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lightnovel-2048

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"Don't be like that!"

Lopus's shoulders trembled until the mother-daughter conversation faded from the hallway.

The next day when Cayna showed up at the Guild, the red-haired girl once again called her to the counter and handed over a summons.

"It looks like this time they want you to be a teacher at the Academy no matter what. That's really impressive."

The woman said this with admiration, but the only thing that popped into Cayna's mind was her daughter's happy-go-lucky smile.

Magic Skill: Load: Curse: Type: B

Cayna backed away from the counter and muttered a spell under her breath. An instant later, a black skull appeared over the summons form, and a purple flame turned it to ash.

This skill had been distributed for Halloween and was intended to surprise the target.

It was one of three types of rewards for a simple quest.

For Type A, a human-sized pumpkin holding a lantern would follow the target for an hour.

For Type C, the curse would temporarily render the target despondent, put them in a white kimono, and make them pretend to be a ghost.

Type B, the most devious of all, deployed a small firecracker to the target. Five seconds later, it would explode in a colorful array of five firework displays. They caused absolutely no bodily harm, but it was a nasty trick that set off another seemingly endless wave of explosions whenever it touched something inorganic. If it exploded in a room as tightly packed as the headmaster's office, there was no doubt it'd be a blast-o-palooza.

"Why's my kid such a weirdo?"

Cayna was happy Mai-Mai adored her, but she wasn't sure how she felt about the constant need for attention. Little did Cayna know that it was her eldest son who was the real problem child.

That night, she heard a tale from the dragoid she befriended who was staying at the same inn.

"Apparently, there were a bunch of explosions going off in the headmaster's office today."

"Wow, sounds dangerous."

"Everyone at the Academy is wondering what happened, and rumors are flying. For better or worse, though, no one was injured."

"Wooow."

No one seemed to suspect anything despite her sarcastic replies.

Ten days had passed since Cayna had arrived at the royal capital, though she'd only started her work at the Adventurers Guild the day after she visited the Academy.

The problem was that there were countless requests on the board. Since Guild members weren't separated by a ranking system, it was up to each person to determine whether they could handle a quest.

Cayna was definitely suited for the tougher tasks. However, the Guild preferred that requests like plant harvesting be left for the newbies—nothing Cayna wasn't capable of, but listening to the plants' pained cries was a less-than-pleasant option.

Thus, she decided to leave it to the young receptionist who screened the requests.

"Excuse me, Almana. I have a favor directly and breezily.

Hayama seemed completely unbothered by my reaction, still facing forward as he looked far into the distance and spoke dispassionately. "I feel like you're far behind me, and I hate that so much. I want to be on even terms. So I want to raise you up; maybe it's all that is. In order to affirm your loss."

"...Oh." I'm sure I felt the same way. I'd raised him up to a special status, forcing a lie on him in order to convince myself—that there was no doubting that Hayato Hayama was an absolutely good guy.

He must have actually heard my meaningless response this time, as he turned to face me. Then he smiled at me—it was charming but challenging. "So I won't do what you tell me to."

"I see." I nodded, and Hayama did the same in response.

I think Hayato Hayama sincerely did not care about the course stream choice, and whichever he did pick, it wouldn't be much difference to him.

So it was enough to hear this much now. This would resolve Miura's request. It wasn't like the problem had gone away, but what came after this was beyond my range.

"Let's get going," Hayama said, and then he started lightly jogging along.

You jerk, I can't run at all anymore, I thought, but I somehow followed at Hayama's heels.

There was one more thing I wanted to ask.

I forced up my dragging legs. Fortunately, thanks to that little break, I'd caught my breath a little. My heart was still kind of racing, but I took deep breaths to calm it. "...Are you choosing arts for family reasons? I mean, like for a family relationship sort of thing."

"My family? Have I ever spoken to you about that?" This speed must have felt like a casual jog to Hayama, as his steps and voice were light now.

"Uh, well, I overheard..." As my body was chilled with sweat, an even colder sea breeze blew over me. The freezing coldness, the sticky discomfort, and the weird silence made me agitated.

Meanwhile, one more runner passed us by.

But Hayama must have lost interest in ranking now, as he looked at me with interest before losing himself in thought. And then he suddenly said, "Are you worried about that rumor?"

