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Volume 1 Chapter 3.4

Old Wound that Hurts Part 4

Translator : PolterGlast

A few days later, it was time for Nozomu and Somia to meet.

They sat next to each other under the shade of a tree in a tree-filled area not far from the central park's lawn area.

"But, are you sure you're okay with this? For you to be with me on your lunch break like this..."

"Yes, I've already told my friends and they understand, so it's fine. Rather than that, let's have a talk!"

"Well, if you say so, Somia-chan..."Alll latest novels at e after their first encounter, they met and talked like this in Central Park during their lunch break.

However, Nozomu was not good at conversation, and it was mostly Somia who did the talking. He was more of a listener.

Coincidentally, on Somia's thigh, who was sitting on the ground, lay the black cat that had led to their encounter.

"You know. I asked my sister to tell me more about that person..."

"And what did she say?"

"Then she told me it was getting late and I needed to get some sleep so I could grow up well. Geez, I'm not a child anymore~~!"

Nozomu listened to her stories as he watched Somia, who was stroking the neck of the mischievous cat lying on her thigh.

Most of her stories were about her sister, who was six years older than her.

She had her own sister as her role model. She was the kind of girl who never stopped smiling, but when she talked about her "sister", she smiled 50% more than usual and talked happily.

"My sister is strong." "My sister is cool." "My sister is kind."

Her sister seemed to be a person of outstanding character and ability, and from the way her face broke into a smile as she spoke, it was clear that Somia truly adored and admired her "big sister".

But at the same time, perhaps because the two sisters came to Arcazam together, her sister sometimes got overly worried just like a mother. A few days ago, when they stayed up late at night, she even told her to go to bed early.

"No, Somia-chan, you're ten years old. You're still very much a child in terms of age..."

"Wha!? Not you too, Nozomu~san!"

"No, it is a fact-......"

In the human society of the Arcmel Continent, one would be considered an adult at the age of fifteen. In fact, Somia's stature was smaller than that of her peers, and her age made Nozomu believe that it was appropriate for her to be treated as a child.

Perhaps sensing Nozomu's inner thoughts, Somia puffed up her cheeks like a puffer fish. Nozomu smiled wryly upon seeing the girl's behavior but decided to give a follow-up.

"I don't think your sister meant it like that, Somia-chan."

"Yes, I know."

The look of dissatisfaction on her face turned into a wide smile.

"Somia-chan, you really like your sister, huh?"

"Yes! She is my role model and my goal!"

Somia spoke clearly and straightforwardly about her dreams and aspirations. Despite what she said about her sister earlier, she didn't seem to have changed her mind at all about her dreams. Her figure was a little too dazzling to Nozomu, who had been sinking to the bottom of the barrel, an everlasting failure.

"Come to think of it, Somia-chan, you talk a lot about your sister, is she also a student at Solminati Academy?"

"Ah, yes! That's right. She's in her second year now. You're also a student at that school, aren't you, Nozomu-san? What's life like at Solminati Academy?"

"Well, that's, umm..."

Somia's question made Nozomu feel as if there was lead piling up in his stomach, and he became lost for words. He exhaled heavily, as if he was being tied to a chain and dragged to the bottom of the water, suffocated.

"Well, I wouldn't say it went well. As you can see, Somia-chan, my rank is the lowest."

Nozomu showed Somia the nameplate with his name written on it with a faint, self-deprecating smile on his face. The plain nameplate, colored jet black, was evidence that he was one of the lowest-ranking students in the school.

It would not make a good impression among the people in the school, let alone among outsiders who know nothing about the school.

"I see. In that case, you're just like me. Unlike my sister, I still have a long way to go!"

However, contrary to Nozomu's expectations, Somia replied shyly with a carefree smile while sticking out her tongue. There was not a hint of unnaturalness in her expression, as if she was deliberately trying to fit into the conversation. She truly and sincerely understood her own lack of power and at the same time firmly accepted it.

Nozomu's face, which had been filled with self-deprecation, was now colored with surprise. And then, due to Somia's sunshine-like smile, the miasma that had been drifting in Nozomu's chest gradually dispersed.

(She's a very strong girl, huh ......)

Even if she hadn't reached adulthood, and even if she was still only as small as Nozomu's waist. But her small body seemed so big to Nozomu.

At that moment, Kuro, who had been lying on Somia's thigh, lay on its back and began to snuggle into Somia's arms.

On Somia's right wrist, where Kuro was snuggling to, was the bracelet that the black cat had stolen twice.

"I assume that your bracelet hasn't been stolen today."

"Yes, indeed, the school let me wear it in class, so I tried to wear it as much as I could."

Nozomu peeked sideways at Kuro, who was scratching the bracelet with its claws. Upon closer inspection, he could see that the bracelet was delicately decorated and had a small bell-like ornament with a letter engraved on it, which he had never seen before. Although he did not know exactly what material was used, even his amateur eyes could tell that it was quite valuable.

