Ryuu Kusari No Orishin No Naka No Kokoro
Chapter 2 Part 7

Within days of coming to terms with Mars, Nozomu's treatment in class had changed a lot.

Mars, who hates Nozomu the most, starts talking to him regularly.

Students in grade 10 are basically treated as dropouts by students in other classes. It was the harmful effect of the Solminati Academy, which advocated a complete meritocracy.

Their outlet, which is treated like a dropout, is Nozomu, ranked lowest in all classes.

However, in the 10th grade, when Mars, who was in the upper class, spoke to Nozomu, those who had cursed Nozomu could no longer bully him, and as a result, they could no longer bully him, they took a stand not to get involved with Nozomu.

Mars also became further from his entourage and always cooperated with Nozomu in his practical lessons.

Inevitably, Nozomu spends more of his time with Mars….

“I'm so happy! Nozomu-kun and Mars-kun get along ~~ !!”

Hospital during the day.

Nozomu was kidnapped by Anri-sensei today and had lunch together at the hospital. By the way, Mars, who was beside him, was one of his targets, so he was captured in the same way.

Anri-sensei was very enthusiastic from the start, and he sprinkled a happy atmosphere around him more than ever.

“Oh thank you..”

Nozomu was a little interested in Anri-sensei's incredible happiness, but he knew he was really happy, so he was honestly grateful for his feelings.

“... Hmm”

Mars is having a lazy lunch.

“Now now. I am as happy as Anri. Nozomu-kun and Mars-kun became friends. Anri is not only concerned with Nozomu but also with Mars.”

“What does it mean?”

“Kata Anri, Mars is a clumsy but good boy.”

“Again ~. Mars-kun's. You reassess Nozomu-kun at the end of the second year and reflect on what you did to Nozomu-kun kan~?”

“…”

“Such a child cannot be a bad child ~~.”

There was a smile on Anri-sensei's face, and he guessed correctly what Mars was thinking for sure. Mars was surprised.

Well, if he always looked at his happy-lucky mood, it would be hard to realize that he was actually a sharp person.

Nozomu had previously been noticed and shown by him to some extent. He always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't say it was a confrontation between Nozomu and Shino at the end of the second year and the changes taking place in Nozomu.

That's why Nozomu wasn't surprised like Mars, about Anri-sensei showing a change in Mars' mind.

“…”

Mars turned around, but his face was red. It is clear that he is ashamed.

“Fufu…. By the way, Nozomu-kun, what are you making now?”

Norn-sensei finished lunch early and spoke to Nozomu who was doing something at his desk.

Nozomu took out a set of crafting tools on the table and made something.

“This? It's a birthday gift for a friend.”

“Hee! Is that so? Who are you going to give it to?

Norn is a little surprised because he thinks Mars is Nozomu's only friend at school, and he is also interested in what Nozomu is making.

“I gave it to the Ecross academy students I met earlier. I can't tell you what it is, because the first one to know what's inside the gift is that kid.”

Nozomu felt no need to hide Somia, aside from the gifts he made, so when he talked about his meeting with her, Norn-sensei and Henri-sensei were very surprised.

“Hee! I did not expect Nozomu-kun to be acquainted with the daughter of the Francilt.” family

“What made you so surprised?”

It seemed that Mars did not understand very well, but the Francilt family was one of the nobles who had existed since the establishment of the great power of Forsina in the western part of the continent.

In addition, the Forsina State quickly sent troops to a group of demonic beasts during the great invasion 10 years ago, and those forces became the core of the Allied forces that were then formed and fended off the great invasion. It became a great driving force.

It was also the country that had proposed the establishment of the Solminati Academy to every country, and its existence was known throughout the continent.

Most humans have nothing to do with such a famous family. Especially to meet the daughter of such a family.

“I only know he was a member of the Francilt family recently, even though I knew him and met him. I didn't know he was part of such a famous family. Well, I don't mind too much, but he seems like a little worried he's hiding his noble status from me.”

Nozomu continued to speak while moving his hand.

“Isn't that reasonable considering he was raised?”

Well, a famous family may have its own concerns..

When Norn saw Nozomu's face as he worked, there was a slight smile on his face.

(Un, it's okay with this)

Perhaps, when thinking of giving a gift to the other party, a feeling of happiness was inevitable. When he saw Nozomu, he became happy, and of course, a smile bloomed on his face.

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After school, Nozomu and Mars head to the suburbs. After making peace, the two had arranged their own mock battle there once every two days after school.

