Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no 'Kokoro'-

Chapter 2.07

Chapter 2 Part 7

Translator : PolterGlast

Proofreader : John4891

Within a few days of reconciling with Mars, Nozomu’s treatment in the class had changed considerably.

Mars, who hated Nozomu the most, began to talk to him regularly.

Students in the 10th class were basically treated as dropouts by students in any other class. It was the harmful effect of Solminati Academy, which advocated a complete meritocracy.

Their outlet, which was treated as such a dropout, was Nozomu, the lowest rank in all grades.

However, in the 10th class, when Mars, who was in the upper grade, talked to Nozomu, those who’d been cursing Nozomu couldn’t bully him too much anymore, and as a result, they took a stance not to get involved with Nozomu.

Mars had also become more distant from his entourage and had always teamed up with Nozomu in his practical lessons.

Inevitably, Nozomu spent more of his time with Mars....

"I’m so happy~~! Nozomu-kun and Mars-kun are getting along with each other ~~~~ !!"

The infirmary at noon.

Nozomu was abducted by Anri-sensei today and had lunch together in the infirmary. By the way, Mars, who was beside him, was one of her targets, so he was captured in the same way.

Anri-sensei’s was very enthusiastic from the beginning, and she is sprinkling the happy atmosphere around her more than ever.

"Oh, thank you..."

Nozomu was a little drawn to Anri-sensei’s overwhelming happiness, but he knew she was genuinely happy, so he was honestly grateful for her feelings.

"...Hmm"

Mars was eating his lunch lazily.

"Now now. I’m just as happy as Anri. Nozomu-kun and Mars-kun became friends. Anri was concerned not only with Nozomu but also with Mars."

"What does that mean?"

"Anri said Mars was a clumsy but kind child."

"After all ~~~. Mars-kun. You reassessed Nozomu-kun at the end of the second year and reflected on what you did to Nozomu-kun right~~~?"

“...”

"Such a child cannot be a bad child ~~."

There was a smile on Anri-sensei’s face, and she guessed right what Mars was thinking about decisively. Mars was very surprised.

Well, if he always saw her happy-go-lucky atmosphere, it’d be hard to notice that she was actually a sharp person.

Nozomu had previously been noticed and pointed out by her to some extent. She always felt something was off, but she couldn’t tell it was the confrontation between Nozomu and Shino at the end of the second year and the changes that had occurred in Nozomu.

That was why Nozomu wasn’t as surprised as Mars, about Anri-sensei who pointed out the change in Mars’s mind.

“...”

Mars turned away, but his face was red. It was clear that he was shy.

"Fufu.... By the way, Nozomu-kun, what are you making right now?"

Norn-sensei finished lunch early and spoke to Nozomu who was doing something on her desk.

Nozomu took out a set of crafting tools on the desk and made something.

"This? It’s a birthday present for a friend."

"Hee! Is that so? Who will you give it to?

Norn was a little surprised because she thought that Mars was the only friend of Nozomu at the school, and she was also interested in what Nozomu was making.

"I’m giving it to a student of Ecross academy I met before. I can’t tell you what it is, because the first that should know what’s inside the gift is the child."

Nozomu didn’t think it was not necessary to hide Somia, aside from the presents he was making, so when he talked about his encounters with her, Norn-sensei and Henri-sensei were very surprised.

"Hee! I didn’t think Nozomu-kun would even get acquainted with a daughter of the Francilt family."

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"What made you so surprised?"

It seemed that Mars didn’t understand very well, but the Francilt family was one of the Aristocrats who had existed since the founding of the great power of Forsina in the western part of the continent.

In addition, the Country of Forsina quickly dispatched an army to a group of demon beasts during the great invasion 10 years ago, and that army became the core of the later formed Allied forces and repelled the great invasion. It became a big driving force.

It was also the country that had proposed the establishment of the Solminati Academy to every country, and its existence was known to all across the continent.

Most human beings had nothing to do with such well-known families. Especially getting acquainted with the daughter of such a family.

"I only knew she was a Francilt family member recently, even though I knew her and met her. I didn’t know she was a part of such a famous family. Well, I don’t really mind it, but she seemed a little worried that she was hiding her noble status from me. "

Nozomu continued to speak while moving his hands.

"Isn’t it reasonable considering her upbringing?"

Well, a well-known family may have its own worries..

When Norn saw Nozomu’s face while she was working, there was a slight smile on his face.

(Un, It’s okay with this)

Perhaps, when thinking about giving a present to the other party, it was unavoidable to feel happy. When she saw Nozomu, she became happy, and naturally, a smile bloomed on her face.

==============================================================

After school, Nozomu and Mars headed to the outskirts of the city. After reconciling, the two had been arranging their own mock battles there about once every two days after school.

