The morning sun illuminated the streets of Arcazam.
Birds chirped as they bathed in the sunlight, while the townspeople began their respective days.
The roads overflowed with people heading to work, each striving to earn their daily bread.
Along such a bustling path walked a single boy.
His name was Nozomu Bountis.
A third-year student at Solminati Academy, the central institution of Arcazam.
It had been one month since his confrontation with Shino. Somehow, he had managed to advance to third year.
"But… how the hell did I even pass the promotion?"
The battle with Shino had occurred just two days before the end-of-year exams. The injuries he sustained prevented any last-minute cramming, making the tests far more difficult than expected.
He couldn't make full use of his improved physical abilities, so the practical exam was a near-total disaster. The written tests also suffered because memories of Shino kept surfacing, leading to him failing three subjects and having to take remedial exams.
"Thanks to that, I ended up dead last again… Well, at least I passed somehow… maybe."
By the way, the number of remedial exams he took was undoubtedly a record in academy history.
As a result, his class remained in the lowest tenth stratum. His entrance ranking had already been overwhelmingly bottom, so he was still treated as the class dropout.
(But for now… maybe it's better to stay like this... That dragon-slaying power… it's way too big.)
Indeed, since the fight with Shino, he had not released the dragon-slaying power—or more precisely, Ability Suppression—in front of others.
After entering third year, he had tried releasing it several times alone in Shino's hut, but he could barely control it.
While his physical abilities skyrocketed dramatically upon release, the overwhelming power amplified every technique excessively. Moves that were already highly lethal became completely unusable in student life—even a simple punch.
"Punching once turns rocks into dust… no way I can use it casually."
(And besides... there's that thing too.)
What came to mind was the Extinction Dragon King Tiamat inside him. Every time he released Suppression, it rampaged within his body, trying to tear him apart from the inside.
He had fought it once in the mental world and succeeded in absorbing part of its power, so he wasn't immediately devoured upon release—but even so, the maximum time he could maintain it was about two minutes.
And those two minutes were only possible because he desperately suppressed the power after release. Without any control, his mind would be crushed by the force or his body would collapse in a dozen seconds or so.
"In any case… I need to figure out what to do from here."
The academy, the dragon-slaying power, Lisa.
Since advancing, he had crossed paths with Lisa several times, but she continued to ignore him or glare with open hostility.
Faced with her, Nozomu couldn't say anything—he could only stand frozen in her presence.
(...I'm still running… aren't I.)
He still couldn't take a step forward. Yet even while running, he had become fully aware of the fact that he was running.
The lesson Shino had staked her life to teach him had indeed sprouted a small bud inside him and begun to take root.
Third-year, tenth stratum. In this class, Nozomu Bountis was still treated the same way as always.
"What, that guy's still here?" "Because of him we're lumped in the same level as that trash—seriously, give it a rest." "Exactly, he took remedial exams three times. Know your place already."
As soon as he entered the classroom, the usual verbal abuse rained down on Nozomu. Listening to the voices, he sat at his desk, took out his textbook, and began previewing the lesson.
A few minutes later,
"Hey Mars, let's hit that place after school today. That girl's gonna be there. Come on."
"You're after that shop girl? Give it up—you've got no chance."
"...You guys never get tired of this crap…"
Mars and his lackeys had entered.
They seemed to be discussing where to hang out after school, but Mars clearly had no interest in joining the conversation.
"Hey Mars, what's up with you lately? You're no fun anymore."
"Yeah, you've been way too quiet."
"...Shut up. It's nothing."
Ignoring his two followers' complaints, Mars headed to his seat. On the way, he noticed Nozomu.
"..."
Mars looked at him. The eyes that once mocked and scorned Nozomu now held a different quality—serious, appraising, as if trying to confirm something.
"Everyone～～. Time to start morning homeroom～～～～"
With Teacher Anri's arrival, the students took their seats. Morning assembly ended and classes began, but Mars couldn't stop thinking about Nozomu.
He's here. Of course he is—this is his class. But I couldn't shake the question inside me.
Why is that guy still in the bottom stratum? With his current strength, he should at least be in a higher class—not stuck in tenth.
In the end-of-term mock battle, he had driven me right to the brink of defeat.
No—I had lost to him then. My composure was stolen, and he outmaneuvered me. In a real battlefield, he would have killed me right there.
Not making excuses, but my practical combat ability is quite high—I can even hold my own against fourth-years.
So why is someone who can beat me still in tenth stratum?
"Speaking of which, I heard he got injured right before exams. Something about tripping on stairs while carrying stuff."
"What an idiot～～. But that fits the slowpoke perfectly."
...Injured? Him? From something like that?
The doubt inside me swelled. Even if he fell down stairs, someone like him shouldn't take serious damage. Even when I blasted him away with ki-reinforced sword strikes in mock battles, he barely got hurt and attended class normally the next day.
And yet he suffered injuries bad enough to hinder him right before the most important year-end exams?
In that instant, I became convinced—there was something going on with him.
Morning classes ended, and lunch break began. Students spent the brief respite with friends as they pleased.
Nozomu bought bread from the school store and wandered looking for a place to eat.
By the way, the academy had a very large cafeteria to accommodate the ravenous students, and the student store was proportionally big—but popular items always sold out quickly, turning it into a constant battlefield.
Sometimes, with talented students involved, it could become a literal battlefield with magic flying everywhere.
However, unpopular items were easy to get.
Nozomu always bought the leftover bread no one wanted and trudged through the school building.