“In the end, I couldn't beat Mars before .. As expected of me at this time. I'm not strong enough to deal with you ..”

“…..”

As a result of the fight, Mars has a higher win percentage so far. Nozomu is a step behind Mars because he doesn't use attacking techniques like “Phantom”, so he doesn't have the deciding factor.

Nozomu's attacking technique with Qi still had a high killing caliber.

This technique must have killed the opponent efficiently using less energy. It was necessary for him to survive because he had fought with the demon beasts in the forest.

However, when it came to school life and mock battles, the story was different, and these techniques with high killing abilities had to be adapted.

But, since Nozomu did not have much Qi, it was inevitable to reduce the Qi density used in the technique to adjust it. Thus, the technique used would be an inadequate technique to kill an opponent.

If its density was lowered, it would not be strong enough to kill an opponent.

Although his Qi was slightly increased, the effects of Nozomu Suppression's abilities were strong, and the effects of additional Qi techniques such as physical strengthening and fast movements were low. It was still not enough to deal with a person as strong as Mars.

“...Stay still, it's weird when you've beaten me several times....”.

“Is that so?”

Mars murmured against Nozomu's words, but Nozomu's reaction to him was normal.

Using common sense, there was no aspect that Nozomu could defeat Mars on a one-on-one basis.

The difference in physical ability and Qi between Nozomu and Mars was obvious, and since Nozomu had almost no magical power, he could not rely on magic.

Even so, when he defeated Mars, who should have been in the upper class to some extent, it showed how high his swordsmanship was in school.

However, Nozomu did not notice it.

In Nozomu's eyes, the average swordsman was definitely like Shino.

This was because he fought with her most often and was not exposed to much weaker people.

This was because of the small friendship Nozomu had so far, and it would be a little different if he had friends at school who could help him.

If a talent like a monster became the standard, it would be impossible to accurately measure the position of one's abilities compared to the surrounding environment.

Moreover, Nozomu himself underestimated his own abilities.

This was due to the Suppression of his Ability and the result of the mock battle so far. Due to the influence of his Ability Suppression, he always lost strength in combat and rarely won in mock battles.

For this reason, Nozomu in condition “ get used to losing”.

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The POV Mars

(This person, what are you saying even though you have sealed such an evil technique!!)

To be honest, Mars has been shown the Qi Nozomu “Phantom” technique only once, but when he saw it, he was terrified and trembling.

The air bar that was released passed in front of Mars in the blink of an eye and cut the huge rock without any difficulty.

It was a highly compressed and sharpened blade. His flying speed was extremely fast, and Mars could not even see the sword shadow passing in front of him. To complete all of this, it only took him half a second to activate his technique.

If the sword was fired towards him, he would be cut off along with his defense without being able to dodge at that moment.

(Hmm.. I think my loss back then must have been confirmed)

Mars remembers at the end of his sophomore year when he was cornered by the man in front of him, but if this technique was unleashed at that time, he would lose his life.

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When Nozomu was convinced that he had never used the attacking technique until now, three girls walked over from the front. When one of them saw Nozomu, he waved at him.

Nozomu also waved back, and the three walked towards him.

“Happy day! Nozomu-san”

“Good afternoon, Somia-chan. You are with your sister today.”

“Yaa, good afternoon Nozomu. Long time no see.. This was not long ago also”.

“B-Happy day...........

Irisdina, Somia, and Tima are coming.

Tima is not good at this. As usual, he was a little quiet.

“Come, Tima. You have something to say to your Nozom, right?”

“U, un”

“???”

Asked by Irisdina, Tima stood in front of Nozomu. Looks like there's something he wants from Nozomu.

“A, yes! I'm sorry when I was in the hospital!”

“...... Eh? What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, I was rude to Nozomu, because I've heard of it.., I've heard.. rumours,”.

He said so and dropped his shoulder. He was so depressed that he looked bad. He must have been very worried about that time.

“Sorry, Nozomu-kun. Tima is a little weak in men. He held back a little because he heard your rumors.”

“... Ah! About that time? Its alright. He's already apologizing now, and if he listens to rumors about me, it makes sense ..”

Of course, if they listen to the rumors about Nozomu, it makes sense.

At the time, she was dating one of the leading female students in her class, no one had a good impression of her when they heard rumors that she was having an affair.

Hearing Tima's story, Nozomu's chest hurt.

(.. As I thought.. It hurts.).

He was friends and felt less hurt than before, but when he remembered it all of a sudden, the pain assaulted Nozomu's heart.

