Vol 2 Chapter 1 (1/2)
Chapter 1: A Flash of Red and White
It felt like he was looking at death
Certain death
As it was clear that he wouldn't be able to survive, it was pure black despair
It was as if the death God's scythe was before them
Those who saw that scythe cried out, were petrified, pleaded for help, begged for their life, and then finally gave up
Because it was pointless to try and escape
Because nowas pointless because it was all over
And so with certain death before theave up
But
””
Despite the hty death before him, a boy smiled
The boy—Claugh Klom stared at the worst scene before him
It was a large, enclosed room
The children were being killed by a bird monster doused in fire
One child's face twitched in fear, as they tried to scream
But their voice wouldn't come out
The fire monster flew into the child's mouth
The child's body burned and then was annihilated And again the bird flew
And to the next child
To the next child
To the next child
It was truly the scene of hell
In a place where none could escape, the fire raven raed
It raed with abnormal speed
Claugh's thinking abilities weren't enough to coh this situation at all
However
” Now then, would it be best to slowly escape from that monster?”
The boy standing next to Claugh easily such a thing
In response, Claugh looked to his side
Unsurprisingly, there stood a boy his age
White hair that suffered fromentation, and a clear, calm expression even amidst this hellish situation
This boy nah these circumstances
And for that, he'd apparently chosen Claugh, who seeest one in the room
””
Luke looked his way
Looking back at him,
”So?”
After saying only that, Claugh again looked at the fire raven He confirmed the current situation he was in
As usual, the fire raven swooped down on the children and continued to kill theone down considerably, it seeet would be in this direction
They were already out of time
”Hurry up and tell me your plan”
With a nod, Luke—
”No, even if I called it a plan, it's not quite that much uuum”
After saying that, he stopped his words for sohtly troubled face, and said,
” Come to think of it, I never asked for your name What should I call you?”
To such a worthless question,
”Haa?”
Claugh said, instinctively frowning
However, with a light-hearted expression, Luke said,
”No, even though I introduced myself, you haven't done so, and without that, this conversation is impolite”
”That doesn'ttiht noith such a stupid”
It was the instant Claugh said that
The fire raven turned towards them
No, more precisely, it seemed to turn towards Luke
At that, Claugh clicked his tongue, and,
”damn it! If it weren't for your pointless talk, the monster wouldn't have turned this way, see!?”
He shouted
However, in response, Luke only knitted his eyebrows in soret, and,
”Eh? Right now, it was clearly responding to the way you raised your voice, wasn't it?”
”Are you trying to pass the blame?”
”I' the truth”
”It's a stupid truth”
”Ah, I like your way of speaking, just a bit Or rather, a refreshi+ng head is bad?”
”Are you trying to start a fight?”
”Ahaha How so? Well, putting that aside, it's true that this isn't too good”
After saying that, Luke stared at the fire raven
After killing yet another child, the fire raven looked as if it were going to move this way
Its movements were abnormally fast
It was so fast that even if it were Claugh, he'd only be able to dodge at the last moment
At that
”Now then,”
Saying that, he contemplated
Then he looked to the brat beside hi on airs
Can this guy dodge the fire raven's attacks?
Though he inwardly h him
”I wouldn't be able to dodge it at all?”
”Aan? I didn't say anything, you know”
”But you were thinking it, correct? This guy's going to be a burden, isn't he? Like I thought, I shouldn't give hi hi those lines, correct?”
At the question,
””
Claugh didn't answer
Because he was thinking exactly that
Luke smiled In this hellish place, he smiled cheerfully
”It's all right You'll think afterwards that there was greatth, put your life on the line to protect me And if you do, I'll overcome this situation”
He said such things with a face overfloith confidence
Already, he was becoitated
Dealing with this brat's frivolous tone that was clearly like that of an expert con ht or try to escape—it was a foolish situation
No, fro here was foolish
No
And the children who'd been forcibly taken here were crying out and trying to escape
No, several of the on the floor
This was the general reaction of those with death just before them
Amidst that, Luke spoke
With his inferior physical capabilities coathered in this room, the brat who should be the closest to death spoke with a calm expression
”If you protect me, I'll overcome this situation”
At that,
”Ah, daart”
While saying that, Claugh laughed
In a situation where they h cheerfully
No, he truly was cheerful
Right noith death certainly before hih felt this way for the first ti that, just a little, this isn't good, huh? he thought Because he could never understand why he existed, because he couldn't see a reason in spending day after day being beaten by hissituation where it was necessary to find a solution, he was feeling just a bit satisfied
There aren'tas this, are there?
