Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: A Girl's Bonds and Sprint Never Stop☆ (3)
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Her orange hair was vivid even in the shadows of the dusky sunset.
Lotha wandered through the Golden Street, located in the heart of the Academy City, with a gloomy expression.
“…I want to die.”
The Golden Street.
The most blessed land in the Academy City.
The closest to the Central World Tree, a place where only the most prestigious high schools were located.
The street, with the most magnificent buildings and facilities in the Academy City, was aglow.
Was it because the streetlights were so brilliant?
A petite, cat-eared girl carrying a backpack larger than her own body.
As her twin tails swayed, the shadow of her lonely figure seemed somehow darker.
Her cat ears, unobscured by a hat.
Lotha’s orange cat ears atop her head were also drooping.
“…”
*Trudge…*
*Trudge…*
Her steps were heavy and listless.
-Ahahaha!
-Fufufu—
High-end restaurants and boutiques lined the area.
The laughter of the female students from the Golden Street echoed from them.
Hothouse flowers, living without any ambition or dreams.
She had inwardly scoffed at them until middle school, those who had gotten into prestigious high schools simply by having the right parents.
But in the end, Lotha was worse off than they were.
The distant laughter sounded as if it were mocking her, and Lotha was running away from it.
Fleeing the sunset and the lights of the Golden Street, she headed toward the central district where the ordinary schools were.
“…”
It was pathetic.
After an argument with her senior, she had thrown down her withdrawal application and stormed out. And if anyone living in the Academy City heard what she did today, they would surely scream that she was insane.
Torn between endless waves of regret and her own pride, Lotha despaired.
“…Ugh.”
The school Lotha had attended, .
Known as a 'prestigious school of magic,' it was one of the three most renowned schools in the Academy City.
Shamefully, she hadn't been admitted based on her skills alone.
She still vividly remembered the contemptuous gaze of the senior who had conducted her entrance interview.
*'The you wrote in middle school... hmm... how should I put this...'*
*'Haa... I'll just be blunt.'*
*'It's a delusion. A fantasy that's been debunked for hundreds of years.'*
*'Transferring 'magic skills' to others? Hah...'*
*'Can you make your blood flow with someone else's heartbeat?'*
*'...A mage is ultimately a being who manipulates the whims of the gods.'*
*'If you don't have talent from the start, you're not even allowed to dabble in it.'*
Then, the interviewing senior glanced at a corner of her application and added indifferently.
*'Well, you're from the clan, so we'll accept you. You can go.'*
Four years.
When Lotha was young.
The time she had boasted to her sister who died young.
The time it took to write a brilliant thesis.
One minute.
Something that had nothing to do with Lotha's work.
The family name written in a corner of her personal information.
The time it took for the interviewer to see those few words.
Lotha's desperate four years lost to a mere one minute.
Even though she was a petite and dull member of a branch family that her clan paid no mind to, the weight of her family name ultimately crushed her life.
Everyone at school knew this, so they always ignored Lotha.
That was why she ran away.
Turning her back on the lights of the street, she set out to find a new school that would understand her.
“…”
By the time all the sunset light and the laughter of the Golden Street were behind her.
When she reached an alley on the outskirts of the central district, where a damp darkness enveloped her face and silence filled her ears.
*Twitch.*
Lotha's two cat ears perked up.
*Vroooom—!*
*Vrum—vrum—*
*Vroooooom—!*
Suddenly, the sound of an engine roared from somewhere. It was the vulgar, loud roar of a cheap engine, a sound you would never hear on the Golden Street with its strict noise regulations.
“…?”
Lotha turned her head toward the sound, squinting as a dazzling array of lights suddenly flooded her vision.
“Kuh…?!”
A vulgar assault of light.
No matter how she tried to block the lights with her hands, they pierced her eyes like an act of violence.
And what she heard were the voices of delinquents, wandering without even being enrolled in a school.
["Huh? That, that's!! Hey!! That's a uniform!!"]
["Huh? Oh!!! A big catch!! After catching nothing but small fry, what a jackpot!"]
