Chapter 6 PAST 3

Translator : PolterGlast

Nozomu decided to enroll in Solminati Academy.

His parents were strongly opposed to his decision. His father was particularly stubborn and refused to allow Nozomu to leave the village.

In the end, it turned into a fierce fight between father and son, with Nozomu getting a big blue bruise on his eye. After a night of persuasion, including with fists, his father reluctantly gave his permission.

The following year, Nozomu, Lisa, and Ken entered Solminati Academy and stepped onto the ground of Arcazam.

Boys and girls came to this place with hopes and dreams in their hearts. However, it was not an easy task for them to stay enrolled in this school.

Those who did not perform well were either expelled or left the school because they could not keep up with the fierce competition for survival.

In fact, in the first two months of school, nearly a quarter of the new students had left the school.

In the midst of this, Nozomu managed to survive the rigors of school life.

“Sei!”

“Uwa~!”

The voices of young people echoed in the training ground In the midst of combat training using wooden swords, Ken swung out his dummy sword and attacked Nozomu.

Nozomu received the sword attack that was swung from the side, but he was staggered when the sword he raised for defense received the attack.

Ken spun his sword around and struck Nozomu from the top this time.

Nozomu lost his balance but he somehow managed to interrupt the trajectory of the sword.

*Clang!*

Along with a high-pitched sound, the swords of both sides were tightly crossed together.

Both of them put all their strength as they tried not to be pushed. The sound of the clashing blades of the dummy swords could be heard.

In the beginning, the two of them were in fierce competition, but after a few seconds of fighting, Ken’s superiority gradually became apparent.

“Kuh~!”

A voice of anguish escaped from Nozomu’s mouth. It was Nozomu who began to be pushed.

What Nozomu did to his body was to strengthen it with Qi techniques. Meanwhile, Ken used magic to strengthen his own body.

As the name implied, the technique used by both of them was to strengthen their body muscles, but even though they used the same technique, the differences between the two were obvious even to observers.

Compared to Ken’s fluid use of techniques and manipulation of magic power, Nozomu’s Qi technique had many rough parts.

He was using too much energy and unnecessarily using too much Qi, and the Qi he couldn’t handle was leaking out of his body.

Furthermore, the ability that appeared in Nozomu further hindered the strengthening of his body by Qi.

And the equilibrium, which had begun to tilt little by little, collapsed all at once like an avalanche.

“Kuh~… Ua!”

Ken pushed him at once, and Nozomu fell back.

Nozomu tried to resist the momentum, but he couldn’t stop his body that had already started to fall. Ken grabbed him by my clothes and threw Nozomu down to the ground.

“Gah~!”

Nozomu was knocked to the ground, unable to defend himself. A cry of anguish escaped from Nozomu’s mouth as the pain ran down his back.

The light in front of Nozomu’s eyes flickered.

Before he could even regain his consciousness, Ken thrust the dummy sword at Nozomu’s throat.

“Haa, haa … It’s my loss.”

Nozomu admitted his defeat. He slowly raised his body as Ken pulled his dummy sword.

But his vision was still spinning in circles, and his consciousness was still blurred.

He also felt someting hot on his forehead. When he touched it lightly, a slippery, viscous liquid stuck to his fingers, and the iron smell stimulated his nose. It seemed that he had cut his forehead a little.

“Ouch!!”

“Nozomu, are you okay?”

Nozomu frowned due to the pain that ran on his forehead.

Lisa, who had been watching them from a distance, came running up to Nozomu. She leaned close to Nozomu, who was wobbling, and supported his shoulders.

She took out a handkerchief from her skirt pocket and applied it to the wound on Nozomu’s forehead.

“Gosh! Ken, you’ve gone a little overboard!”

“S-sorry … I got a little carried away…”

Lisa, who was supporting Nozomu’s shoulder, was complaining to Ken in a slightly angry tone, seemingly upset that her boyfriend was injured.

“But if it’s Ken, he could have done a little better!?”

