Chrome Shelled Regios:Volume1 Prologue

Prologue

Everyone held their breath, sealing the flood of terror in their throats.

“…”

Nina did the same.

She sat in the last row of the bus and looked out the window, peering past the short, fat businessman who sat before her, hugging his head in his trembling arms.

On the other side of the dirt-smeared window was a vast wilderness. Cracks crept across the dry earth and sharp edges of soil rose to point upward.

A dark shape loomed before her, a mountain as tall as a tower.

But everyone on the bus knew it wasn’t a mountain.

“This is … Peligi,” murmured the man sitting in the middle of the bus. He observed the dark shape through a pair of binoculars. Nina could see big droplets of sweat on his face, his large Adam’s apple bobbing with the movement of swallowing saliva.

Nina squinted at the dark shape.

That wasn’t a mountain. That was a city.

What had looked like the mountain peak was in fact the peak of a tower. On the top of that tower was a tattered flag, fluttering in the wind. Nina couldn’t make out the crest that should name the city on the flag. She couldn’t confirm whether the city’s name was indeed what the man had uttered.

A strong wind blew against the side of the bus, rocking it.

“Hey!”

Startled and surprised, the passengers bent in their seats and held their heads down.

The passengers curled up, not wanting to be found in this place.

Nina didn’t hold her head. Instead, she held her breath and stared at the city again, trying to sense a response from it.

This city was already dead.

The multiple legs of the bus bent on their knees, immobile.

The buildings in the city were also dead. Traces of terrible wounds were carved into most of the buildings near the border of the city. She could see that a part of the city’s edge had been carved away, creating a mountain of debris.

Smoke columns rose everywhere.

Perhaps, the attack on this city didn't happen too long ago.

Looking out from the bus, it wasn’t possible to confirm any survivors, and Nina couldn’t get to the city to confirm if anyone were still alive.

The bus was weak and insignificant outside the city.

Nina understood that it wasn’t possible for there to be any survivors in the city. Humans couldn’t breathe without an air shield around the city, and this city had lost its own.

Next to her, Harley said in an anxious voice, “Nina …”

“Don’t worry. We haven’t been discovered.”

Nina realized her voice came out shakily. She felt compelled to lick her lips, but she swallowed the motion and gazed resolutely at the attackers hovering in the sky above the city.

Cold sweat broke out on her skin, even though her mouth was dry.

“This is the world we live in, Harley,” she said to her childhood friend, but she did not get a response from him.

The effortless movements of the cruel attackers above the city gave off a royal aura.

The attackers …Were called Kings of Nature, the filth monsters. They flew lower, flying slowly between buildings.

“Now!” someone roared shrilly.

The driver started the engine.

The legs of the bus rose and raised the body upward.

Nina’s line of sight rose and the bus moved forward in a skipping motion.

It was better to leave here. The bus continued to run.

Nina gazed back at the shrinking city.

After some distance had been put between the bus and the city, Harley sighed, “It’s okay now.”

As the tension in the atmosphere eased, Nina clenched her fists tightly and said, “… We’re so weak.”

◇

The sound of huge feet trampling the ground at the edge of the city rang in the peoples’ ears.

The footsteps of the city drowned out all other sounds, even the furious roar of the wind.

“Are you still not giving up?”

A voice must be loud to be heard over this din.

A girl spoke to a boy at the roaming-bus station in the city. Strong winds shook her golden hair. Her clear blue pupils rested directly on the boy. Her face, appearing younger than her real age, was full of disapproval and unease. She gazed at the boy standing at the bus stop.

Looking troubled, the boy kept glancing back and forth between the girl and the bus waiting to depart. A chain held up the long multi-legs of the bus that were folded and bent. The body of the bus swayed along with the movement of the city, bumping against a cushion pad. Since it was dangerous when the city moved, the driver and all the passengers stayed in the small waiting area. This kind of bus was built to withstand up and down shaking, but it couldn’t stop from swaying sideways.

“Layfon!”

The only passenger not yet in the waiting area – Layfon, looked away from the bus. He had tea colored hair and blue eyes. His face showed an expression that came from the loss of adolescence. This look was now coupled with a powerless smile.

“Even so, I can’t stay here anymore, Leerin.”

Layfon didn’t raise his voice, so Leerin stepped closer. Even with her expressive eyes right in front of him, Layfon didn't feel attracted to his childhood friend.

“But! You didn’t have to pick a school so far away!”

“Even here……” Again, the sound of the city’s movement drowned him out. A strong gust of wind blew past them. Layfon reached out and placed a hand on Leerin's shoulder to steady her.

“That can’t be helped. The only place that I obtained a scholarship for was Zuellni. The money at the orphanage can’t be spent on me, right?”

