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Chapter 19
Chapter 1, Childhood Friend And I — Episode 19 : As It Was Before
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
————Prior to the activation of【Phantom Pain.】
Shirakaba-san runs up the stairs of the royal palace in a dash. I follow behind him, but I can’t catch up with him at all… But I’m getting more and more time to catch up, though only a little bit, whereas before I couldn’t even step on shadows at the start of the race.
「Hah, hah, thank you very much!!」
「Same for me, thank you very much!」
We went back and forth, and when my thighs were getting flat, I was asked if I wanted to go up. Marielle was watching over me, and Shirakaba-san was giving me a workout.
I was just starting to get hungry, and was urging myself to wait more. I was getting fitter, but I didn’t feel I was getting stronger…
「Thanks for all your hard work, Kaname-sama and Shirakaba-sama!」
Marielle wrung out a wet cloth and handed it to us, and we both thanked her.
The saint is cheering me on, I need to work harder. Her smile and concern for me was motivating me.
（I’ll be able to protect Marielle by myself.）
That’s my goal now. Witnessing the strength of other brave men and women, including Shirakaba-san, I feel more and more inferior day by day.
When I was in my original world, thanks to ×× being by my side, I didn’t care so much, but that was not the case when I saw Marielle standing in a tight spot.
Because she is so devoted to me, being such a weak and pathetic person!
「No, no, I can only do this much.」
「I feel a little less tired when I wipe my sweat with the wet cloth Marielle gave me.」
Shirakaba-san, who also received a hand towel, looks up as he wipes his sweat and tells her.
「Ohh, you too, Kaname-kun? That’s a strange coincidence, actually I’m the same way. It’s really strange.」
He looked at the cloth he received from her and stared at it curiously. I spread it out and looked at it together, but it seemed to be an ordinary-looking cloth, so we both twisted our heads.
Maybe it’s the charity of Saint Marielle?
That would make sense!
Moreover, the cloth emitted a fresh, citrus-like scent, and we both turned to Marielle in admiration.
「Ah…… No, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s a spell written in sacred script on the inside of the cloth.」
Marielle fidgets, her cheeks blushing cherry red, and she is embarrassed by rubbing her fingers together. A cloth with a spell is nice, but just looking at her cute, embarrassed face makes me feel like I’m regaining my strength and ready to take on Shirakaba-san’s rigorous training again.
Of course, it’s just a feeling, but…
Hah!?
I realized something.
「Marielle!!」
「Yes!? What is it, Kaname-sama?」
In a flash of inspiration, I grab her by both shoulders and ask her.
「Is it possible to put some kind of magical effect into something like this cloth?」
Shirakaba-san immediately responded to what I was saying to Marielle, and he was listening to me like a dog.
「Yes, you can. Scrolls are usually sold in grimoire stores.」
「Eh, you can buy it?」
「Yes, it’s a little expensive, but not unaffordable.」
Shirakaba-san, who had been listening carefully to Marielle, put his hand on his chin, meditated and thought about something. After a moment of silence, he quickly opened his eyes and asked her.
「Then, if so, can’t we put the magic that restored Kaname-kun into this cloth? If we could do that, it would make the battle much easier.」
In contrast to Shirakaba-san, who was full of strength and high spirits, Marielle’s expression clouded over like rain clouds that had suddenly gathered.
「In the past, many saints and priests studied putting healing magic into scrolls, but the limit was the cloth-like object in front of them…」
She is very attentive to us and teaches us well. She is very different from Yurielle, she is really sincere.
「No, never mind. I just thought that a scroll with a recovery system would make the logistics much easier to manage. Just knowing that we have a weapon that can stand up to the monsters is good enough for me.」
I showed my white teeth and gave a thumbs-up to Mariel, and her downcast expression changes to a smile to match Shirakaba-san.
The three of us were about to head to the Mage Academy, where magic was being studied at the royal palace. A great sword from an armored object at the end of the red-carpeted corridor falls over and comes at me.
Hiiieeekk!!?
「Tch! I guess I screwed up. Well, that’s alright.」
As if that’s just alright!
A familiar voice was coming from inside the armor. I was saved thanks to Shirakaba-san grabbing me by the collar and pulling me, but if I hadn’t been pulled, I would have been cut in half like a planarian observation experiment by the slash Aina released.
She is a nuisance and doesn’t think about other people in the slightest. I know love is blind, but she’s just too blind!