“Well yeah, but…”

“It’s okay, Lisa. I’m the one who asked Ken not to take it easy on me.”

Nozomu, who was being treated, told Lisa so as to come to Ken’s aid. He held Lisa’s hand that was resting on his forehead and stared straight at her.

“But……”

Because Nozomu himself said so, Lisa’s momentum was cut short. As for her, she knew full well that her lover was doing his best for her. She may be a litte dissatisfied, but Nozomu’s direct thoughts always struck Lisa’s heart, filling her with relief and warmth.

“There, there. You should leave it at that, Lisa. Even Nozomu is doing his best for you.”

“Uuu …”

Lisa turned away a little awkwardly due to Camilla’s comment as she came up to the three of them. Knowing Nozomu’s feelings towards her, Lisa just clenched her mouth.

“Nozomu, are your wounds okay? Well, you’re fine, I guess. After all, you are being treated by your beloved girlfriend.”

“Gosh, Camilla, don’t say anything strange!”

“Y-yeah, of course …”

“See, Nozomu said so.”

“~!!”

Camilla kept teasing Lisa.

Lisa’s mouth was stuttered as she tried to say something, but Camilla’s face was grinning as she watches Lisa. In this case, no matter what Lisa said to her, Camilla would only be further amused.

As a result, Lisa could only puff out her cheeks and stare at her best friend in front of her, and both Nozomu’s and Lisa’s faces turned bright red.

Camilla was filled with joy at the sight of the two of them and that joy made a smile appear on her face.

But then she caught sight of Ken, who was keeping quiet. He was just staring at Nozomu and Lisa without saying anything.

“…………….”

“Ken? What’s wrong?”

Camilla, who was feeling uncomfortable with Ken’s silence as he stared at Nozomu and Lisa, called out to him.

Ken turned to Camilla as if he was surprised.

“No, it’s nothing. Let’s get Nozomu’s treatment done as soon as possible.”

Ken seemed to be a little strange, but Lisa nodded at his suggestion to heal Nozomu faster. There was still blood coming from Nozomu’s forehead.

Lisa nodded at Ken’s words and tried to cast a healing spell on Nozomu’s forehead.

Lisa herself was not very good at this kind of healing magic, but she used her ability [Niveei’s Influence] to multiply the effect of the magic.

Warm light flooded her hands, gradually healing Nozomu’s wounds. She was happy to see Nozomu trying to protect her, but Lisa felt a little disappointed that she wasn’t suitable to use healing magic especially for this kind of situation.

Still, the warmth brought a smile to Lisa’s lips.

However, a heartless comment interrupted the two of them.

“Is that Nozomu guy still at this school?”

“It seems so. I wonder how that guy is dating Lisa-san?

“Because they’re childhood friends, isn’t it? If not…”

The voices were coming from Nozomu’s classmates.

The voice of disdain that was heard made Nozomu’s face tense.

“~! I-I’m fine now. Thank you, Lisa.”

“Ah……”

Putting a forced smile while pretending not to hear their voices, Nozomu quickly pulled himself away from Lisa. A sad voice escaped from Lisa’s mouth as she could no longer feel the warmth from her hand.

Nozomu looked apologetic for a moment, but then he forced a smile and stood up.

He took the dummy sword that had fallen to the ground and extended his hand to Lisa.

“Let’s get going. It’ll be dark soon. I’ll walk you back to your dorm.”

“It seems so… Yes, please.”

Lisa gave a small nod and stood up, took Nozomu’s hand, and walked alongside him to the exit of the training ground. Camilla followed a little later, but she turned and glared at the classmates who had just thrown abusive words at Nozomu.

The classmates, however, did not pay attention to Camilla’s gaze and laughed it off.

Camilla’s gaze becomes even sharper at the sight of them, but they do not change their attitude.

Camilla was inwardly angry, but she couldn’t keep staring at them like that forever, so she started to run after Nozomu and the others.

Following Camilla, Ken was the last one to leave the training ground.