["Kyahahaha!! We couldn't find anyone from the Union lately because of that official notice, they're all in hiding!"]
["If she's a bitch from the Golden Street, she'll be good for some extra cash on the side!"]
["The master will be pleased to see this~"]
["That tiny thing?"]
["Huh? Wasn't he looking for them because of their Ether? That bitch looks like she's from a prestigious Union school. The kids who go there have an insane amount of Ether, right?"]
["Ah, I see."]
*'Master...?'*
It was simply an honorific for someone, but to Lotha, it sounded utterly ominous.
Beyond the violent, piercing light.
When dozens of delinquents descended upon her.
“Get her! Get her!”
The scene was a chaos so profound she couldn't see an inch in front of her.
At least, that's how it felt to Lotha.
“Let's grab her and bolt for the outer ring road of the central district!! This is the last job, so let's hand over a big haul and then disappear!!”
“Not going the usual way?”
“Didn't you say there's another Union school over there? especially freaks out over Union school grounds! It'll be a pain in the ass if they show up!”
“The school over there was shut down... or something. Anyway, it's defunct, so they don't care.”
“Things are really looking up today!”
The vulgar voices of the delinquents.
The helplessness of being caught.
The lingering regret.
The palpable fear.
Her vision, obscured.
Darkness.
"Kyaaah—?!"
As something was pulled over her head, Lotha's memory cut out.
***
As the evening sun cast its glow.
On the way to the shopping district after a grueling training session.
The two of us were walking side by side.
“Hoo…”
“…”
Alvitt had her hands thrust into her school coat pockets, shooting me an insolent glare.
“Really… senior… why are you so… incompetent…”
“Tehee—☆”
“Stop that before I actually hit you!! Seriously!!”
Wow, looks like she's about to throw a punch.
So scary☆
I'm gonna wet myself.
I grinned and accepted my junior's petty tantrum.
For the record, after I shattered about three more practice swords, training was halted due to budget issues.
*'I think it's mostly because the swords are cheap practice models to begin with.'*
I need a legendary blacksmith of my own.
A neighborhood smithy that just happens to churn out SSS-rank legendary weapons like the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, the Serpent Halberd, and the Twin Swords. The kind of shop where an SSS-rank, power-hiding, world's-strongest blacksmith lives in seclusion.
But unfortunately, no power-hiding, SSS-rank legendary blacksmith ever appeared in the game.
*'Should I start with an oath of sisterhood? The Yellow Scarves are due to make their move soon.'*
As I pondered whether I should find the next junior, swear an oath of sisterhood among the three of us, and perhaps share some black tea under a peach tree.
We heard some SSS-rank good news at the shopping district, where we'd gone after being asked to come back in the evening.
“Thank you!”
“Thank you—☆ Yay☆”
“Haha, you're welcome. I'm glad I could give this to you students from . It always bothered me that I could only give you leftover bread when you've been so helpful. From now on, please be sure to pick this up in the evening.”
An exceptionally clean mechanical body.
Amiable fiber-optic eyebrows.
A polite and cultured voice.
This dwarf, wearing a baker's cap on his head, was the bakery owner with whom we had a regular begging partnership. Very gratefully, he hadn't given us the unsold, leftover bread from today, but a specially packed lunch box.
Vegetables and ham tucked between white bread, with a thin spread of sweet jam.
A very standard, yet exemplary sandwich you could never get tired of.
It sat demurely between sheets of wax paper, radiating a brilliant aura.
Ah.
Oh, gracious one.
In this moment, the bakery owner looked like an SSS-rank angel descended from the heavens.
I don't know if angels exist in this world.
But if they don't, then I dare to declare.
This man is the SSS-rank, power-hiding angel who has descended upon this land.
Alvitt clutched the lunch box to her chest as if it were a treasure, bowing a full 90 degrees to express her gratitude once more.