「I’ll make up for the humiliation of being left alone without being touched, right here and now! I’ll kill you Noriharu and I’ll follow suit!」
It’s a mixture of love and hate, and it’s nothing short of a mess. Shirakaba-san is in my charge, he said, making eye contact with strong eyes and heading toward Aina, who was disguised as an armored object.
He grabbed Aina’s wrist holding the sword and pushed her body into the wall like a rugby scrum, until her back was against the white wall.
Boom!!
And when he thought his other hand, which was holding her wrist, was on the wall, he raised the visor of her armor and stared into Aina’s eyes.
She couldn’t quite make it out, but after a while, something like steam erupts from the armor, and Aina runs away from us as if she were a locomotive.
「R–R–Remember me, Noriharu! I’ll come back to see you again!」
Shirakaba-san was already waving his hand towel, which had already dried up, and smiling with a smile to spare. What in the world did he do?
「Shirakaba-san, what in the world did you say to Aina?」
He glanced over at Marielle, then softly whispered in my ear.
「I told her,『You know what happens when I get serious, right? I’m going to destroy you, a virgin, by holding you all night long and making you cum. Are you ready for that?』Of course, I don’t intend to do that.」
He laughed, putting his hands on his hips. I heard that he casually said it to Aina a line that he, as a man, would have been embarrassed to hear and would have made himself flush…
That’s amazing, Shirakaba-san!
You can do what I can’t do. I’m impressed by that! I admire you!
But is it just me, or did it seem like Aina was coming on to him even more? After all, Shirakaba-san is a sinful man. It was Marielle, who was scowling at our farce from start to finish.
————At the Royal Magistrate’s Court.
We successfully fought off Aina’s attack without incident. I mean, I don’t know why I should have my life threatened by a knight who is supposed to be our friend…
The building of the magic academy looks like an old school built in the Meiji era. Located in a separate wing of the palace, Marielle called out at the entrance.
「Ricoult, is Ricoult available?」
「Marielle-sama!? It is a great honor for you to visit such a place yourself, Your Highness.」
「Yes, I need these two to share a scroll with me today.」
A mature man with a beard and thinning top of head rushes in and hurriedly greets Marielle. While the mature royal court mage who introduced me and Shirakaba-san were talking about the kind of scrolls they wanted, a book caught my eye as I was looking at the bookshelf.
【Memory And Tremor】
Most of the books had titles written in otherworldly script, but that was the only one that was written alongside Japanese.
I asked Marielle and Ricoult to lend me the book. They asked me to put it back when I finished reading it.
「Scrolls can be effective even for those who cannot use magic, but their scope is not very wide. It is only for self-defense, such as knights and adventurers.」
「No, I’m still grateful enough. Because apparently, I don’t seem to have the gift of magic.」
After a lecture on how to use the scrolls, we were given the four major attributes of fire, water, wind, and earth.
Is Shirakaba-san perhaps had an inherent skill of the『beat the illusions to death』type? The way Aina fell down, it seemed that her skills suddenly lost their effect and she got tangled up in her legs.
Still, modern knowledge and extraordinary physical abilities shouldn’t make the nullification skills weak, should they?
「I’m sorry, Marielle, but could you take me to the royal musicians?」
「Yes, I don’t mind, but why would you go there?」
「I’m more interested in keeping this guy alive.」
Popping the scroll, which curled up like a prize, Shirakaba-san picked it up and tapped it on the palm of his hand. Marielle and I couldn’t understand why it was music.
————At the musical instrument workshop.
He selected trumpets and other brass instruments from the royal musicians and came to the craftsmen who made and repaired the instruments.
「I used to get woken up by this guy. I thought it was abhorrent at the time, but I miss it.」
After staring intently, the craftsman follows the drawings that Shirakaba-san had prepared, and then he gives it shape.
Beyond, leather workers used leather hammers, scissors, and blunt needles to process the leather holders for the marching drums into scroll-filled tubes and bullet belts for the gand.
The instrument that the craftsman brought before us, a trumpet, was transformed into something that looked like déjà vu. A hand grenade with a mid-fold… the muzzle is spread out, but it looks like that air pirate’s weapon.
This is totally Shirakaba-san’s taste, that’s for sure.
If I said B*wser or something while holding hands with Marielle, this royal palace isn’t going to collapse, is it? No, absolutely not, I won’t try it!
