PART 7 : SHADOW COMPANION

 Feodor 's head throbbed.

The slight pain had been there since the night Lakhesh had woken up. It would have been very

bad for him as a rebel and a fugitive if it had interfered with his concentration.

However, now he was much better.

As long as he didn't look in the mirror, as long as he didn't see the guy's face, the pain wouldn't

get worse and it would calm down a bit. He had been practicing it until now, after discovering

it.

From somewhere in the distance came the sound of gunshots spreading out.

The Winged Guard and the spies from the Winged Empire began a match. Although both sides

are on a mission to hunt down Doctor Margomedari , still, they couldn't ignore each other's

presence. If they were found while searching the streets, they will definitely have to fight.

"It's very close, get away from there."

Feodor whispered softly, then took off his glasses and put them in his breast pocket.

He maintained his crouched stance and jumped high, from the roof of the multi-story house to

the opposite roof across the street. She rolled her body to soften the impact of the landing, then

quietly got up and ran. The armed group were following the cyclops. So they weren't alerted to

the acrobatic move that the cyclops could never do.

Next to Feodor , a small figure followed him in silence.

The figure was wearing a black robe on a dark night, the hood was pulled low, and finally, he

even wore a sacrificial mask to hide his true face. Because of this, it was obvious that this

person was staying within his grasp, but it gave him a strange feeling of being chased by an

undead.

...It's too late to think that after spending time with Tiat and Lakhesh .. .

The true undead that wasn't there flashed through his mind, but he immediately got rid of it. As

much as he was worried, as much as he cared, it was time to focus on what was in front of him

and what was around him.

Who was that person? he wondered.

The mere fact that he was her sister's escort was highly suspicious, but she decided to put it

aside for now. In any case, this one was very athletic and although Feodor ran across the

rooftops at a fairly fast pace, this figure managed to keep up without falling too far behind.

"Can you tell me your name?"

There was no answer.

"I guess you don't understand the language here, right?"

The man shook his head, as if he understood.

"What is your relationship with my sister?"

The man still did not respond. Although Feodor considers himself a man of many talents, his

greatest weapon is his tongue. No matter cheating or being cheated, you must be able to speak

the same language. He couldn't smoothly respond to a guy who wasn't even carrying on a

conversation.

... Feodor !

The bitter memory almost returned, and he immediately stopped remembering it.

“... Sword .”

At the moment, he couldn't make out whose voice it was. It sounded like the hoarse voice of a

dying old man, but it did not match the figure and skill of the black-robed man running beside

him.

An idea immediately occurred to him. Spies of a certain race used a weak acid to disguise

themselves. It was something that deliberately caused a slight burn to the throat to change the

voice. He remembered that he had read a book before, he felt that this kind of culture seemed

really harmful to him.

"Please call me... Spada ." The man said with a hoarse voice eroded by acid.

【 Sword 】 . Pseudonyms obvious and easy to understand. That person's official language also

sounded a bit strange, probably because he was afraid of being aware of his origin by tone and

intonation, so he made some changes.

Oh, so that's it.

"You are from the Ailuranthropos race , right?"

"Hey?"

He remembered another fact that he had read somewhere.

It was said that on the border of the floating island No. 90, there is a group of small minorities

who deny civilization and live in seclusion. In their culture, revealing one's identity to outsiders

is tantamount to defiling the soul, and things like appearance, name, and voice are stipulated to

be hidden from them for the rest of their lives.

This... him? Or is it her? In any case, this may be the case with the mysterious figure whose

gender cannot be distinguished.

"...I know, I won't pry too much, after all, it's the rules and I can't do anything about it"

"Eh eh?"

"It's just a feeling, but I probably know where you're from. You should never let anyone outside

of your family know your identity, in case he sees your true face you have to kill yourself right?

Don't worry, I'm not going to just spy on you." for interest".

“Uh... um , huh?”

This person next to him... “ Spada ? ......just radiated a feeling of being slightly overwhelmed,

and then fell silent.

He should have earned the other person's trust a bit, right?

No, as for the results, what his sister's friends thought of him was not a big deal. But since they

were going to live together for now, if only for now, it seemed important to him that they

understood each other to the point that they didn't feel uncomfortable staying together.

"...That."