"In the end, I couldn’t beat Mars before ... As expected of the current me. I’m not strong enough to deal with you ..."

“.....”

As a result of the bout, Mars has a higher winning percentage so far. Nozomu was one step behind Mars because he didn’t use attacking techniques such as "Phantom", so he lacked the deciding factor.

Nozomu’s attacking technique with Qi still had a high killing caliber though.

This technique was to surely kill the opponent by efficiently using less energy. It was necessary for him to survive because he had fought with the demon beast in the forest.

However, when it came to school life and mock battles, the story was different, and these techniques with high killing ability had to be adjusted.

But, since Nozomu didn’t have a lot of Qi, it was inevitable to reduce the density of the Qi used in the technique in order to adjust it. Thus, the technique used would become an inadequate technique for killing opponents.

If the density was lowered, it wouldn’t be powerful enough to kill the opponent.

Although his Qi had improved a little, the effect of Nozomu’s ability Suppression was strong, and the effect of auxiliary Qi techniques such as physical strengthening and quick move was low. It was still insufficient to deal with a person as strong as Mars.

“...Still, it’s strange when you have beaten me several times.....”

"Is that so?"

Mars murmured against Nozomu’s remark, but Nozomu’s reaction to it was plain.

Using common sense, there was no aspect that Nozomu could beat Mars on in a one-on-one basis.

The difference in physical ability and Qi between Nozomu and Mars was clear, and since Nozomu had almost no magical power, he couldn’t rely on magic.

Even so, when he beat Mars, who was supposed to be in the upper class to some extent, it displayed how high-level his swordsmanship was in the school.

However, Nozomu wasn’t aware of it.

In Nozomu’s eyes, the average swordsman must’ve been like Shino.

This was because he’d fought her the most and wasn’t exposed to weaker people much.

This was due to the little friendships Nozomu had so far, and it would have been a little different if he had any friends at the school that could help him.

If such a monster-like talent became the standard, it wouldn’t be possible to accurately measure the position of one’s own ability compared to the surroundings.

In addition, Nozomu himself underestimated his own ability.

This was due to his Ability Suppression and the results of mock battles so far. Due to the influence of his Ability Suppression, he always lost power in combat and rarely won in mock battles.

For this reason, Nozomu was in a state of "getting used to losing".

================================================

Mars’s POV

(This guy, what are you saying even though you have sealed such a vicious technique!!!)

To be honest, Mars had been shown Nozomu’s Qi technique "Phantom" only once, but when he saw it, he was terrified and trembling.

The released air blade passed in front of Mars in the blink of an eye and cut off the large boulder without difficulty.

It was an incredibly compressed and sharpened blade. The flight speed was extremely fast, and Mars couldn’t even see the afterimage of the blade that passed in front of him. To top it all off, it only took half a second to activate the technique.

If that blade was fired at him, he would be cut off along with his defense without being able to dodge at that point.

(Hmm...I think my loss at that time was definitely confirmed)

Mars remembered at the end of the second year when he was cornered by the man in front of him, but if it was this technique that was released at that time, he would’ve lost his life.

===============================================

(Well, I can’t use it during such a practical lesson)

When Nozomu was convinced that he had never used the attacking technique until now, three girls walked from the front. When one of them saw Nozomu, she waved at him.

Nozomu also waved back, and the three walked towards him.

"Good afternoon! Nozomu-san"

"Good afternoon, Somia-chan. You’re with your sister today."

"Yaa, Good afternoon Nozomu. Long time no see...it’s not that long yet though"

"G-Good afternoon............"

It was Irisdina, Somia, and Tima who came.

Tima wasn’t good at this. As usual, she was a little meek.

"Come on, Tima. You have something to say to Nozomu right?"

"U, un"

"???"

Prompted by Irisdina, Tima stood in front of Nozomu. Looked like there was something she wanted from Nozomu.

"A, ano! I’m sorry when I was in the infirmary!"

“...... Eh? What are you talking about?”

"Well, I was rude to Nozomu, because I’ve heard it..., I’ve heard ... rumors, "

She said so and dropped her shoulders. She was so depressed that it looked bad. She must have been very concerned about that time.

"I’m sorry, Nozomu-kun. Tima is a little weak on men. She held back a little because she heard your rumors."

"... Ah! About that time? It’s okay. She’s apologized now, and if she was listening to the rumors about me, it makes sense ..."

Certainly, if they were listening to the rumors about Nozomu, it made sense.

At the time, he was dating one of the leading female students in his grade, no one had a good impression of him when they heard rumors that he had an affair.

When he heard Tima’s story, Nozomu’s chest hurt.

(... As I thought...It’s painful...)

He made friends and felt less hurt than before, but when he remembered it suddenly, the pain struck Nozomu’s heart.

“...I’m still running away as expected...Every time I remember her...)

