Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no “Kokoro”-

Volume 4 Chapter 3.1

Rampage at the Martial Arts Garden Part 1

Translator : PolterGlast

When did I fall in love with him? Maybe it was since that time .......

"Nozomu, Ken, come quick~~! If you don't hurry, Musil will take over that place!"

"Hold on a sec, Lisa! Ken's not here yet!"

"Haa, haa, haa...... don't worry, he'll catch up to us later......"

During my days in the Oire village, I would always race out with Nozomu and Ken after a day's farm work.

Ken is a friend of Nozomu's. His family is also a farmer, but unlike Nozomu, he has a large family with seven siblings. However, he himself is a man of few words, and I remember that he seemed quiet when I first met him.

Our goal is to reach a single pine tree on top of a small hill surrounding the village. It is a playground for the children of the village, where they can play for a short while after the day's work is done and before the sun sets.

Like the adults, the children have their own factions and clash over the best place to play.

Under such circumstances, rules are naturally formed. That is the race to reach the single pine tree. The first child to get to the top of the hill after the day's work is done gets to play there until the sun goes down.

"Yay, we're the first!"

"No, we're not. There's someone else up there."

Unfortunately, there was another kid that day. Behind a lone pine tree, a girl with freckles on her cheeks was hiding there.

"Hey, isn't that Mehilya, what are you doing?"

"Well, umm ...... I was drawing a picture."

At the feet of the shy Mehilya was a picture of the Oire village landscape as seen from the top of this hill.

Roofs of houses illuminated by the sun, wheat fields just beginning to sprout, and horses, of which there are only a few in the village, grazing on the side roads of the fields with their carts loaded with goods. The landscape drawing on the ground in only shades of brown seemed as if it were cut directly from the landscape that I saw, as if it were about to start moving.

"Amazing ....... I didn't know you could draw such a great drawing!"

"I'm a little, embarrassed ......."

Mehilya's freckled cheeks flushed red. I don't think there's any need to be embarrassed.

In fact, both Nozomu's and Ken’s eyes lit up when they saw her drawing.

"Tsk, you beat me to it ......."

Right at that moment, a disturbing voice drifted over the hillside. I turned back toward the path leading to the village and saw five children, led by a tall, chubby boy. It's Musil, the village's brat general who gets tangled up with me in all sorts of ways.

He looks displeased, as if he is disappointed that we were the first to arrive.

"Right. Why don't you guys just go home?"

"Who decided that!? I never said we would leave, did I!?"

I frowned at Musil's words. Up until now, if we were ahead of them, Musil and the others would back off, even though they were swearing at us. But today, they were different. Their smirking, condescending stares irked me.

"This is our village and this playground is also ours! We don't need to listen to an outsider!"

"The heck, your name is not even written anywhere in this place. Besides, Mehilya was the first to arrive here. You're not even number two, and you're not wanted here!"

"Shut up! I don't give a damn!"

The furious Musil suddenly shouted out loud and glared at Mehilya, who was hiding behind a tree.

As her shoulders shook with fear, Musil came up to her and kicked the drawing on the ground. The lively horses were scraped off, and the scattered dirt crushed the houses projected on the ground.

"Wait! What are you doing!?"

"Shut up, shut up! Don't tell me what to do! You parentless c*nt!"

"~!"

Parentless. Hearing this word, my eyes widened involuntarily. The image of my father's face as he died flashed back into my mind.

I felt a gouging sensation deep within my chest, suffocation, and my vision narrowed.

"What now outsider, can't you even talk back? Then, if you understand, get the hell out of here!"

"Kya......!"

Musil, with a triumphant look on his face, shoved me away forcefully. I staggered and fell backward. With the impact, my whole body felt as if I had been stabbed with a needle, and I involuntarily burst into tears.

"U-Ugh ......!"

It hurts......! The sense of loss that I had forgotten since I came to this village resurfaced, and the ripples peeled the crusts of my heart away. The pain that ran through me, the words that were directed at me, made my heart ache and tighten.