Spada spoke to him.

“Who is that girl from... just now...?”

"A while ago...". He thought for a moment.

"You mean Lakhesh ?"

"That's what you called her. Is she your fiancée or something?"

What fiancee? The idea seemed too nervous.

"No, we're not in that kind of...relationship. How should I put it? It's something......we have to

make up for, that's all."

"Make up for?"

"I was the one who caused her collapse. I was the one who stained her after she collapsed.

So..."

What the hell was he talking about? Feodor noticed and stopped talking.

“What... about?”

"Nothing...uh"

She kept her steps light and quiet as she ran along the narrow fence. He was about to kick the

small flower pot, but he narrowly dodged it. Reaching a gap in the fence, he leapt into the night

sky.

He almost kicked the sleeping cat. After trying to dodge it, the little boy protested with a

"meow", but lowered his head a little and said: "I'm sorry."

"Are you... a survivor of Elpis ?" The man asked an unexpected question.

Why did he know those things? Feodor wondered for a moment. Then, of course, he

immediately thought of the reason. His sister must have told him.

"Are you going to carry on the Wehrmacht legacy ...?"

He made a snorting sound.

It was a bit difficult to answer when asked again.

"This righteousness must be postponed a little." "

... Because?"

"Because, personally, there is something that I absolutely cannot accept. I want to destroy all of

those guys' plans first..." Feodor lowered his voice and stopped.

He silently hugged Spada who was running from behind, and together they went into the alley

with him.

"Sorry"

He said quietly, moving his eyes to the alley. The small glow from a portable reflector flickered

slightly, and whispered conversations could be heard.

city's self-policing organization is probably on patrol. Regardless of whether the person

questioned was him, who was wanted by the Winged Guard, or Spada , who seemed suspicious

at first glance, there was no way to pass off a "night out" for either situation. It was best to

proceed cautiously.

The light and sound gradually faded and then disappeared.

"Come on"

Perhaps because he was still aware of his surroundings, even if Feodor let go, Spada still clung

to him for the time being. even after he had let go of her hand. Shortly after he slipped away

and moved forward again in silence.

Feodor thought that he was actually a cautious fellow. Perhaps it was because a person like

him had to die just to learn his true identity, so from his back, it could be felt that he was quite

familiar with the life form hidden in the shadows, and was obsessed with it . .

Another thing.

"...?"

Feodor 's hands .

It looked a bit homesick, it looked a bit sad, and for some reason I suddenly wanted to cry - it

was this unnerving heat.

♤♡◇♧

Based on observation from a distance, it appears that there are no patrols in the area. Having

said that, there is no guarantee that there will be no observers at all. The risk of entering

through the main entrance was too great.

He silently jumped from the roof of the mansion next to the window.

Then he gently cut a hole in the glass, picked the lock, and jumped into the room.

Spada followed him effortlessly. Feodor heard the slight sound of clothing brushing from

behind and, at the same time, asked about something he had inadvertently noticed.

"You didn't use magic power, did you?"

He felt the other man's breathing hitch a little.

"You can see it?"

"No, it's not the pulse display type of magic, but it feels that way. Maybe it's because I've been

with someone who can use it for a while and I've developed my intuition."

Spada 's expression remained hidden under his mask, and he was silent for a while.

The expression remained hidden under the mask, and he was silent for a while.

"Only a little."

I see, that was true . Feodor had no doubt about it.

After seeing the overwhelming power used by Tiat and Pannibal , and the inordinate power

displayed by Lakhesh and Apple, it was very easy to tell the difference when looking at a

normal magic user with a rather meager amount of power.

Magic is a trick used by the weaker races to slightly compensate for their weaknesses, as many

in the military say. And in general, there was nothing wrong with that perception. Only the

magic user he knew in... was a slightly different fairy soldier.

"Don't expect too much of..."

"I know."

Feodor didn't want him to be too pushy, so he ended the conversation with a gentle wave of

his hand in the dark.

Margomedari 's house Bromptom was still jumbled and disorderly. After all, no one had come

back to tidy her up, so it was only natural that she was like this.

