yuki yuna1

Chapter 1 - As if dead flowers could bloom

Chapter 1 - As if dead flowers could bloom

Divine era, 300, autumn.

On the top of a towering wall rising over the sea, girls have gathered. Their number, 32. All of them were pure middle schoolers. Other than the girls, there were a masked priestess in white robes and a miko, still young.

The wall they were standing upon was made up of plant matter, and encircled the entirety of Shikoku. It was known as "the barrier", protecting the small ark carrying humanity.

Kusunoki Mebuki, the commander standing in their midst, gave an order: "All hands, ready for battle!"

At her command, all girls took out their smartphones and launched an application. Their bodies changes.

The clothes they were wearing were instantly replaced with a special outfit, and weaponry appeared in their hands: for some - bayoneted rifles, for the others - a massive shield. And power unlike any they felt before came forth from their bodies.

"So this is the power of Shinju-sama..."

Mebuki felt pain in some parts of her head.

She didn't feel joy over this power or outfit. On the contrary, what she felt was frustration and irritation."

"What I wished for wasn't "this"... I was supposed to have gotten..."

"In your battle suits, you mustn't attempt to fight anything more than Stardust" - said the priestess, interrupting Me- buki's thoughts. Again, she thought. How many times do they have to hear this? And in the very end, of course, she'll say this: "You are sentinels. Your goal is not to defeat the enemy. Do not attempt to force yourself".

"Sentinels".

That was the duty of Mebuki and her comrades.

Not "Heroes".

Heroes were the ones taking Shinju's power into their very bodies, the braves tasked with protecting humanity. All of the 32 girls gathered here were originally meant to become them.

The miko, Kokudo Aya, stood before the sentinels.

"O magnanimous Shinju, our great guardian, great lord of the land, we humbly stand before your magnificence and request of you with our very beings to appease you: by Your boundless greatness, grant us strength of soul and safety of body, unaffected by the wicked gods and their wicked deeds, bless us and protect us, we humbly request of You." Chanting the prayer, Aya was surrounded by a mysterious air that was in striking contrast with her youthful appearance.

After finishing the simplified prayer for safety, she expressed her own thoughts.

"All of you, you must come back safe. Absolutely".

She looked earnest, but somehow pained. For the duty of a sentinel was anything but a safe one.

And while she couldn't participate in that duty, Aya couldn't distance herself from it. That was the reason behind her troubled look.

But even that was a source of irritation for Mebuki.

She didn't feel like dying even without the preaching. For her goal was to survive and join the ranks of heroes.

"Well then, here we go!"

With Mebuki at their lead, the girls set out to the other side of the wall. The priestess whispered something, but Mebuki couldn't hear what.

The moment they crossed a certain point of the wall's surface, the scenery in front of the girls' eyes changed.

"So this is the outside of the barrier..."

If one looked from the inside of the barrier, they'd see just the calm blue sky and the Seto Inland Sea. But with just one step outside it, the illusion created with divine powers would vanish, and the true state of the world would appear.

Outside of the barrier surrounding Shikoku was a blazing land that could truly be described as hellish. The land was as if festering with crimson lava, with flame billowing out here and there. A part of the blighted land was covered in what seemed to be gigantic eggs. The sky was dark as in the deepest night.

But Mebuki didn't falter. She had no time to waste being shocked."

"Everyone, we're descending from the wall! Don't scatter up, gather in one place!"

At her instructions, the girls jumped down from the massive wall one by one and stood upon the festering land.

Their battle suits were specifically made to endure the scorching heat of the outside world. In that function alone they surpassed the equipment the heroes wore. Thanks to them, the sentinels could operate on the burnt land with relative freedom.

"Waaaaah?!" It's red, it's scary! This looks way more dangerous than what it sounded like, Mebu!" - screamt Kagajou Suzume, crouching and clinging to Mebuki.

"Get off, Suzume, I can't move".

"Waah, there's a bunch of white things flying?!"

In the dark sky, there were countless grotesque beings floating around. Monsters with disgusting gigantic white bodies and organs that looked like a mouth.

"That's "Stardust". We learned about them, you know."

"They're way more gross than I ever imagined! And all of these are our enemies? Nuh uh, no way, no way!"

"Our mission isn't defeating them, it's just gathering".

"Even so, they'll still attack us... See? Here they come!"

A group of Stardust flew in the girls' direction.

Mebuki and the rest have been told that these beings appear to instinctively target humans.

"Gyaah, I'll die! They'll kill me, they'll kill me for sure! Save me, Mebuuuu!"

Suzume's crying and screaming was making Mebuki's head hurt.

"What are you afraid of? Is this not precisely the time to show our worth?"

Saying that, Miroku Yumiko dashed to the front. Grasping her weapon, a bayoneted rifle, she was readying to assault the Stardust.