"Huh? No, it's not that... Just, well, I mean, you know... Like." I was at a loss as to how to explain.

Hayama laughed out loud. Despite running with such flawless form before, his upper body was shaking and rocking all over the place.

"...What's so funny?" I asked.

He wiped his eyes almost deliberately. "No, sorry. If it's about that, then don't worry. I'll make sure it's resolved."

"Ahhh, it'll help a lot. I can't stand the tension in the clubroom."

As we talked, I started hearing the panting of another student approaching us. I turned back once, then faced forward again. I figured there'd be quite a gap opening up between us and those who had passed us.

My feet were as heavy as if they had fishing weights tangled around them and wouldn't quite move like I wanted them to. "They've gotten pretty far ahead... Guess I'll take this slow. Sorry I kept you from scoring another victory," I said, meaning that as a proposal.

But Hayama shook his head. He swung his arms at his sides as if lightly stretching them and grinned. "...No, I'll win. That's who I am."

He was saying that winning, meeting everyone's expectations, committing to playing Hayato Hayama to the very end was who he was.

He gradually upped the pace, and when he came out a few steps in front of my trudging run, he turned back. "And besides, I don't want to lose to you."

And with that parting remark, Hayato Hayama ran off.

He left me behind far, far in the distance.

I didn't even have enough energy left to follow after him. It was all I could do just to watch him go. After coming up with the answer I couldn't and dreaming of possibilities I couldn't bring myself to believe in, Hayato Hayama grew distant.

Damn it, he's actually cool.

Maybe he's pretty competitive, too, I thought stupidly, just as my right foot collided into my left calf. My feet got tangled up, and I failed to catch myself and tumbled right there on the pavement. I rolled straight over onto my back and looked up above.

My white breath melted into the clear, bright, and blue winter sky.

In the end, whether I fell down or lay down had no effect on the marathon schedule, and it solemnly proceeded.

I fell, and then after lying on my back like that for a while, Totsuka helped me get up, but I really couldn't cause any more trouble for him, so I had him go on without me, while I dragged my aching legs to somehow reach the goal alone.

Though I wasn't in last place, during the final spurt, I was with the group at the tail end, putting in some desperate effort only before the finish line. The instant I crossed the finish line, I went, "I can be done now, right...?" as I checked all around. By the way, the only one to reply was Zaimokuza, who was running together with me at the end.

By the time I finished running, my knees were shaking like tambourines at karaoke. It was almost funny. Ha. Fun-knee.

When I flopped down to check how I was doing, I found I was a mess. I'd scraped open my knees and shins, my shorts were completely muddied, my butt was cramping, my side was stabbing me the whole time—maybe I should try to find what didn't hurt. I'm already a pretty painful sight to begin with, so this was educational, letting people know that yes, I can be even more painful to look at (and that's a painful joke).

If I hadn't been encouraging myself along the way, like, You can do it. You can do it, I think my life points would have wound up at zero.

Of course, nobody would be waiting for me at the goal.

Just the apologetic crowd of one—the gym teacher—while everyone else had left for the park square. I went to peek over there while they were in the middle of the award event.

Generally, something as trivial as a school marathon would not have an award ceremony, but seeing how Isshiki was the one acting as presenter at the event, this must have been a last-minute plan by the student council. She was a surprisingly capable person. Iroha Isshiki was fearsome indeed.

"Well then, now that the results have been announced, let's have a comment from the winner!" Holding a mike she'd probably procured from the student council room, Isshiki seemed very pleased as she cheerily assailed our eardrums. Seeing the vice president adjust the speakers every time she did was a little surreal.

Looking around, I saw most everyone was gathered in the park square, with no division between first- or second-years, boys or girls. The faces from our class were all in proper attendance: Miura, Ebina, Tobe, and Totsuka.

As I was gazing at this from a distance, Isshiki called out the victor. "Theeen let's have our winner, Hayato Hayama, come to the podium!"

At the call, Hayama, wreathed with a bay laurel crown, immediately came up to the podium. The gallery bubbled into cheers.

Wait, he seriously won...?

"Congratulations, Hayato! I just knewww you'd win!" Isshiki greeted him with blatant favoritism.

