Published at 25th of March 2019 9:54 pm

Volume 4 Chapter 1 - To the End of the Peaceful Day Part 2

The two went to the sports center, first they were playing sports like tennis, bowling and ping-pong from start to finish in succession. Kazuki had an edge in movement reflexes, but Mio was quite familiar with the games in general excepting the kenjutsu.

It became quite an even contest, making both of them mutually frustrated and fired up.

Next they went to a race-swimsuit rental and decided that they would determine the conclusion at the indoor pool.

However while they were swimming, the contest became vague, when they noticed they had ran to the water and played around.

“Even though this is a sports facility, why is there a water slide here?”

“It’s really full to the brim with the mood of playing around isn’t it, this uselessly extravagant equipment.”

Once in the period of chaos when magic was born into this world, right after that Tokyo was destroyed at the hands of illegal magicians.

And then for the sake of the revival of the empty space, the land was used extravagantly and large scale public facilities were increased. This sports center was also one of the products of that revival effort.

The Knight Academy that Kazuki attended too, it was constructed on top of a vast plot of land with similar beginnings.

When both of them climbed the water slide with height reaching several tens of meters, Mio got near Kazuki and hugged his arm tightly. “But, it’s scary here.” She said that but she laughed with a face that had no fear at all.

Both of them plunged into the pipe course with the posture of hugging each other, then they were sliding down sharply.

Meandering left and right, and then at the end they were thrown out to the pool (BASHAN!) and the crash sprayed water everywhere grandly.

Even so Mio didn’t release her hug to Kazuki and made it hard for Kazuki to stand up.

“This makes it hard to move you know, move a little.”

“But, after clinging once like this, it made me reluctant to separate you know?”

“What’s with that… I mean you're going to cling all over the man with that kind of posture!”

Kazuki had only just become aware of the girl’s swimsuit this late in the game. Because of the red high-leg race-swimsuit that displayed the finely-shaped legs, the feel of the thin texture that clung snugly to her skin was bewitching.

“Hehehe-, Kazu-nii’s face is turning red!”

It seems her switch that made her want to flirt was turned on, Mio entwined both of her arms around Kazuki’s neck, she even entangled both of her legs inside the water closely to Kazuki’s lower body. She glued on to him using her entire body.

“Even your face is turning red too! Your face looks like it had been baked in a microwave oven!”

Kazuki also made his opposition and hugged Mio back. Mio’s breasts were smashed (munyun) against Kazuki’s chest.

Mio was “goronya~” making a sweet voice, a large heart mark came flying to him.

His body felt hot from both Mio’s cuteness and also his embarrassment, the cold water of the pool felt good against the heat.

―The various fun they enjoyed made the time pass in the blink of an eye. Being together with a girl like Mio made it hard to spend the time in boredom, Kazuki thought.

By the time they walked home, the outside had become completely dark.

When magic was born into this world, the number of big companies went down due to the alchemists, the workshops could make their presence felt. The workshops everywhere were managed by private management so the time they closed their shops were early, the street was turning dark before they could even say ‘ah’.

[The age of magic reinstated the power of the night], such things could be said as well.

Because the sports center Kazuki and Mio were at was an establishment that opened until relatively late, when they came outside after playing their hearts out thoroughly, the street had began to fall asleep.

Japan’s electricity was generated by Alchimedes System in the artificial island at the southern tip territory, over there the <Etherlight Rechargeable Battery> was recharged and then providing the distribution and substitution of the battery to every household and facility. Due to that, the scenery of electric poles and electric cables had disappeared from the street.

The night sky was boundlessly spreading without anything blocking it, the light of the stars were silently shining.

Kazuki and Mio were walking in that kind of street tonight.

When they walked like this to return home on the previous date, there was that incident when they were attacked by the Stigmata Hunter wasn’t it…

―You should have already lost your usual ordinary days.

For some reason Beatrix’s words were coming to mind.

“…Kazuki, is something wrong?”

Towards Kazuki who unconsciously tightened his expression, Mio inquired him anxiously.

“It’s nothing.” When Kazuki said that, as usual he did the [princess escort] and encircled his hand around Mio’s hips while walking. Entering strength into his arms, he tightened the embrace and made Mio glued onto him even closer.

“Hey. Kazuki, the truth is that you don’t actually like me at all―there is no way you actually feel something like that right?”

“What in the world are you saying? There is no reason something like that is going on, don’t you agree?”

“Th, that’s right isn’t it?”

Mio was looking down, her walking feet were suddenly stopping. Kazuki too matched her and stopped.

“But Kazuki is surrounded by various girls see, from now on in the future too for a long time always like today, where I can monopolize Kazuki like a lover, I won’t be able to do things like that, won’t I?”

That was not a word of idea that she thought just now, there was no doubt that what she spoke out was a thought that she continued to harbor inside her chest for a long time.