"I shall distinguish myself here, so that the Miroku family shall..."

Mebuki's irritation grew stronger. Cowardly and foolhardy. Both to their extremes.

"Suzume, stop panicking! Miroku-san, don't overextend!"

"Gh!"

At the sound of Mebuki's voice, Suzume jolted and stopped crying and Yumiko stopped moving with a displeased face.

"Gunner squad, get ready to fire!"

Following her order, all of the girls bearing rifles simultaneously pointed their muzzles at the Stardust. Including Mebuki and Yumiko, most of the girls were equipped with bayoneted rifles. Usable for both stabbing and shooting, they were weapons capable of fighting both at close and long range.

"Fire!"

Following the command, a volley of simultaneous shots was fired.

The approaching Stardust received it and fell apart, disappearing.

"Y-you beat them... You beat them, Mebu!"

Suzume's eyes started shining.

"That's right. Surprised, are you?... Humanity's prepared some thorough measures for you".

It appears that these creatures were what drove humanity to the brink of extinction in the previous era.

"Don't mess with us" - thought Mebuki. "Humanity wouldn't fall to things like that. It musn't".

"Shall we defeat the ones far away as well?" - asked Yumiko, pointing her muzzle at other Stardust drifting through the sky, her finger at the trigger.

"Miroku-san, our duty is investigation and gathering. There's no need to engage in pointless battles".

"But killing one more of these shall not pose a problem, shall it? Or might you, Mebuki-san, be worried that if I get serious and earn achievements to my name, your position as the commander will get uncertain? Fufu, but worrying about the successes of your rival is only natural, after all" - said Yumiko with slight elation.

Mebuki's headache kept getting worse. She wanted her to stop with the one-sided rival treatment.

Then Mebuki felt someone tugging at her outfit. That someone was Yamabushi Shizuku, a 2nd grader, just like Mebuki.

"What is it, Shizuku?"

Shizuku silently pointed her finger.

Following it, Mebuki saw three girls on the ground, unable to stand up from fear. One of them even wet herself

"Oh my. If you are that afraid, why not return inside the barrier?"

Mebuki turned to Yumiko, who said with a troubled facepalm, and shook her head.

"There's no retreat for us. Everyone, gather around!"

At her order, everyone circled around the three girls clenched with terror to protect them.

This was their first time outside the wall. Their mission was something as simple as "Bringing back soil and lava from outside, even if just a small bit". It was also most likely meant to get the sentinels used to their duty. And that meant they couldn't fail, have deserters or take losses.

More Stardust were approaching the girls, who stood in a complete squad formation. The amount of enemies was several times more than before.

"Gunner squad, get ready to fire! Protector squad, line up the shields!"

"Mebu, protector squad means me, right?"

"Obviosly! You're holding a shield, aren't you? Gunner squad, volley!"

The sentinels' gunfire once again broke down the Stardust. But this time, not all of them were put down. The ones that withstood the fire drew closer.

"Shields!"

"Gyaah! Save me!" - cried out Suzume, thrusting her shield in front of her. The other girls bearing shields followed suit, raising them together. The shields enlarged and combined with each other, surrounding the entire team with a mighty wall. The Stardust's charges bounced off its surface.

"Now! Stab them!"

The shieldbearers then intentionally created gaps in the wall, through which the gunner squad stabbed with their bayonets. The Stardust were skewered upon them.

"Did it!"

This was the girls' way of fighting.

The sentinels were divided into three groups.

The gunner type, bearing bayoneted rifles to eliminate the hostiles.

The protector type with large shield, specialised on defense.

And the officer type, who leads the rest and gives out orders.

Although the officer type's weapon was a boyoneted rifle as well, both it's firepower and the defense of the battle suit were higher than that of the gunner types.

The sentinels formation consisted of 16 gunners, including Miroku Yumiko and Yamabushi Shizuku, 8 protectors, counting Kagajou Suzume, and 8 officers, Kusunoki Mebuki included.

The protectors alone made up the protector squad, while the gunner squad included the officers as well.

While their combination defeated the group attacking just then, the enemy kept coming one after another, raining blows upon the shield wall.

"Aaaaa, this is bad, this is bad! Save me, Mebu!"

Suzuki kept whining to Mebuki, being a miserable sight of sweat and tears streaming down her face.

"You have to be the one to save yourself!" Trust yourself!"

"I can't trust myself!"

While annoying, Suzume was capable of instinctive movements that were very precise at blocking the assault of the Stardust.

But as the attacks continued, fatigue started taking its toll.

"Kyaa!"

One of the protector girls couldn't endure the attack of the Stardust and was knocked down. A portion of the shield wall crumbled.

The rest of the protector squad scrambled to close the breach, but they weren't able to do it fast enough to stop one of the Stardust from breaking through the gap and grabbing one of the rifles with its mouth-like organ. The rifle's owner was pulled by the Stardust's monstrous power and flung outside the shield wall.

