Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no “Kokoro”-

Chapter 7.1

The morning sun had not yet risen over the horizon, and the sky began to brighten gradually. The twilight began to illuminate the streets of Arcazam.

In the northern section of Arcazam.

She woke up in a certain mansion built in the northern section of Arcazam, the section where the administrative offices and city leaders were concentrated.

Irisdina Francilt. She is a girl with lustrous black hair and jet-black eyes as dignified as obsidian.

She woke up early in the morning, about the same time the servants wake up, and quickly took off her negligee to take a bath.

After washing off the sweats, she headed to the mirror and put on her underwear and the uniform of Solminati Academy.

She then went to the mirror and combed her hair with her accustomed hand.

As the next head of the Francilt Household, one of the greatest powers in Arcazam, she could be entrusting her servants with everything if she wanted to. However, basically, she had the temperament to take care of her own personal affairs herself.

After a quick application of light makeup, her figure, combined with her naturally well-shaped features, shone as if it were a work of art.

However, despite her radiance, her expression was somehow stiff.

Normally, she had a noble image like a lily, but now she gave off a different impression.

Her mouth was tightened into a single line. Irisdina continued to stare at her reflection in the mirror, keeping her rigid expression intact.

*Knock, knock, knock*

The sound of knocking on the door echoed in the silent room.

"…… Get in"

"Good morning, young lady. Breakfast is ready."

Hearing the maid's words, she turned her eyes out the window.

The sun, which had been hiding in the shadows of the city, was now beginning to peek out.

"...... Okay. I'll be right there."

After a knock at the door, she was told that the breakfast was ready, and she replied with a few simple words and left her room.

"…………"

Irisdina walked through the door and was about to head for the dining room.  At that time, she glanced back.

She saw through the gap of the door that closed with a creaking sound. It was a white building towering over the window, shining in the morning sun.

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

After finishing her breakfast, Irisdina walked around the city with her sister, and on the way from the administrative district to the central park, she met up with Sh?na, Mimuru, Tima, and Mars.

"Good morning, everyone!"

"Oh, Somicchi. Good morning ~~"

"Ai, good morning"

"Yea, good morning Tima, and also Sh?na ..."

"Yes"

Somia and Mimuru, who had become good friends, raised their hands lightly to each other, and Irisdina and the others nodded slightly while exchanging greetings with each other.

"Yo, Irisdina. You're early today too."

"You too, Mars-kun ..."

From across the street, Mars, Tom, and Feo also came.

Even though the sun was rising, it was still too early to go to school at this time, and the streets were still quiet.

Even though it was almost summer, the early morning air was still chilly, and Mimuru sometimes shivered.

Irisdina and the others walked through the cold streets. As they neared the central park, Tima, who was walking next to Irisdina, opened her mouth.

"Ai and Somia, are you going there again today?"

"……Yeah"

"Yes, to be honest, we can't do much, but it's better than doing nothing..."

When Tima asked her a question, Irisdina replied with a discouraged expression.

After Irisdina's reply, Sh?na spoke, but even her face seemed to have some shadow to it.

"... Hey, don't you think we should go too?"

"I'd like to do that, but ..."

"Well, I guess we can't. We don't have permission from Jihad-sensei after all."

Tom and Feo spoke as if to follow Mars' words.

The fox-tailed boy shrugged his shoulders and bent his mouth in frustration.

"Also, we couldn't involve more people than we have to ..."

"…………"

Mars fell silent at Feo's words. As if following his lead, silence reigned in the area.

An extraordinary power was released by Nozomu. Jihad and Inda who saw this interrogated Irisdina and the others after the chaos of the incident had died down.

At first, Irisdina and the others were reluctant to talk about Nozomu being the Dragon Slayer, but in the course of the interrogation, they were forced to tell their secret.

Irisdina aside, some of them were not good at lying. That was why they told Jihad and Inda that Nozomu was a Dragon Slayer albeit reluctantly.

At the same time, they also wanted to pull Jihad and Inda to their side.

Furthermore, Jihad had been told all of Nozomu's secrets by Zonne, so Jihad interrogating them was just a confirmation...