Hayama replied with a peaceful smile. "Thank you."

"Right then, go ahead."

When she handed the mike over to Hayama, applause, whistles, and a call of "HA-YA-TO" rose up. Tobe's interjections ("Yeeeah! Whoo-hoo!!") were especially obnoxious.

Hayama waved his hand with a bashful smile in reply, then began speaking. "Things got a little sketchy in the middle, but thanks to a good rival and all your support, I made it to the end. Thank you very much," he said all in one go, then paused a second. He found Miura among the audience and waved. "And Yumiko and Iroha especially...thank you."

When he said that, the cheers went up a notch. Ooka whistled with his fingers, while Yamato clapped wildly. And as for the two in question, when Hayato called their names, they both froze in surprise but then gradually started twisting around shyly, blushing and looking down. Yuigahama kindly patted Miura's shoulder.

Seeing Hayama's warm gaze and the two girls' reactions, the onlookers murmured a bit. I get it. So this is what he meant by "resolving things."

The victor continued with his comment. "Moving forward, I'll just be focusing on club activities and working hard coming up to our last tournament... Also, a lot of the soccer team gave a disappointing performance in this race today. Our practices are going to push you hard." Hayama directed an unpleasant grin over at Tobe and the guys.

corner on the opposite end of the room.

"Er... why don't you sleep in the bed?" I was the one asking this time.

"A man can't sleep in a bed while a girl's sleeping on the floor," he announced. Clearly, this was the obvious truth.

I managed a strained smile.

"Well, suit yourself... good night, Gourry."

"Night-night, little lady."

Sigh. He really is a good guy. I just wish he wouldn't treat me so much like a kid.

"So, you really don't know anything about Ruby Eye Shabra-nigdu, the Dark Lord?" I asked him as we walked shoulder-to-shoulder down a sunlit path. The bit of forest around us looked exactly like the one we'd just hiked a few days before. Seeing the same trees over and over and over again was getting on my nerves. And since the road cut through the Great Kresaus Forest all the way to Atlas City, of course that meant we would be seeing a lot more of the same trees before we actually arrived in town. Oh, goody.

"Hmmm..." mumbled Gourry, trying to recall. "Nope, not a thing."

The legend of Shabranigdu is downright famous, and not just among sorcerers, either! Everybody knows the story. Everybody except Gourry, apparently.

I let out a loud sigh. "All right. I'm only going to tell the story once, so listen carefully."

"Listening."

I sighed again, and doubted that Gourry was even capable of understanding the philosophical weight of what he was about to hear. I guessed not, but I went on with the story anyway, figuring that as long as we were stuck walking through monotonous rows of trees, I might as well make an effort to entertain myself.

"The universe comprises more worlds than just the one in which we live. A very, very long time ago, a countless number of staves were thrust up into the Sea of Chaos and around each stave there formed a world, both flat and round. Imagine the earth as a pie with a stick thrust into it from below. Like that! And one of those worlds is the one we're living in right here and now."

I pointed at the ground, just in case "here and now" was a tough concept for Gourry to grasp. While this theory represents the prevailing view among sorcerers even today, I was conveying it in a nontraditional way. If I hadn't, I'm certain it would have flown in one blond-curl-covered ear and right out the other.

"In ancient times, across the many worlds, a great war waged between two great races. One was the Gods, the other the Demon race, Mazoku. The Gods were protectors of the worlds, while the Demons sought to destroy the worlds by seizing the staves on which they were supported." Lina proceeded, with a deep breath, "On some worlds, the Gods would win—bringing peace. On other worlds, the Demons would win—and the worlds would be destroyed. This war continues to this day, on some of those worlds.

"On our world," resumed Lina, "the Dark Lord Ruby Eye Shabranigdu; and the God, Flare Dragon Ceipheed, who is also known as the Dragon God, fought for domination. Their battle continued for thousands of years, until finally, the Dragon God split the Dark Lord's body into seven pieces and sealed up each piece separately across the world."

"So the Gods won?" Gourry guessed.

I shook my head. "All the Dragon God did was seal the remnants of the Dark Lord. He didn't destroy them."

"But still, the Mazoku's body was cut into pieces, right?"