"Hiiiiii?!"

And then a countless number of Stardust surrounded her. The white monstrocities looked like a horde of giant mag- gots covering a corpse.

"I won't let anyone die!"

Mebuki leapt outside the shields and started cutting into the monsters attacking the girl. The sharp point of the bayo- net pierced right through the white giants. Compared to the rounds the rifle fired, the bayonet blade was much stron- ger at eliminating the Stardust. A single strike was enough to fell them. One by one, Mebuki massacred the Stardust, then picked up the girl who was about to get consumed and returned back inside the shield wall.

"Haah... Haah..."

Thanks to the battle suit's protection, the unlucky girl had bite marks all over her body, but didn't receive any fatal wounds.

As if she'd ever let someone from a unit she'd leading die. Mebuki was moved by fury, compassion and pride in equal measure.

Covered in sweat, the girl recalled how she came to be here...

Kusunoki Mebuki was born in the Tamamochou city of the Kagawa prefecture. By the time she became aware of herself, she had just one parent, and was brought up by her father. Her father was a carpenter who worked on construction and repairs of Taisha-related shrines. His serious personality and peerless skills gained him immense trust with the Taisha and great respect from his colleagues. But, as Mebuki heard later from the surrounding adults, that serious and overly stubborn personality of his was falling, making him unable to see his surroundings when it concerned his work. That was also the reason behind his divorce with Mebuki's mother. He was silent, devoting himself to his work from the moment he'd wake till he'd fall asleep. He'd maintain his tools even when resting, when he worked with historical buildings he'd inspect and diligently research them and never for a moment stopped honing his own skills with his own works. He had no interest in alcohol, entertainment or women, and would rather spend his time devoting himself to more work or research. Those jealous of his skills would whisper around that his lifestyle has no humanity or joy in it. Indeed, his overly stoic life might have been lacking humanity. But precisely because of that, it gained a sense of holiness instead. By the time Mebuki gained awareness of herself, she could only look at her father's back. Tirelessly developing his skills, admired by people, making great contributions to Taisha - Mebuki was proud of that father of hers. That's why the motherless Mebuki wanted to support him, and focused on bettering herself. From elementary school, she always exerted herself to the fullest. That why she didn't lose to anyone, be it studying or sports. She wanted to become a person like her father, capable of work that would get her respected by everyone...

That was her dream.

Her father didn't pay much attention to his daughter. He would neither praise nor scold her.

And then in her 6th grade of elementary school, a messenger from the Taisha came to the Kusunoki house.

"We want to entrust a duty of utmost importance to your accomplished daughter".

That was the first time the father praised her. He said that she was his pride. The girl was happy. Her efforts were finally recognised, she thought.

Her father and relatives sent Mebuki out. All of them said things like "You're a great girl!", "Take care!" and "Good luck!"

"Even in Taisha, continue your efforts. Don't end up crushed beneath the wheel."

She forgot who exactly said that. She didn't understand what they meant either. But that phrase somehow got vividly carved deep inside a corner of her mind.

Crushed beneath the wheel.

The place where Mebuki was brought was a facility that combined a school and training grounds. Apart from her, there were around 20 girls of close age. From their number, only one would be selected and entrusted with the duty of a "hero".

What is a hero? The Taisha priestess, who became the girls' teacher, explained to them.

"Heroes are those of utmost importance to the country, the people who bear the duty of protecting mankind. As you should already know, 298 years ago, in the beginning of the Divine Era, the majority of humanity was wiped out by a horrible lethal virus. The people of Shikoku were able to construct a wall to separate themselves from the virus and its carriers and preserve peace.

All of this was commonly taught in schools. And of course, Mebuki with her excellent grades knew this basic history. But what she heard later was news to her.

"However, throughout human history, there would occur disasters and incidents beyond human powers. And at those times, there would appear those with powers exceeding human knowledge, who accepted them from Shinju-sama, to protect mankind. Those were "Heroes". Ordinarily, their existence isn't known. But you must know the name of Nogi, right?

Nogi was one of the most venerable houses of Taisha, or so Mebuki has heard.

"The Nogi family are descendants of one of the original heroes from the beginning of the Divine Era. Thus, heroes have existed throughout history and protected the people in secret. Moreover, a few days ago..."

For a moment, the priestess was lost for words. She wore a mask, so her facial expression could not be seen.

"One of the present day heroes retired from her duty. However, she left behind her "Terminal that grants hero's power". One of you will be selected to be a new hero, using that terminal. But the duty of a hero is by no means an easy one. It isn't a burden anyone could bear. Thus, amongst your already excellent number, we will select the one who possesses the strength most adequate to be laid upon the duties of a hero.

