Volume 9 Chapter 1 — White and Black (Part 4-6)

Part 4

His cell phone rang. Currently he was returning to his room after his date with Koyuki was over.

The one who called his phone aiming for this time was Commander Yamagata.

The commander talked in a way that poked fun at him.

“Right now should be the time that your date is over already right?”

It was strangely embarrassing to talk about something like this with an opponent whose age was like his father.

“It’s true that I was in a date, but why do even you know about it…”

“I got completely scolded by Yagumo-kun to only call you at night so that I won’t be a bother on your date. Though I don’t know where did Yagumo-kun knew about it.”

Yagumo Akane-senpai―she was a third year of the Magic Division that had already piled up practical training in the Knight Order.

Surely it was Hikaru-senpai that spread the rumor to her in a mixture of fact and fiction. The figure of Akane-senpai back-talking coolly saying ‘It’s not like I really care about that though’ was floating in his mind.

…But what the commander said next was the exact opposite of what Kazuki imagined inside his mind.

“Yagumo-kun is really caring about you, you know? When the talk’s topic is about you it’s clear that all her calm is gone.”

“Is, is that so…”

Akane-senpai was a charming person. She was always cool and intellectual, but that didn’t mean she was a straight-laced person.

She was a hard-worker that liked tactical thinking, through that she had many common points with Kazuki, her affinity with him was also good.

Now he was told that such Akane-senpai was caring for him. When he thought that the other party was an onee-san that was even older than Kaguya-senpai, for some reason he felt his heart beat faster or something.

“Kazuki.” Suddenly Leme materialized beside him and rammed her body at him with a *don*.

“Even older people are targets for conquering. Feeling timid about that is no good, okay?”

Leme whose appearance was completely an adult linked her arm with Kazuki’s arm and she pressed her heavy breasts at him.

“That is so huh.” While his attention was taken by Leme, Commander Yamagata started his talk in a surprise attack.

“Last night, Regina and Ilyailiya were fighting each other.”

Even though Kazuki was switching his awareness for a more serious talk, but it took time.

His fight with Ilyailiya was yesterday evening. In other words…

“Ilyailiya who retreated from her fight with me in the Haunted Ground, was attacked then on her way back by Regina, is that what you mean?”

It became a series of event like that in that kind of time. Two Kings were fighting in a time he knew nothing about.

What kind of fight it developed into?

In the first place, how did Regina intercept Ilyailiya who was escaping in lightning speed?

…No, the most important essential point in this story was not that kind of thing.

“What is the result of the fight? …The Sacred Treasure that Ilyailiya took away?”

Even Ilyailiya should be exhausted from the attack in which Kazuki betted his everything. And if after that she was forced to battle Regina in succession then―

“No, unfortunately it seemed she escaped.”

A strange feeling was whirling inside his chest. It was a kind of relief and also a kind of unfortunate feeling.

If in the case that Regina took back one of the Three Sacred Treasures for him, then Kazuki would surely stand in an overwhelming superior position. But inside his heart he had already resolved himself.

This was a hurdle that he was determined to overcome without fail. It would be an anticlimax if that hurdle was unexpectedly lowered by another person arbitrarily.

It was his own selfishness even though this was a battle that would decide the future of the country, but… he wanted to settle his rivalry with Ikousai who was in a condition beyond flawless.

“I heard the story from Regina but, it seems that Ilyailiya had buried a device that emitted interference electromagnetic wave inside her body beforehand to escape the GPS monitoring.”

“Doesn’t the other Advanced Magic Countries treat machines as heretical?”

“…That’s how its supposed to be but, seems like that Ilyailiya’s circumstance is strange somehow. We cannot lump her together with the other Kings in thinking how she will act. We were thinking about this too simply.”

“Every single one of those Kings is strange somewhere inside.”

It was impossible to predict what kind of move those fellows would make.

Whether it was Arthur or Regina, at this point of time they were neither ally nor enemy.

