Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no 'Kokoro'-

Volume 4 Chapter 5.1

Acceleration to Collapse Part 1

After being hospitalized for several days for examinations, Nozomu was finally allowed to go to school today.

"Good grief, I'm finally freed......."

Nozomu breathed a sigh of relief as he walked along the street to the school. Although he was under observation, he had been told to rest and was bored out of his mind during his stay in the hospital.

"But the rumors haven't been completely dispelled yet. What do I do? ......"

Nozomu was able to dispel the rumor that he was weak during the mock combat, but the main issue here was the rumor about him being the worst scumbag who betrayed Lisa. Nozomu believed that the mock combat would have no effect on this one.

"Well, it's no point dwelling over it. At any rate, let's go to the school first."

After arriving at the school, Nozomu headed to his classroom.

It was already the second period. The hallway was deserted, and Nozomu's footsteps were the only sounds echoing in the spacious hallway.

Nozomu looked over to the windows and saw first-year students engaged in basic training.

They were being taught how to swing wooden swords and wield weapons, just as Nozomu and his classmates had done two years earlier.

In his hometown, he himself wielded a wooden sword as part of his training, but here was the first time he learned how to wield it properly.

If one were to look closely, one could see among the sword-wielding students, there were Eldor and others that Nozomu had rescued in the sewers recently.

(Which means, this class is the 1st class of the first grade, huh?......)

Nozomu kept looking at the training grounds with a sideways glance as he proceeded down the corridor. When he passed by the first-grade classrooms, the bell rang to announce the end of the second period.

"Did you understand the lesson just now?"

"No, not at all!"

First graders came out of their classrooms, their voices filled with excitement.

Nozomu is currently at the crossroads that connects the first-grade classrooms and the crossing corridor. Inevitably, the underclassmen coming out of their classrooms would head toward where Nozomu is.

And then Nozomu's eyes met those of one of the girls coming out of the classroom.

"Ah......."

"Hm?"

The female student who saw Nozomu had a surprised expression on her face. Nozomu tilted his head at the strange reaction of a girl he didn't know.

When he looked closely, he saw that the other students who were with her were also looking at him with surprised expressions for some reason.

At first, Nozomu thought the reaction might be because they knew about the bad rumors about him, but he could not detect any negative feelings of contempt or ridicule in their gazes.

At that moment, the female student whose eyes met Nozomu's stepped forward.

"U-Umm. Nozomu Bountis-senpai, right ......?"

"Well, yes.......?"

The girl was looking up at Nozomu while fidgeting and intertwining her fingers in front of her chest.

To a junior who spoke to him with a timid air, Nozomu also replied awkwardly

"Umm, I'd like to ask you something... I heard that you possess Ability Suppression, is that true ......?"

While tilting his head, Nozomu nodded his head slightly. The girl in front of him suddenly smiled widely and leaned forward. Her eyes were shining with a sparkling light of admiration.

"U-Umm! I saw the mock combat the other day!"

"I-I see......."

Nozomu couldn't help but flinch at this underclassman's strangely forceful words.

On the other hand, the excited girl, unaware of his reaction, kept on speaking like a broken dam.

"I was very moved! You can't move well due to your Ability Suppression, and yet you're able to compete with that Jihad-sensei!"

"Well, I wasn't really exchanging direct blows with him, though......"

Unlike Nozomu, whose perceptions tend to deviate in odd angles, the girl in front of him is just an ordinary student with normal perception.

He made Jihad, who was known as a hero, drew his treasured sword and even managed to take one of his arms from him. Combined with her admiration for Nozomu, she perceived him to be as powerful as Jihad.

"I was able to enter this academy, but it didn't go as smoothly as I expected....... There are a lot of students who are much better at magic and Qi-jutsu than I am......"

But suddenly, the girl looks dejected.

It is true that this school attracts many talented students from all over the continent. However, there are many who are hailed as child prodigies in their hometowns but are confronted with reality when they come here. This girl may be one of them.