The days of competition between the hero candidates began.

The girls, in addition to normal school lessons, underwent special training in order to become heroes. Their spirits were grown through mental training, their basic stamina was built, and they took lessons in swordsmanship as well.

To be selected as a hero, they had to train with dual swords. The hero that retired from their duty originally used a pair of axes, but its power was customised into a pair of swords instead.

Even thought her environment changed, Mebuki's lifestyle did not. Without a moment of respite, she continued to better herself. To bear the glorious duty of a hero... If Mebuki's efforts resulted in that, how wonderful would that be?

Through her meticulous hard work, she inched ever closer to the back of her father, with his position and skills. All of the hero candidates worked hard, but Mebuki's devotion surpassed them all.

She was at the training grounds before the sun rose, and continued to practice her swordsmanship after the sun fell, until her arms couldn't move anymore. After returning to the dorm, she'd use workout machines to keep building her physical strength. When that was over, she would look at recordings of real swordmasters and do image training.

Even when her body was wrecked with a cold, even when she was hurting with growing pains, she never missed a day of practice. 365 days of the year, apart from sleep, were all used to train herself. Sometimes she would vomit or faint from overworking herself. The doctors would constantly tell her not to strain herself too hard. As if you could ever accomplish anything without that. Her father, even when ill, perfectly did his work without a single complaint. With her unbending lifestyle, Mebuki continued to exert herself.

She paid attention to her food as well. Using athlete menus and nutrition advice, she only consumed nutritious foods rich in protein, unconcerned with their taste. The only thing that mattered to her was whether they could help her become stronger.

Because strength wasn't the only selection criteria, Mebuki didn't slack off with her studies either. In class, she focused on the teacher's words, and afterwards, without reducing her training time, remembered it all right there. It was a way to train her concentration as well.

This way of life left her with no time to play with the rest of the candidates. Inevitably, she became isolated, but Mebuki didn't mind. The time wasted on other people could be better spent on training, after all. She paid no atten- tion to the other candidates' talks about their favourite TV shows or their talks of fleeting enamourment with the male Taisha officials that sometimes entered the facility.

After a year has passed, the amount of the candidates in the facility was half of what it was in the start. The ones who were judged inadequate in their abilities were sent back to their homes.

Amongst those that remained, two stood out the most. One of them was Mebuki. The other one's name was Miyoshi Karin.

In swordsmanship and physical ability their marks were nearly equal. As a matter of course, Mebuki was aware of Karin.

Karin, as well, was a girl strict with herself, tempering herself all on her own. However, she wasn't as thorough with that as Mebuki. When during training somebody was troubled or worried, she couldn't leave them alone.

"Hmmmmmm... When you're moving your right arm, you don't pay attention to your left one".

"Miroku-senpai, you shouldn't force yourself to swing both blades at once. Start with your dominant arm, then support the move with the other one".

"I see... Wait, Miyoshi-san?! To be taught by an underclassman... I bring shame to the Miroku home! But you are right, this makes it much easier to move! My gratitude!"

Sometimes, when other girls would feel bad, she'd interrupt her training and take them to the infirmary.

Mebuki viewed Karin's actions as nothing else but resignment from the competition. The time wasted being concerned about others should be spent on your own training instead. Karin shouldn't be reducing her own training time.

One day, when Mebuki and Karin were the only ones still working out on the training grounds, Mebuki called out to her.

"Miyoshi-san. Making friends won't help you win in the selection. Helping others with their training while neglecting your own... Honestly, I think that's naive of you."

Karin, who realised that herself, reddened and rebutted.

"I-I'm not trying to make friends! And I'm not naive! Teaching others is a form of training as well, and helping them actually all ties in into my own training!"

What a lame rebuttal. So in the end, she's still a naive girl who can't help it but help others out.

"Well, whatever. As long as that naivete is with you, I'll be the one selected as a hero."

"I said I'm not naive!"

As if her mood was ruined, Karin said "I'll go train at the dorm!" and headed towards the training ground's exit. Howev- er, halfway through she turned around and threw a small bottle towards Mebuki. She catched it. The label on the bottle read "citric acid", and inside of it were pills.

"What?" - Mebuki raised her eyebrows.

"It's good for you!" - Karin curtly blurted out before leaving the training grounds.

After returning the dorm, Mebuki found out that citric acid helps with fatigue recovery and muscle pains. Karin must've noticed that Mebuki had muscle pains from her movements during the battle.

Looking at the small bottle of citric acid supplement, Mebuki whispered: "That's exactly why you're naive".

One more year passed. Karin's lifestyle didn't change, in the end. Although she didn't like mingling with people much, she wasn't that absolute about it.

At the time, there were five girls remainin in the facility, including Mebuki and Karin.