“Of course that’s true. I don’t have any intention of slackening the monitoring of Arthur and Regina.”

However the Knight Order’s [perfect monitoring readiness] had been breached twice out of two times until now.

“What happened with the Einherjar fellows that Kaguya-senpai encountered?”

Kazuki asked about the thing that bothered him the most.

“Beatrix and her team is still in magic intoxication, they still haven’t woken up yet.”

“…Is that so.” Kazuki’s feeling turned somber.

The true color of this despondency he felt was also complex. Even Beatrix was neither his ally nor his enemy.

But he didn’t want to think of her as an enemy, somewhere, his heart thought so.

But the Einherjar suddenly turned into Japan’s enemy and attacked Kaguya-senpai and her team in the Fuji’s sea of trees. They exposed Kaguya-senpai and her team to danger. And then Ryouzanpaku’s Silirat intervened and the situation developed into Beatrix and Silirat striking down each other.

It only stood to reason that Kazuki should be angry at Beatrix who came attacking and felt grateful to Silirat who came in assistance. But before he could come to a clean decision like that, he wanted to hear the detailed circumstances from Beatrix.

“Worry is unnecessary because their magic intoxications are not a deep one. The prospect is that they will wake up before long. It’s just, the only one who is still energetic among the people involved, Roshouko, is pretty annoying with her complaint from getting embroiled into this.”

“Is she coming with some kind of troublesome request?”

“No, it’s not anything concrete… she is saying a complaint for us to [recognize Ryouzanpaku more like a comrade]. Well, certainly there is a good excuse to shrink our distance and ally with Ryouzanpaku to form a common front of anti-China.”

Ryouzanpaku was a resistance organization that opposed China.

From some time ago if Japan was misunderstood to have a good relation with Ryouzanpaku―it would completely justify China’s intervention into Japan’s internal conflict with Yamato.

But now that Ryouzanpaku had held back Germany’s rampage before this, it only stood to reason that Japan was grateful and from now on both would take each other’s hand and strengthened their stance in relation to China.

“But if we do that, won’t our relation with Germany worsen?”

“It’s without doubt that Germany was suddenly commencing an attack at us.”

Commander Yamagata talked as if cutting down that line of talk. Logically it was just as he said. But…

Commander Yamagata’s voice was colored with fatigue. Inside the chaotic situation, the one who moved the government and the Knight Order was essentially this person.

“…Now when the battle is over, the one who move the situation is the adults huh.”

Leme whispered on Kazuki’s ear.

{I don’t really understand politics and diplomacy.}

Kazuki communicated that telepathically so Commander Yamagata wouldn’t hear it.

“I don’t mean to say to break any civilian control. But if it’s in regard to battle tactic then even you should be able to interfere.”

What was called civilian control was the principle that the people who controlled the army must not interfere too much into the politics. Kazuki too was a knight apprentice―so to speak he fell under military personnel.

―The statesman must be able to control the Knight Order. The statesman who was the representation of the people moved the Knight Order. The Knight Order must not stand on top of the people.

It was of the inviolable rule of the country called Japan.

―And more, since the ancient times, Japan had the emperor as the country’s symbol as a [constitutional monarchy].

This too was another of the absolutely inviolable things.

Then how should the King(Basileus) be positioned in this country then. It seemed that Arthur and Regina ruled as tyrants but…

‘I, if I accept the fact that I am a King, how should I behave then?’

“In the first place, in all this time until now, wasn’t it you the one that continuously kept wiping our ass for all the misses that the Knight Order and the academy made? You too should insist your opinion more to the adults.”

Leme kept pulling Kazuki’s arm while being indignant as if she was the one being slighted. He wanted to get away from her breast that was pushing at him sweetly. Like this he couldn’t think seriously.

“It’s a grave situation for you who are the King to be kept out of the loop of everything except for the fight. Listen well, a King mustn’t become a tool of battle.”