However, from behind him, one of the students who had been throwing abusive words at Nozomu earlier called out to him.

“Hey Ken, it’s hard, isn’t it?. You have to deal with that kind of garbage…”

“Nazwel…”

A student from the group that had been ridiculing Nozomu earlier walked up to Ken.

His name was Nazwel Barkin, one of the best students in his year, and the son of a nobleman from the Cremazione Empire.

The Empire of Cremazione is a country with a powerful army, and its power rivals that of Forsina.

He is the third son, and although he is not in a position to inherit the family like the daughter of the Francilt Family, he was chosen to be one of the students to come to this school because of his abilities. He was selected as one of the students to come to the school in order to educate himself as a person who would be in charge of the country and to make connections for the future.

He is also a talented person, and from the very first day he entered the school, he showed his power and was quickly promoted to D rank, just like Irisdina Francilt, Tima Lime, and Kevin Ardinal.

“I don’t mind, I…”

“You and Lisa both have great talents. But why does she care about such garbage? I honestly don’t understand her.”

Just like them, Lisa and Ken have also improved rapidly since they entered the school and have reached the rank of D.

Lisa and Ken’s talents were not inferior to theirs. It was because he felt that way that Nazwel treated Ken and Lisa as equals.

And he couldn’t understand why Lisa, whom he recognized, was with Nozomu Bountis.

To him, results were proof of talent, a person who could produce results had talent and that was all that mattered.

In fact, the students behind him were some of the best in their year. Ken himself has had a few sparring encounters with them before.

“… Lisa needs Nozomu, you know.”

“But what she’s aiming for is to be an adventurer. It’s certainly not impossible for her to rise to the top with her talent. But isn’t Nozomu Bountis just an obstacle in achieving her dreams?”

While doubting Ken’s answer, Nazwel said something without hesitation.

“The one Lisa chose was Nozomu…’

Ken muttered to himself and started walking after Nozomu and the others.

“Well, if that’s what you said, it can’t be helped then. But I think you should think about it. This is a dangerous world. You never know when death will descend and take your life.”

Death. That word pierced Ken’s heart.

It was what he feared the most. When he was a child, when he was told about Lisa’s dream, he felt the worst possible outcome. The fear that it would become a reality comes back.

While feeling Nazwel’s gaze on his back, Ken forced himself to walk towards the entrance of the training ground.

He felt the ache in his chest growing stronger.

***

When Ken left the training grounds, Nozomu and the others were waiting for him. Camilla approached him, wondering if something was wrong with Ken, who was taking a little longer than expected.

“You’re late. Did anyone say anything strange to you?”

“No, … everything is fine.”

Ken replied, trying his best to remain calm. With the same smile on his face as always.

It was a facial expression that he had kept on his face ever since the two of his childhood friends, Nozomu and Lisa, had taken a step forward in their relationship.

He’s already gotten used to making this fake face.

(But it’s fine. It’s fine this way.)

Ken told himself so.

He looked at his best friend standing next to Lisa.

Nozomu was always like that. He was always the first one to move.

When Lisa, who had no father, was still a child and Mujiru was throwing heartless words at her, Nozomu was the first one to jump on Mujiru. Ken was always one step behind.

Lisa had chosen Nozomu. It wasn’t Ken that she was attracted to and chose.

“So, should we head home now?”

“Yes. We’ve been practicing for quite some time… Is that alright, Nozomu?”

“Eh……?”

Now that they were all here, Camilla urged them to go home for the day. Surely the sun would go down soon. It’s time to go home.

Lisa also agreed with Camilla. She also called out to Nozomu to see into his complexion.

But Nozomu was at a loss for a reply as if he still wanted to train.

He was probably concerned about the results of the combat training they did earlier and what Nazwel had said to him.

Lisa also noticed that Nozomu was dissatisfied with the result.

“Nozomu …”

“Y-yeah. Let’s do so…”

Lisa touched Nozomu’s injured forehead with a worried expression on her face.