There was no sign of anyone. It seemed that the interest of the Winged Guard and the empire's

spies were no longer in this mansion. Although it would be possible to leave at least one person

down below to watch over her, but now that they were exchanging shots, everyone should think

that using that method to disperse combat power is the next best option. Putting aside whether

this was the right or wrong judgment, from the point of view of Feodor and other suspicious

characters, it was something that wasn't really appreciated.

Feodor knew where what he was looking for was. There was a small, sturdy box in the first-

floor bedroom closet, and the object was in the compartment at the bottom of the box. He was

glad that he had invaded the mansion from above. If she had come up from the ground floor,

she would have had to climb the stairs, each rung of which was waist-high.

He soon found the room. But it was now that the problems began. Cotton fell from the torn

quilt and a whole pile piled up around her. Several heavy coats had also been slashed from the

back to the waist with a huge tear and then thrown to the ground.

The small boxes also appeared to have been broken open with an ax or something else and

thrown to the ground.

And the content was stuck inside by the inner lid and stayed there.

"It is this?"

He picked it up, but it was too dark to see clearly. Although she considered the risk of doing so,

she checked that the windows and roller shutters were closed, then turned on the lights. The

appearance of the sheet of paper in his hand became very clear.

This is an old photo.

In the center was a cyclops that looked like a small mountain. Then there were two young girls

in military uniforms leaning on her stomach.

... huh?

For a moment, he thought one of the girls looked like a friend.

Collon ... ?

The one that came to mind was the girl who was supposed to be performing military duties on

the 38th Floating Island, a bright and joyful smile on her face.

He blinked to dispel the illusion.

Looking closer, it was obvious that it was someone else. The reason why he thought she looked

so alike was probably because of the way she seemed so happy and smiling. And the hair

looked a bit alike, too. That was all.

The girl in the photo looked to be seventeen or eighteen, whichever way you look at it, she's

older than Collon , fourteen. Also, the photo itself is very old, and the cyclops looked a bit

younger. so it could be assumed that it had been taken at least twenty or thirty years ago.

He turned to the back of the photo, which had the names of the two people written on it. "

Nathania Will Percham " and "Elba Affa Murusmaurea "[Golden Mead]", I had never heard of

these two names. In other words, the two of them were strangers who had nothing to do with

Feodor .

The thieves who got in here probably don't know about them either. That's why the photos were

still here after the thieves had completely destroyed this room.

Anyway, mission accomplished.

The next step is to give it to Margomedari and the job is done. That being said, it was too

boring to do what he had been told. He decided now to make some extra preparations that had

not been explained to him beforehand, and then come back...

"What an incredible... amount of books."

Spada mutter , and looked around again.

It was not the facilities of a public library, but the private house of a man. Besides, it was not a

study or a store, but a room. It wasn't a place for books, and if it was, there would only be a few

books, which would fit with the original concept, but......

. ..In fact, there are many.

Books of all sizes were scattered everywhere, and he thought again.

At first glance, the variety was enormous, but each book was either something Doctor

Margomedari had studied, or related to something he was going to study in the future. A quick

look around you shows your voracious thirst for new knowledge and your intention to keep

looking for it in the future.

Short-lived breeds tend to accumulate their knowledge and experience, living only by

considering the gains and losses of each day. Long-lived breeds, on the other hand, tend to

accumulate in many ways, always living in preparation for tomorrow.

You shouldn't want to die.

He should have been more afraid than the other short-lived races of life coming to an end.

And yet, with such a weak expression, he pretended to accept death.

Feodor 's mood turned sour.

...I can't stand it, everyone is like that.

Suddenly he turned his back on the room, averting his eyes from there .

"Come on."

Spada 's scent reaching him from behind as he moved down the hall.

He took a photograph and returned to the place where Lakhesh and the others were.

A few figures had disappeared from the house.

"Huh? Doctor, are you alone? Where did the others go?"

Lakhesh 's little girl is sleeping... Nygglatho is with her."

Margomedari extended a thick finger and pointed to the next room.

"As for Odette, she's gone elsewhere, I don't know where she is... Does that mean she's the

same now?"

"I don't know", he and his sister had been estranged for about five years. Feodor did not answer

that way, he just said:

"Well... my sister's interest is being elusive..."

"So that's what happened, huh?" Margomedari said and scratched her head. He could accept

that explanation, but it seemed that his sister's behavior when she was a student at the academy

was truly unthinkable.

