Going back three hours before——
"Traveling in a train like this, somehow it feels like a trip, doesn't it~"
Kazuki and Mio, both of them wearing their uniform, sat side by side inside the magic light train.
"Don't get too relaxed, okay? The quest will have actual combat you know."
Kazuki made a bitter expression aimed toward the partner who wasn't nervous at all on their first quest.
Though having said that, it's not like Kazuki didn't understand what Mio said. Today was the start of Golden Week, it had been one month since he enrolled. The pleasantly warm breeze of the late spring season poured in from the window, repeatedly blowing the nape of their neck.
"Kazuki also shares this mood, right? Waking up early in the morning and making onigiri. What are the ingredients?"
"This is just preparation in case the quest turned out to take a long time, you know!? Canned tuna and salted salmon roe."
"My favorite dish from a long time ago. So you remember!"
Mio's face was bursting with a smile along with a heart mark that came flying toward Kazuki.
That heart mark was sucked into Kazuki's magic dress, the
This ring received the change of the affection levels of other people and had the power to measure them.
In the span of one month since meeting with his former childhood friend, her affection level had thoroughly gone up.
Mio restlessly looked around their surroundings to confirm there were no other passengers.
"Kazu-nii, wake me up when we arrive~"
Mio approached and leaned her head to Kazuki's shoulder.
"Are you intending to sleep before fighting!?" As expected, Kazuki was surprised.
"It's okay, I'm not really sleeping. I just want to do this..."
While saying that, Mio clutched Kazuki's hand by entwining their fingers together. 'gatangoton' Within the vibration of the train's movement, Kazuki stayed silent while feeling the warmth of Mio's body.
Humankind obtained the power of magic and met with the residents of a parallel dimension who were called Diva.
——Thereupon an outbreak of phenomenon called
Tearing off the world, from there the magic power of the parallel world, Distorted WorldAstrum, spilled over. The spilled magic power transformed into the form of Demon Beasts and spirits. Demon Beasts attacked humans, and the surrounding space where the Demon Beasts gathered was polluted by magic power and became the Demon Beasts' soil where humans couldn't live——the Haunted Ground.
The defense organization that protected Japan's public order, the Knight Order, had three main duties, [Defense against the invasion of other country], [Suppression of illegal magician], and [Subjugation of Demon Beasts · liberation of Haunted Ground].
Because of the frequent terror attacks against the Knight Order performed by a group of illegal magicians called [Loki's Einherjar], led by Loki of Norse Mythology, the Knight Order didn't have enough hands to perform their original duty.
To compensate for that, the knight training academy that Hayashizaki Kazuki attended——The National Knight Academy
The students formed parties and challenged the quest in place of the Knight Order.
The Haunted Ground's location was a few minutes walk from the station.
The Haunted Ground's surrounding was covered by a fence, and the civilians were prohibited from entering.
Demon Beasts instinctively attacked humans. However, Demon Beasts couldn't come out into the surrounding space that hadn't been transformed into a Haunted Ground. They mostly took defensive stances and only attacked humans that invaded the Haunted Ground.
Haunted Grounds became the production base of Demon Beasts. It further encroached the surrounding area because of the Demon Beasts' propagation and kept expanding.
Inevitably, the people that originally lived on the soil that became a Haunted Ground were evacuated.
Like this, the longer the Haunted Ground was left alone, the harder it would be to control the situation.
The dispatching of the Knight Order prioritized urban areas at any cost while forest and mountain Haunted Grounds were easily postponed and tend to be distributed as quests for Knight Academy's students.
Kazuki and Mio headed for the gate that served as the only entrance for the Haunted Ground. Old personEx-knight was standing guard at the gate to inspect the people that tried to enter the Haunted Ground.
"We were dispatched from the Knight Academy and came here, please allow us to enter."
"...Cheh, the academy brats huh. Moreover, only two came."
The guard spat out in a whisper and started the processing of Kazuki and Mio's entry.
"Why doesn't the Knight Order come here themselves, they are making light of the refugees here. ...Then I'll do the scan, so let your magic power flow into your Stigma until it shines. Hm? What is this stigma?"
The guard put his hand and scanned the magic light of the stigma at the back of Kazuki's hand with the
Thereupon, the device compared the data that had arrived from the quest counter of the academy, and confirmed that Kazuki and Mio were the appointed people of an official quest.
"You're not a mere swordsman, it became a hot topic some time ago, someone who received an Enigma despite being a man. Although, as expected, your magic power seems to be low compared to the woman huh. Don't overdo yourself to where it becomes a situation where we need to call reinforcements, okay?"
After seeing off Kazuki and Mio, the guard entered the gate's post, Mio pulled her eyelid down and stuck out her tongue.
"What is that, saying things like 'just a student' or 'just a man', making fools of us! When Kazuki and I unite, we are unrivaled! Starting from now is the beginning of the legend of me and Kazuki!!"
"...Mio, saying things like 'unrivaled' or 'legend', however you meant it, only sound like failure flags."
"Why are you saying things like that~!!"
While advancing forward with Mio repeatedly hitting Kazuki, the scenery gradually changed into strange and crooked things. It was a country road that could exist anywhere, but it turned into wetlands filled with moisture, and the surrounding trees' color changed into poisonous colors. The Demon Beasts' presences were starting to drift around in the surroundings.
...And then, three hours later, Mio's flag splendidly became reality.