shelves nearby.
The library anticipated a large number of students coming to the library and had prepared a place where they could eat and drink.
He thought about inviting Irisdina and the others to join him for now, and just as Nozomu was about to go back, a book caught his eye.
[Spirit Magic and the Races that Received its Blessing]
It was a book about spirits and elves.
Upon closer look, there were many books about spirits on the shelves placed there.
(This is......)
Nozomu slowly picked up the book and flipped through its contents.
[Spirits are beings that have come to have a will, as the source elements that flow in the earth's dragon veins come together. Therefore, they are able to take in not only the source elements but also Qi and magic power as their own food.]
[Spirits can be largely classified into three categories: micro spirits, lesser spirits, and greater spirits. Among these, most of the spirits that people have seen are the micro spirits, followed by the lesser spirits.]
[The most famous of the greater spirits are the spirits of the Great Tree in the Nebula Forest, and this class of spirits is powerful enough to have a significant impact on a country.]
The book began with basic knowledge about spirits and their relationship with other races.
[Sometimes spirits make contracts with mortals on a whim. They feed on the Qi, magic power, and source elements of the mortals, and lend their strength to the mortals with whom they have made a contract.]
[Among them, the affinity between elves and spirits in particular overwhelms the other races. Contracting with spirits is as common to them as a bird flying in the sky, and powerful elves are even able to contract with lesser spirits.]
[Conversely, with a few exceptions, the human races have little affinity with spirits. Their low affinity can be said to be less than that of insects. No, it would be disrespectful to insects, considering that some insects are even inhabited with spirits.]
What can I say? He is a very loose-tongued author. However, as for Nozomu, the phrase "with a few exceptions" was very worrisome. This is because he himself is a human being who has unwillingly been inhabited by an extraordinary spirit.
In fact, after his battle against Rugato, in which he freed himself from the [Ability Suppression], he was subjected to Tiamat's interference in the form of dreams, and the existence of this giant dragon cast a large shadow over Nozomu's mind.
(Perhaps there is some clue about Tiamat or the Dragon Slayer ......)
Nozomu took a deep breath and proceeded to read the next page.
Both Tiamat and the Dragon Slayer are now of legendary existence, and Nozomu only has a general knowledge of them.
Therefore, he could not stop himself from having faint expectations.
[The most famous exception would be the usurper known as the Dragon Slayer. A human being who has taken in a spirit of immense power called a Dragon. I will describe about Dragons and Dragon Slayers in another book, but to keep it simple, they are a troublesome and disastrous existence.]
Disastrous existence. Nozomu's heart thumped loudly upon reading those words. It seemed that the author of this book had also researched Dragon Slayer.
However, the book that Nozomu picked up did not contain any further information that he was looking for.
"The Usurper....... The author of the book is Grisden Harantido. Are there any continuations here?"
There might be a book on the shelves that contained information about Dragon Slayers. Nozomu looked through the books on the shelf with faint hope. However, contrary to Nozomu's expectations, Grisden's book was not on the shelf.
At that moment, Nozomu heard a strange noise.
"Hmm? What is this noise?"
The bustling noise drifted in on a slight breeze from the back of the spacious library.
The other students were unaware of it, but Nozomu's hearing, trained in the Spasim forest, caught the noises streaming from the passageway leading to the closed shelf section of the library.
"I told you, it's an accusation. I have no idea about that."
"I wonder. You're an elf, after all. So we will never know what kind of dirty tricks you are up to."
Judging by the way the conversation was going, it was anything but calm.
Nozomu approached the source of the voices and quietly peeked behind the shadows of the passageway to see three female beastman students surrounding a blue-haired elf with a book in her arms.
Furthermore, there was one student, far away from the three of them, who was gathering a greenish-colored magic power in her hands.
It was definitely magic. Considering that it was difficult to discern their voices despite the close distance, it could be assumed that they were probably using wind magic to obstruct the sounds. Moreover, one of the beastmen surrounding the elf is the female student who belonged to Kevin's party yesterday and the one who reported their request to the guild.
"That is Shina-san. Also, those beastmen, they are from yesterday ...... and that one, I believe her name was Karanti, wasn't it?"
Karanti is a wolf beastman, as far as he could see. Pale gray ears and a tail sprouted from her head and skirt. Judging by the blue nameplate on her chest, she is in the second class.
She is about the same height as Shina, but her beastman's physique is quite something, contrary to her appearance. At the very least, she would be able to crush an apple with her bare hands with ease.
"What should I do? ...... They're asking for trouble when they're using magic here."
Naturally, the use of magic or Qi-jutsu is prohibited in the library, where valuable documents are stored.
While Nozomu was hesitating about what to do in this situation, Shina and Karanti continued to argue.
"Step aside. You are in my way."
"If we were going to step aside, we wouldn't have done this in the first place. Oh, it's no use calling Mimuru, the catmen, for help. She's with her lover right now."
With anger in her eyes, Karanti twisted Shina's arm. Shina frowned due to the pain running up her arm, and the books she was holding were scattered on the floor with a rustling sound.
"~, let go of me!"
"You can just shake it off by force. Or why don't you call on some of your spirit friends to help you? Though, as a failure of an elf, I doubt you'd be able to."
(A failure, she says......)
