Chapter 12.1: "The Bell Sound of the Shield or the Crushing Weight of Trust Too Heavy"
Late at night in the student dormitory. Outside the window‚ gray fog that had sucked in the world's dissonance swirled while maintaining an eerie silence.
On the desk‚ inside the lens of the pocket watch‚ blood-colored digital numbers mercilessly ticked away the sound of Iris's life spilling away.
『86 Days 23 Hours 59 Minutes』
「……tap‚ tap‚ tap‚ tap」
My fingertips tapping on my knee had already forgotten they were part of my own body‚ as if losing all sensation.
From the fingertips to the wrist‚ a translucent 'white' that rejected life activities was clinging. The price of forcibly writing the violence of the 'acceleration device' called Mark into the score in the previous initial session. The lingering cold‚ as if the brain marrow was being gouged directly by an ice blade‚ was gradually grinding the nerves from the inside.
"Enough already‚ Aria! Your fingertips are white again. …Stay still‚ I'm doing the final touches right now."
Right next to me‚ Rinne grumbled while threading the anti-magic thread through the needle.
She had pulled a chair right next to me and was peering into the inside of the left chest of my jacket. The 'ancient heart fragment (Artifact)' that I had forcibly slipped in after the previous battle. She was carefully sewing the pocket shut so that it wouldn't pop out from tomorrow's super-acceleration impact.
……Close.
Every time she moved the needle‚ Rinne's soft hair brushed against my cheek as if tickling it.
The scent of clean soap mixed with the violent aroma of five-fold miso faintly remaining on her clothes‚ becoming a strong 'mass of life' that shook my brain.
"…………"
My consciousness was inadvertently drawn to the body heat of her right beside me.
The white skin slightly visible from the collar of the bent-over Rinne. Her lips tied in concentration.
In a world being eroded by gray‚ with my fingertips dyed in the color of death‚ only the girl in front of me was "alive" to a cruel degree.
"Rinne‚ you don't have to lean in so much…"
"Shut up. If I don't do this‚ the 'cold' leaking from your chest won't stop‚ right?"
Rinne interrupted my protest and closed the distance even more.
From her slightly flushed cheek due to concentration‚ a heated breath brushed against my neck with a "fuu."
She forcibly loosened the collar of my shirt‚ and without hesitation‚ slipped her white‚ soft fingertips directly under my collarbone.
"……!? Rinne……!"
"…That's terrible. It's really cold like a stone‚ isn't it?"
Under the shirt‚ the palm that had slipped onto my inorganic skin was surprisingly feverish.
Her fingertips moved as if tracing the boundary line‚ checking the areas where the whitening was progressing. The raw human body temperature. The clumsy yet strong‚ earthy constant heartbeat transmitted directly from her pressed chest.
And‚ pulsing in response under her palm‚ the definite heat of the 'ancient heart fragment (Artifact)'.
A terribly soft real-world temperature that could never be defined by magical theory (logic).
That was forcibly restarting my frozen magical circuits with a violent mass.
"You… I'll sew you to the ground with this thread. Don't go off to the other side of the sky (abyss) on your own…"
Rinne's voice trembled slightly‚ and her small but strong fist tightly gripped the front of my chest.
The smell of salty tears that had spilled.
It was a salvation that connected my soul to this world more deeply than any advanced magical calculation.
"…You're hot‚ huh. But don't make such a gloomy face‚ Conductor."
Suddenly‚ the shadow sitting on the window frame laughed boldly. The voice shattered the dense air filling the room like sharp glass fragments.
While roughly running his hand through his Viridian Ash hair‚ Mark scattered neon mint sparks from the soles of his feet—the magic shoes 'Gale'.
"Mark!? Why are you coming in from the window…!"
Rinne pulled her hand away from me as if repelled‚ her ears turning bright red as she shouted.
"Hey. As noisy an ensemble as ever. …Hey‚ Aria. That 'weight' sewn to your chest. Can it really withstand my acceleration?"
Mark glanced at the 'ancient heart fragment (Artifact)' on my chest and narrowed his wild amber eyes.