One day, the priestess told them: "There has been an oracle that said a great crisis will befall Shikoku before long. Soon, the final selection will be performed, and one of you will be picked to bear the duty of a hero, embraced in the gods' power"

Swordsmanship, physical abilities, decision-making during a battle. Based off these criteria, both Karin and Mebuki were convinced they'd be the one chosen.

The final selection wouldn't be a precise test. They didn't know how exactly it would be conducted.

"They'll probably start grading me and Miyoshi-san in everyday life from now on and pick the one with the higher points" - so thought Mebuki. If so, she wasn't going to lose to anyone. Mebuki lived, having cut away everything that wasn't needed to become a hero. Entertainment, love, friendship: she cast away everything and honed herself to a razor edge. She couldn't lose to someone with the flabs of joy and friendship. Mebuki continued living her life the same way she did before.

Following the announcement of the final selection, Mebuki's grades at training surpassed Karin's, even if by a small amount. And, a month later...

Mebuki was summoned by her priestess-teacher. She was convinced it was to tell her she was selected as the hero.

What the priestess said was this: "The person who was chosen for the hero duty is Miyoshi-san."

"...eh?"

"You've put in more effort than anyone, so it would not be a surprise if either of you were selected. However, this is the will of Taisha and Shinju-sama."

"...b-but how?.."

Mebuki staggered, her vision distorted. Her head was hot as if boiling, while her body felt like it was drained of all its heat.

"I... I couldn't have lost to her in grades! I was better than Miyoshi-san! But why- Ugh"

She felt like throwing up, but held it in with her lips.

"Calm down, Kusunoki-san! You're pallid, you need to go to the infirmary right awa-"

"How am I supposed to calm down?! What were the selection criteria? Redo it! I won't accept this! Ne-haah, haaah..."

It hurts to breathe. I can't breathe properly.

"Don't raise your voice, collect your breathing."

"This, this... must be some kind of mistake... haaah....haah..."

"There can't be a mistake in the selection results. We all understand your efforts and excellence. That's why-"

"But then why?! Uuuh..."

"I understand your feelings. But you have to accept these results. First of all, we need to get you to the infirmary."

The other priests came and tried supporting the staggering Mebuki.

"Don't touch me!" - Mebuki swept away their hands and glared at the priestess.

"I will never accept this! I'm the one who's fit to be the hero"

Then several priests restrained Mebuki, who looked like she was about to assault the priestess any moment. "Cercine, now!" - someone said.

One of the priests brought a doctor from the infirmary, who gave Mebuki an injection. Her mind immediately went into a blur, strength draining from her body.

Because Karin was selected to be the hero, Mebuki and the rest were sent to their hometowns. They were forbidden to leak any information related to heroes... not that anyone would believe a girl saying "I undertook training to become a hero that would protect the country" in the first place. Perhaps because the Taisha understood that, they didn't perform any other measures. When she returned home, Mebuki's father didn't say a word to her. No reproach, no praise. Because the girl chose that path and earnestly struggled all on her own, he felt that he had no place to say anything, whatever the result.

Mebuki enrolled in a local middle school. The dream-like days of being drunk on pride and full of ambition to win were over.

Mebuki wasn't able to fit in with her classmates in middle school. She didn't know far too many things. She didn't know what's popular. She didn't know how to carry a conversation. She didn't have any fun topics to talk about with others. She didn't understand how to carry yourself with people and have fun with them. She didn't know any songs to sing at the karaoke. She couldn't understand the love stories that got the rest of the girls her age so excited. All of those were useless to becoming a hero, so Mebuki discarded them.

That was the end result of the two years' worth of effort she sacrificed everything for. The only thing left in the end was a girl who didn't have a single thing that one would normally gain through simply living their life.

Mebuki, clenching her teeth, spent her school days in misery.

"And this is the result of those days... I spent almost throwing up blood?.."

Swinging her swords until she was about to vomit, overworking herself until she was about to faint, cramming pro- tein-rich foods down her throat, training her body while enduring growing pains so strong she could cry: all of that was meaningless.

The sleepless days went on.

Whenever she'd get into her futon at night and closer her eyes, she would always see the day she was told the hero selection results again and wake up in fury.

"What should I have done? How could I have gotten me to be selected? I didn't lose to her in grades, so how? What did I need to do to become a hero then?" - Mebuki kept asking herself that question without an answer endlessly.

Crushed beneath the wheel. She remembered those words somebody said to her.

Mebuki got up from her futon and searched the internet for the meaning of those words. To fall beneath the wheel (Unter die Räder geraten), was a saying from a foreign country in the previous era, meaning "to be ruined".

"A, hahaha... that's right, I got crushed right beneath it, didn't I... phahaha..."

Mebuki had no recollection of who said that to her, but she knew that they were absolutely right.

Before long, the seasons changed, and the sharp rays of the summer sun softened up...