Tool of battle. …Certainly, he didn’t want that by any means.

In other words―he had to move the situation by his own will.

“Commander Yamagata. Please let me question Beatrix and the others when they wake up. Until that happens, can you put on hold the matter of communicating our thanks to Ryouzanpaku and forming a common front with them?”

“You are…?”

“Please let me be the one to decide the treatment of Beatrix and her group. Regarding Beatrix, I know things about her that you don’t know about.”

This should be the first time for him to ask for something like this. This was something that he wished for the most right now. From the other side of the phone’s receiver, a serious voice of “hm~mm” was audible.

“I feel it’s inexcusable to advance all this talk while you are not there. Actually this was also pointed out to me by Arthur Basileus. That this country doesn’t respect the King as a King.”

“That person was? …He is unexpectedly a meddlesome person isn’t he?”

Regina disdained Kazuki about how he didn’t have the standpoint of a King. On the other hand there was this feeling that Arthur kept interjecting unnecessarily here and there saying things like “Like that, you won’t be able to become my worthy rival!” Should he call that as Britain’s chivalric mind?

“Certainly, there are still a lot of people that has yet to recognize you as King. But, at the very least, Headmaster Amasaki and I plan to be your supporter. I want you to believe that.”

He could feel the sincerity from his voice. Things like Commander Yamagata’s positivity level couldn’t be known even with the power of King. But as fellow males, they could understand that each other was worthy of their faith, he had that kind of feeling.

“I will calm down Roshouko. The treatment for that woman is really troublesome but…”

‘Looking at your relation from the side, you two look like you are getting along well though’, Kazuki thought inside his heart.

“Also I will put an arrangement in order, so that you will be contacted immediately when Beatrix wakes up. I will show that this matter is also about you without fail. I will make the surroundings recognize it. Without fail.”

Commander Yamagata said that and cut off the connection. Kazuki felt relieved for the moment and released a deep sigh.

He guessed that it would take a little more time to clean up the aftermath of the extremely chaotic battle the other day. He was told that his current job was to flirt with the others, but by no means could he also completely ignore all the other matters.

―And then, next he had his schedule for the night.

There was one other thing, a business that Kazuki had to ask about with his own volition.

Part 5

The courtyard of the Magic Division at night where there was no human presence―when Kazuki brought the proposal that he wanted to talk, that person called out Kazuki to this place. Tonight was a quiet night with no wind.

“Sorry to call you out in the middle of night.”

“Not at all, after all it was my side that wanted to talk.” Kazuki replied.

The owner of the voice was―Liz Liza-sensei.

Her full name was Liz Liza Westwood. She was a naturalized Japanese that crossed over to Japan at the time when Japan still had diplomatic relation with Britain and obtained her nationality then. Now, she was a teacher here.

Beyond that, she had also became the first generation chosen by Solomon 72 Pillar.

<The First Knights>. In that period of chaos where the matter about Diva was still not understood well, they were the pioneers that fought the illegal magicians whose minds were violated by Diva and the Demon Beasts that suddenly appeared by tearing apart the space itself.

Even though they were able to borrow the power from Solomon 72 Pillar, the people at that time was still weak in magic power, it was said that they was mostly unable to communicate with their Divas.

The Knights at that time were still immature about the way to use magic and also the tactic to use that skillfully in an organized way.

He learned by hearsay that in that extremely chaotic situation [those people who obtained a strange power while they knew nothing at all] then became [the people that fought in order to protect the others in their surroundings even while knowing nothing at all].

Each time illegal magicians rampaged at that time, people in a number so large that he couldn’t imagine in this peaceful time died.

The first Haunted Ground in Japan, <Fuji’s sea of trees> was also created at that time.

Before long Liz Liza-sensei retired from being a knight because of her weakening magic power, and then rather than choosing to be promoted into the top brass of the Knight Order she chose to raise the next generation and cooperated in the establishment of the Knight Academy.