"That bracelet looks quite valuable, just what is it?"

"Ah, this bracelet is something that has been handed down in my family for generations. It's said that it's something that connects my family's ties, and it was said when we keep this with us, even if we go our separate ways, we'll surely meet again someday."

"Hee, that's quite a nice saying."

"Yes! This was originally stored in the storage back home, but my sister gave it to me as a birthday present last year! It has become a reminder to me. No matter how tough the circumstances might be, it'll be okay. Our bond remains strong."

Somia seemed to be very happy to talk about it.

For her, the lore was one thing, but perhaps more than anything, she was happy to have an actual object representing her family's connection to her.

"Oh, while we're at it, you said you got that bracelet for your birthday last year, when is Somia-chan's birthday?"

"Oh, it'll be soon actually. My father is out of town right now, so he won't be able to join, but my sister is throwing me a party this year too, so I'm really looking forward to it!"

"I see... Good for you Somia-chan."

"Yes!"

Somia's full smile brought a smile to Nozomu's cheeks as well.

However, the smile he had on his face was somewhat gloomy. Nozomu used to have people to celebrate his birthday with, but now he had no one.

The loneliness that tormented his heart from within subconsciously clouded his smile. Somia, noticing the shadows clouding Nozomu's smile, involuntarily fell silent.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"N-no, it's nothing. But, Kuro-chan sure is still after the bracelet, huh? Kuro-chan, cut it out!"

Somia, feeling a glimpse of the loneliness that Nozomu harbored, inadvertently tried to mend the situation and used Kuro, who was still playing with her bracelet, as an excuse.

With a somewhat overly dramatic gesture, she raised her arm and peeked at Nozomu while keeping her bracelet away from Kuro.

The black cat, perhaps still not satisfied with it, now stood up on its hind legs and started to flail its paws like a baby having its toys taken away from it.

Meanwhile, Nozomu, oblivious to Somia's state of mind, sighed at the black cat's refusal to let go of her bracelet.

"But then again, he's quite the muscular male cat, isn't he?"

"Eh?"

"I mean, he takes your stuff without your permission, even though he's been playing with it so often he still hasn't had enough fun..."

"No, umm..."

Somia's eyes were sweeping through the air as if she was having a hard time saying something. As Nozomu tilted his head towards Somia's reluctance to speak, she finally opened her mouth with an embarrassed expression on her face.

"Umm, Nozomu-san. Kuro-chan is a female..."

"...... Wha?"

"As I said, she's a female."

Hearing the word "female", Nozomu involuntarily fell silent. This black cat turned out to be female.

The bravado and quarrels Nozomu had with it made him think it was a male.

"W-why name her Kuro then? Isn't it a name one usually gives to males?"

"Eh, isn't it a cute name?"

Nozomu couldn't say anything else at Somia's blunt words.

Apparently, her naming sense was a little out of this world.

"Besides, I'm not Kuro-chan's owner, and I think she's probably a stray cat."

According to her, she started spotting her around the Ecross school building from time to time, and then they started playing together since then. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that this cat did not even have a collar on.

"She's a stray cat, huh? She seems to be very friendly and has beautiful fur, so I thought she was being taken care of by Somia-chan..."

In fact, Kuro had beautiful fur for a stray cat. While thinking so, Nozomu tried to touch her fur by reaching out his hand, but...

"Sha~!"

Nozomu had indeed gotten used to it and quickly dodged the claws, but judging from the way its tail fur stood up and its fangs were visible, it seemed that Nozomu was not liked by this cat at all.

"Are you okay, Nozomu-san? Kuro-chan is quite a delicate cat and doesn't really like those who displease her."

"... Is that so?"

"Yeah, all the boys in my class are no good. Girls are fine though..."

(Isn't she just not good with males?...)

Apparently, this black cat only took a liking to girls.

While she bared her fangs at Nozomu and threatened him, she remained still in Somia's arms. As Nozomu stared at Kuro, the black cat cast a glance at Nozomu, but immediately turned away and began relaxing in Somia's arms.

In turn, she stretched out her paws and tried to playfully toy with Somia's bracelet again.

"Oh gosh. Don't, Kuro-chan!"

She played with Somia's bracelet with her paw, not caring about Somia's words. In a sense, this was a very cat-like demeanor.

"Ah, by the way, Somia-chan, what did you have for lunch?"

"Umm, I was supposed to eat with my sister today. I suppose she'll be here any minute now."

"Well, I guess it's time for me to leave now. ......"

"Ehh, why? Let's eat together."

"No-no. Your sister doesn't know me, right? For a stranger to suddenly join in is a bit..."

"T-that's not true. In fact, I have [Ability Suppression], and my grades are the lowest in the school..."