And another Taisha messenger came to the Kusunoki house.

"Kusunoki Mebuki, your powers are required to protect mankind"

The place she was brought to was in a city on the riverbank of the Daisoku river: a building 158 metres tall - the Gold Tower. Constructed back in the past era, it was now under the management of Taisha. This place was closed off for a few years because of a large-scale construction happening, but even that seems to have come to an end. Mebuki stepped into the elevator on the first floor and, in a flash, was sent up towards the viewing platform. The middle part of the Gold Tower had no floors and was only made up of the steel framework. The exterior was covered in a gold- en-coloured half-mirror, so from the elevator rising up into the sky she could see the sea. Since the sky was cloudy that day, the sea was painted with a dull grey.

"A task from the Taisha... What could this be about?.."

She could not understand why they'd summon her, who they already branded a failure once.

When they finally arrived at the viewing platform, the elevator opened.

Beyond the doors was a gathering of girls in Mebuki's age range. Amongst them, there were even some against whom she competed for the status of a hero.

"This couldn't be anything else. This must be a new hero selection" - thought Mebuki. Her stagnating spirit has started to regain its former energy.

"I see everyone's assembled, then".

A priestess appeared. She was wearing a mask that covered her face, but Mebuki knew from the voice: it was the exact same person who guided them during the hero selection. Blood rushed to Mebuki's face, but her expression remained calm.

The girls gathered in the Gold Tower turned their eyes towards the priestess.

"The ones gathered here right now are all former hero candidates".

According to the woman's words, there were two types of hero candidates.

Ones like Mebuki, candidates to inherit the power of a previous hero.

And the members of the so-called "groups with high hero aptitude girls" from all around Shikoku.

Since year 298, Taisha has been simultaneously working on two projects.

The first one was the plan to monitor the girls in Shikoku for their hero aptitude and establish groups of high aptitude girls in various areas. If a disaster or an incident beyond human powers occured, one of those groups would eventual- ly end up chosen by the Shinju and become heroes. They, despite their high aptitude, however, would be amateurs at fighting. So it was considered necessary to have someone that could guide their actions as their vanguard.

Thus, the second plan: training an expert who would assuredly become a hero. For that purpose, "girls with high apti- tude close mentally to the previous retired hero so as to inherit their power", were gathered. Those were Mebuki, Miyoshi Karin and the rest.

The ones gathered there that day were the members of the hero groups not chosen by Shinju and those deemed un- qualified to inherit the previous hero's power.

In other words, the dropouts who couldn't become heroes.

"Everyone here has high hero aptitude. We would like to make use of it and entrust a new duty to all of you".

As the priestess spoke, an image appeared on the screen. It was an image unlike any Mebuki and the rest have seen before.

A land festering with redness, a deeply dark sky, eerie bug-like beings floating through it, and gigantic creatures one could not be certain of if whether man-made or natural. Mebuki thought it was a scene from some movie. But what was the reason behind them being shown that?

"This is the true shape of the world" - the priestess stated.

The girls stared blankly, none of them able to grasp the meaning of those words.

"The wall encircling Shikoku... The image you see here is what lies beyong that wall."

"The outside... of the wall? What might you be implying by that?", so raised the question one girl with a strong-willed expression on her face.

"Certainly, we have heard that the outside world has been ravaged by a lethal virus. However, this kind of situation...

How could a virus cause the land and the sky to be this way? And just what might these eerie monsters be?"

"Your doubts are entirely justified... It's time to tell you the concealed history of mankind".

The priestess started her explanation in a grim voice.

Humanity being whittled down by a virus in the past era was a lie. In reality, grotesque beings known as "Vertexes" suddenly appeared and drove mankind to the brink of extinction.

It was exactly the "Disaster or incident beyond human powers" when a hero needed to appear. A vague expression, but in other words, it was the time when the Vertexes assaulted Shikoku. The duty of the heroes was to repel the Vertexes, enemy of mankind.

The image on the screen changed.

What appeared was a sight of girls dressed in special outfits fighting the giant grotesque creatures - the Vertexes. Their power was immense, and the girls were covered in wounds, falling apart.

"Ah..."

It was then Mebuki understood it. The meaning of those words the priestess once said, "One of the present day heroes retired from her duty". It wasn't just a retirement. She was killed in action. By those monsters called Vertexes.

"Shinju-sama is an agglomeration of the earthly gods, while the Vertexes are beings sent by the heavenly gods to destroy humanity. The outside world has been turned into the underworld by the heavenly gods' power. Due to the barrier Shinju-sama has created, Shikoku alone managed to narrowly escape the same fate and be preserved in a state where humans could live".

Earthly gods, the gods residing in the land.

Heavenly gods, the gods residing in the sky above.

