Chapter 2.7

Within a few days of reconciling with Mars, Nozomu's treatment in the class had changed considerably.

Mars, who hated Nozomu the most, began to talk to him a lot.

Students in the 10th class are basically treated as drop out by students in any other class. It is the harmful effect of Solminati Academy, which advocates a complete meritocracy.

Their outlet, which was treated as such a dropout, was Nozomu, the lowest rank in all grades.

However, in the 10th class, when Mars, who was in the upper grade, talked to Nozomu, those who had been cursing Nozomu could not get out of hand, and as a result, they took a stance not to get involved with Nozomu.

Mars has also become more distant from his entourage and has always teamed up with Nozomu in his practical lessons.

Inevitably, Nozomu spends more of his time with Mars ………….

"I'm so happy~~! Nozomu-kun and Mars-kun are getting along with each other ~~~~ !!"

The infirmary at noon.

Nozomu was abducted by Anri-sensei today and had lunch together in the infirmary. By the way, Mars, who was beside him, was one of her targets, so he was captured in the same way.

Anri-sensei's tension is in a climax state from the beginning, and she is sprinkling the happy atmosphere around her more than ever.

"Oh, thank you …………"

Nozomu is a little drawn to Anri-sensei's overwhelming tension, but he knows she's genuinely happy, so he's honestly grateful for her feelings.

"…………Hmm"

Mars is eating his lunch lazily.

"Now now. I'm happy with Anri. Nozomu-kun and Mars-kun became friends. Anri was concerned not only with Nozomu but also with Mars."

"What does that mean?"

"Anri said Mars was a clumsy but kind child."

"After all ~~~. Mars-kun. You reassessed Nozomu-kun at the end of the second year and reflected on what you did to Nozomu-kun right~~~?"

“………………”

"Such a child cannot be a bad child ~~."

There is a smile on Anri-sensei's face, and she guessed right what Mars was thinking about decisively. Mars is so surprised about this.

Well, if he always sees her sloppy atmosphere, it's hard to notice that she's actually a sharp person.

Nozomu had previously been noticed and pointed out by her to some extent. The confrontation between Nozomu and Shino at the end of the second year and the changes that had occurred in Nozomu.

That is why Nozomu was not as surprised as Mars, about Anri-sensei who pointed out the change in Mars's mind.

“………………”

Mars turned away, but his face was red and it was clear that he was shy.

"Fufu .... By the way, Nozomu-kun, what are you making right now?"

Norn-sensei finished lunch early and spoke to Nozomu who was doing something on her desk.

Nozomu took out a set of crafting tools on the desk and made something.

"This? It's a birthday present for a friend."

"Hee! Is that so? Who will you give it to?

Norn is a little surprised because she thought that Mars was the only friend of Nozomu at the school, and she was also interested in what Nozomu was making.

"I'll give it to an Ecross student I met the other day. I can't tell you what it is, because the first should know about the gift is the child."

Nozomu thought that it was not necessary to hide Somia, aside from the presents he was making, so when he talked about his encounters with her, Norn-sensei and Henri-sensei were very surprised.

"Hee! I didn't think Nozomu-kun would even get acquainted with the daughter of the Francilt family."

"What made you so surprised?" 

It seems that Mars doesn't understand very well, but the Francilt family is one of the Aristocrats who have existed since the founding of the great power of Forsina in the western part of the continent.

In addition, the Country of Forsina quickly dispatched an army to a group of demon beasts during the great invasion 10 years ago, and that army became the core of the later formed Allied forces and repelled the great invasion. It became a big driving force.

It is also the country that has proposed the establishment of the Solminati Academy to every country, and its existence is huge on this continent.

Most human beings have nothing to do with such well-known families. Especially getting acquainted with the daughter of such a family.

"I only knew she was a Francilt family member recently, even though I knew her and met her, I didn't know she was such a famous family member. Well, I don't really mind it. But she seemed a little worried about what she was hiding. "

Nozomu continues to say something while moving his hands.

"Isn't it reasonable considering her upbringing?"

Well, a well-known family may have its own worries.

When Norn sees Nozomu's face while she is working, his expression has a slight smile on his face.

(Un, It's okay with this) 

Perhaps, thinking about giving a present to the other party, it is unavoidable to feel happy. When She saw Nozomu, she became happy, and naturally, a smile blooms on her face. 

***

After school, Nozomu and Mars are heading to the outskirts of the city. After reconciling, the two had been arranging bouts there about once every two days after school.

"In the end, I couldn't beat Mars before ... As expected of the current me, I'm not strong enough to deal with you ..."

“…………………………..”