He thought about such things
Then,
”All right, let's do this,”
He said, to which Luke nodded and then,
”But before that, please tell me your name,”
He asked for that kind of thing
In response, with a fed up expression, Claugh—
”You're still saying that? That doesn't matter”
”But I think it does If we ever need to address each other, it'll be inconvenient not to know each other's name Well, in that case, if you don't want to introduce yourself, may I call you whatever I want?”
At that, with a ”sure”, Claugh nodded noncommittally
Luke htful expression
”All~ right That's how it is What would be good? Ah! Since you have red hair, how about Baby[1]”
”What the hell is that!?”
”Yes, yes, Baby, don't get so angr”
”Shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup! You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?”
Claugh said, at which Luke had a face that said that that was obvious, before Claugh then addressed an annoying matter:
”Ah, geez, it's Claugh! Claugh Klom!? Are you happy now!?”
At that, with a satisfied smile, Luke said,
”Yes I'm happy With this, I'll re me”
”I die!?”
Claugh yelled, to which Luke laughed
”Exactly? Well, that aside, I'll be counting on you to do your best, Claugh”
He said, and then
The fire raven fleards them
At that, Luke—
”Yes, yes, now quickly save me!”
”This guy seriously needs to shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!?”
While exclairabbed the are the fire raven
He pulled
In that instant
The fire raven flew past the side of Luke's head, with just a paper-thin distance between them
Despite that, Luke calmly smiled, and,
”Oh~, that was really close As I thought, I didn't h”
As he said such a thing, the fire raven changed directions and again moved to attack Luke
However, Luke wasn't looking at that any at so, and then he looked at the ground
He see
At that,
”What are you looking for?”
He asked
Without looking at him, Luke spoke
”Soood”
”And what's 'soood?' ”
”Soood”
”Huh Then, if you find that good thing, soood will happen?”
In response, still without looking at him,
”That aside, it's fun looking”
Luke began to say, when Claugh kicked his head and sent hi
”Gya—”
While screaht
Froainst slipped past Luke, and while trying to attack him, it noticed different children, and flew over to them instead
Again someone died
Again someone died
While gri at that,
”Stop ishly and hurry up and find a way to end this! Right noo people died in your place!”
Claugh yelled, and then ran
For the sake of protecting Luke, as paying no attention to the fire raven
Luke was clearly searching for so as he looked around the roo
However, just what exactly, Claugh didn't know
During that time, children died
Children died
Once there were no other children left, they wouldn't be able to escape the fire raven's attack
That hy victory had to be achieved before there were no children re
Claugh looked around the room
He was affir the number of children left
””
He wanted to clutch his head at the room's circumstances
There were once over a hundred children here, but now, as far as he could see, about twenty children re down
There wasn't any more time
There clearly wasn't any more time
Thus, while running, he asked,
”Hey, Luke Have you found a solution to this yet?”
Unsurprisingly, without looking his way, Luke—
”Almost”
”What do youalready!”
He exclai So that they wouldn't beco to where there were as many children as possible
But then Luke said,
”No, Claugh, not that way Go to seven o' clock”
At those sudden words,
”Aan!? Seven o' clock behind?”
Claugh turned his head
And again, he frowned
After all, there were only three children in that direction
If they were to go there, it was possible that they wouldn't be able to avoid the fire raven's attack
It was possible that they'd die easily
Therefore, Claugh said,
”Seven o' clock won't work”
”But it has to be seven o' clock”
”No matter what?”
”No matter what”
”Ah, geez, it can't be helped, huh?”
While saying that, Claugh stopped He turned on his heel Then, in the direction where death an to run
”So, where to?”
Claugh asked, to which Luke answered,
”To the wall at the back”
”The wall?”
Asking that back, Claugh looked up at the wall ahead of hiic circles drawn all over it Looking at that,
”Are you gonna taic circle to make an exit appear?”
Claugh posed that question, at which Luke struck his hand as if to say you really don't know anything
”Wrong”
”Wrong!?”
”Wrong, yes First, I can't read the organization of the h?”
As he was asked that, Claugh looked at the ic circles draithin the rooe he'd attained frorown up with his mother
But even if he dug within that knowledge, no iic circles drawn here arose
That hy Claugh shook his head
”I can't read them either It looks like what's drawn here has a pretty different structure froanization, huh?”
As he stated that, Luke, who across the floor, suddenly made a surprised face as he looked up at him
”Oh? Judging froe, Claugh? If you can use offensive es my plan considerably”
However, Claugh shook his head at that as well
”No, I can't use it? I know about it because I've read about it in books What about you, can you use it?”
Luke proudly said,
”Of course I can't!”
”Don't say that while sticking out your chest However, your ic—you're a really useless guy, aren't you?”
