It seems Kanata possessed the Wolf Eye, a rare ability belonging to the Evil Eye category.
I woke up in bed. It seems I had been put to sleep.
The hardness of the pillow told me it was my own bed. My vision was completely dark, was I wearing an eye mask?
I wasn’t bound, so I’d just take the eye mask off quickly…
“Not yet, don’t take it off yet.”
Marika-san’s voice, sterner than usual, but hearing it made me feel relieved.
“Marika-san, is this my room?”
“Yes, Natsume brought you here.”
I remembered Natsume hitting me and knocking me out right after I closed my eyes.
Natsume, she really hit me with all she had. My solar plexus still throbs.
“Natsume, you could have gone a little easier on me with the punch.”
“There was a chance innocent civilians could have died. It’s understandable Natsume panicked. Kanata, you should be grateful to Natsume.”
My consciousness is still hazy. …I feel like I’m forgetting something… Ah!
“………Right! I have to make that bastard apologize. I don’t know if it was Biron or Melon, but he spat on Lilith!”
“Melon was transported to the Rocktown hospital. He sustained significant damage to his brain, and the doctors in Rocktown seem overwhelmed, so Hibiki is on his way by helicopter for treatment.”
“Did he have a pre-existing condition?… …No, wait. I did that, didn’t I?”
Otherwise, Natsume wouldn’t have knocked me out. My consciousness is clearing up now, and I’m starting to understand.
When they found out I had Psychokinesis, Marika-san told me:
“He holds something else…” she had said.
“Ah, I was careless. When I realized Kanata had Psychokinesis, I assumed that was your rare ability. Even though, rarely, there are individuals like myself and Iska who possess multiple rare abilities.”
Marika-san has Pyrokinesis and Scarlet Eye. Come to think of it, Lilith also has two rare abilities, Psychokinesis and Animal Empathy… Tozen also has two. …Does the Commander have Animal Empathy and… some unknown rare ability?
…But right now, it’s about me. About these eyes of mine.
“…Natsume said I had the Wolf Eye (logan). In terms of rare ability classification, it’s an Evil Eye type, right?”
“Yes, Evil Eye abilities are the rarest. As you know, my Scarlet Eye can instantly hypnotize enemies, putting them to sleep or making them dazed. With enough power, it can even cause them to faint. But the Wolf Eye is more sinister. It can inflict unbearable headaches on those who are glared at. Even with adrenaline control, the pain is unbearable. With enough power… it can destroy the brain itself and kill.”
…This explains why Melon was in agony. Was his brain being mixed? So much that blood streamed from his ears.
“…It is indeed sinister. Being able to put someone to sleep offers more flexibility and application.”
“Yes, but as a killing weapon, the Wolf Eye is extremely useful. While you can wake up people who are asleep or unconscious if allies are present, you can neither wake nor revive those who have fallen into eternal sleep.”
“But why did such power suddenly awaken?”
“I believe the trigger for the Wolf Eye is killing intent, Kanata. You didn’t know true killing intent, did you?”
“True killing intent?”
“I was born with the Scarlet Eye, but my power awakened when I felt genuine anger. I suspected you might have the Wolf Eye because you are a relative of Agito. However, even when I told you the full details of the kidnapping operation and you showed genuine anger, the Wolf Eye didn’t activate. After that, when we discovered you had Psychokinesis, I let my guard down.”
“Marika-san thought the trigger for the Evil Eye was anger, just like yours?”
“Yes, Iska said the same. Listen, Kanata…”
“I won’t say a word, I promise. Was the Commander also an Evil Eye ability user?”
“Yes, Iska is too. Back to the point, you have killed enemies under my orders, but can you say you ever intended to kill them? You have killed them out of necessity, for your own survival, or for me and our comrades. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have said ‘Don’t stand before me with the will to fight!'”
“…Perhaps that’s true. To the one being killed, it probably matters little whether it was out of necessity or with glee.”
“I’m not blaming you, so don’t make that face. Your type is lenient with yourself but unforgiving with comrades. Especially so when someone you care about, like Lilith, is disrespected. You should develop some killing intent. However, your reason seemed to win out… What if the one who spat on Lilith had been from the Road Gang?”
“I would have cut him down immediately.”
“Exactly, but Melon is a junior officer, and his father is Major General Simon de Biron. You stopped yourself because you didn’t want to cause trouble for us, but the killing intent was real. That’s probably why the Wolf Eye activated.”
“Even so, you caused significant brain damage, didn’t you? It’s better than killing, but it might still cause trouble.”
Marika-san chuckled and patted my shoulder.
“You’re truly a troublesome rookie. But it’s not your fault. The fault lies with that entitled brat blessed with his family lineage and subcutaneous fat.”
“I’m truly sorry. It looks like I’ll be eating stale ration buns, won’t I? Connexions seem to run rampant in the Alliance Army.”