With a serious expression, Kazuki turned to look face-to-face with Mio.

“Kazuki must get even stronger, also if Lotte is not with Kazuki then her life will be in danger…with everyone else it’s like that too. Before I knew it, everyone cannot be separated from Kazuki anymore. Kazuki acted believing that it was the right thing to do, from there your relationship with us, with everyone, became like that.”

Mio talked with a dejected voice, like the girl that was having fun throughout this whole day was just a lie.

That expression made Kazuki’s heart hurt.

“But that is fine with me! I, I don’t particularly hate it! But occasionally I want a time with just the two of us alone. And then I want to flirt around like a lover with Kazuki. Because when I’m not with Kazuki I get anxious whether you really like me properly… Did Kazuki care about me just because you wanted Phoenix’s magic so it can’t be helped, sometimes thoughts like that just came and it made me want to cry…”

Tears started floating in Mio’s eyes.

“That kind of thing is not true! Today I had a lot of fun, there is no way I only aimed for your magic!”

“Then, kiss me. The whole time today, even though I keep wanting to do that but you never did it…”

Mio pressed her body even tighter to Kazuki and looked upward with blurred eyes.

Offering her all completely to Kazuki, that kind of pure eyes were looking at him.

…It’s only me that understands everyone’s positivity level, yet everyone doesn’t know my feelings.

Kazuki once again realized the unfair relationship that he had with everyone.

I must express my feelings even more, with my mouth, with my actions.

Kazuki hugged Mio tightly with a lot of strength. Inside Kazuki’s chest, Mio twitched in nervousness.

On Mio’s lovely lips that would make even a flower feel shame, Kazuki pressed his own lips.

Mio too immediately pushed back to his lips strongly. So that their lips could touch each other even more sweetly, both of them changed the angle of their faces many times and keep kissing each other. The lips that were in contact with each other made ‘chuu chuu’ sounds.

In truth, he had wanted to do this since they were embracing in the pool.

A large heart mark came flying, the positivity level had reached the number of 145.

“Nnn…” Because Mio leaked out a painful voice, Kazuki separated their lips.

“Puhaa! …My, my breath was…I’m happy but, my breath…!”

Mio was gasping for breath with teary eyes from excitement and suffocation.

“No, it’s fine if you breathe through the nose isn’t it?”

“But! Breathing through the nose on Kazuki’s face is too embarrassing!”

“No, I was breathing normally through the nose though,”

“Not fair-! One more time!”

With a bewitching red face, this time Mio was the one that started the kiss.

Bird kiss―like pecking each other, they repeatedly ‘chuu chuu’ touching each other's lips who knew how many times.

“N, lhove, I lhove you sho mhuch…” from the gap between the lips, Mio leaked a whispering voice.

Hearing those whispers, under the vast night sky, it felt like the world had become a place for only the two of them. From the kiss that they repeated so many times, their insides had became vaguely heated, he became unable to think of anything other than Mio. Mio too surely without a doubt was in a similar condition with him. At the point of contact where the hot breaths and soft lips smashed against each other, Kazuki’s heart was melting together with Mio. Both of them became one, ascertaining their mutual feelings against each other―

―Right there Kazuki felt a [killing intent].

Kazuki was a human who was able to notice such a thing.

Inside his deep subconscious, he sensed hostility-filled magic power with his Extra Sense, Kazuki threw off the lingering affection of the kiss to the winds and separated their lips.

“Eh…over already…?” Mio was bewildered from the abrupt end. “More…”

Kazuki carried Mio who was like that in a princess-carry, he quickly dodged his body from the magic power that came approaching.

Something passed through the place where Kazuki and Mio were located before with terrific speed.

“It was avoided…had you sensed me!?”

A voice of an unknown enemy. What passed through was not a magic, but the owner of the voice itself.

This someone killed all the traces of their presence, and like a comet it approached to deal a direct attack.

Kazuki let Mio down after taking some distance and then he faced that opponent.

“Who are you…?”

Kazuki put vigilance into his voice and asked.

Surely a [shadow] was standing right over there. They were clad in black from head to toe complete with a black veil on his face. He hid his face but, from the slender body build it looked like the person was probably a girl. From her impression if he had to express it in one word―an assassin.

“My presence should have been already erased and my magic power was at the minimum already…how could you notice me?”

While facing Kazuki’s direction, the assassin’s whole body was moving languidly without power. That body wasn’t strained at all, a really natural body stance. …Is it a similar old style martial arts like the Hayashizaki-style, Kazuki wondered.

Old style martial arts that prized a languid stance and breathing in their school were many.

“Kazuki, so you were not concentrating at the kiss with me then!? Then after this one more time!!”

Mio lost her temper. How thoughtless were you?

“So you planned to hide your magic power huh? It’s no use, you got found out after all.”

Kazuki talked provocatively with a tone that was out of character for him. There was no information at all about his opponent. At least if he could shake the opponent’s heart, he thought.