Tomorrow morning's special training. The hellish session to physically trample Solan's absolute zero silence with physical violence was approaching right there.
"…Yeah. Let's make our 'dissonance'—heard across the world until their eardrums burst."
I strongly pulled the jacket where Rinne's soft body heat still faintly remained‚ so as not to let it escape.
And with my fingertips‚ which had lost sensation and turned pure white‚ quietly but strongly.
I began to beat the rhythm of rebellion.
「……tap‚ tap‚ tap‚ tap」
The next morning. What dominated the fourth training ground was not the orderly metronome sound beaten by my fingertips.
It was a storm of violent "dissonance" that physically scraped the eardrums.
"You're too slow‚ Metronome! With such a sluggish rhythm‚ my 'Gale' will suffocate on the first step!"
At the edge of my vision‚ neon mint sparks exploded.
Every time Mark kicked the ground‚ the stone floor of the training ground let out an eerie friction sound as if it was being burned through. He was no longer a single bolt of lightning. Mocking Solan's perfect theory‚ he ignored the shortest distance and refracted (canceled) through space freely‚ endlessly stacking acceleration.
"Kuh…! Sir Mark‚ you're too fast!! At that speed‚ the echo of my shield… won't make it in time!!"
Liam let out a scream as if wrung from his lungs.
He held up the huge 'bell shield' and desperately tried to predict Mark's charge route and circle around—but his movements were far too heavy. Against the neon mint whirlwind unleashed by Mark‚ Liam's shield was having its feet swept away like a giant sailing ship tossed by the storm and losing its rudder.
"Ahh‚ missed again. …It's not that Liam-kun's reaction is slow. Mark-kun is constantly exceeding our assumed tempo by '0.05 seconds' and going berserk."
In the corner of the training ground‚ Kotone expressionlessly pushed up the bridge of her silver-rimmed glasses.
On the analysis monitors deployed around her‚ the waveforms of the two‚ tragically diverging and scattering sparks upon collision‚ were displayed.
"…Aria-kun‚ what are you going to do? At this rate‚ it's either Mark-kun self-destructing from his own speed or Liam-kun getting buried in the stone wall from the aftermath."
Kotone's pointed remark grazed my throat like a sharp blade.
I clenched my right hand‚ dyed white‚ tightly and stared at the raging "sounds" of the two.
"…I know. My conducting (score) isn't keeping up with their acceleration."
I waved my white-dyed fingertips through the air‚ deploying the formula for silent incantation magic. I tried to place a 'wall' for forced deceleration on Mark's path—but.
Before the magic could manifest as a physical phenomenon‚ he left that coordinate behind with a neon mint afterimage.
…Too fast.
If I don't activate the 'White Singularity' that burns Iris's life as fuel‚ I won't even be able to touch his speed anymore.
I strongly pressed the heat of the 'ancient heart fragment (Artifact)' sewn into the lining of my left chest against my palm through the jacket.
The faint amber pulsation mixed with the "white" cold air crawling up from my fingertips‚ forcibly jolting my nerves into high-speed computation mode.
"Mark‚ wait one beat! Your stepping is killing the team's rhythm!"
"Can I wait!? Once my shoes start spinning‚ they don't know how to stop! Aria‚ use your baton to wake up that sluggish shield!!"
Mark forcibly twisted his vector in mid-air‚ grazing Liam's shield by a paper's width while closing in on the target.
Just the magical wind pressure from that sent Liam's massive body staggering greatly.
"…Gu‚ haa…!?"
"Sir Liam!! Are you okay!? Now‚ I'll support that body with the shockwave from my pectoral muscles!!"
"Cross! If you get involved‚ it just complicates things. Stay on standby!"
I suppressed the 'soul wave' that Cross was about to unleash with a single swing of the baton‚ but the air in the area was filled with the worst dissonance.
Liam planted his heavy shield into the ground‚ repeating breaths that burned his lungs‚ while staring at his own trembling palm.