“...I still run away as expected..Every time I remember..).

Nozomu still has not overcome his heartbreak with Lisa, and he has been humiliated so far. When he meets Somia and Irisdina, reconciles with Mars, and forms a new relationship, of course, he has little chance of remembering.

“Ermm. Nozomu. Who is this guy?”

Nozomu was speechless, but Somia noticed Mars next to Nozomu and asked.

“Ah, this is Mars. My classmate.”

With the introduction of Nozomu, the three of them looked at Mars, but Mars still looked at Irisdina and the others in Buddhist style.

“...What is it”

“Hai”

Tima slightly shouted at Mars' intimidating expression, but Mars did not like it, and his gaze became even tighter. Tima was even more afraid of Mars' facial expression, but Mars' facial expression became louder, and Tima saw that facial expression causing a vicious circle of further atrophy.

“Quiet Mars. What's up?”

“...Not what..”.

Mars answered Nozomu's question as if nothing had happened, but he actually disliked Tima's frightened attitude.

He was an A rank student above Mars B rank, which could only be given to those stronger than Mars. He was a rare person in school.

However, her feared appearance is unacceptable to Mars, who believes in her power.

But, Tima did not know about Mars' beliefs. For him. Mars has a good physique and is known for its depravity, more terrible than demonic beasts.

“Oh, that's right. It's about Somia's birthday party, but I want Nozomu-kun to come if possible.”.

When unpleasant air will flow between Mars and Tima, Irisdina directs the topic of Somia's birthday party to Nozomu to change the atmosphere of the place, and Nozomu responds to it.

“Um. That okay? If it was a birthday party for the Francilt family's daughter, famous people would come from everywhere. Can we go to such a place?”

The Francilt family was a famous family in the continent of Aratmeal. When it came to the birthday party of the young lady of the Francily family, a prominent figure from every country would come.

Nozomu felt ashamed to join them, which was only one student. Moreover, there were rumors that she was an indecent person in Solminati Academy; however, Irisdina said she did not care at all.

“No problem. I'm planning on having this birthday party with only my relatives. And Nozomu-kun is Somia's friend right? Shouldn't be a problem.”

Irisdina laughed and dispelled Nozomu's worries as if it had nothing to do with her. He had no lies or fabrications in his expression, and he actually thought so and decided to act on it.

Nozomu decided to smile as well.

“... I understand. I want to come.”

“So! I'm thrilled. Somia too, looking forward to it.”

“Yes! Nozomu-san told me that he will prepare a gift!”

With a wide smile, he spread his hands, and the decoration of his arms clinked.

Irisdina and Somia smiled in satisfaction, confirming the date and place of the birthday party, and they parted ways.

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Nozomu POV

On the way back, Mars and I walked and looked back at the previous thing.

“How about Mars? Will you participate?”

“...I'm invited. I'll just participate.”

Mars was also invited by Irisdina-san. He probably invited her because he was my friend.

“Although so, you stared at Tima-san for a long time.”

Mars' attitude towards Tima-san was obviously strange. She tends to be emotional, but her attitude towards her is close to her previous attitude towards me.

“. Even though he is strong, why is he so afraid.”.

“... Only the person himself knows what he fears. You don't know about him..”.

“…”

Only Tima-san himself knows what he is afraid of. What was painful to him was different to what was painful to Mars, but Mars' expression still seemed stiff. His face remained until he finally arrived at Ushitotei.

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POV Iris

“... Tima, are you okay?”

“...Yes..”

I comforted my best friend, but her expression was not good.

Tima was born with high magical power and was therefore shunned by those around him. He was not treated well, especially by boys his age.

Also, her appearance had been good since childhood; therefore, she kept seeing lustful gazes from the shadows.

Envy, admiration, envy, and hate.

To him, who was still unable to handle his own magical power, that gaze was the greatest psychological burden.

As a result, she became very uncomfortable with that gaze, especially men, and her emotional instability directly caused her lack of magical control.

His magic power was higher than others, but he could not control it.

“Well, about Nozomu, he doesn't seem to mind, but he. He will do something about it too.”

“It's true! He is a friend of Nozomu-san, and I am sure it will be fine!”

“... Un.. forgive me Ai, Somia-chan...”.

“Tima, I'd be happy if you could thank us instead.”

“It's true! “thank you” in such a case!”

I feel a little playful, Somia replied with a big smile.

“... Un, thank you, both of you.”

Tima's smiling face responded to me and Somia. In the end, his expression was never completely clean, and we had no choice but to arrive on the way home