However, the girl's downcast expression quickly changed, and she once again turned her passionate eyes on Nozomu.

"But! When I saw Nozomu-senpai's appearance at that time, I understood! Even if I can't win by sheer strength, there are so many things I can do! I don't have much talent! I'm also in the tenth class, but I've come to think that it doesn't matter!"

"I-I see......"

Leaving the bewildered Nozomu behind, the girl became even more heated.

Then, with a hint of heartfelt admiration, she suddenly took Nozomu's hand.

"Huh!?"

"I'm rooting for you, Nozomu-senpai! Please do your best!"

"T-Thanks......."

After letting go of his hand and bowing, the girl quickly returned to her friends.

The friends who welcomed the girl back were somewhat squealing, but Nozomu was stunned, unable to follow the situation at all.

"Huh? Something's wrong......"

"Not really. Their reactions are completely normal."

While Nozomu was bewildered by the unprecedented reactions of the people around him, Norn called out to him with a hint of a smile on her face.

"Norn-sensei, what is this all about?"

"While Nozomu-kun was hospitalized, the school was full of talk about you. It's a hot topic, especially among the underclassmen, and they're all very curious about you."

Surprised, Nozomu turned his gaze once again to the corridor in front of the first-grade classrooms and saw many underclassmen peering at him from inside the classrooms and from the corridor.

Of course, they even asked me about the rumors regarding Lisa-kun. Whenever they asked, I told them that the rumors were nonsense and unfounded. The underclassmen haven't been around long enough after hearing the rumors. So, when they saw you fighting so valiantly against Jihad-sensei, they believed you weren't the scumbag they had heard about."

Nozomu's eyes widened at what had transpired while she was resting.

However, what Norn uttered next left him completely speechless.

"But I think, the most significant of all was because of Irisdina and the others."

"Eh?"

"As soon as you collapsed, Irisdina and Shina were the first to rush to your aid, and they desperately tried to save you."

According to Norn, the way the girls, who were admired by everyone and looked up to by teachers, desperately tried to save him touched the underclassmen's hearts.

"Moreover, you helped Eldor and his friends recently, right? It was also significant that they had told the stories of that time to their surrounding schoolmates. After hearing that you actually helped those close to you, everyone realized that you are not the cold-blooded bastard that you are rumored to be."

"So that's how it was......"

They heard about the real Nozomu from Irisdina and the others, from Norn-sensei, and from Eldor and his friends. These things helped to dispel the false image of Nozomu that had been imprinted on the underclassmen.

However, Norn, who had been smiling earlier, suddenly grew gloomy.

"But I'm still skeptical about the third- and fourth-graders who have been enrolled since those rumors started circulating......."

Aside from the first-graders who just enrolled in the school and the second-graders who did not know when the rumors circulated, the students who have heard the rumors for a long time apparently still haven't entirely dispelled the false rumors.

Considering that only a few days have passed since Nozomu and Jihad had their mock combat, it is hardly enough to dispel the rumors that have been circulating for several years.

"No, considering all that has happened, it's enough. Really ...... it's more than enough."

His friends sentiments touched Nozomu's heart as he recalled their struggling efforts.

A sense of fulfillment filled his heart like never before. A smile naturally formed on his lips.

"Alright, I'm heading back to the infirmary. You should go to your classroom as soon as possible. Everyone in your class has been worried about you."

"Yes, thank you very much."

Nozomu watched Norn with gratitude as she turned on her heel and walked away. At that moment, a woman's voice was heard coming from behind him.

"I'm glad you are alright."

"This voice, Camilla......?"

He looked in the direction of the voice, but there was no one there. Even after looking around, he could not see anyone at all. It seemed that the voice was coming from far away.

"Let's have a little chat after school. There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

"......What a coincidence. I also have something I want to talk to you about."

"Good....... See you at the central park then."

†

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