Longing for the Stars - Chapter 19

The operation was carried out the following afternoon, exactly as planned.

The squad changes had been announced in advance, so there was no confusion about Sirius and me being separated; I believe it went quite smoothly. For the record, I was the one who moved, while Sirius remained in his original squad.

He was clearly dissatisfied that he wasn’t part of the group moving, but I sat him down and spoke to him earnestly, explaining that given the scale of the operation, this was already a massive compromise. As a result, I couldn’t help but feel like I saw invisible ears and a tail drooping, but I figured that would sort itself out. I spent the morning training with my newly assigned squad, and now, I was walking through the Forest of Viz.

“Man, the Captain really went for it, separating Louvre and Stark for such a big operation.”

At the sound of that drawn-out voice, I shifted my focus from the forest back to the front of the line.

In place of my usual squad leader was a lanky man with sleepy-looking eyes. His gaze was fixed forward, but his attention was on me. If taken literally, his words could have been seen as a jab, but his tone was so indifferent it felt more like he just “didn’t really care either way.”

“Actually, moving Stark instead of Louvre was a brilliant move. No matter how much ‘experience’ someone has, having that one outlier mixed in is just too much to handle. I mean, I was at the academy at the same time as you guys, but I only knew the rumors. Seeing the real thing after coming here totally blew my mind. Has Louvre always been like that?”

“Compared to how he used to be, I feel like he’s actually mellowed out quite a bit…”

Yard was the one who answered with a light laugh.

Today, I had been assigned to the same squad as Yard. Since I had only ever paired up with Sirius until now, I wasn’t without some anxiety regarding this change, but I wasn’t nervous.

I have plenty of confidence in my ability to adapt to others.

“What?! That’s him mellowed out? Then what on earth was your academy life like, seriously?”

This time, the question was clearly directed at me. I looked up, thinking it over.

“In my academy life, Sirius was always next to me or in my line of sight. He was always within arm’s reach.”

“Yikes…”

Total cringe.

I could tell that four of the seniors in our six-man cell were looking at me and thinking that from the bottom of their hearts.

“It was normal to me, so I didn’t think anything of it.”

“Whoa… Yard, is he serious?”

“Unfortunately… At one point, Stark was even hand-feeding him. He threw a fit saying he couldn’t do two-man cells with anyone but Stark, and when rooms were being assigned, he begged the instructor until the poor guy was on the verge of a nervous breakdown because he refused to be anywhere but with Stark…”

“Wait, I didn’t know about the room assignment thing.”

“Ah.”

“Wow, a truth revealed after all these years. That’s intense.”

We kept walking, the sound of dry laughter echoing.

I could tell from their sharpened magic that even while chatting, they hadn’t neglected their surroundings for a second. It reaffirmed that there were only elite people here.

“Well, Louvre’s biggest strength is that even when he does whatever he wants, you somehow end up forgiving him. It’s not exactly charisma, but how do I put it? It makes you feel like you’re watching a younger brother. Though I’d personally turn down a brother like that in a heartbeat.”

“He’s quite a handful,” the squad leader muttered as he came to a halt.

Following his lead, everyone stopped, and a wave of tension took over.

“Well, since it’s a rare chance, I’d love to get closer to Stark—since he’s usually too guarded to approach—but let’s save that for after we kill some monsters.”

Despite his slow, easygoing tone, everyone nodded at the hidden sharpness in his voice.

I could sense the ripples of magic along with sounds from various parts of the forest. Sirius’s magic was mixed in there as well. For a moment, I hoped he was doing alright, but then I shook my head to discard the thought.

I don’t have the luxury of worrying about others. Besides, for some reason, I have a baseless confidence that that idiot will be just fine.

I gave a short reply to the squad leader’s instructions and began moving as soon as the signal was given.

There were moments where we had to pause and assess the situation, but once it was clear there were no issues with our coordination, the extermination of the monsters proceeded smoothly.

“Hmm, about fifty-fifty, I’d say.”

Once we had finished dealing with a fair number of monsters, a relaxed voice rang out.

“Should we take that to mean there are fewer than expected, or the opposite? What do you guys think?”

“Hmm, I think there are few.”

“I agree. It’s been quite a few days since the last operation, yet there are surprisingly few parasitized individuals. My only concern is—”

“That there might still be a source of the parasites somewhere, like before. The Captain mentioned that, too.”

“There were no trees fitting that description on the path we took to get here. …The main issue is that the monsters themselves are so mysterious that everything remains unclear.”

“But the ‘infectivity,’ or whatever you call it, seems relatively low. If they can only parasitize something by having it eat a fallen fruit, then even for the monsters, it’s mostly down to luck.”

“True, it’s quite inefficient. Though, honestly, I’d be in trouble if they started parasitizing us actively…!”

“That’s for sure.”

The Forest of Viz remained dim, with no light breaking through. It was undoubtedly a clear day, and even though it was midday, the forest felt eerily like a place of eternal night. I looked down at the spot where a monster had turned to ash and vanished. I heard voices talking about moving forward and looked back, just as Yard let out a small “Ah.”

“What is it?!”

“Aha! I can’t see a thing, but is someone going all out over there?”

Thump. The ground shook.

It wasn’t that the physical ground had trembled. The air had vibrated from a massive surge of magic.

I thought it felt familiar.

It was like the magic that had created the pillar of white fire reaching for the heavens just before Sirius was badly injured.

“It’s Sirius.”

Before I knew it, his name had escaped my lips.

“He’s probably the only one who can use such flashy magic. He really is an outlier. Usually, firing off that much magic just ends in an explosion, but he can control it perfectly as a technique. Honestly, having that much mana makes no sense. I bet Louvre broke every window in the academy when he was a kid.”

“Is there a window he didn’t break?”

“Bwahaha! That’s hilarious!”

I let out a small laugh at the sight of the squad leader doubling over with laughter, but then he suddenly stopped moving. He stared at me as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. I felt like I had seen this reaction before.

“…So Stark’s facial muscles do work…”

“? Well, yes.”

“Wait, hey Yard. Is this also a first?”

“…Unfortunately…”

“Whoa…”

Total cringe. The same atmosphere from a few minutes ago returned, and I tilted my head.

“…This looks like fun, so I’m going to annoy Louvre once the operation is over. Alright, alright, back to business—since the monsters aren’t that strong and there aren’t many of them, we’re changing tactics. We’re switching to two-man cells. Yard, you pair up with Stark. The rest of you, as usual. If you find a host tree, report it immediately via the comms. Everyone advance toward the border, and if there are no problems, report that too. Got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, good. Then disperse for now! See you later.”

His tone was relaxed, but his instructions were efficient. I was a few seconds late to react to the sudden change in pace. I replied along with the others and watched them split up with practiced ease. Just as I was thinking that this was normal for this squad, I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

“You okay?”

“…Yeah. I guess when the squad changes, your split-second judgments naturally have to change too. I’m counting on you, Yard.”

“Haha, the squad leader is pretty free-spirited. I’ll do my best not to hold you back, Stark.”

“That’s my line.”

I held out a fist for another “looking forward to working with you,” and Yard blinked. Once he understood, a smile spread across his freckled cheeks, and he lightly bumped my fist with his.

“Yeah. Let’s do this.”