As the result of the bout, Mars has a higher winning percentage so far. Nozomu one step behind Mars because he didn't use attacking techniques such as "Phantom", so he lacks the deciding factor.

Nozomu's attacking technique with Qi still has a high killing ability.

This technique is to surely kill the opponent by efficiently using less energy. It was necessary for him to survive because he had exchanged lives with the demon beast in the forest.

However, when it comes to school life and mock battles, the story is different, and these techniques with high killing ability must be adjusted.

But, since Nozomu does not have a lot of Qi, it is inevitable to reduce the density of the Qi used in the technique in order to adjust it. Thus, the technique used would become an inadequate technique for killing opponents.

If the density is lowered, it would not be powerful enough to kill the opponent.

Although his Qi has improved a little, the effect of Nozomu's ability Suppression is great, and the effect of auxiliary Qi techniques such as physical strengthening and quick move is low, so it is still insufficient to deal with a person as strong as Mars.

“……….. Still, it's strange when you have beaten me several times.....”

"Is that so?" 

Mars murmured against Nozomu's remark, but Nozomu's reaction to it was plain.

Using common sense, there is no element that Nozomu can beat Mars on a one-on-one basis.

The difference in physical ability and Qi between Nozomu and Mars is clear, and since Nozomu has almost no magical power, he cannot rely on magic.

Even so, when he beats Mars, who was supposed to be in the upper class to some extent, it just shows how high-level his swordsmanship is in the school.

However, Nozomu is not aware of it.

The standard of swordsmanship for Nozomu is his master, Shino.

This is because most of the people he has dealt with so far have been her.

This is due to the narrow friendships of Nozomu so far, and it would have been a little different if there were any friends at the school who could help him.

If such a monster-like talented person became the standard, it would not be possible to accurately measure the position of one's own ability compared to the surroundings.

In addition, Nozomu himself underestimated his own ability.

This is due to his Ability Suppression and the results of mock battle so far. Due to the influence of his Ability Suppression, he always loses power in combat and rarely wins in mock battles.

For this reason, Nozomu is in a state of "getting used to losing". 

***

Mars's POV

(This guy, what are you saying even though you have sealed such a vicious technique !!!)

To be honest, Mars had been shown Nozomu's Qi technique "Phantom" only once, but when he saw it, he was terrified and trembling.

The released air blade passed in front of Mars in a blink of an eye and cut off the target big boulder without difficulty.

Incredibly compressed and sharpened blade. The flight speed was extremely high, and Mars could not even see the afterimage of the blade that passed in front of him. And the control power that took only about half a second to make such a blade.

If that blade was fired at him, he would be cut off along with his defense without being able to dodge at that point.

(Hmm ... I think my loss at that time was definitely confirmed)

Mars remembered at the end of the second year when he was cornered by the man in front of him, but if it was this technique that was released at that time, he would not have been in the world.

***

(Well, I can't use it during such a practical lesson)

When Nozomu was convinced that he had never used the attacking technique until now, three girls walked from the front. When one of them saw Nozomu, she waved at him.

Nozomu also waved back, and the three came at him.

"Good afternoon! Nozomu-san"

"Good afternoon, Somia-chan. You're with your sister today."

"Yaa, Good afternoon Nozomu. Long time no see ..... it's not that long yet though"

"Go, good afternoon............"

It was Irisdina, Somia, and Tima who came.

Maybe Tima isn't good at this, as usual, she's a little meek.

"Come on, Tima. You have something to say to Nozomu right?"

"U, un"

"???"

Prompted by Irisdina, Tima stood in front of Nozomu. Looks like, there is something she wants from Nozomu.

"A, ano! I'm sorry when I was in the infirmary!"

“…… Eh? What are you talking about?”

"Well, I'm rude to Nozomu, because I've heard it..., I've heard ... rumors, "

She said so and dropped her shoulders. She was so depressed that it looked bad. She must have been very concerned about that time.

"I'm sorry, Nozomu-kun. Tima is a little weak on men. She held back a little because she heard your rumors."

"... Ah! About that time? It's okay. She has already apologizing now, and if she was listening to my rumors, it's reasonable ..." 

Certainly, if they are listening to Nozomu's rumors, it makes sense.

At the time he was dating one of the leading female students in his grade, no one had a good impression of him when they heard rumors that he had an affair.

When he heard Tima's story, Nozomu's chest hurts.

(………… As I thought …… It’s painful …………)

He made friends and felt less hurt than before, but when he remembered it suddenly, the pain eroded Nozomu's heart.

(......... I'm still running away as expected .... Every time I remember Lisa .....)