Through the heroes' efforts, Shikoku was defended, and Shinju's illusion allowed the people to escape from the world's alteratio

"However, as it stands now, eventually Shinju's power will fade, the barrier will vanish and Shikoku, too, will be engulfed in the flames and perish. To break this deadlock, us humans must make a move as well. For that purpose, we want to ask of you to fulfill the duty of conducting a thorough investigation of the outside world to allow us to prepare for a counterattack."

"Nonono, not happening, not happening, not happening! We can't fight these monsters! We'll die, totally die, there's no way we can't die! Uh, well, I've got a bad headache so I'm gonna go back now."

A pale-faced girl mumbled while making a sharp 180. However, she couldn't escape the priestess' eyes.

"Kagajou-san, don't try to leave on your own! Of course, we will not let you embark on such a dangerous mission just as you are, in the flesh. You will be given power to fight."

The heroes had immense divine protection bestowed upon them and given tremendous powers to fight the Vertexes. The Taisha have learned to control it technologically to a certain degree and created a system to allow the heroes to draw out the gods' power when they need to.

The sentinels would be be bestowed with the mass-production version of that system. Their power, compared to that of the heroes, would be reduced, but the amount of possible users would increase drastically.

While receiving sentinel training, Mebuki and the rest would live at the Gold Tower. It looked like the situation would be quite tight.

The sentinels were divided into bayoneted rifle users and shield users, and each group received their own battle training.

Mebuki received training on how to fight with dual swords before. However, the bayoneted rifle was a weapon with a fighting style that couldn't be more different from that one of a pair of swords.

To use the rifle part, sharpshooting skills were necessary, and the use of a bayonet required spearmanship. And to utilise the power of the sentinels' numbers, they needed to be able to fight in groups.

Mebuki had to learn to fight from the beginning, again. For an extraordinary hard worker like her, learning everything from th scratch was not a problem at all. But inside her chest, a whirlpool of anger was rampaging.

"The Taisha named me a failure... and now they're summoning me again because they need help? What am I, their convenient tool? And we're not even heroes... A worthless duty for mass-produced types... Are they saying that we, hero failures, should be capable of at least that? Are they making a fool of me?!"

Then...

Then I'll make them recognise.

"I'll fulfill this duty beyond those Taisha' wildest expectations and make them accept that I was the one suitable for the hero position. I'll teach them that not picking me was a mistake!"

Mebuki learned both how to use the bayoneted rifle and how to fight in formation frighteningly fast.

Before long, the girls finished their training programs and it was the time to select the officers. The ordinary sentinels were lead by officer types, and above them was the one leading the entire unit, the commander.

"Volunteers, raise your hand" - said the priestess, and Mebuki's hand moved accordingly. Several other girls raised their hands as well. The priestess looked at their faces and nodded.

"Next, we'll decide on how to test your skills".

A mock battle with bayonets, marksmanship testing, physical testing and observation of commanding skills... Various examinations took place.

Mebuki, not letting anyone to even come close to her, earned the top score and was assigned the post of the com- mander. Thanks to her excellent results, both Taisha officials and the other sentinels all accepted her assignment... save for one person.

"Kusunoki Mebuki-san! Although, regrettably, this time I was not able to surpass you, training and real battle are dif- ferent things! In our real duty I, Miroku Yumiko, shall earn more feats of glory than you!"

"Uuh... Who are you, exactly?"

"Whaaaaaaaat? Eh? Please wait just a moment! Could it be that you did not recognise me?"

The face of the girl named Miroku Yumiko was drained of its colour.

"Uh, well..."

Mebuki awkwardly nodded.

It hasn't even been a month since the 32 sentinels met. Mebuki, who spent the majority of her time training, barely even remembered the faces of the rest.

"I-impossible! I have, in the past, along with you and Miyoshi-san, honed myself as a hero candidate! From that point! Are you trying to say that I have been entirely out of your notice?! You are lying! You are, are you not?!"

It appears that it's been much more than a month since those particular two met.

She must've had middling abilities. If she was as skilled as Miyoshi Karin, Mebuki would've definitely remembered her.

Then she recalled: back during her hero candidate days, there was a vigorous upperclassman who would recklessly charge in during mock battles. That girl would keep yelling things "By the honour of the Miroku house!" or "For the glory of the Miroku name!"

Mebuki clapped her hands together.

"Aah, I remembered. That's right, you were there, Miroku-san".

"Aaaah! So you genuinely did not recognise me? Is that it?!"

After all that ruckus, Mebuki became the commander of the sentinels and continued her training until the day to start their duty finally came.

Miroku Yumiko decided, on her own, to see Mebuki as her rival and tried to pick at her all the time.

Kagajou Suzume, a font of endless pessimism with zero confidence in herself, after understanding that Mebuki was the strongest amongst the sentinels, kept constantly begging her with teary eyes: "When our duty starts, you've gotta protect me! Absolutely! You've got to, hear me! If you don't protect me, I'm definitely going to die, you see!"