Irisdina and the others continued on their way in silence. Eventually, they arrived at the central park.

"Well, this is as far as we go ..."

Irisdina and Sh?na turned off from the path to the school and headed in the other direction.

The remaining members of the group do their best to smile back at them.

"Alright, we are going this way. Give Nozomu our regards."

"When you get to him, give him a blow to the head or something. Maybe, with such a shock he will wake up…"

"Mars-kun ...?"

Feo waved his hand lightly to Irisdina and the others, followed by Mars, who made a light remark.

When Tima turned her gaze to Mars, he gave a small shrug.

"... I'm kidding. Anyway, tell him that if he doesn't come to school soon, his grades will be jeopardized."

"... Okay, I'll let him know."

Mars didn't really mean it either. He was simply trying to distract his friends.

Although his remarks were inappropriate, it was his own clumsy way of caring for his friends.

Even though the time they spent together was not very long, Tima and the others, understood how Mars was feeling right now.

"Ane-sama, please take care of him..."

"Yeah ... I'm going"

Somia, who had been smiling until a second ago, now had a hard expression on her face. As if to reassure her sister, Irisdina gave her a pat on the head.

"Well then everyone, see you at the school ..."

Irisdina and Sh?na started walking away from their friends. The destination was the medical facility of the Gloaurum Institute where Nozomu was being treated.

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

Irisdina and Sh?na visited the Gloaurum Institute and first talked to the female doctor in charge of Nozomu, and then followed her for a visit.

The three of them continued walking through the ward, where the chill of the night still lingered.

Behind the doctor, Iris and Sh?na were carrying sheets, towels, and disinfectant trays filled with tweezers, gauze, and bandages.

"By the way, were your studies at school alright?"

"Don't worry. The school is right next door to this facility, so we won't be late for class."

"We won't interfere with your work. We can't provide professional treatment, but we can at least help you this much."

Irisdina and Sh?na responded clearly to the doctor's concerned words.

They were now spending several hours a day in this medical facility, helping the doctor. To be precise, they were taking care of a person who was treated in this medical facility.

Nozomu Bountis. Although he was not publicly known, he was a student at the school who was involved in the recent Abyss Grief incident and fell into unconsciousness at the same time.

Yes, it had already been almost two weeks since the incident, but Nozomu still hadn't regained consciousness.

It was a few days after he was brought in that Irisdina and Sh?na offered to take care of him.

As a female doctor, she had no intention of letting amateur students get involved in professional medical treatment, so she frowned when Irisdina and Sh?na offered to help take care of Nozomu.

Originally, there was no need to involve amateurs or outsiders in the medical care of such a specialized institution.

Especially in the case of Nozomu Bountis, Jihad Raundel personally reminded her that contact with unnecessary people was strictly forbidden.

Irisdina and Sh?na were indeed related to the school, but they were not from the Gloaurum Institute. Normally, they would not be allowed to help with Nozomu's treatment, nor would they be allowed to enter this facility.

However, they were now allowed to enter the facility only in relation to Nozomu.

The reason for this was that Irisdina and the others made a fierce plea to Jihad, who forbade contact with Nozomu, and Jihad decided that contact with them would be beneficial to Nozomu.

However, due to the strict rules and regulations of the facility and medical treatment, it was not possible to give permission to everyone.

Therefore, only a limited number of people were allowed to take care of Nozomu.

The only actions they were allowed to perform were changing sheets, carrying luggage, and periodically moving Nozomu's bedridden body to prevent bedsores.

No matter how good they were, Irisdina and Sh?na hadn't received any professional medical education.

Furthermore, those who were not accustomed to the work here sometimes made mistakes even in even the simplest tasks.

When this happened, the female doctor would raise her eyebrows and give them a scolding, but Irisdina and Sh?na never complained.

Rather, they took the initiative and tried to complete any task.

And on their way back, they bowed apologetically, saying they were sorry for the inconvenience, and the people at the medical facility didn't feel disturbed by them.