Claugh said, to which Luke laughed
”I really ao-lucky failure who's inco, you're placed in this roo to plan”
Then, Claugh arrived just in front of the wall
Luke casually stood up Then, shaking off Claugh's hand, he looked up at the wall He knocked on it a few tiht Where would be good, he muttered
After watching that, Claugh stopped looking at Luke At any rate, as it seeh stood watch for the fire raven
In the center of the roo as per usual
And as it did so, the number of children went down Already, there was only a small number of children left
But the rate at which it was killing children was clearly slowing down From the looks of it, it seemed that the fire raven were fed by the people it burned Nevertheless, as Claugh was still slower than its
There, the fastest child was killed Then there was only one child re there—one prey left, and then that final person was scorched away
With this, complete annihilation
The only ones left were Luke, Claugh, and the three children nearby
Then suddenly
””
The fire raven fleards the spoils
And Claugh's red eyesred eyes of the fire raven When that happened, the bird's body arranged itself into a posture that indicated that it was going to attack here
At that, Claugh spoke
” Hey, Luke”
”Yes?”
”Are things going well?”
”Ye~s Almost done You?”
” Who knows? Well, things are getting pretty dangerous here”
He said, looking at Luke, as holding two narrow stakes that he'd gotten from who-knohere, which he stuck into the wall co off his coat and quickly fastening it to them
Watching that,
”But, well, if you finish playing house in less than two o and earn a little income”
As Claugh said that, the fire raven fleards him
As expected, it was quick
Abnormally quick
Looking at that,
”Ah, like I thought, this isn't good Onewithin that one minute!”
While yelling, he lowered his entire body like a coiled spring, before releasing
He sprung to the left
The fire raven chased him
Just as it was about to catch up, he kicked the wall to change direction
The fire raven then reacted to that
”damn it, there are still three other kids, so why me!?”
While exclairound
However, the bird stubbornly continued to follow him
Claugh dodged
Dodged
Dodged
”shi+t,”
At being attacked three tirimaced
He wouldn't be able to dodge the next attack He understood that Its movements were clearly too fast He wouldn't be able to avoid it unscathed forever
In other words, the next attack would kill him
At that,
”Ah, geez, this damn biiird!”
Claugh yelled, before taking one of his shoes off and holding it in his hand
And
”Die!”
He threw the shoe at part of the face of the bird that was just before him
Then that part of the fire raven's face turned to smoke and appeared to disperse
”Uoh, is that effective?”
Claugh began, but then, instead of dispersing, it was ilared in his direction It moved to attack
”Not effective at aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!”
He ran away from there
”Isn't it unfair that the laws of nature don't work against it? Then, what to do? Magic? Could ic be effective? In that case”
He again recalled the inforrown up in with his mother
The description of the spell called Misumi that produced water
How to use it
How to invoke it
How to draw the ic circle
He reo
But as he'd never thought in those days that he'd be attacked by a fire h it carefully, not to in with or the fact that Claugh hadn't learned the foundation of ht that he would have a reason to
That hy he definitely wouldn't be able to use it
Even if he kne to draw the ic circle and how to invoke it, there was no way he would be able to use it
He wouldn't be able to use it, but,
”Unless I use it, I'onna die, aren't I—!?”
While exclaiic circle
He focused his consciousness at his fingertip
The purpose of thethe placeht that would have the outside world follow his consciousness, according to ritten in the books—anyhow, he tried to do just that
He worked hard to have light gather at his fingertip
Now, concentrate
Concentrate, me!
And he shi+fted all the nerves in his body to his fingertip
””
There, his hand was a bit unresponsive
Bri
At his fingertip, poas gathering
There, he looked at his finger
He looked at the tip of his finger
And he spoke
”Seriously, it's not light at aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!?”
While shouting, he jumped to the left
The fire raven h his side However, this tiht shoulder was burned, as violent pain raced through it For a moment, he blacked out from the pain
”Gua—”
While raising his voice in pain, his posture crumbled With a jerk, his knees collapsed froround
Nevertheless, he didn't stop
After rolling across the ground, he stood up and lifted his head He began to run again
By that point, there were no longer any surviving children other than Claugh and Luke
They'd all been killed
Regarding the children's bodies, there weren't any left whatsoever As they'd been burned to nothing and utterly destroyed, there were no corpses re
And now, it was Claugh and Luke's turn
The bird danced in the air
Reacting to that, Claugh tried to move one more time
” Uah—”
WIth sharp pain running through his right shoulder, his body couldn't move very well Because of that, he looked at his shoulder The skin's surface had become jet black It was badly burned Thanks to the pain, he couldn't move properly If his arm moved at all, his balance would collapse In this situation, he couldn't keep pace with the fire raven's speed anymore
In other words
” Looks like I've lost”
In other words, there was nothing more that could be done
The laws of nature weren't effective
He couldn't use ic
Furthermore, his arm couldn't move; all he could do was talk
That hy,
”Hey, Luke What have you been doing all this time?”