On the other hand, Nozomu, perhaps unable to accept such praise from Irisdina and Somia, turned his gaze away from them.

Upon witnessing the sign of negative emotions, which was rather too strong for humility, Irisdina put her hand over her mouth as if she was deep in thought.

"Hmmm, that's strange. How can you make such a Qi blade and still be in the bottom?"

"I've never used it in the academy because it's too poweful. Besides, because of my [Ability Suppression], any physical strengthening I do would only have little effect, and my Qi is so low that I can count on one hand the number of times I can use that Qi blade."

Nozomu added that this also assumed that he would not use any other Qi-jutsu at all.

"In other words, if you were to use body strengthening, you could only fire one or two shots with that Qi blade, huh? If that's the case, why don't you join a party?"

"No one wants to team up with me."

Irisdina frowned upon hearing Nozomu's words. Nozomu felt uncomfortable facing that sharp gaze of her.

"Is it because of [Ability Suppression]?"

"......Yeah."

The slight pause in the reply brought about a moment of silence between Nozomu and Irisdina. But that silence clearly told her that this wasn't the main reason why Nozomu couldn't party with anyone.

"I don't know if this is the right thing to say, but it's not always just about prowess that is needed in battle, is it? Since you are so familiar with the Spasim forests, don't you think there would be many people who would want that knowledge?"

"... What makes you think so?"

"After you left us, you went deeper into the forest, didn't you? That simply means you spent that night in the forest. Spasim forest is a very dangerous forest infested with demonic beasts. It's not a place where a person without sufficient knowledge and abilities about that forest would be able to stay."

Actually, Nozomu spent the night in Shino's hut, and that area was almost impossible for demonic beasts to enter. After all, it was a place where a dragon-class adventurer resided.

Nevertheless, Irisdina was right, Nozomu had spent countless nights in the Spasim forest than he could count. That was because Shisho sometimes threw him out into the forest at night in the name of practice.

"Is your break-up with Lisa the main reason why you're not joining any party? Or is it due to your classmates' animosity? Or is there any other reason?"

Irisdina's question, which struck at the heart of the matter, pierced deep into Nozomu's heart.

A dull pain and bitter taste filled his mouth, and Nozomu fell silent.

At the same time, the image of Lisa looking at him with cold eyes, his classmates throwing cursing words thoughtlessly at him, and his current situation who could only hold his knees in front of them, all came back to his mind.

His vision became distorted and the surrounding sounds became more distant.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't know about the truth of the rumors and I'm not willing to make assumptions about things I'm not sure about-..."

"...... If you'll excuse me."

Before Irisdina could finish her sentence, Nozomu stopped her and stood up from his seat. His subconscious escape from reality, which had already become a habit, refused to listen to any more of Irisdina's words.

"Sorry Somia-chan, I'll be heading back first."

"Ah......"

Somia watched anxiously as Nozomu walked away, but eventually looked to her sister for help. Somia couldn't understand why Nozomu suddenly got up from his seat, but she thought that her sister might know the reason.

"Ane-sama ......"

"Somia, you may not aware of this, but Nozomu is not well-liked by the students at the academy. And it seems that because of his poor grades, they treat him like he doesn't belong there."

"Such a thing..."

Somia, upon learning of Nozomu's current situation, looked sad.

(I said that to Somia, but I'm sure that's not all there's to it...)

Irisdina, who has had her fair share of experience with people's ill will in aristocratic society, could not believe that Nozomu was simply being ignored.

His attitude clearly showed glimpses of distrust and insecurity toward others. In fact, she could see the traits of a person who had actually been subjected to malice and had his heart broken.

(I didn't think enough about his circumstances either. I shouldn't have gone that far...)

At the same time, it can be said that Irisdina's actions were a little too hasty in closing the distance to such a person.

"I went a little too far. I might have done something bad..."

Irisdina had a pained expression on her face. As for her, she just wanted to get to know a little bit more about him. She wanted to know about the blade of Qi he had used to save her best friend in the forest, and how he had acquired such great skill. Also, if possible, she wanted to ask him about the rumors that had spread in the school.

Even though Nozomu himself might not take it well, all she wanted to tell him was that she was not willing to believe mere rumors.

But Nozomu's rejection was more than she had anticipated.

"Ane-sama, I think it would be best for you to clear up the misunderstanding..."

"I know. I'll make sure we have a good talk the next time I see him..."

Nodding at her sister's suggestion, Irisdina brought the remaining sandwich to her mouth.

The lunch, which was usually very delicious, strangely felt bland and tasteless, it was as if she was chewing on sand.

◆

After leaving Irisdina and Somia behind, Nozomu, with a frown on his face, was on his way to the academy.

The pain that he had forgotten in those rigorous training returned.

A choking sensation as if his throat was being clogged and his heart was beating fast.