"Shut up......"
The color of threatening anger flashed in Shina's eyes.
Despite her clearly deranged behavior, Karanti showed no signs of being intimidated by Shina's anger, but rather began to emanate an even greater rage.
"I'll say it as many times as I have to. You are a failure as an elf. You have lost the blessing of the spirits and have been abandoned."
(Lost the blessing of the spirits?)
Nozomu was surprised, but kept listening attentively.
"Or should I call you a coward? You, who ignored our warnings, were easily defeated by the demonic beasts, and then fled on your own, abandoning your own families who were trying to protect their homeland."
" ~!"
Blue magic power began to overflow from Shina's body, perhaps because her emotions had been shaken out of her.
This is bad. There is no telling what will happen to her if she gets into a fight in the library. It would be fine if it was only a suspension, but in some cases, the student would be expelled from school, or worse, sent to jail.
No one involved would be treated well. The moment he realized this, Nozomu reflexively raised his voice.
"E-, excuse me! Is there anyone here ――!?"
Inevitably, he resorted to using such tactics.
Loud voices in a quiet library would stand out. No doubt people would come rushing to him soon.
"H-, hey, Karanti, this is not good."
"Tha guy, isn't he the bottom feeder who parasitized the black-haired princess!? How come I didn't notice him at all!?"
However, this made Karanti and the others aware of Nozomu's presence. Even though their voices were silenced by the wind magic, the soundproofing was not perfect.
Knowing that the library staff would be rushing to the scene, Karanti and the others would have no time to get involved with Shina any further. And in fact, the situation turned out just as Nozomu wanted.
"Tch, it can't be helped. We're done here."
As they were shaken by the unexpected situation, Karanti glared at Nozomu in frustration and gave instructions to her dismayed friends.
After receiving instructions, they acted swiftly. As soon as the wind spell was dispelled, they made use of their inherent agility and headed in the direction of the open shelf section of the library where Nozomu was.
"You better remember this, you bottom feeder."
While the others fled at full speed, only Karanti cursed at Nozomu as they passed each other. Apparently, she was quite upset that she was being interrupted.
But she quickly took her gaze away from Nozomu, stopped for a moment, and once again glared at Shina, who remained still in the passageway.
"Because of you, elves, we wolves have lost many of our families. I will never acknowledge you being here."
Leaving a final, squeezed-out resentment, Karanti sped away this time.
After making sure the girls disappeared behind the bookshelves, Nozomu timidly stepped out from behind the passageway and appeared in front of Shina.
"Umm, ...... are you alright?"
"...... yeah."
Seeing Nozomu's figure, Shina's eyes widened in surprise for a moment.
Meanwhile, Nozomu, who was also present in the unpleasant situation, was not sure what to say, so he remained silent. While he was doing so, the library staff arrived.
"What's the matter?"
"Well, umm, actually......"
Nozomu tried to explain to the library staff, who looked at him suspiciously, but before he could explain, two figures appeared from the open shelf section.
"You're taking too long Shina, are you not done ye- ...... eh, what's wrong?"
"Did something happen?"
The two who called out to her were Tom and Mimuru, who happened to fight alongside Nozomu and the others the other day when they fought the demonic beasts on the highway.
They looked over at Shina, Nozomu, and the library staff, and tilted their heads.
"...... it's nothing. I just dropped off a few borrowed books. I borrowed them from the closed shelves, he was a little startled and made a noise."
"Eh?"
"I'm sorry, this particular book was one of the ones I dropped off......"
I don't see any scratches on it, so it shouldn't be a problem. But be careful. Everything in here is valuable."
"Yes, I am sorry."
While Nozomu was stunned, Shina, who was supposed to be the victim, put the situation behind her as if nothing had happened.
As the library staff left, Shina let out a big breath of relief and handed the books she was carrying to Tom.
"Tom, is this the book you were looking for?"
"Oh, yes, thank you!"
"Shina, what happened?"
"I just had a little playtime with energetic dogs."
Energetic dogs. Mimuru, who has known Shina for a while, could guess from that alone and frowned grimly.
Tom, who had received the books, also looked at Shina with concern.
On the other hand, the elf girl, who was the center of it all, looked back at Nozomu, trying her best to avoid noticing the worried gazes that were being directed at her.
"And, I'd like to thank you as well. Thank you, but, just so you know, I don't need your help."
"Oh ......."
"Tom, Mimuru, let's go."
You have nothing to do with this. It was as if Shina told him so, and Nozomu had nothing more to say to her.
"Ah, right. Your name is Nozomu, right? Do you have some free time now?"
However, Mimuru, who was watching next to her, easily broke through such a heavy atmosphere.
"Ha?"
She looked into Nozomu's face with curiosity and smiled meaningfully.
"Come hang out with us for a bit. Come on, it's okay! We won't eat you."
"No, but ......"
"You don't have to worry about that 'tsun-tsun' elf. Come on, let's go! Tom, you're okay with it, too, right?"
"It's fine. I was just gonna take a quick break myself."
"Whoa, wait a minute!"
Leaving the dismayed Shina aside, the cat-beastman, full of energy, took Nozomu and Shina's hands and began to walk away.
Nozomu was taken along, bemused by this action, and the elf girl sighed as if she had given up.
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