[556] The Steel Gate Once More (1)
Though they were both incarnations of the same Banya, the depths contained within them were entirely different, and Shirone felt pressure simply from facing it.
Shirone had only just reached the threshold; Miro had gone beyond the unfathomable. Their levels could not be the same.
"Don't be nervous. You won't die."
Because that implied anything short of death was possible, he felt even tighter.
Sibulsangpokmaera...
Whether she knew that name or not, Miro cast a sidelong glance up at the solemn face of the Light Archangel.
No incarnation can manifest something beyond itself.
Light Intimacy, Divine Particles, Ataraxia, Valhalla Action...
Countless experiences and techniques must compose the Light Archangel, but Miro couldn't help thinking of the influence of someone who no longer existed.
McClain Goffin.
If Miro split a second into extremes, Shirone shattered the boundary of a second.
A manifestation art that condensed the particle and wave properties of light.
If he were to reach the Paramita level...
Even she couldn't imagine what the result of Sibulsangpokmaera would be.
"Begin."
Miro slowly twisted her body into an attacking stance. Shirone took a step back, ready to receive it.
As the incarnation shifted, the taut tension climbed to its limit.
Thousand-Hand Kannon Lightning Array.
Before Miro's expression or posture could change, the incarnation moved.
Within a single second split into thousands, the Thousand-Hand Kannon's consecutive strikes overlapped a thousand times and drove toward Shirone's head.
"Waaah—"
Seeing the Kannon's attack for the first time, Shirone's body trembled as if electrocuted.
Could the human mind fall so deep?
I've got to dodge!
The Light Archangel seeped into his body. Shirone twisted himself quickly.
It hit!
As Miro widened her eyes in certainty, a thousand strikes slammed into the ground.
And Shirone had already slid to the right through a gap in time Miro couldn't perceive.
"Gasp! Gasp!"
He'd held back, but it had been genuine; Miro, breathing heavily herself, gave Shirone an approving smile.
"Passed. Congratulations, Shirone. That concludes the training."
When the word "concluded" clicked into his mind like a switch, Shirone's eyes slowly rolled upward.
"Ah, thank—"
After the long ordeal and the shock of witnessing the Kannon's attack, he had no strength left to hold on.
With a thud he collapsed and couldn't get up. Miro exhaled, relieved, hoisted him onto her back, and carried him back to the hut.
It was around four in the morning.
* * *
"Hmm."
Shirone opened his eyes, rubbing a hazy, drugged feeling from his head.
Training!
His body tensed from the repeated drills, but as he recalled Miro's words at the edge of his memory, his muscles loosened.
Right—it's over.
His body felt heavier than usual.
It must be the true weight of himself he'd never felt before.
I did it...really.
Shirone raised his arm and clenched his fist.
He had finished a training that had seemed impossible and gained a powerful manifestation art.
But the greatest result of this training was the countless times he'd overcome himself.
This experience will bring further success.
Day by day, he would keep moving forward.
Where's Miro?
Having recovered enough, Shirone sluggishly went to the kitchen.
Miro wasn't there; only the herb porridge she'd boiled that morning sat on the table.
...
Belated as it was to notice, he realized for the first time there was a flavor he could never get used to.
Every time she boiled it she produced a new bitterness; calling it divine mastery would not be an exaggeration.
I'm not hungry yet.
Muttering to deny reality, Shirone went to look for Miro.
He opened the training hall door into the noon sun. Miro sat in meditation with only a few candles lit.
"You're awake?"
"Ah, yes."
He had feared she'd ask whether he'd eaten, but she simply gestured for him to sit.
"Sit."
He folded his legs and waited as her eyelids slowly opened.
"You did it, Shirone."
"Yes. Thanks to you, Miro. Thank you."
"You worked hard. Vacation isn't much longer. Come down the mountain tomorrow."
At the thought of seeing his family, Shirone's chest swelled.
"But you know nothing's changed. Countless trials will come to you—both in your life as Shirone the human and in your life as a mage."
Shirone remembered what Miro had said before training began.
"I'm prepared."
"Good. I said I'd tell you after the training finished. As an upperclassman at the Magic Academy, and as someone who drew the world's attention before you did as a victim, I'll tell you what you need to do at school."
Shirone took a deep breath and waited. Miro raised her index finger and began to explain the plan.
"First, once you return to school..."
* * *
West family, central Tormia.
Nade, who had stayed in the warehouse all through vacation, fell asleep excited as the new term neared.
He would see his friends again.
Although Shirone's life or death remained uncertain, the very fact he could leave the house made Nade feel like he could fly.
But perhaps happiness didn't suit him—that night, memories from long ago returned as a nightmare.
"Hahaha! This kid's interesting!"
"Ahhh!"
The notorious bandit gang—hair cropped like rooster combs—had Nade bound and were subjecting him to electric shocks.
"Do it! Do it again!"
"Please spare me! Please!"
