No Game No Life

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,

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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