The shoulder of the assassin shook with a start, like her pride was completely provoked.

The next moment, that figure shook and vanished like a heat haze.

The black shadow became a hurricane gust and approached Kazuki.

Kazuki tried to grasp that movement―she concentrated her Enchant Aura at only the soles of her feet and created an acceleration with the minimum magic power. Evidently it was the movement of an assassin.

Without any preliminary motion, also with little emission of magic power, it was hard to Foresight.

However that was the story if the one that stood here was just a run-of-the-mill person. Kazuki, who had shown that he could even handle Beatrix’s fierce attack evaded the opponent’s charge like a matador. The assassin’s hand cut the empty space where Kazuki’s body was positioned before.

The wind pressure flapped Kazuki’s clothes with a thud. A punch…no, a palm strike?

Was this person unable to use Summoning Magic?

Or else she was cautious her contracted Diva would be revealed so she didn’t use it?

However to attack bare handed rather than using a sword with higher power, was there any meaning to it?

However this assassin assaulted him with the intention of a surprise attack, then she revealed an agitation when it was dodged.

In other words, [everything is going to be over with that one attack], she had such an aim of certain death.

What kind of attack could make that happen? ―Kazuki harbored both vigilance and curiosity at the same time.

Even if he drove her away normally, he wouldn’t get any information. …Then, should he test it once, letting himself get hit with that attack?

Kazuki turned his head behind to glance at Mio. Mio had already took some distance from Kazuki, her clothes had already transformed into her Magic Dress. If his partner was Mio, it might be okay even if he did something a little unreasonable.

His decision only took a few seconds. When he thought of it calmly, as expected it might be an unreasonable decision. However Kazuki instinctively chose the risk.

Kazuki drew his sword with an inviting manner and slashed it.

A sweeping sideways slash. The assassin sank her body with a jerk and slip through it.

And then the assassin stepped ahead quickly and slipped toward Kazuki’s bosom. A super close-quarters combat range!

Kazuki ventured to receive the opponent into his own bosom, he didn’t even try to dodge, instead he poured all his concentration to observe the opponent’s attack.

To draw near until this close, even if she swung her fist it wouldn’t exhibit a decent power. What in the world was this person going to do coming in at this range?

―What was unleashed, was a palm strike. With a slap, the assassin’s palm hit Kazuki’s chest. There was no impact. The assassin’s palm was just coming into contact lightly with the surface of Kazuki’s defensive magic power.

At that instant, a curious magic power was emitted from the assassin’s palm.

That magic power which possessed a curious wavelength repulsed Kazuki’s defensive magic power. With the assassin’s palm as the center, a ripple was spreading out energetically, Kazuki’s defensive magic power was expanding thinly.

…The defensive’s magic power was nullified!?

But how could it be done with an attack at this range…

―Almost at the same time, the assassin’s one leg where she put her center of gravity stepped (DON!) the ground strongly.

The recoil impact that was created from that action was, just like absorbing the energy from the earth itself, absorbed into the assassin’s body.

The assassin’s whole body was operating in succession as if not to let the produced impact escape. The energy earned from stepping the ground was passing through the knee into the hips, the hips were rotating in a circle making the energy tinged with a spiraling property while passing through the spine into the shoulder, the shoulder was twisted in a circle making the spiraling force accelerate even further while moving to the arm―

As if the whole body was depicting a spiral and turned into a screw.

Seeing that characteristic movement, Kazuki was being reminded of one thing―浸透勁Shintoukei.

With the absence of diplomatic relations with foreign countries, the user of this foreign technique also had become very rare, this technique was also called 発勁Hakkei. This kenpo technique circulates the <Ki of Yin and Yang> through the body and amplified it through the use of unique breathing, that Ki-filled blow was transmitted through the spiraling movement when attacking, making the target self-destruct from the inside.

That technique converted the ground stepping power into destructive power.

When compared with a normal impact, the spiraling movement brought about ten times the piercing power mechanically.

Therefore, for the person who had already mastered this principle, range was not needed. The spiral penetrated the muscle and destroyed the internal organs, consequently it was one hit certain death. Just from touching, the opponent was murdered from the inside, a hakkei of certain death, that was called Shintoukei.

This person’s technique is…Chinese Kenpo! So that means this person is, China’s…

The moment he reached this conclusion, the defensive magic was nullified and that special move was driven (DON!) into Kazuki’s chest. What was hit was not the chest, but the sternum. No, passing through even the sternum, toward the heart…

What depicted the spiral was not only the body’s movement, but the magic power’s aura too. It was as if a large truck was plunging into the inside of his body completely, like his heart was splattered.

This might be bad…Kazuki thought momentarily. This was not a dimension where he could say that this was just a little test.

His thoughts were blacking out.

That one blow halted Kazuki’s heart.

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