Electric shocks at such a young age were not only pain but terror the brain couldn't process.
"He's fun, this one. Is this magic?"
"How could a brat be a mage? Kid, did you really make this?"
"Aaah!"
As another jolt hit, Nade's dreaming body convulsed violently.
Cold sweat drenched him, and his hands clutched his chest in agony.
Don't—don't—
Blue electricity radiated from Nade's body. Metal parts strewn in the warehouse trembled and then floated into the air.
"Die! Die!"
The bandits pressed on with their torture.
Mom...mom...why?
Blood flowed from the burns covering his body.
He felt his flesh burning, and trapped in inescapable agony he resented the world.
They would kill him.
Worst of all, no one would come to save him.
The people who had abandoned him and fled would never return.
"Okay! This time, full power!"
Nade could only watch as the clamps of the generator he'd made fastened across his body.
The switch rose to the top, and a current he couldn't withstand flowed through the child.
"Aaah!"
Nade woke with a scream and bolted upright.
At the same time, a powerful electrical burst spread outward and the warehouse blew apart with a bang.
"Gasp! Gasp!"
Sitting on a burning bed, Nade glared straight ahead with eyes full of fighting spirit.
Then he tore off his flaming clothes in a hurry.
Ugh!
More than ten years had passed, but burn scars still marked parts of his body.
Aside from his family, only Iruki knew it hadn't been a lab accident.
"What is this? What happened?"
People who'd heard the explosion at the mansion rushed over and stared at Nade with bewildered expressions.
This was why, at some point, he had stopped going into the mansion.
He was used to people looking at him with fearful eyes, but one gaze could never become familiar.
His mother stood among the crowd.
Nade thought his own face must be as twisted as the terrifyingly contorted expression on hers.
* * *
Opening day at Alpheas School of Magic had arrived.
Having spent the previous day with his family, Shirone boarded a carriage from the Ozent household and slowly set off for the school.
The graduating class would pass through the Steel Gate apart from the opening ceremony, and since Shirone had skipped the test, he had time to spare.
Around the time the advanced class broke up noisily, graduating students began to pass through the Steel Gate one by one.
Koli, the head teacher who'd overseen the graduating class for years, greeted them with a smile that said "welcome to hell."
Amy, Canis and Arin, Iruki, Nade, Dante and their group—the students climbing the slope all wore the same eerie glint in their eyes.
Heh—this is why you're in the graduating class.
Anyone who'd endured the first half of the graduating schedule would know the ferocity of the competition exceeded imagination.
That pressure translated into special training; by opening day they'd radiate a murderous aura like well-honed blades.
No one had given up. Everyone had done their best. But among them, only ten would graduate.
If even he got goosebumps, how queasy must the students feel?
Because of that, reunions after a long time were subdued.
Iruki and Nade approached Amy to catch up, but they weren't as lively as before.
Shirone's not here. I was hoping for a rematch.
Canis, having returned from brutal special training during vacation, felt somewhat disappointed.
"Long time, Amy."
Canis raised a hand; Amy greeted him calmly.
"Yeah, long time. Arin, you've been well?"
Arin waved shyly while Canis pretended not to notice and glanced around.
"By the way, where's Shirone?"
"Shirone? Why ask me that?"
Amy's voice carried a hint of irritation; Canis blinked and snorted as if he'd been understood.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm just asking because you're close to him. I don't think he was dumped—never that."
Amy's eyes lit up.
"What nonsense is that? Whether Shirone's here or not has nothing to do with me!"
"Okay, okay."
Canis, who usually prided himself on being Amy's rival, thought better than to provoke her this time.
But the atmosphere was already like a funeral.
You bastard. How could you leave like that? I don't care anymore. Die wherever you are.
Amy left in a sulk; Iruki and Nade exchanged glances.
"What's going on? Iruki, didn't you hear anything from your father?"
"Not at all. I was training so we barely talked. Even if I asked, he wouldn't tell me."
"I see... So he doesn't plan to return to school? No, before that— is he even alive?"
Fermi stepped between them and asked.
"He's not someone who'd die easily."
"What the— that guy? Acting like you know something." Nade grumbled at Fermi's back, but Iruki remained silent.
"Twenty-seven. It seems everyone's here."
As Koli had said, Aider was still in the hospital, and Maya and Shirone had refused the evaluation, so they didn't need to attend.
"Right, today a new competition begins. I'll outline the second-half schedule, so follow me."
As the students began to follow Koli, Screamer glanced back and pointed toward the Steel Gate.
"Huh? There's one more coming over there?"
"Th-that is..."
The graduating students' eyes trembled in shock.
A blond boy, his belongings packed into a cubric and with no backpack on his shoulders, strolled up the hill at a leisurely pace.
"Shirone?"
Only after Nade spoke did Amy's heart start pounding—realizing it was true.
"Hi. Long time no see."
No one spoke, but Shirone, as if he'd expected it, casually looked over his friends and said,
"I'm back, everyone."