After all, I sent the illegitimate son of a Major General to the hospital. I might end up in prison as compensation for sending him to the hospital.
“Don’t worry. Leave it to me and Iska. You might have to go to the brig, but I won’t let you go to prison. The activation of the Wolf Eye was an unavoidable incident. That’s a fact, and believe it.”
“Yes, once it’s done, it can’t be undone. I have no choice but to leave it to you and the Commander. Thank you for always taking care of these troubles.”
“Iska was also grumbling about you being a handful. She was taking notes in some sort of notebook…”
“That’s probably a balance sheet. She’s likely keeping a record of my debts again.”
“That’s unfortunate for you, Iska’s collections are strict. Be prepared for interest rates of at least 10%.”
10% interest… The Emperor of the Garden? …The Commander, with the epithet Empress, might actually do it.
“Sigh, I already owe the Commander so much, I can’t afford to have her collect from me.”
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll teach you how to use the Wolf Eye. Since it’s the same type of Evil Eye, the principles should be similar. It’ll be inconvenient, but you won’t be able to remove the blindfold until you can perfectly control the on/off of the Wolf Eye. The thugs in the Asura Unit won’t die, but there are regular staff in the Garden too.”
I see, so that’s why the eye mask. It’s unavoidable, given that reason.
“It might have been lucky that the person whose Wolf Eye activated was Lieutenant Melon. If it had been a civilian not bio-metalized…”
“They would have died. It was fortunate that Lieutenant Melon, despite his below-average physical abilities, had decent Nenshin Strength and was a support-type soldier. He’s not someone worth mourning if he dies, so you were doubly lucky, Kanata.”
That’s a cruel thing to say. I don’t pity Lieutenant Melon all that much, though.
“When Marika-san’s Scarlet Eye activated, what happened? If it was genuine anger, did the target faint?”
“My father collapsed. Good riddance.”
“The target was your father!? Wasn’t he the previous Village Chief, Hizukuri Danzo? Did you feel genuine anger towards your own father? What on earth happened?”
Well, I hate my father too… …I wonder if Marika-san feels the same, maybe I shouldn’t have asked?
“…The audacity of my father, he dared to steal and eat my pudding right from under my nose.”
Pudding was the reason for that!? And he collapsed from a Scarlet Eye strike… Danzo-san, what were you doing!
“Th-that’s… an overly childish anger, you might say…”
“The truth is, I was seven years old. Does a father normally steal his daughter’s pudding!? I still get angry thinking about it!”
“…What about the Commander? Did Marshal Asura steal and eat her cake…?”
“Marshal Asura was a refined gentleman, unlike my damned father… Iska said her power activated from the anger she felt upon hearing of Marshal Asura’s death.”
“…Was anger truly the trigger? …Perhaps it wasn’t intense anger, but… deep sadness.”
“…Yes, that might be it. Iska is someone who doesn’t want to show weakness, not just to others, but even to herself. So, she wouldn’t admit it even if sadness caused her Mirror Eye to open.”
Certainly, she’d insist it was anger. …But Mirror Eye, huh.
“The Commander’s Evil Eye ability is Mirror Eye… the eye of a mirror, is it? Does it have the power to reflect Evil Eye abilities, judging by the name?”
“Yes, Iska’s Mirror Eye reflects Evil Eye abilities back to the caster, making her our natural enemy, so to speak. For those with Mirror Eye, the solution is simply not to use Evil Eyes.”
“Are you sure you should be telling me something so important?”
“Once you can control the Wolf Eye, I want you to try reflecting it back once. It’s better if you know what kind of pain you inflict on enemies.”
“…That’s true. I think it’s only right to know what kind of pain the enemies I will kill with the Wolf Eye will feel as they die.”
“Hehehe, politeness, you say. …I just thought knowing what pain would attack enemies would allow me to utilize it in tactics.”
“Is that what you meant? Ah, I’m out of sync.”
“…Kanata, you are kind. …No, perhaps not kind. You’ve resolved yourself to kill enemies who stand in your way with the Wolf Eye. But you said it’s out of politeness to the enemies you kill. Please continue to think that way.”
“Yes. If Marika-san wishes it.”
“Good boy. If only you weren’t so troublesome, you’d be the perfect subordinate.”
“…I don’t particularly like being treated like a child.”
Wanting not to be treated like a child, I pouted like a child. The means are contradicting the end, to the extreme.
“Don’t get angry, don’t get angry. In apology… I’ll treat you like a grown-up, just a little.”
Saying that, Marika-san grabbed the back of my head with one hand and pulled me closer.
…The next moment, soft lips met mine.
It was over in an instant, but it felt like an eternity.
“Judging by that dumbfounded look, I suppose your mood has improved.”
“…Y-yes.”
“Then training starts tomorrow. Good night, Kanata.”
With that, Marika-san left the room.
Marika-san kissed me! …I think I’ll have good dreams tonight.
Yeah, I’m gradually starting to feel a bit cheat-like.