In his eyes‚ there was a dark sense of self-blame‚ stemming from being too sincere.
"…I'm sorry. My shield is pathetically dragging down Aria-dono's… the ensemble's 'legs'."
Liam's strained voice echoed hollowly in the chilled training ground.
"…Liam. It's not that your shield is slow. Your heart—"
I extended my white fingertips‚ which had lost sensation‚ to touch his shoulder. But the moment Liam glanced at my hand dyed in 'white'‚ he distorted his face in pain as if his internal organs were being grabbed bare-handed‚ and deeply‚ deeply bowed his head.
"No! I don't want to make those white fingertips of yours‚ which must be protected‚ increase any further…!! That feeling is making my shield 'heavy' to the point where I can't move. Just as Sir Mark said. The trust I hold is nothing but a burden…!"
His voice trembled violently from self-reproach.
The 'bell heart' embedded in the core of the shield began to let out a heavy‚ noise-mixed groan in response to its master's hesitation. It was not a sound of protection‚ but the painful sob of a man trapped in past tragedy.
"Heh‚ I don't want any of that sappy stuff. Aria‚ if this 'smart metronome' won't sound‚ I'll break through it alone!"
"Wait‚ Mark! If you go solo‚ your computation circuits will burn out in three seconds!"
"If I die‚ I die! That's better than being swallowed by that vomit-inducingly boring 'silence'!!"
Mark leaped again‚ scattering maddening neon mint sparks.
A runaway acceleration premised on death‚ where even the conductor's (baton's) restraint no longer reached. The eyes of Liam watching it were clouded with pain‚ as if they would shatter at any moment.
…The ensemble was now completely on the verge of falling apart in mid-air.
"Alright‚ that's enough!! You guys are way too tense from the morning!!"
The heavy door of the training ground was kicked open with enough force to shake the eardrums.
Immediately after‚ a violent 'miso' aroma that painted over everything physically blew away the tension of the battlefield.
"Rinne…!?"
"Open your mouths! Mark-kun and Liam-kun too! The reason the trust relationship is tense is simply salt deficiency!!"
Rinne charged forward‚ carrying a huge insulated bottle that looked no more than a blunt weapon in both hands‚ with the expression of a supply soldier crawling up from the bottom of hell.
Even Mark‚ who had been scattering neon mint sparks‚ and Liam‚ who had been looking down with his shield as a cane‚ stopped moving as if their poison had been drawn out by the sheer force.
"…………Haa"
I let out a short sigh and looked at my fingertips continuing to beat the disordered rhythm on my knee.
The "scent of life" that Rinne brought forcibly thawed my brain that had been on the verge of freezing.
I moved my fingers again‚ attempting to awkwardly tune the ensemble that had been on the verge of shattering into pieces‚ just one more time.
"…Gofuh‚ Geho! I-it's spicy…!? Hot‚ or rather‚ it's like being directly punched in the pain receptors…!"
Liam's face turned bright red as he collapsed on the spot‚ using his beloved 'bell shield' as support. The contents of the cup Rinne offered—the five-fold miso like a 'high-viscosity black hole' that rejected convection—literally "constructed" his throat.
"Stop complaining! That tingling heat is proof that you're alive and here!"
Rinne shouldered the now-empty bottle and snorted with satisfaction. The violent saltiness and the heat that burned the throat forcibly pulled the training ground's air‚ which had been suffocating in Solan's 'absolute zero silence‚' back to the earthy real world.
"…Haha‚ as always‚ Rinne. This is more like a poison resistance test than special training (session)."
I touched the 'Ancient Heart Fragment (Artifact)' sewn into the lining of my left chest with a wry smile. The faint amber heat was contending with the "white" chill that crept up from my fingertips.
Last night‚ Rinne had sewn this 'Weight of Practicality' closed stitch by stitch‚ as if in prayer. It was barely keeping me—this conductor who had one foot in madness—anchored to this place.
"Heh‚ if it's this bad‚ even a guy on the verge of death would feel some attachment to this world. ...Hey‚ metronome. How long are you gonna keep digging a hole in the ground?"