*Crack, crack*...... cracks running all over my body, and my whole body turned cold. And just when my heart, completely frozen, was about to shatter.......

"Motherf*cker!"

Nozomu shouted loudly and pounced toward Musil and the others. He grabbed Musil by the chest and pushed him down with all his might.

"A......"

The malice directed at me subsides, and I involuntarily let out a stunned voice. My frozen heart ....... started throbbing.

At that moment, Ken also charged at Musil. The two of them pushed the general to the ground and began to hit him as hard as they could.

"Bwah, bastard!"

"Apologize to Lisa!"

Musil also fought back against the shock and dull pain on his face, but Nozomu and Ken did not stop.

But after they swung a few fists, the cronies came to their senses and rushed to Nozomu and Ken. Nozomu and Ken were able to make a few bruises on the faces of the cronies, but they were eventually outnumbered and pulled away from Musil.

"H-How dare you ......."

With the help of his cronies, Musil stood up unsteadily. He walked over to Nozomu and Ken, his face red with anger at being hit, determined to repay the blow several times over.

The two were restrained by his cronies and were unable to move. But they were unfazed and glared back at Musil.

Lisa's heart, which had been at a standstill, flared up again at the sight of them.

"That's enough ...... you orc-nose!"

"Bbuh!"

Leaping from a dash, I slammed an all-out dropkick into Musil's face. The brat general fell down on his back, his nose bleeding.

"...... Orc-nose, she says."

"Well, that face and nostrils are so broad, both vertically and horizontally, just like an orc's."

After that, a silly quarrel between the three of us against the five of them ensued.

"Haa, haha, i-it's getting late today, so we're going home! We can't deal with this persistent viper woman!"

Musil was the one who raised his voice. He left with a tired, slurred speech and a sigh of defeat.

Eat that! I've been traveling with my father and mother, and if I really wanted to, this is what I'd do!

"Haa, haa, come back here! You orc-nose!"

"L-Lisa, y-you're still in good spirits, huh......"

"Right. We can't move anymore, how can you be so energetic......?"

I was standing at my feet with my fists clenched toward the sky, and the exhausted Nozomu and Ken were saying such things to me. Hey, you need to get a grip. Especially you, Nozomu! Where's the energy you had earlier when you pounced on Musil?

"Hm? What is it, Lisa? Is something wrong?"

"I-It's nothing!"

With a dumbfounded expression, Nozomu, who was looking right up at me, tilted his head. His gesture and gaze made my cheeks heat up, and my heart started to race. My whole body trembled, and my throat rapidly became dry.

I wonder what's going on. I want to look away. I can't look at him squarely in the face.

But if I do, I'm afraid he'll look at me strangely.

"U-Umm. Thank you......."

"Huh? Ah, don't worry about it! I couldn't stand it either! And if he does anything weird again, just tell me. I'll make sure he's gonna get his ass kicked!"

While I was intensely flustered by a sensation I had never felt before, Mehilya, who had been hiding behind a tree, came out to talk to me. Happily, I turn to her. Incidentally, to cover up my embarrassment, I made a fist bump gesture.

Mehilya smiled and gave a small nod, perhaps thinking my action was funny, and went back to the village.

"It's getting late......"

As Nozomu muttered to himself, he turned his eyes to the western sky. The sky was already tinged with red and the sun was about to set behind the mountains. As expected, there would be no time to play now.

"It can't be helped then. Let's go home for today."

Hearing Ken urging me to return home, Nozomu nodded.

But I didn't hear their voices. I look up at the sunset sky in a daze.

"Lisa?"

"...... Sigh. Hey, am I still an outsider after all?"

"Huh?"

Musil's [parentless] word, and my father's dead face that I remembered, naturally made my expression cloud over.

I found myself saying those words to both of them.

"My father. He was an adventurer and took me to many places. The water lake city of Abrues, the capital of Garsam, and so on......."

As I looked at the village spread out below me, the memories of my father's adventures naturally flowed out of my mouth.