As he glanced toward the courtyard, he saw a crowd. At the center, two young women were eating lunch.
Nozomu recognized them—they were far too famous not to.
One was Irisdina Francilt.
Long, glossy black hair reaching her waist, an almost impossibly perfect appearance. Eyes as deep and captivating as her hair, paired with a dignified expression.
A third-year first-stratum student like Nozomu, known as the "Black-Haired Princess," and the top-ranked student in overall performance—a prodigy.
The other was Tima Lime.
Also third-year first-stratum, called the "Weaver of Four Tones."
Shoulder-length neatly trimmed brown hair; unlike Irisdina, she gave off a fragile, delicate impression.
She possessed an extraordinarily vast amount of mana—legendary level, it was said.
Her ability granted her high aptitude in the four attributes of earth, water, fire, and wind—hence her title "Concerto of Four Tones."
They were representative students of the third year and among the very few who had reached A-rank in the academy.
By comparison, Nozomu's rank remained D-, bottom even among third-years—lower than many second-years.
"Nozomu-ku～～～n, found you～～～～"
(Ugh, that voice…)
While watching them, a drawn-out voice called from the side. Looking over, he saw Teachers Anri and Norn approaching.
Anri waved energetically like a child; Norn gave a wry smile at her enthusiasm.
"Nozomu-kun, haven't eaten lunch yet～～? If you'd like, join us～～"
"Sorry about this, Nozomu-kun. Anri insisted she wanted to eat with you. Would you mind accompanying us?"
Both smiled invitingly. Beautiful smiles—but while Norn's was gentle, Anri's carried an unmistakable dominating aura that clearly declared she would drag him along no matter what.
(Teacher Anri... still hasn't given up, huh…)
Cold sweat ran down his back at her smile, but he couldn't refuse and was promptly taken away.
The place they brought him to was the infirmary—Norn-sensei's workplace.
Actually, since entering third year, Nozomu had occasionally been caught by Anri and dragged here. The reason was,
"Hey Nozomu-kun, why were you so badly injured during second-year final exams～～～～"
"Like I said before, Teacher Anri—" "You fell down stairs～～?" "…Yes."
Barely touching his lunch, Anri began interrogating him again.
Yes—for the past month, she had relentlessly questioned him about the injuries from his duel with Shino.
"Lying's no good～～. Those are clearly sword wounds. I can't just ignore injuries like that."
"..."
"She's right, Nozomu-kun. Repeated injuries like that, and clearly sword cuts—we can't overlook it."
"......"
Nozomu said nothing. He couldn't possibly talk about what happened with Shino or his dragon-slaying power.
But he could no longer make excuses either. After a month of back-and-forth, he had run out of ways to dodge.
"…And if I can't talk? You gonna force it out and hand me over to the military police or something?"
Frustration at his inability to deflect made sarcasm slip out.
"That's not it～～! I'm just genuinely worried～～～～～～!!"
"Exactly! Both Anri and I are simply concerned about you!!"
(Ah… running again. I didn't mean to say that…)
"…Sorry… I went too far."
"No, it's fine. We were a bit too pushy too."
A heavy atmosphere filled the infirmary.
"…Hey～～, Nozomu-kun. Are we really that unreliable?"
Anri asked in a sad voice; her expression pained Nozomu.
(I'm just running all the time…)
He hated how pathetic he was. He couldn't step forward. Perhaps the constant mockery he had endured had made him somewhat distrustful of people.
(...I don't want to see that face. ...I can't tell everything…but I can tell what I can.)
Her expression faintly overlapped with Master's during their duel—the face on the verge of tears when her feelings weren't reaching him.
"You're not unreliable at all. I know you're worried about me, that you care... and honestly, that makes me happy… I don't have anyone else who'd eat lunch together with me like this."
Slowly but firmly, Nozomu began to convey his feelings. He didn't want Anri to make the same face Shino had.
"That time… yes, a lot happened. Some things I still haven't sorted out inside myself even now."
He looked straight into their eyes and spoke word by word.
"But I was taught something important. Something necessary for me to move forward from here... I'm sorry. This is all I can say for now."
Nozomu bowed deeply. He was frustrated at his own weakness for only being able to say this much, but he poured every bit of sincerity he had into it.
"...Understood. Anri, he's saying this much—let's wait until he's ready to talk more."
"...But～～"
"I know you're worried, but not yet. He hasn't sorted it out himself."
"......Okay..."
Anri reluctantly agreed, though she still looked at Nozomu with concern.
"Sorry, Teacher Anri."
"...I get it～～. That something really tough happened to you～～～～. Sorry～～ for pushing so hard～～"
"No… I'm glad you were worried."
"Thank you too, Teacher Norn."
"It's fine. We got a little impatient. We knew something serious had happened, but we didn't know what to do."
The mood lightened; faint smiles appeared on all three faces.
"Well then, let's finish lunch. The bell's about to ring—we can't dawdle too much. Teachers having a secret lunch date with a student and being late wouldn't be funny."
"Hehe, true～～. Let's eat quickly～～"
"Yeah, better hurry or rumors might start. I'm fine with it, though."
They traded light jokes, the atmosphere warmed, and the three happily finished the rest of their meal.
But at that moment, a figure rushed into the infirmary.
"Excuse me! Teacher Norn, someone's injured. Could you treat them?"
Entering was a beautiful girl with long glossy black hair and deep jet-black eyes.
Irisdina Francilt stood there, supporting a student who appeared to be the injured one on her shoulder.