Nozomu has not overcome his broken heart with Lisa and he had been despised so far. As he met Somia and Irisdina, reconciled with Mars, and formed new relationships, naturally, he only had less chance to remember.

"Ano. Nozomu-san. Who is this person?"

Nozomu was silent, but Somia noticed Mars next to Nozomu and asked.

"Aa, this is Mars. My classmate."

With Nozomu's introduction, the three of them looked at Mars, but Mars still staring at Irisdina and others in a Buddhist style.

"…………What is it"

"Hiu"

Tima screams a little at Mars's intimidation, but Mars may not like it, and his gaze becomes even tighter.

Tima is even more frightened by Mars's facial expression, but Mars's facial expression becomes even harder, and Tima sees that facial expression caused a vicious cycle of further atrophy.

"Calm down Mars. What's wrong?"

“…………It's nothing ……”

Mars answered Nozomu's question as if nothing had happened, but in fact, he didn't like Tima's frightened attitude.

She is an A-ranked student above Mars's B-ranked, which can only be given to those who are more powerful than Mars. She is a rare person in the school.

However, her appearance of being frightened by him was unacceptable to Mars, who believes in her strength.

But, Tima doesn't know Mars's belief. For her. Mars had a good physique and known for his badness, was more of a horror than a demon beast.

"Oh, that's right. It's about Somia's birthday party, but I wanted Nozomu-kun to come if possible ..."

When an unpleasant air was about to flow between Mars and Tima, Irisdina shook the topic of Somia's birthday party to Nozomu in order to change the atmosphere of the place, and Nozomu responded to it.

"Um. Is that okay? If it's a birthday party for the daughter of the Francilt family, famous people will come from all over the place. Can we go to such a place?"

The Francilt family is a well-known family on the continent of Arcmeal. When it comes to the birthday party of the young lady in such a place, the prominent figure of every country will come.

Nozomu found it a shame to join them, who were only one student. What's more, there were rumors that he wasn't good at Solminati Academy. But Irisdina said she didn't care about it at all.

"It doesn't matter. I was planning to hold this birthday party only with my relatives. And Nozomu-kun is a friend of Somia right? No problem."

Irisdina laughed and blew away Nozomu's worries as if it had nothing to do with her. She had no lies or fabrication in her expression, and she really thought so and decided to do so.

Nozomu decided to join in her smile.

"... I understand. I will participate."

"I see! I'm glad. Somia too, look forward to it."

"Yes! Nozomu-san told me that he would prepare a present!"

With her big smile, she spread her hands all the way, and her arm ornaments clinked.

Irisdina and Somia smiled with satisfaction, confirmed the date and place of the birthday party, and broke up on that day.

***

Nozomu's POV

On the way back, Mars and I were walking and looking back on the previous thing.

"What about Mars? Will you participate?"

"... I was invited. I'll just participate."

Mars was also invited by Irisdina-san. She also invited him because he is my friend.

"Even so, you were poking at Tima-san for a long time."

Mars's attitude towards Tima-san was clearly strange. He tends to be emotional, but his attitude towards her was close to his previous one towards me.

"......... That girl is the most frustrating. Even though she's strong, why is she so scared to that extent ..."

"... Only the person herself knows what she is so scared of. You don't know about her right..."

“…………”

Only the person knows what is painful the person. What painful for her is different from Mars's, but Mars's expression remained stiff, and his face remained until he eventually arrived at Ushitotei.

***

Iris's POV

"... Tima, are you okay?"

"…………Yup……"

I comforted my best friend, but her expression was not good.

Tima was born with high magical power and was therefore shunned by the people around her. She wasn't treated very well, especially by boys of her age.

Also, her appearance seemed to have been good since her childhood. Therefore, she continued to be exposed to various gazes from many.

Envy, awe, jealousy, and hatred.

For her, who still couldn't handle her own magical powers, those gazes were the most psychological burden.

As a result, she became strongly uncomfortable with the gazes, especially men, and her emotional instability directly led to her lack of magical control.

Her magical power is more than anyone else, but she just can't control it.

"Well, about Nozomu, he doesn't seem to mind, but he ... Mars. He'll do something about that too."

"That's right! He is Nozomu-san's friend, and I'm sure it's going to be okay!"

"... Un... I'm sorry Ai, Somia-chan ..."

"Tima, I'd be happy if you could thank us instead."

"That's right! "thank you" in such a case!"

I feel a little playful, Somia answers with a full smile.

"... Un, thank you, both of you."

Tima's face smiled in response to me and Somia. In the end, her expression never really cleared up, and we had no choice but to arrive on our way home.