Claugh asked that
Though he'd said he would wait for a er any point in that at all
Claugh would be killed, and then that blockhead Luke would immediately be killed as well, and so it would end
But in response
Luke finally looked his way On his face, his usual s on airs arose
He spoke
”Oh, do you want help?”
”As if Like I'd wanna be saved by you”
Claugh said, to which Luke laughed again It seemed that he'd completed his task one way or another
”Then, everything's going to plan?”
Claugh asked, to which Luke nodded
”Of course Fro well”
At those words, Claughed stared at the typical clear, calm expression of Luke's
Then he looked behind him
Over there, for whatever reason, were two stakes driven into the wall, with Luke's coat tied around one
He had no idea what they're for, but it looked like they were a part of that guy's plan
”So, what now?”
At the saain started its attack
It intended to kill the tho'd survived until the end
And this tih
The bird moved
Towards Luke
Claugh was idly staring at that There was nothing he could do anyht arm the way it was, he couldn't even protect himself
That hy he spoke
”If you die, I'h”
Luke also laughed, and,
”I' to die”
After saying that, he grabbed the ite tied around one of the stakes behind him And he tied the cloth around the other stake As if creating a bridge between the two stakes, he tied the coat between them
That was the only thing he did
But with only that, the rooed
All of a sudden, the ht, as a high-pitched sound started to tear through one's ears
Immediately surprised at that,
”Uo—”
Claugh moaned
Following that, as if being absorbed by the an to disperse
The ra fire raven's body rapidly became smaller, until finally it vanished
As the fire raven disappeared, the light of the ic circles disappeared with it
””
Silence returned once more to the room
The painful sound eic circles and the noise of children screaer be heard
It was over
Luke's plan was a success, and they'd ed to survive
Regarding that
””
Claugh narrowed his eyes
He looked around in the room that had nobody left, and then looked at the ith the two stakes driven in it and the tied coat
And
””
He looked towards Luke, and his unsurprisingly calentle expression
Noticing his gaze,
”Well? Aren't you glad you went along with my plan?”
Luke smiled with an innocent face
However, to that,
””
Claugh didn't respond
Without saying anything, he gathered power in his entire body He sharpened his consciousness
To prepare for the next development
To prepare for the next attack
For the next enemy—
””
To prepare for the next attack fro Luke Stokkart
At that, Luke tilted his head to one side in a curious manner
”What's wrong?”
””
However, unsurprisingly, Claugh didn't answer
His thoughts whirling, he was confirht now
Why had they been put into this kind of room?
This, judging by the words of the one who brought Claugh here, Rei Stokkart, had been expected
What Rei told Claugh was this
- All of the children in this test site, like Claugh, have undergone treatment
- The chances that you won't be accepted are zero
- If you're able to survive, she, Rei Stokkart, will become your teacher
Those three factors led to these conclusions
As this test site here Rei carried out human experiments, those ere able to accept the fire raven were, from then on, able to live for Rei's experiment
In other words, this roo in the fire raven, they couldn't escape from here
They should be able to ensure that there wouldn't suddenly be a kid who could easily discover a way to get rid of the fire raven
Despite that
””
Luke got rid of that fire raven
It seeet rid of the fire raven
But why did that guy know that?
How did he find a way to get rid of that fire raven?
There were three possibilities
First:
This annoying brat called Luke Stokkart was truly a genius and suddenly came up with the way to escape
Second:
This annoying brat who possessed the same surname as Rei Stokkart was a spy sent by the Emirel Private Forces as here to ensure that this experiment was completed
If he had to choose one of those two possibilities,
”The latter, huh?”
Claugh ain had a curious expression, and,
”Eh? The latter? What are you talking about?”
He said, but as expected, Claugh didn't reply
Instead, he remembered the words Luke had said earlier
This hat he said
”First, I can't read the organization of the h?”
Idiot
So with ic circles?
In other words, he'd been lying
He'd read about the ic circles drawn here On top of that, he understood the contents of these obviously coic circles that were different from normal ones
In other words, he was so like one of the staff behind this test site
But if that was the case
If he was a member of the Emirel Private Forces,
”Why did you save me?”
Claugh asked
Again, Luke made a surprised face
”Like I told you”
However, Claugh interrupted and spoke
”Don't play duic circles, you're one of the staff behind this experiment, aren't you? You were here to observe this experiht? And all of the children here were failures I'm the only one left If I'd been burned to death by that fire raven, this experiot rid of the fire raven before it killed me Why the hell”
He began, but then he stopped
As he then realized the reason why Luke had spared him
No, it wasn't that Luke spared hiain from that