"What are you going to do now?".

Feodor turned and asked, but Spada had already turned his back and was running down the hall.

It was too late even to say goodbye. She didn't know whether to say she was a true friend of her

sister's or to accept that the ailuranthropos race (presumably) wanted to keep their distance.

As he looked at the person's back, he seemed to be on the verge of remembering something,

and his heart ached.

However, in the end nothing concrete came to mind.

" ... Is the so-called avoidance contagious to those around you?"

"I've never heard of it, but when you say it as familiar, I think that might be the case."

Let's not talk about that, now there are other important things.

"The girl on the right in this photo isn't Collon , is she?" Feodor asked as he handed over the

photo.

"Oh, you mean Nathania ? In fact, she's very similar,"

Margomedari did not hesitate at all, but said with a nostalgic expression.

"Until now, the adult fairies have only lived in the warehouse with little girls. When the two

girls in the photo were still there, they were both active in the City Command. We got along

quite well because they were also regulars at the house of treatment".

It is said that due to factors such as the management system of the fairies in the past, the state of

their use, and especially the very old equipment of the soldiers in charge of support, there were

more cases of injuries than now. Whenever there were injuries, they were sent to a

comprehensive treatment center for treatment.

"The two of them had a very good relationship." Margomedari said a little nostalgic.

"Ah, that doesn't matter. I've done all the tests on Lakhesh "

He obviously changed the subject.

There was nothing Feodor could do to point it out. Because this was the main topic, and it was

the information that Feodor had to know first.

"In conclusion, she is healthy and mentally stable."

Feodor unconsciously looked suspicious, and Margomedari said, as if to remedy the situation:

No, I'm not saying this to reassure you. For now, everything I say is true. The multiple

personalities collapsing have become a mosaic state. It would not have been surprising if the

collapse had accelerated at some point, and that was true. Only, in your case, as long as you can

continue to maintain the status quo, at least nothing urgent will come up that needs to be

resolved in two or three days."

"What does that mean? What is happening to him?"

"There is very little friction between the personalities. This is just my speculation, but there

may be some kind of emotion that acts as a lubricant that permeates the surface of both

consciousnesses."

I really couldn't understand it.

"In a nutshell, um ... how about the saying 'hearts become one'? In their minds, such a

phenomenon is appearing in a literal sense at present. As long as little Lakhesh and her former

life have a shared bond Strong feelings can slow down the speed of mutual reduction of

personalities through this. It's like two people who don't have a good relationship, but have a

common theme and talk about it, and then decide not to hurt each other... While it's not a good

analogy, it is."

"Though I don't know the specific details, but it could be" Margomedari went on to explain in

detail after this. However, Feodor did not listen even half.

An almost certain hypothesis occupied his thoughts.

A feeling as strong as unnatural was now present in his heart... There was only one thing that

occurred to him. Something that had caught by the pupils of his eyes that night. Something that

had nothing to do with what Lakhesh had wanted, something that had been lurking inside him.

Could it be that?

"What's the matter?"

He shook his head intuitively and said nothing.

He felt a vague pain in the back of his head.

He frowned reflexively and pressed his fingertips to his temple; at that moment, a small mirror

placed in a corner of the room appeared.

"........"

On the other side of the mirror was the guy with black hair.

He also placed his fingertips on his temple and looked to this side without saying a word.

There was still that teasing smile on his face. However, her eyes stared at her own pupils in

disbelief.

Be glad to be on the battlefield now, as expected.

The silent look seemed to Feodor to say so.

This is the stage in which they found themselves, a place to resist, destroy and win, and it is

also a space created and consumed for this series of processes. There is emotion, glory, tragedy,

fantasy and reality.

You have wanted to gain power to be in this place, right? Have you ever felt the pain of not

being able to be in this place? Have you ever been sad because you have to send someone

important to this place? If so, it would be your desire, your heart's desire, to keep her alive by

hurting yourself, as you are doing now.

"...Is noisy."

Feodor hurled this complaint at the black-haired man who had been silent the entire time and

then hid his heart under dark glasses.

It didn't sit well with them seeing through him. Even if the other man was nothing more than a

hallucination and the content was even a delusional-like hallucination.