「Bal***!」
「Wha—!?」
「I’m so tempted to do that! My kids haven’t been keeping me company lately…」
Shirakaba-san chanted. Because I seriously don’t know!
「Is that some kind of spell now?」
Marielle asks curiously.
See! I knew she was into it!
「Marielle, what he just said now… ngu, ngu…」
「Oh, I see, it’s just a spell.」
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When I tried to explain, Shirakaba-san shut me up… Adults are sneaky. If it bothers him, he didn’t have to do that.
There were two finished guns. They were thicker tubes, so perhaps it is more correct to call them grenade launchers than guns.
「It looks like some kind of grenade launcher.」
「Oh, you know a lot. Do you think you’re good at it?」
What is this? The complaint that sounds like a boss inviting his subordinate out for a drink… I can’t drink.
「Kirishima-kun, when you use the grenade launcher, don’t ever put it on your lap and shoot, ever!」
I don’t know, it bothers me when he emphasize it so much…
When I asked him about it, he told me that the bottom of the grenade prop of the old Japanese army was like a knee brace, and that the U.S. troops who had captured it broke a bone when they used it on their grenades. Then it got the nickname『Knee Motor.』
Shirakaba-san fixes a hand grenade to the mouthpiece near the root of the spear blade. This one has no grip, just looks like a tube.
I test shot it and thought this one would work…
————【Phantom Pain】being into operation.
【Do you want to combine them?】
Yes　　<——
No
To the question that compels me to combine my arms to my body…
「Of course, it’s a yes! I decided to get it going!」
As I picked up my arm and placed it over the wound, the affected area suddenly glowed, and as the glow faded away, my arm was joined to my body. The pain disappears and the sensation returns to normal.
Guh, pah, guh, pah.
When I gripped and opened my fingers, to my surprise, they were no different than before they were shredded. And I felt as if I had more energy.
The Status… has still no change.
「Kaname-sama～!」
「Hey～ Kaname-kun!」
「Kaname-kun～」
When my arm was fully healed, Marielle, Shirakaba-san and Rina-san came running to me. I went out without telling them…
「Kaname-sama… I, I was really worried about you! I asked the guards at the gate and they told me you were headed here, so I asked the two to bring me here.」
As soon as she saw my face, Marielle jumped into my chest and was already sobbing.
「Really, you shouldn’t make girls cry just because you’ve become handsome, and if you do it again, this Onee-san will scold you on Marielle’s behalf!」
「I’m sorry…」
「Kaname-kun… there is a difference between recklessness and courage. I understand your impatience, but we are all fighting together. When you are in trouble, it’s on both of us. You can tell me anything.」
「Thank you very much…」
My arm was glad to be back to normal as a result, but their bitterness was bone chilling. At the same time, I was painfully sad that I had caused Mariel so much grief by spinning out of my desire to protect her.
As I combed Marielle’s beautiful golden hair and stroked her head…
「Hey!! Look at that!」
「Wh–What the hell is that big thing!?」
A monster, worthy of being called a behemoth, had appeared before us.
＊　＊　＊
Everyone complained that I stopped at a delicious point, but I had no choice. The teacher had to come…
I heard that some of them request their homeroom teachers to tell them my otherworldly stories when there is no agenda in homeroom. That’s fine with me, but not everyone wants to hear it.
「Hey, Kirishima!」
When everyone was about to gather for lunch, I was suddenly stopped.
The person who stopped me was Onizuka-san.
She doesn’t seem to be interested in what I have to say at all. I didn’t think I would be blamed for the “Hard lock” and the “ride” we ended up having on the rooftop floor…
「I’m so sorry! I never thought it would come to that.」
I apologized, but that didn’t seem to be enough to forgive her, and she told me to「follow her for a minute,」and I couldn’t disobey her.
I was brought to the rooftop again.
I was not in the least bit happy, as if I was being counted one or two admonitions each time I climbed a flight of stairs. I was just freaking out, thinking she was going to ask me for money or something.
But I was wrong.
She grabbed the netting of the fence and turned around, only to be surprised by what she said.
「Uhh, Kirishima… Is it true that you returned alive after being lost in the Mt. Ootake’s eruption?」
「Why did Onizuka-san mention that…」
「No, I just thought that was what you were following me for. If not, forget it.」
After saying this, she was about to leave the rooftop. There was no way I could say that I followed her… because I saw a trace of her in her.