“Th-thank you…”
“Truly! To move a maiden's heart so—☆ To express this overwhelming gratitude☆ three teapots at teatime wouldn't be enough! Wow—☆ Thanks!! So moved!! I'm seriously sending you a thank-you laser—BLAM—♡”
“Ahaha… r-right. Ah! Oh my... haha, I have something I need to do, so if you'll excuse me...”
Was it because of the two terrifying high school girls whose eyes were gleaming as they protectively wrapped the lunch box in their school coats?
The bakery owner seemed somewhat burdened and hastily retreated into his shop.
Silence returned.
We gave another bow toward the bakery.
Then, we walked out toward the outer road leading away from the shopping district.
A downhill path where the entire outskirts of the central district came into view.
The voices of the shopkeepers, reflecting on their day.
It was a warm, sunset-lit scene that marked the end of the day.
Alvitt, her face bathed in the yellow sunset light, was smiling.
She was still grinning as she spoke in a happy tone.
“Now we can eat at least one proper meal a day, senior!”
“Totally lucky—☆”
“Phew—I'd always been saving the bread crusts as emergency rations, just in case. I'm so glad I don't have to do that anymore.”
“They were kind of dry, so they were nice and crunchy—☆ Went great with black tea☆”
“…What?”
As the two of us were walking out of the shopping district side-by-side.
In the distance, we saw a group of dwarves from the shopping district gathered with serious expressions.
“Shouldn't we contact again...”
“You know they don't care about this area.”
“Then what should we do? Should we try contacting the other shopping districts and ask for their cooperation?”
“I don't know, it's not our place to meddle in other school districts...”
“I wonder if Clara and her group are okay.”
“Sigh, what a grim situation.”
*'Huh? Me?'*
My name, suddenly mentioned in their conversation.
Alvitt seemed to have heard it too, as she looked at me. But I still had no idea what they were talking about.
To clear up the mystery, we made our presence known and approached the shopkeepers.
“Hello.”
“Hello—☆”
“Huh? Oh!! It's Clara!!”
“Clara! Are you all right?”
“Miss Alvitt, you haven't seen anyone suspicious either?”
“What? We've been at school the whole time, except for our meal break?”
“Phew, that's a relief... a real relief...”
“…?”
The legion of shopkeeper dwarves swarmed us with worried expressions.
Among them, the representative figure, the old master from the mending shop, shuffled forward.
“Did something happen…?”
“One of our shopkeepers who was working outside sent a telegram saying he saw delinquents kidnapping students on a large scale while he was out on a delivery. We were about to contact in cooperation with the surrounding districts if you two were involved...”
The old master trailed off, looking somewhat embarrassed.
He couldn't say more, knowing that students from the failing weren't under <gjallarhorn>'s protection.
A security force that protects the nine schools belonging to the Union.
It was a group like the military police, composed of martial-arts-focused students from each school.
For the record, they claim to protect the entire Union, but 90% of their forces are concentrated on the Golden Street.
A sudden mass kidnapping incident.
I had a feeling I knew the context behind it.
*'It's finally happening.'*
The time has come to find my second junior.
I spoke to the old master in a deliberately cheerful tone.
“As you can see, we're perfectly fine—☆”
“Yes, yes, that's good.”
“By the way, do you happen to know where they were seen—☆ It's so scary, I want to be sure to avoid that area☆”
“I hear they were on their way to the outer road near the abandoned building district.”
“Okay☆ Thank you!”
The shopkeeper dwarves saw us off with worried eyes.
And we stood there silently on the road back to school.
Alvitt had been fidgeting restlessly ever since she heard the news of the kidnapping.
*'That's right. In the game, you left Clara behind and went to rescue them alone.'*
In the game, Alvitt lacked the strength, so she only managed to save Lotha before barely escaping.
Alvitt soon spoke in a quiet voice.
“…Senior.”
“What is it~☆”
“It would be wrong... to ask you to go rescue them... wouldn't it.”
“Yep☆”
“…Yes. I'm sorry.”
Alvitt hung her head low.
“First~ let's go get Red Hare—☆”
“…What?”
Alvitt stared at me with a look of disbelief.
Why are you just staring at me like that?
Go get your gear so we can swear our oath.