―That was Liz Liza-sensei’s profile.

If it was this person then she should know. Regarding the affair that happened before in the Grand Haunted Ground. And then also regarding the character that put up the seal in the Grand Haunted Ground.

Kazuki was planning to immediately head back to the Grand Haunted Ground as soon as his magic power recovered.

However before that, he wanted to know beforehand as much as possible about the person that put up the seal. Who put up that seal and how did they do it. What happened before in the Grand Haunted Ground…

There was still some things that the Knight Order hadn’t explained to Kazuki.

“But why did sensei choose this time?” Kazuki asked.

Even though she didn’t want anyone else to overhear the story, it seemed that she was excessively being careful.

“That’s most likely because this talk will not end with just talking.”

Liz Liza-sensei made a mysterious response. This wouldn’t end with just a talk…?

“Before we talk about what had once happened in that Grand Haunted Ground, first there is something that I want to confirm from my side.” Liz Liza-sensei talked quickly without any calmness.

“The will that resides inside the seal in the last wall of the Grand Haunted Ground, and your Lemegeton, they exchanged intimate words with each other right?”

Kazuki answered “Yes” and nodded honestly. The person in the seal was Leme’s previous contractor.

“Lemegeton, she has recovered her memory right?”

Kazuki noticed how her voice was trembling when she asked that.

Liz Liza-sensei who was always calm was now acting completely like a young girl that didn’t fit her age.

Beside Kazuki, Leme materialized and the person herself replied “That’s right”.

Liz Liza-sensei kept looking at Leme’s figure that had grown up into adult over and over with a bewildered gaze.

After taking a deep breath, Liz Liza-sensei asked Leme.

“Were you―Hibiki-neesama’s contracted Diva?”

“That’s right.”

…Hibiki? It was an unfamiliar name for his ear, but strangely it felt like he had heard the name somewhere, a name that felt pleasant when he heard it. Was that, the owner of the voice in that seal?

Liz Liza-sensei looked down as if hiding her expression. As if asserting that an adult couldn’t that easily let her emotion come to the surface, she closed her eyelids strongly.

Kazuki said nothing and waited for Liz Liza-sensei to be the one that opened her mouth first.

After listening to the sound of the night wind for a while, Liz Liza-sensei finally began to talk.

―Well then, how about I tell you the story about that period just as you wish.

This is a night individual class for you, Hayashizaki.

At the same time with the human race obtaining the power called magic power, they knew about the existence of a mental world called Astrum, and encountered the consciousness body that lurked there―the Divas.

Among the Divas there were existences with ill will that drove the minds of human crazy in exchange for power, and in the end they would try to take over the flesh body. The people that dirtied their hands with this dangerous contract was then called as would be unusable with that.

{I don’t choose the same path with Nii-sama. Even if I cannot be a match against Nii-sama in overall strength…just in sword, I want to become an existence that shows Nii-sama the path ahead. …As the daughter of Hayashizaki family.}

―Not only power and speed. But love too.

―If you make a contract with me…you can become Hayashizaki Kazuki’s conquering target.

{That is exactly… a needless help!!}

Her swordsmanship was disturbed.

“Kana-chan, your concentration dropped! Are you sleepy!?”

Kaguya brought forth a piercing blizzard and lightly blown away Kanae.

“Damn-, as expected using it in real battle format is not so simple!”

Kaguya too like this accompanied Kanae in her special training until late at night.

Honestly Kanae had respected her since the time she first met her.

{Don’t be a hindrance anymore. It’s impolite to Kaguya after she has troubled herself to accompany my training like this…}

‘With my own way…as a big sister, I will go even farther than Nii-sama ahead of this path.’

‘Even if I lose at everything except in sword against Nii-sama, even if my love won’t come true.’

―How unfortunate.

Beleth was finally gone from Kanae’s consciousness, the night where the black cat danced continued indefinitely.

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