Actually, part of him wanted to return to make sure what Irisdina wanted to say to him, but due to his habits, he needed to go and train to distract himself from the pain.

Two parts of him collided deep in the heart.

Nozomu had no intention of leaving that place, but the pain from the old wounds made him understand that he had to leave.

Lisa wasn't the only one who gave up on him when the rumors broke.

All of them, even those who had been friends with Nozomu, rejected and discarded him without a second thought.

Painful memories flooded back, and he gritted his teeth to hold them back.

At that moment, an unexpected figure entered Nozomu's line of sight.

One man and two women were enjoying lunch under the shade of a tree.

One of them was Nozomu's best friend, Ken Notice.

The other was Camilla Vecknose, a female student with reddish-brown-colored hair that was roughly cut at the shoulders. She was a student who befriended Lisa when she entered this school and was one of Nozomu's friends when they were in their first grade.

"So, how are your year-end exam preparations going?"

"I don't think there will be any problem. Besides, I don't think you need to be too worked up about it..."

And the other one is an attractive-looking female student with her crimson-colored hair tied back.

The moment he saw her, Nozomu's chest throbbed.

She is Lisa Hounds, the woman who had attracted Nozomu's affection the most in his life. There was self-confidence in her charming eyes.

Usually, Nozomu would have turned away the moment he saw her. But he was so perturbed by Irisdina's words that he was too late to notice her.

"Ah..."

Lisa's eyes caught Nozomu's figure standing there, her eyes widened and then filled with the color of resentment and anger.

Due to the sudden change in Lisa's expression, Ken and Camilla followed her gaze and then noticed Nozomu. Camilla's eyes widened and turned into the color of resentment, just like Lisa's. And Ken's eyes widened in surprise as well.

"...... It's been a while, Nozomu."

Ken was the first to greet him.

He had a smile on his face, but it was somewhat tinged with nervousness.

Nozomu also subconsciously closed himself off in front of his former best friend.

He was the one who Lisa had started dating with after she broke up with Nozomu. Nozomu tried to maintain his composure, but his heart just won't stop pounding.

"Y-, yeah... It's been a while, both of you too..."

"Don't talk to me like we're close. Or rather, why are you still attending this school?"

Camilla, on the other hand, looked at Nozomu with a gaze filled with disgust and spat out words of contempt at him.

She was one of the people who had rejected Nozomu the most when rumors about him began to spread.

Nozomu, intimidated by her hostility, turned his attention to the woman he cared about the most.

"... What do you want?"

Lisa's cold, devoid-of-color eyes glared at Nozomu.

The depth of his chest was creaking. A feeling of suffocation struck Nozomu, as if his throat was chained shut, and he was unable to speak.

When the rumors first began to spread, Nozomu tried many times to convince her of his innocence, but she and others around him rejected him. However, his heart gradually froze due to the repeated rejection by her and others around him, and before long, he was unable to even raise his voice.

And in the end, his desire to clear up the misunderstanding was bound by the chains of resignation and aversion to the pain, which seeped deep into his heart.

However, Irisdina's earlier words inadvertently made those chains loosen a little. Even though a resistance appeared when the lid of his subconsciousness was about to be opened. His heart, which was usually swayed by pain and agitation, temporarily shifted in the opposite direction of what it normally did. It was similar to the way a spring that had been subjected to a strong force tried to return to its normal position.

Once again, he wanted to talk to Lisa properly...

"How have you been? Umm-..."

His will to clear things up peeked out slightly from the back of Nozomu's mind.

However, what he finally managed to muster out of his strained throat was something completely different from what Nozomu had intended to say.

The will that peeked out from the surface of the water immediately shrank and sank into the darkness, like a piece of driftwood chained to a weight, leaving a gaping hole deep in his chest.

And with a blank expression on her face, Lisa said something to Nozomu.

"Don't come any closer. I don't want to see your face, so get out of my sight."

Lisa's words, reminiscent of a sharp spear, pierced Nozomu's heart.

His whole body stopped and his thoughts came to a halt. It was as if his senses were disconnected from his whole body. The pain of being crushed was far, far greater than usual because of the desire to clear up the misunderstanding.

In front of the stiffened Nozomu, Lisa quickly turned her face away and stood up.

" If you won't go away, then I'll just go somewhere else."

Just like that, Lisa turned around and walked away.

As Nozomu was staring at her back while being petrified, he suddenly felt a powerful shock in his chest.

"Ugh!"

Nozomu was pushed away and involuntarily fell on his butt. When he looked up, Camilla was looking down at him with a furious and enraged expression.

"There's no way Lisa will ever listen to you after all this time, you traitorous bastard!"

Camilla spat at Nozomu, and then quickly followed after Lisa.

Ken, with a somewhat mixed expression on his face at the sight of Nozomu's slumped figure, turned on his heel without saying a word.

Nozomu was left alone, could only keep his head down, unable to stand up.

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