(Drako's POV)
The person who had eliminated the Utsusemi was none other than Lavinia. She had given me a KS all over my face, something I didn't think I would say once I came into this world.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her.
"You were taking too long, so I came looking for you. Who knows, something bad might have happened to you, Dra-kun."
Lavinia dressed in a witch's costume is so cuuuuteee...
...…
"Enter inside."
It was late at night when we got back to the apartment.
Tobio still seemed a little lost, so we guided him into the apartment. Two people were waiting in the living room.
One of them is Natsume Minagawa, while the other...
"Drako-nyaa!"
It's none other than Kuroka.
She jumps at the sight of me and would have thrown me to the ground if not for my supernatural strength.
"What are you doing, Kuroka?"
"Recharging my Drakonians energies."
I think it's best not to comment on any of this.
While I have Kuroka hugging me, with her legs wrapped around my back, I introduce Tobio to the rest.
"The blonde girl with the witch's cosplay is Lavinia, and the beautiful student over there is Natsume. You and Natsume went to the same school, but I'm not sure if you knew each other or not."
Tobio and Natsume's left to right head shake tells me they didn't know each other.
"Well, the lazy cat girl's name is Kuroka. Don't pay too much attention to her, she's just stupid."
Tobio nods seriously, which almost makes me laugh. Kuroka, on the other hand, sticks her teeth into my neck in revenge for calling her stupid.
"I'm not stupid, you're the stupid one."
What I was saying, she's a brainless idiot.
Meanwhile, Lavinia and Natsume lean slightly towards Tobio as they say a "Please take care of me."
Are you two in sync?
"By the way, where are the missing ones?"
"Shark has gone home, although we tried to keep him from leaving, after the fight with Valina. He said, "I don't need your protection," and left. Valina and Raynare have returned to Grigori as Azazel has called them both. Actually, he had called you, but since you weren't there, Raynare went in your place."
So the Governor-General wanted to talk to me. I guess it was to make a report on what happened.
"Speaking of the king of Rome, though I think it's better to say queen in this case."
The elevator, which connected Grigori to the apartment, opened, and Raynare entered the apartment.
"I'm back, and I have news!"
Raynare rushed into the room and practically ignored us all as she inserted a DVD into her respective player.
"What is that-nyaa?"
You know curiosity kills the cat.
"It's something Azazel-sama gave me to show the students. A pity that Kouki is not here, this also interests him. Ah, you must be Tobio, I'm Raynare. Now, let's see the video!"
Raynare hits play.
We all start watching the video that appears on the TV screen.
The Heavenly of Aloha incident--.
The luxury liner that Natsume and Tobio were supposed to have boarded. It had sunk along with their classmates, this ship with a 'divine' name. Although the video had no sound, both students showed a complicated look. Both have been suffering these two months, carrying a mental wound from the loss of their classmates.
The video changed. What the screen now showed, it was somewhere in a city environment. In the video, similar to those taken with a home video camera, a group of young men and women were shown.
"Is that… Yada? Kojima?"
Tobio seemed to recognize the people in the video. Which means that the people shown in the videos were the alumni of that school.
Groups of young people were shown successively. There where many faces that both students recognized. Images of young people were shown successively without pause. It was not fifty or a hundred, there were more.
The video was showing people that Tobio and Natsume, until a moment ago, had believed their whereabouts to be unknown. However, the time stamp on the video was a digital number indicating a period in June just half a month ago…
The two-hundred thirty-three Ryoukuu high school sophomores still said to be missing. In reality, the chances of survival were practically non-existent. But, on the video in front of me, everyone whose whereabouts was unknown was alive and active.
Half a month ago...
Azazel knew more than he taught me. That bastard...
I held back from insulting the Governor-General as we continued to watch the video.
Natsume and Tobio are showing different faces as the video progresses. Still, there is one that I recognize above the others.
They are hopeful.
Yeah, I've noticed the same one they have. There's a chance their closest friends are still alive. The Utsusemi Agency may still be keeping the students alive.
One of the male classmates was shown on the screen. There was a monster like a crocodile at his side. From the monster's mouth, a tongue languidly extended. ...No, it was a tentacle.
Other classmates were shown on the screen leading a variety of different monsters. Like the frog, spider, snake, and lizard he had just met... Some looked like huge insects such as moths and mantises. There were ominous monsters whose size was impossible to determine, and also those with distorted appearances. They were monsters, almost like those out of movies and games.
They were stretching their tentacle-like tongues, seizing a live pig. While the video had no sound, the appearance alone was tragic, as the monsters tore up the live pig, and devoured it. Blood was dripping from the edge of the monsters' mouths.
Each and every Utsusemi was a hideous monster with a very long tongue. And all the humans who accompanied them were nothing but artificial humans, failed attempts at homunculus.
More of these Utsusemis were shown.
These creatures, they were monsters with frightening special abilities and high physical capabilities. For a petty attack, it would not be possible to cut the flesh beneath the skin. Even if it was cut, their uncommon resilience would allow them to seal the wound immediately.
For defeat, the nucleus or the head must be destroyed. It seems the nucleus is in the position which for a human would be called the heart. Their weaknesses were fundamentally no different than other living things. However, they were much sturdier than ordinary creatures.
When the video stopped, Raynare talk again.
"This video, photographically documenting the truth of these peculiar roots, has been kept hidden by people like us. By no means is this CG, nor is it acting. They are the Ryoukuu high school sophomores who went missing in the maritime disaster. Your classmates. And now, they are controlling genuine monsters. Paired with their monster, they apparently are named——Utsusemi."