Nozomu still hadn’t overcome his broken heart with Lisa, and he had been despised so far. As he met Somia and Irisdina, reconciled with Mars, and formed new relationships, naturally, he only had less of a chance to remember.

"Ermm. Nozomu-san. Who is this person?"

Nozomu was silent, but Somia noticed Mars next to Nozomu and asked.

"Ah, this is Mars. My classmate."

With Nozomu’s introduction, the three of them looked at Mars, but Mars was still staring at Irisdina and the others in a Buddhist style.

“...What is it"

"Hiu"

Tima screamed a little at Mars’ intimidating expression, but Mars didn’t like it, and his gaze became even tighter. Tima was even more frightened by Mars’s facial expression, but Mars’ facial expression became even more stern, and Tima saw that facial expression causing a vicious cycle of further atrophy.

"Calm down Mars. What’s wrong?"

“...It’s nothing...”

Mars answered Nozomu’s question as if nothing had happened, but in fact, he didn’t like Tima’s frightened attitude.

She was an A-ranked student above Mars’s B-ranked, which could only be given to those who were more powerful than Mars. She was a rare person in the school.

However, her appearance of being frightened by him was unacceptable to Mars, who believed in her strength.

But, Tima didn’t know about Mars’ beliefs. For her. Mars had a good physique and was known for his depravity, was more of a horror than a demon beast.

"Oh, that’s right. It’s about Somia’s birthday party, but I wanted Nozomu-kun to come if possible..."

When an unpleasant air was about to flow between Mars and Tima, Irisdina steered towards the topic of Somia’s birthday party to Nozomu in order to change the atmosphere of the place, and Nozomu responded to it.

"Um. Is that okay? If it’s a birthday party for the daughter of the Francilt family, famous people will come from all over the place. Can we go to such a place?"

The Francilt family was a well-known family on the continent of Arcmeal. When it came to the birthday party of the young lady of the Francily family, a prominent figure from every country would come.

Nozomu found it a shame to join them, who were only one student. What’s more, there were rumors that he was an indecent person at Solminati Academy; however, Irisdina said she didn’t care about it at all.

"It doesn’t matter. I was planning to hold this birthday party only with my relatives. And Nozomu-kun is a friend of Somia right? It shouldn’t be a problem."

Irisdina laughed and blew away Nozomu’s worries as if it had nothing to do with her. She had no lies or fabrications in her expression, and she really thought so and decided to act on it.

Nozomu decided to smile as well.

"... I understand. I’d love to come."

"I see! I’m glad. Somia too, looks forward to it."

"Yes! Nozomu-san told me that he would prepare a present!"

With her big smile, she spread her hands all the way, and her arm ornaments clinked.

Irisdina and Somia smiled with satisfaction, confirmed the date and place of the birthday party, and they went their separate ways.

===============================================

Nozomu’s POV

On the way back, Mars and I were walking and looking back on the previous thing.

"What about Mars? Will you participate?"

"...I was invited. I’ll just participate."

Mars was also invited by Irisdina-san. She probably invited him because he’s my friend.

"Even so, you were staring at Tima-san for a long time."

Mars’s attitude towards Tima-san is clearly strange. He tends to be emotional, but his attitude towards her is close to his previous attitude towards me.

"...That girl is the most frustrating. Even though she’s strong, why is she so scared...”

"... Only the person herself knows what she is so scared of. You don’t know about her right..."

“...”

Only Tima-san herself can know what she’s afraid of. What’s painful for her is different from what’s painful for Mars’, but Mars’s expression still seems stiff. His face remained until he eventually arrived at Ushitotei.

===============================================

Iris’s POV

"... Tima, are you okay?"

"...Yup..."

I comforted my best friend, but her expression isn’t good.

Tima was born with high magical power and was therefore shunned by the people around her. She wasn’t treated very well, especially by boys of her age.

Also, her looks have been good since her childhood; therefore, she continued to be exposed to lustful gazes from the shadows.

Envy, awe, jealousy, and hatred.

For her, who still couldn’t handle her own magical powers, those gazes are the greatest psychological burden.

As a result, she’s become incredibly uncomfortable with the gazes, especially men, and her emotional instability directly led to her lack of magical control.

Her magical power is higher than anyone else’s, but she just can’t control it.

"Well, about Nozomu, he doesn’t seem to mind, but he...Mars. He’ll do something about that too."

"That’s right! He is Nozomu-san’s friend, and I’m sure it’s going to be okay!"

"...Un...I’m sorry Ai, Somia-chan ..."

"Tima, I’d be happy if you could thank us instead."

"That’s right! "thank you" in such a case!"

I feel a little playful, Somia answers with a big smile.

"... Un, thank you, both of you."

Tima’s face smiled in response to me and Somia. In the end, her expression never really cleared up, and we had no choice but to arrive on our way home.