Mark scattered neon-mint sparks crackling from his magic boots 'Gale' as he looked down coldly at Liam‚ who was still sitting on the ground.
"...I'm sorry‚ Lady Rinne‚ Lord Mark. But... even if I forcibly restart my body with five-times miso‚ the fact that my shield will kill that 'Gale' remains unchanged."
Liam's voice was heavy‚ as if soaking into the cold stone floor of the training ground. He was staring at his own overly sincere—and clouded with hesitation—eyes reflected on the mirror-polished surface of his shield.
"...Liam. It's not that your shield is slow. You're making that shield 'too heavy'."
I tapped my own thigh with my white‚ numb fingertips. The fundamental rhythm for moving all things‚ taught to me by my father long ago. "Thump‚ thump‚" I marked a quiet beat.
"That's an overly heavy 'trust.' Liam‚ in your desire to protect me‚ or rather this ensemble (team)‚ you're unconsciously rejecting Mark's 'Emerald Wind.' The weight of the 'Great Bell of Prayer' that wouldn't stop ringing that day in Cloche Village—you're still shouldering it all alone... and trying to lock even Mark inside it‚ aren't you?"
Liam's fingertips twitched for just a moment.
The 'Bell's Heart' embedded in the core of the shield. It was the very mass of earthy trust‚ sealing away the prayers of hundreds of people that Solan's theory had discarded as "trash."
"...Lord Aria... That day... I couldn't resist Chairman Solan's 'Rejection.' From the day the sound disappeared and was swallowed by silence‚ I vowed never again to let the rhythm of someone important fall silent...! No matter what‚ I would protect them completely from within my shield!"
Liam shouted‚ gripping the edge of his shield so tightly that his fingers turned white.
His painfully earnest nature had transformed his magic waveform into a sturdy cage named "defense‚" trapping even himself inside.
"Oh my‚ that's simple. Liam‚ your equation—there's one variable that's fundamentally wrong."
Kotone sharply gleamed her eyes behind her silver-rimmed glasses and vividly deployed multiple analysis monitors in the air.
There‚ Mark's sharp acceleration curves and Liam's rejection waves desperately colliding repeatedly to "stop" it were scattering as a cruel dissonance.
"You're trying to 'stop' Mark and protect him. ...Because you want to save him so badly‚ you're processing that very speed itself as a denial (error). As an analyst‚ I'd say that's the most inefficient trash collection ever."
Kotone's slender fingertips sharply flicked the coordinates in the air. The scattered fragments of noise converged into a single "solution" in an instant.
"Mark is 'noise.' A system bug that never appears in Solan's perfect score. ...Liam. Your shield isn't a wall to hold him back. Become the 'path (rail)' that guides his speed to the destination. Imperfect beings complementing each other's deficiencies (errors)... that's the only true form for us to pry open the wall of 0.04% survival probability‚ right?"
"Guide... path..."
Liam muttered in a daze‚ as if struck by something.
Mark laughed through his nose‚ scattering neon-mint sparks from his magic boots 'Gale' and scorching the training ground's floor even deeper.
"Is it too heavy a load for the clever metronome? You don't need to believe in me. Just 'use' my speed and make some even louder noise‚ shield user!"
The scent of five-times miso drifting through the training ground mixed with the chilled magical air.
Liam slowly stood up‚ as if biting into the earth.
Then‚ toward the 'Bell's Heart (Core)' in the shield's core—.
For the first time‚ not to "enclose‚" but to "resonate" together‚ he poured in his heated will.
"...Thump‚ thump‚ thump‚ thump"
The signal to resume special training was the quiet yet inescapable rhythm (beat) marked by my fingertips.
The steam of five-times miso faded from the training ground's air‚ and instead‚ the distinctive ozone smell of scorching magic began to fill the space again.
"Mark. ...One more time. This time‚ accept my baton as the 'frictional heat' produced by your speed."
"Heh‚ that's what I was planning from the start. ...Hey‚ metronome. That heavy shield of yours has gotten a bit lighter‚ right?"