Yamabushi Shizuku, an extremely silent girl, for some reason got strangely attached to the unsociable Mebuki and always hanged around close to her

There was one more girl, who could be said to be tasked with keeping an eye on the sentinels. Capable of receiving oracles from Shinju, she was someone called a "Miko" - Kokudo Aya. Her appearance was so young, Mebuki mistook her for an elementary schooler a first, but she was apparenly in first year of middl school.

And then it came: the day when the sentinels' duties finally started.

The Stardust kept relentlessly assaulting the girls.

Because of the injured and the girls gripped with panic, Mebuki and the rest were unable to move. But because their mission was to recover even a small bit of soil and lava from outside, they could fulfill it even without moving. The problem was in the numbers of the Stardust. If they kept relying on the shields of the protector squad, another break- through similar to the one just before could collapse the defense.

Mebuki gave an order after a moment of thinking.

"Protector squad, continue defending the team! Sentinels 2 to 8, repel the Stardust outside and lighten the load for the protectors! Other hands, start gathering!"

Following her words, everyone started moving.

The sentinels bearing numbers from 2 to 8, the highly skilled officers, exited the shield wall and confronted the Star- dust. The protector sentinels continued holding the wall formation and protecting the gunners. The latter, defended by the protectors, started putting lumps of soil and lava inside pear-shaped tubes. Those tubes were called Kagami, and were special tools for harvesting. They could even hold something as extremely hot as lave without a problem.

Mebuki, bearing the number of 1, used her bayonet and battled the Stardust.

"I will definitely fulfill this duty perfectly and get promoted to a hero! ...the life I've lead until now, all of the things I've cast away, all of the efforts I've put in, I won't let them be in vain!"

With fury in every strike, Mebuki annihilated the enemy. But there were too much of them, after all. Slipping through her guard, a Stardust closed in from the back.

"Guh!"

"This is bad-"

"I shall not allow you!"

Yumiko leapt outside the defense of the protectors and thrust right at the Stardust attempting to devour Mebuki, felling it.

"Just now, your life has been saved by Miroku Yumiko, and it would do you well not to forget this!"

And then, Yumiko continued to fight the oncoming Stardust.

"Miroku-san, follow the orders and return to collecting!"

"Fufu, it is far more suitable for me to battle the enemy on the frontlines than to bother with such trifling matters. I, Miroku Yumiko, shall take the most enemy heads! Not that these things have any!"

Yumiko continued fighting, full of vigor.

"...haaah."

Mebuki let out a sigh. But Yumiko's words weren't wrong, her personality was suited to battle much more than a job like collecting. The battlefield required resourcefulness... Thinking that, Mebuki decided to leave her be.

Another group of Stardust approached Mebuki.

"Mebuuuu!"

Suzume separated from the rest of the protectors and set her shield up in front of Mebuki.

Thanks to the shield blocking the Stardust's attacks, Mebuki was able to take them down one by one.

"Thanks for the help, Suzume!"

"Mebu, if you died, who'd protect me?! You've absolutely gotta survive and keep protecting me, got it?!"

"..."

Begging for protection while protecting someone herself. She strayed from Mebuki's orders, but in doing so also saved her.

Meanwhile, Shizuku, just as Mebuki ordered, silently and indifferently kept gathering the samples. Taking the kagami of the girls incapacitated by injury and panic and the protectors who couldn't get away from their shields as well, she kept stuffing them with soil and lava. It was to gather even the tiniest bit more.

Yumiko, Suzumu and Shizuku. All of them were accomplishing quite a lot of with their resourceful actions.

"The Taisha people, Shinju-sama, I bet they think of us as "weaklings who couldn't become heroes"... But we can do this! We are not failures!"

Crushed beneath the wheel.

That phrase surfaced in her mind. Gripping her rifle, Mebuki thought.

"Bring it on! We're not going to get crushed! We'll break the damn wheel to pieces!"

After a sufficient amount of samples has been gathered and it looked like the protectors were about to give out, Mebuki screamt.

"Begin the retreat! Those who can, help the wounded and panicked move! Nobody's going to die! We'll all return back alive!"

Battered, the sentinels returned inside the barrier. They were uncertain whether to be happy that no one died or to be sad that someone got wounded.

But one thing was certain: all of the sentinels came back alive from their maiden battle.

"I will definitely become a hero... For that, I'll do anything!"

What moved Kusunoki Mebuki was her fury.

For her own pride, so that no one could deny her way of life, the girl would keep fighting.

This story will not tell of beautiful flowers blossoming splendidly. This is a story of nameless, ignored weeds, trampled without looking, but still frantically trying to survive.

It is a story of those who were not heroes.

It is a story of those who would become heroes.

(Chapter 1 end)