"Well, that's okay. As long as you don't disturb me ..."

As a result, even the normally difficult female doctor was complaining less and less these days.

In the meantime, they arrived at their destination.

The three of them stop in front of a hospital room. In this room, there is Nozomu.

When he was brought to this facility, Nozomu was in a state of extreme debilitation. At first, it was thought that this was due to over-exhaustion, but even now, when his body should have recovered, there was no sign of him waking up.

"…………"

"…………"

The two beautiful girls stare at the door of the hospital room in silence. Irisdina's eyebrows were slightly twitched and her cheeks were tense, Sh?na's hand that was holding the disinfectant board also unconsciously stiffened.

And as if to show their concern, their straight eyes shook slightly.

This was the kind of expression the girls always showed when they visited this hospital room.

A complicated expression, like a mixture of expectation and anxiety. They desperately pushed their anxiety into the depths of their minds and grabbed the doorknob of the hospital room where he was every day.

The woman doctor let out a small sigh as she looked at them from the side.

"Good grief, this is kind of hard ..."

She may complain about it, but from her point of view, both of them had an aura that was different from the others.

Their fine skin and long hair flowed lightly in the wind. The dignified Irisdina and the mysterious Sh?na were different types of girls, but they were attractive girls that everyone admires when they walk around the city.

Their days were filled with rigorous schoolwork and training. Even though their training exhausted their bodies and minds every day, they had come here to help nurse him.

After seeing them every day, the doctor who had been in contact with so many people could easily understand how worried they were about him.

At the same time, she felt a sense of helplessness in the current situation.

Nozomu Bountis is currently in a deep coma. In other words, he was asleep and hadn't woken up yet, but upon closer inspection, it turned out that he was in a rather peculiar state.

He is currently in a state of hypothermia and his pulse is slowing down, which is similar to hibernation in animals.

Normally, when a person's body temperature drops below 20 degrees Celsius, the heart stops beating and the person dies. However, Nozomu's body temperature had remained stable at around 31 degrees Celsius and had not fluctuated significantly since then.

During daily sleep, the human body temperature also drops to some extent, but it is unlikely that the drop would be this large.

According to theory, they should raise Nozomu's body temperature to increase metabolism and encourage him to wake up, but they had no idea how this would work in reality.

Furthermore, since there was no sudden change in his condition at the moment, it was finally decided to continue monitoring him.

But at the same time, it also meant that they would continue to be in a situation where they didn't know when Nozomu would wake up.

"Come on ... Let's enter."

When the doctor called out to the silent girls, Irisdina finally put her hand on the door.

With a creak of the hinges, the inorganic white of the hospital room peeked through the gap of the door.

The next moment, however, Irisdina and Sh?na's eyes widened at the sight that came into their eyes.

A bleak hospital room with a simple bed and stand, and the figure of a boy lying on it. However, the inorganic white of the room was now bathed in an eye-catching crimson color.

As if remembering something, the female doctor clapped her hands.

"Ah, right, I didn't tell you. She was here before you two, so I had her go here first."

A girl looked into Nozomu's face as he lay in bed. Lisa Hounds was there.

"…………"

"…………"

Their gazes crossed in silence.

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

A room in Arcazam.

In the office of the person who stood above all the teachers and instructors of this school, a languid voice resounded.

"Good grief, it's finally over."

"Thanks for your hard work. As I thought, those documents won't be a problem for you."

Zonne, an old man with gray hair, sat down on the sofa with his shoulders slumped. Sitting across him sat Jihad Raundel, the owner of this room.

"I've delivered it to the destination properly. You made me go that far, made me have to disguise myself as a messenger, and went through all those annoying procedures ... You're a hard man to please, old man."

"But without your help, our means of communication would have taken too long."

Jihad smiled bitterly as he watched the old man's demeanor.

But Jihad immediately stiffened his expression. His eyes, as sharp as a bird of prey, pierced Zonne.

"And we need to cooperate with each other on this matter. It's a must..."

"I know, I know ... You've heard of my conditions, right?"

"Yeah ... it's about that, right?"