The Oire village is a peaceful place. A peaceful life that I could not have imagined when I was traveling. But as an outsider, I can't help but feel a sense of a gap.

"I really had fun when I was traveling. Although there were times when I couldn't eat a full meal, I was still able to see so many sparkling things."

Sandy beaches shine like the light of stars that have fallen to the ground, and plains that stretch on forever. The wide variety of people gathering in the cities.

At that time, everything seemed new and shining.

Certainly, as adventurers, our income was not stable, and there were days when we felt cold.

Even so, both Mom and Dad were always smiling, and every day was a time of true happiness.

"But after Dad died, Mom couldn't feed us by herself anymore ...... That's why we came to this village."

The death of my father, an adventurer and someone I depended on more than anyone else.

It was just around the time when the movements of the demonic beasts became more active and anxiety about the invasion began to rise again in various places. Naturally, everyone was preparing for the re-emergence of the Great Invasion.

People's hearts and minds gradually began to wither in the face of the spreading and growing anxiety, and the economy, people's minds, and everything else began to be pulled in a negative direction. At such a time, my mother could not go on an adventure with me and my newborn sister in her arms. That was why she decided to return to her hometown.

"We are certainly not in any danger here. I can always sleep in a warm bed, and I don't have to freeze in the cold. But......"

The Oire village was hardly affected by the Great Invasion. No houses were destroyed by demonic beasts, nor were they attacked by people who fell to banditry. Although there was some crop failure, we did not suffer from famine to the point of starvation.

But something is missing. I always get the feeling that there is a small hole in my heart and my passion is draining out of me. I clasp my hands tightly over my chest to plug the hole.

"Lisa, do you want to be like your father?"

I nod in response to Nozomu's words.

I remember the warmth of my father's hand, that great warmth that I felt when I could not sleep because I was afraid of the darkness of the night or the howling of demonic beasts during the journey. That heat continues to smolder in the depths of my body, along with the numerous landscapes my father had shown me during our journey.

"...... It'll be all right, Lisa. Once you grow up, it won't be a problem. You can go on a journey, and I'm sure your mother won't be opposed to you becoming an adventurer like your father was."

"That's right. Since your mother was also an adventurer, I don't think she would be opposed to it."

Nozomu and Ken responded optimistically and without logic, as children often do. I know their words are groundless, but for me at least, what I needed right then was not a clear reason, but someone to push me forward.

"Yes, that's right. I can be. Like my dad......"

The spark of longing for the past that had remained in the depths of my heart was ignited by the approval of my childhood friends.

"Yep, I've made up my mind. I will become an adventurer!"

That was the moment I decided to become an adventurer.

I wanted to see that scene I had once seen. Perhaps, if I became an adventurer, I might be able to experience something even more exciting than that.

I have nothing to hide anymore. Even if I had no reason or rationale for it, the desire was already lying deep in my heart.

"My father once told me. He said that people from all over the world are gathering together to build a big city. In that city, they are building a big school where you can study things you don't know on the whole continent!

From that moment on, I decided to go to the Soluminati Academy and to study for it.

Once again, I looked back at Nozomu and Ken.

"Nozomu, thank you."

"N-No. I'm glad I could help."

When I thanked Nozomu for making me aware of my dream, for some reason he blushed and his voice trembled.

He seemed nervous. But for some reason, I am also feeling nervous in my chest.

I was embarrassed to make eye contact with him. That had never happened to me before.

To cover up my embarrassment, I turned my attention to Ken, who was standing next to Nozomu.

"Ken, thanks for helping me out, too."

"U-Un......"

Ken was also somewhat awkward, but compared to Nozomu, I felt much more at ease talking to him.

Apparently, the embarrassment was only applies to Nozomu.

"W-Well, it's late, let's go home now."

My heart was beating quietly, but strongly. Sweet and sour feelings kept welling up. The three of us started our way home, raising our voices to cover it up.

And at the same time, I became conscious of the man who made me aware of my dream.

?

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