“You must have forced yourself to choose such a distant place. There are closer places you could have gone to. If you take the exam for scholarships next year, you can find a better school that is also closer, right? Then you can stay here with me...”

It didn't matter what words came next; nothing could change Layfon’s mind. To emphasize that point, he shook his head slowly.

“I can’t give up on leaving.”

Leerin held her breath. He couldn’t bear looking at the hurt in her clear eyes, so he moved his gaze to his hand on her shoulder. His hand was like that of an old man’s, hard and rough.

“I’ve made my decision and I won’t change my mind. Nobody wanted it to be like this, not even me. But Her Majesty wants me to experience the outside world. Besides, she doesn’t wish for my presence here.”

“I wish for it!”

This time, Leerin's powerful and persuasive words caused Layfon to hold his breath.

“The light is my wish. Is that not enough?”

To Layfon, Leerin's crying gaze and words were too cunning. He tried to find some words to pass this over, but couldn’t find any. He felt pain, pressuring him to convey his feelings.

Layfon’s lips trembled and so did Leerin’s.

They were each trying to find words to say.

In the end, they realized that the words to pay lip service didn’t exist. No matter who wanted Layfon to stay, nothing could change the reality of his leaving. Layfon himself didn’t intend to stay so no one could change the ending.

It was impossible to not hurt Leerin and make her agree with him.

A whistle sounded, shrilling behind him.

As if to tear them apart, the simple sound of the whistle squeezed between the sound of the city’s footsteps and that of the furious howl of the wind, and echoed in the bus station.

It was the sound warning that the bus was about to depart.

The driver, having blown on the whistle, entered the bus. He started the engine. A vibration different from the city’s, radiated out in the vicinity of the battered body of the bus. The passengers in the waiting area took their luggage and headed for the vehicle.

Layfon’s lips stopped trembling. He took away his hand from Leerin to take up the luggage beside his feet.

That was all he had with him now. His other belongings would be given to the kids at the orphanage or tossed away.

“I’ve to go,” Layfon said to the red-eyed Leerin. As if feeling this was a truth she couldn’t change, Leerin’s trembling also stopped.

She gazed at him with reddened eyes.

“Since the decision’s been made, I want to start anew. I can’t return to the orphanage and to the side of Her Majesty. That is the consequence of my action. I’ll make up for it no matter how much I have to pay. But nobody wants that; they just want me to disappear. Even so, things can’t be resolved with me going away……”

He couldn’t continue his words. He didn’t want to just say some nonsense, yet, even if he were to tell the truth it’d only sound like an excuse. He hated himself for acting like that.

“Even I haven’t really made my resolution.”

He added weakly, “Though I really want to start over in many areas……”

“Enough!” Leerin cut him off coldly. Layfon held tight to his luggage, not daring to look at her.

The driver blew his whistle again. The time for departure was close.

“I’m going now.”

Dejected, he turned his back to Leerin.

“Wait!”

The small voice stopped him.

What happened next was one single, brief moment.

Leerin grabbed hold of Layfon’s shoulder and forced him to turn around. Her face was so very close to his.

It was only a moment as they overlapped.

The rough but soft pressure dominated Layfon.

In that swift moment while he was numb and spaced out, Leerin jumped away. Her smile was stiff but that meaningful expression of having played a prank was familiar to him.

“You have to send letters though. I don’t think that everyone wants you gone,” she said, and ran away. Looking at her figure flying past in a flurry of skirts, Layfon realized why he felt so strange.

(Ah, I see…… because she’s wearing a skirt……)

Lively Leerin didn’t like to wear skirts, but she wore one today.

And there was also the sweet and soft feeling of that swift moment left on his lips. As if to feel the warmth left on them, he touched his lips with his finger.

(So naïve)

While mocking himself, he quickly moved to the bus.

I’ll write when I get there.

Yes. He has decided.

The bus started. Wishing to take one last look of the scene, Layfon sat in the last row, gazing at the city he had always lived in until now.

◇

Regios could be seen in every corner of the world. The existence of these cities was as natural as breathing air. Numerous buildings were built on the tabletop-like surface, spreading out and lowering in height from the center that was the tallest structure of all. Located beneath the table were legs. They were huge metallic legs that lined up close beneath tWalking with precision, those legs moved together as if to take the city far away from the bus.

Layfon gazed at the tallest, tower-like building in the center of the city.

The huge flag sitting at the peak of that building, bore the pressure of the wind. On the flap was a dragon with the body of a lion. It seemed to be breaking a sword with its teeth but the sword was unyielding.

The flag with that crest weaved on its surface danced a wild dance with the wind.

Layfon stared at that huge flag, wondering what he’d write to Leerin about in the first line of his letter.

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