Mark scattered neon-mint sparks fiercely from his magic boots 'Gale' and smiled defiantly.
In contrast‚ Liam readjusted his huge 'Bell Shield' vertically‚ taking a deep‚ quiet breath. From his eyes‚ the mud-like hesitation from earlier—the painful obsession of "I must protect Aria"—had been stripped away as if it were a lie.
"...Yes. I will devote all of my 'bell' to Aria's score."
"Good. ...All circuits‚ synchronize."
I forcefully channeled the amber residual heat transmitted from the 'Ancient Heart Fragment (Artifact)' in my left chest into the fingertips of my right hand‚ which had frozen pure white.
A sharp numbness‚ as if my nerves were being gouged directly by an ice blade‚ struck my brain.
Unnecessary colors peeled away from my vision‚ and instead‚ the world was repainted with golden magic waveforms—the 'score.'
--'White Singularity (Low Output).'
While suppressing the speed that shaved away Iris's life to the limit—as if cherishing each grain of the hourglass.
I wove the four disparate dissonances into a thin‚ sharp 'path' leading to a single breakthrough point.
"Mark‚ jump!!"
"Yeah!!"
Explosive sound.
The moment Mark kicked the ground‚ the stone floor of the training ground cracked at an angle that mocked the laws of physics.
As if tearing through the shortest path (Solan's correct answer)‚ he spiraled through space on a chaotic trajectory‚ closing in on Liam as a single streak of vicious lightning.
"Liam‚ don't defend! Become the 'wind' that carries Mark!!"
"——!!"
Liam stepped forward into a position to take Mark's full acceleration (full throttle) head-on‚ without evading or defending‚ while holding his shield.
Normally‚ it would be a suicide charge where flesh and steel would collide violently‚ causing the ensemble to collapse miserably.
But at the moment of impact‚ Liam struck the 'Bell's Heart' in the shield's core‚ as if shaving away his own soul.
——GOOOOOOOOOOONG...!!
A heavy and sacred bell sound that physically "redefined" the air.
It was not a wall that blocked the impact. It was a roar as a giant tuning fork‚ accepting Mark's 'Emerald Wind' deep into its bosom‚ amplifying it‚ and launching it to even greater heights.
(...I can see it. Liam's shield is perfectly overlapping with Mark's 'noise'...!)
Mark's frenzied acceleration rode on the reverberation waves (echo) emitted by Liam's shield.
The physical friction coefficient converged to zero‚ and all the violent inertia was converted into propulsion.
The two waveforms were no longer dissonances repelling each other.
They became one huge and destructive 'chord‚' beginning to trample the cage that was the training ground.
"...Measurement start! Synchronization rate‚ error 0.01 percent or less! Aria‚ Liam's shield has completely predicted Mark's '0.05-second rampage'—and is laying down the 'path'!"
Kotone's near-scream analysis report echoed through the training ground.
The deployed hologram monitor displayed the overlapping golden waveforms of the two as a mythical 'correct answer.'
"Ahahaha! What is this‚ it's light! Your shield is overtaking my feet and making the 'path'...!!"
"Lord Mark... So this is your speed. ...It's comfortable‚ what a noisy and hot sound...!!"
The whirlwind stirred up by the two rushed toward the highest-hardness target enshrined in the center of the training ground.
I swung down my numb‚ white‚ translucent fingertips powerfully‚ carrying my soul toward that final note (finale).
"Liam‚ ring the bell! Mark‚ pound all your 'heat' into that sound!!"
The dissonance accelerated toward its climax.
It was something that could never be played in Solan's 'absolute zero silence'—.
It was our "ensemble of salvation‚" too earthy and too beautiful.
The destructive sound that had dominated the training ground slowly dissipated‚ yet with a definite heat.
The highest-hardness target placed in the center had its center brutally gouged out as if it hadn't even been given time to shatter‚ and simply remained silent.
"...Haa‚ haa... Hey‚ metronome. What was that just now... I thought my speed got sucked into the shield‚ but it felt like I was shoved from behind into the 'bell.'"