When Lisa looked at Nozomu, Nozomu agreed to go back to the dorm.

When Lisa heard Nozomu’s reply, she was relieved. Ken, watching such a scene, felt his own cheeks tense up naturally.

“…!”

When Ken realized that his face was stiff, he exhaled and relaxed his cheeks. Neither Nozomu, Lisa, nor Camilla noticed Ken’s expression, and the three of them headed straight for the main gate.

Ken breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn’t noticed him.

But at the same time, Ken felt something black stirring deep inside his body. It writhed around in his chest and churned his internal organs.

Still, he swallowed his spit, desperate not to let something in the pit of his stomach overflow. If he were to let it out, it would change everything. He had such a premonition.

“Ken?”

Lisa turned around with a suspicious expression on her face. Just the fact that she was looking at him made the aching in Ken’s chest from earlier seem like a lie, and a smile naturally returned to his tense face.

“Ken, are you okay? You look like you’re in pain…”

Ken replied that he was fine and began to walk alongside the three of them.

The four of them go through the main gate, pass through the central park, and head for the dormitory. They were talking while walking for a while.

They eventually reach a fork in the road. One path led to the girls’ dormitory, the other to the boys’ dormitory.

“Well then, we’ll go this way.”

“See you both tomorrow.”

Camilla and Lisa said their goodbyes and headed for the girls’ dormitory. But suddenly, as if she remembered something, Lisa turned around and came back to Nozomu and Ken.

“I forgot to tell you one thing. Nozomu, you should get some rest today.”

“Eh?”

“Don’t give me that. If it’s Nozomu, then surely he was going to train again when he got back to the dorm, wasn’t he?”

“Ugh, t-that’s not true, is it?

“…………”

Lisa glared at Nozomu. Probably because he couldn’t stand that glare, which has clearly grown stronger, Nozomu gave a small nod of acknowledgment to her words.

“I knew it… No, not today. You’re injured, go to your room and rest!”

“B-but …”

“No! You’ve been training without a break today! Just listen to me and go back to your room!”

“……I understand”

Nozomu nodded firmly to Lisa’s words while making a small muttering voice.

“I’m relieved ……. Ken, take care of Nozomu.”

“Y-yeah. I understand.”

After Lisa heard Nozomu and Ken’s answers, she was finally relieved from the bottom of her heart and smiled at them.

Nozom was fascinated by her smile, but couldn’t forget the frustration swirling in the depths of his heart.

As soon as Lisa was completely out of sight, Nozomu opened his mouth.

“Ken … I’ll be back to the dorm a little late, okay?”

“Nozomu, are you sure you want to go to train? Lisa just told you to stop…”

Ken complained to Nozomu, who was trying to continue his training even though Lisa had just stopped him.

“I’m sorry. But … I need to get stronger to protect her back. If I don’t, I’ll …”

However, Nozomu who was driven by impatience was babbling what was in his mind.

His fists were clenched tightly in frustration, and he looked as if he was going to run away at any moment, urged on by his frustration.

[Ability Suppression]

The ability to forcibly suppress a person’s abilities below a certain level. This ability manifested in Nozomu contributed to his impatience.

It hadn’t been long since he had manifested this ability, but even so, Nozomu’s grades had dropped to the bottom of the class.

He had to do something about it. ……

While being driven by that thought, Nozomu tried to leave the place to train alone.

“I get it. But we’re just going to have quick sparring in the dorm, okay? No more than that.”

To be honest, there was no stopping Nozomu now that he was like this. Thinking so, Ken scratched his head while sighing hevily.

“Thank you……”

Thanking his best friend, Nozomu hurried back to the dormitory. He didn’t want to be left behind, and he wanted to become stronger.

As Ken watched Nozomu’s back, he too felt an indescribable sense of frustration and tried his best to suppress the dark emotions welling up in his heart.

The next day, however, a story spread and swept throughout the first year students.

And that was the beginning of the fatal rift between Nozomu and the others.