Raynare said so indifferently, it seems that Azazel has explained her a little bit.
Lavinia continued.
"By Utsusemi, we mean things like imitations created by a certain organization existing in this country, people with artificial supernatural abilities——they would be categorized as something like Inou Tsukai (Special ability users). They are being manipulated by the organization."
Utsusemi Agency- It is written in Kanji and its translation into English is: Marginalized Cigarettes in Exile (An organization composed of excited humans from the Five Great Families that protect Japan, Nakiri, Himejima, Kushihashi. Shinra and Doumon).
Utsusemi Beasts - It is written in Katakana and its translation is: Artificial Beasts. (Beasts artificially created to attack Sacred Gear users).
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Raynare continues giving information. Right now, even this information is essential to me.
"The Utsusemi, the operators that control the monsters——their bodies are only able to function as a set. And those bodies, our classmates who participated in the trip, there are 233 of them. The human bodies aren't fake, they are the real ones. So, we have to focus on the monster instead of the master. This is especially for you, Drako."
How?
Are they using the students' real bodies for the Utsusemis?
This was not something I expected. I really believed that they were using fake copies of the students to create the Utsusemi.
"And, they returned to Japan for the sake of killing the surviving students."
"This is no joke!"
Tobio's few words of reproach.
It was natural of course. It's because he was being targeted by classmates who've become monsters.
It must be shocking for him to become the target of his former colleagues' elimination. And more so, considering that his childhood friend was among them.
"There's no doubt you will continue to be targeted in the future. They have been directed to target you who survived by not participating in the trip. It's because the organization that's manipulating them from the shadows desires to obtain you by any means."
"Just a moment.... Why are they targeting us?"
Oh, that's right. I forgot to explain the situation to him.
All I told him was that he was the target of the Utsusemis, but I didn't tell him why.
"——Sacred treasures. They are called Sacred Gears. So to speak, they are unusual powers called that. However, these are natural——you were born with this power. It's also not such a rare thing. Many of those whose names have been recorded in history as well as modern-day successful athletes have unknowingly possessed such power. However, for its distinct form to be realized, it is a necessary condition that one possess a certain amount of ability."
Lavinia spoke indifferently. She seemed to be suffering from judgement from elsewhere.
"To say it in even more complete detail, the creatures you and Natsume were born with are classified as "Independent Avatar Type" Sacred Gears. And, the Utsusemi are artificial imitations of "Independent Avatar Type" Sacred Gears." I explained.
Raynare proceeded with the story without regard.
"The organization that uses the Utsusemi desired to obtain something like you by any means. Your abilities which could not be taken at the destination are absolutely necessary to them. To that end, they exerted influence over that trip to make use of the students of Ryoukuu High school. Causing their whereabouts to become unknown, they seem to have believed that such a change in circumstances would be good for them. By using your classmates, I wonder if they're thinking they could entice you into being careless. And now, those that are being manipulated, that last one tried to attack you by himself——that seems to be the case."
"What do you mean by "seems to" and "something like" that you've been saying for a while? Who taught Raynare-san these things?"
Tobio asked this to Raynare, as she removed the DVD from the player. With the DVD in one hand, she spoke.
"I was taught by the person who gave me this. It's our 'Governor-General'. When I received this video footage, I received this explanation."
For Natsume and Tobio, neither could hide their agitation.
"What kind of person is he? This 'Governor-General'?"
Huh, he is a troll.
"I think, for your mental well-being, it's better that you don't know. You'll know in the future. For now, focus on surviving. And don't forget to take good care of your new mates, they're the only ones who will never turn their backs on you."
"...There's just one thing, I'd like to ask, everyone...are our fellow classmates still alive?"
Tobio could not consent. To this non-anticipatable, unilateral theft of his classmates. They'd been converted in Utsusemi or something to command the monsters. It was——their fault.
And the answer to that question, I think only Azazel, and Raynare by extension, could know.
And Raynare was smiling broadly.
"Yeah, they're alive."
So that's why Azazel was so sure these students were going to try something. Now they're going to want to rescue their friends because that's how all Japanese teenagers are.
And my job here is to support them and by extension rescue all the other teenagers.
All I can say is...
I'm going to farm exp!
"And you're going to help us?" Natsume asks.
"Of course. After all, isn't it anxious about being alone? Against some 200 or more people? There are not even ten students who survived the trip by not participating. It's a simple calculation, that's a quota of more than 20 or 30 for each individual. Well, I can go against everyone on my own, but those weren't my orders. And… I can get out handed and end killing your little friends. "
"Besides, will you be able to fight your old partners? I mean, they're gonna come in here to kill you, you know? There might come a time when your best friend tries to kill you, and you're gonna have to defend yourself. Can you do that?"
Natsume and Tobio show some complicated faces after listening to me.
They have to accept reality, this is not a game. There are lives at stake, and they have to be aware of that.
"Of the two that were attacking me, the one in glasses was my close friend. Since the beginning of high school, I've been together with that friend forever. She aimed to kill me without any hesitation... Again, and again I cried out to stop but, that girl was just filled to the brim with murderous impulse. Now that I'm informed about the circumstances, it is clear that something is born inside me——that girl is alive. If they're alive, then I can save them! Even Ikuse-kun's thoughts must have reached the same conclusion."
Natsume declared her decision to resolve herself to occasionally fight those classmates.
"——I'll save them, all of them."
Tobio's declaration was strong. Resolution and determination were born in his mind, his objective was decided.
"Yeah!"
Natsume smiles at Tobio´s answer.
With all this, it seems the children have found their determination.
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