Mark dripped sweat from his viridian ash hair‚ put his hand on his knee‚ and smiled defiantly. Neon-mint sparks still leaked regretfully from his magic boots 'Gale' with a crackle.
"...Lord Mark. I'm surprised too. The moment I 'shared' your speed as part of my shield instead of 'rejecting' it... that heavy silence disappeared from the world!"
Liam readjusted the huge shield on his back and spoke with a trembling voice full of emotion. In his eyes was not the fear of Solan‚ who had once sunk his hometown into silence‚ but a refreshing trust in me‚ the conductor‚ and his comrades running beside him.
"...It was a good ensemble. Liam‚ your 'Bell's Heart' bound our dissonances into a single melody."
I gently lowered my numb right hand.
From fingertips to wrist‚ a translucent 'white' that rejected life activities clung to it. The cold air‚ the price of "borrowing in advance" Iris's life‚ was stroking my nerves the wrong way‚ trying to freeze even my heartbeat.
"Aria! You're making that ghost-like face again! Here‚ the 'Cheer Up Special - Five-Times Miso Edition' after special training!!"
Rinne thrust the 'High-Viscosity Black Hole‚' which had lost all dignity as a liquid‚ right under our noses. The violently miso-scented aroma forcibly overwrote the scorched magical air of the training ground with "everyday life."
"Uwa... There it is‚ dark matter. ...Hey‚ metronome. Just think of drinking this as 'shield user training' and give up."
"Y-yes...!! Lady Rinne‚ thank you for the meal... gufah!? Th-this... is an impact like salt being 'applied' directly to my brain stem!!"
"See! Because you guys are always looking at the sky (ideals)‚ I'll keep you firmly tied to the ground (reality) with this soup I call a chain!"
Rinne slapped my back with a loud bang‚ without hesitation.
That merciless physical pain forcibly pulled my consciousness‚ which was about to fall into the abyss‚ back to the muddy shore of reality.
I wrapped both hands around the overly hot cup handed to me by Rinne.
A faint but certain sensation of pain returned to my white-dyed fingertips. We could still struggle in this earthy world‚ laughing awkwardly.
"...Maintaining survival probability at 0.04%. No‚ if I analyze the current coordination‚ a significant difference toward 0.05% is visible."
Kotone adjusted the bridge of her soot-covered glasses and closed the analysis monitor with satisfaction.
The 'Ancient Heart Fragment (Artifact)' that was once picked up from the trash can and sewn into my left chest by Rinne's hand. It was now emitting a quiet amber residual heat‚ overlapping with my heartbeat.
"...I'm looking forward to it‚ my imperfect ensemble members."
Before I knew it‚ Nagi was sitting on the high window frame of the training ground.
The 'blue blood' running along her white neck was approaching a cruelly transparent void as the price for me shaving away Iris's life and usurping that "speed."
"Nagi. ...We'll rewrite the next score too."
"...I'm looking forward to it. But time is merciless no matter what‚ Aria. Never forget the price of the 'bonds' you have obtained."
The pocket watch emitted heat hot enough to burn the skin and ticked numbers with a merciless sound‚ urging the heartbeat. Outside the window‚ beyond the gray fog‚ an invisible hourglass silently dropped another grain.
Just one day's grueling special training. As payment for that alone‚ Iris's time had once again vanished into the void.
'86 Days 20 Hours 00 Minutes'
Iris. Using your life as fuel‚ we take another step into the abyss.
I savor the heat of the 'Ancient Heart Fragment (Artifact)' sewn into my left chest and the lingering resonance of the new 'chord' played by my comrades.
I sip the overly hot soup with my white-dyed right hand. That clumsy warmth‚ burning my throat‚ was the only fuel carrying us to tomorrow.
We will dash along this 'path' paved by burning your time‚ together with this 'fastest shield.'
While engraving an indelible rebellious beat toward the 'perfect silence' looking down on us from beyond the night sky.
Chapter 12.1 Completed
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