Zonne had requested something from Jihad in order to cooperate with him.

"That's right. I'd like to put a 'wedge' on this school ..."

"... I know. I've thought of a few possible locations."

As if prompted by Zonne's words, Jihad got up from the sofa and walked to a corner of the office.

He went to the desk. Underneath was a tightly sealed safe.

He removed the multiple locks one by one and took out something from inside. It was the map of Solminati Academy.

Jihad spread out the map in front of Zonne and pointed to a certain point.

"There are various magic facilities underground here. The 'wedge' you're talking about won't be noticed by the academy's instructors here ..."

[Wedge]

The word cannot be understood by those who hear it. But there was no one here to pursue the details.

"Surely you can disguise it with the facility above it ..."

"Yeah, the problem is what is the effect on the facilities above it..."

"That shouldn't be a problem. My magic is fundamentally different from yours ..."

"And also, there's that other thing I asked you to look into ..."

"Yeah, I've looked into it."

While saying so, Zonne took a rolled-up bundle of paper from his pocket and threw it on top of the spread-out school map.

"Thank you"

Jihad thanked him and took the bundle of papers in Zonne's hand, then he examined its contents.

The bundle of paper was filled with letters and a map attached to it.

It was a map of Arcazam, drawn like a spider's web from the center. There were red marks all over it.

"I can't help you more than this."

Zonne ended the conversation as if this was the end of the matter. Jihad nodded slightly as if he knew that.

"I know. Now, about Nozomu-kun ..."

"He hasn't woken up yet, has he? Don't worry. The reason that boy fell asleep is because his previously dormant abilities have suddenly manifested. Well, maybe Tiamat has something to do with it …"

He sat down on the sofa, slumped down, and waved his hand in the air as if it was obvious.

"In the first place, the kid's ability, unlike Tiamat's, is not originally meant to hurt him. He may be asleep at the moment, but he will awaken when he calms down."

Jihad's eyes sharpened when he heard those words.

"... So, you've already examined his body?"

"Of course. My original purpose was to watch over the fate of that little boy."

To be honest, Jihad didn't remember giving permission to Zonne to meet with Nozomu, as he was not affiliated with the school. But it was the old man he was talking about. He must have snuck in and inspected his body.

Jihad furrowed his brow at being taken advantage of. He let out a small sigh.

Given the old man's extraordinary ability,  it would be easy for him to break into the facility.

"You said your purpose was to watch over Nozomu-kun, but you didn't even try to actively engage him."

"Good gracious! Does it look like that?"

Jihad's eyes squinted, but he did not look away from the old man in front of him.

An inexplicable heaviness filled the bright early morning office.

No, it was only Jihad who was giving off a heavy atmosphere, while Zonne remained relaxed, tilting his head and stroking his beard.

The old man didn't seem to be upset, and there was not a hint of agitation in him.

"It's understandable, considering who you are, but ...... there seems to be some other reason for it ..."

"Is that so? I don't think that's the case ..."

"… I see."

Zonne tilted his head and stroked his beard, and Jihad continued to stare at the old man.

Silence reigned in the office for a few moments.

"We'll talk about the 'wedge' later this evening when the moon is fully up ..."

"All right, See you at that time then ..."

It was Jihad who broke the silence. Following him, Zonne rose from the couch and turned on his heel.

Jihad didn't know if the old man just didn't want to talk, or if he really had nothing to say, but it was hard to keep the conversation going in like that.

There were multiple presences coming. It was the arrival of the teachers and students to the school.

Another day began.

A certain amount of time had passed since the incident caused by Ken Notis, and things were beginning to calm down at the school.

However, underneath the surface, a powerful storm was still blowing.

What kind of consequences will that storm bring to this school?

Nozomu Bountis had been discovered to be the youngest Dragon Slayer.

He was surrounded by his friends, including Irisdina Francilt, and his ex-girlfriend, Lisa Hounds.

The movements of Mekria and other outside forces.

And the old man in front of him.

Something big is going on in this school right now.

Jihad felt it keenly as watched Zonne raised his staff and disappeared with the light.