Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 7 Chapter 1

new data of anti-dragon armaments... Unable to recall living in this town... That kind of thing, even if you tell me—"
Saying that, Mitsuki gnashed her teeth and glared at me sharply.
"Also, even saying immediately that there was no problem because you were going to retrieve your memories immediately—How am I supposed to react? Be sad? Be happy? ...I do not even know what expression to use to face the matter."
Smiling in self-mockery, Mitsuki kicked a pebble by her foot. The rolling pebbled stopped after hitting my shoe.
"I am sorry, Mitsuki."
"What in particular are you apologizing for?"
"For lying to you, Mitsuki... Pretending to be your brother as 'Mononobe Yuu' when I clearly have no memories."
Hearing that, Mitsuki sighed deeply.
"Lying—is definitely not good, but there is no need to feel bothered about pretending to be my brother."
"Huh?"
"Do you think I would fail to notice if someone were to pretend to be my brother? Even having lost your memories, Nii-san, you are still yourself. I still know that, at least."
Mitsuki stared at me with forceful eyes. Then her expression grew gentler.
"So... Whether 'the memories will come back so it is fine' or 'Nii-san will turn back into his original self'... Even if you tell me something like that, none of that would excite me. Moreover, I somehow get the feeling that something larger is brewing... But there is no telling what it might be... What should I do? My thoughts are all knotted together."
In our dialogue, Mitsuki voiced how lost she felt. I did not know how to answer either, hence silence descended upon us again.
Evidently, even after confessing my secret and sharing information, I still could not reach an understanding with Mitsuki.
I was unsure what exactly Mitsuki wanted to express.
"Nii-san... You and Iris-san were kissing, right?"
"Y-Yeah."
Surprised, I nodded.
"Iris-san said it was the end and that once your memories recovered, you would turn back into the Nii-san who loves me most. However... What grounds is that belief founded upon?"
"Well..."
All I could think of was the childhood promise Mitsuki had mentioned after the Basilisk battle.
"Getting married after reaching adulthood. That was what you and I promised, right?"
Mitsuki asked as though reading my mind.
"...That's right."
It was pointless to deny it—I had no choice but to admit.
"Iris-san is nice to a fault."
Mitsuki smiled wryly and spoke softly.
"Ahhh—I still do not get it. Should I be happy? Should I be sad...? Or should I be angry...? Everything is incomprehensible... Everything is—"
Saying that, Mitsuki looked down.
The atmosphere grew heavy again. Thus, after time passed without us saying a word, the main door opened with a clatter.
As though trying to escape the awkward atmosphere, Mitsuki and I both looked at the door. We happened to make contact with Iris who was peering out. We all smiled wryly.
"M-Mononobe... Sorry, the others found out."
In addition to the apologetic Iris and Tia, four more people came out together. Lisa, Firill, Ariella and Ren.
"Ahhh..."
I rested my forehead against my palm in despair. On further thought, asking Iris to bring just Tia out alone was too tall a task. It was unavoidable that the others would discover her.
"So, what are you trying to do? Please explain properly."
Arm crossed, Lisa questioned. Once again, Iris and I explained the situation to everyone.


"More secrets. Give me a break. Even I'm getting mad now, you know?"
"...I'm already mad, and it seems like we're the only ones kept out of the loop."
After learning the whole story, Ariella and Firill stared at me.
To prevent the commotion from attracting my parents' attention, we went over to the earlier park.
Choosing a park over indoors was due to Tia's request. A park where trees grew would apparently allow Yggdrasil to manage the plant network.
"Well, you two should calm down first. Since the memories can be recovered, we should hurry and attempt it. It would not be too late to save the complaints for later."
"Yes, Onii-chan's memories are the most important."
Already in the know, Lisa and Ren began to appease Ariella and Firill.
"That's right, we must not delay any longer. Tia-chan, please. Return Mononobe's memories."
Iris urged Tia seriously.
"Got it..."
Still looking a little sleepy, Tia rubbed her eyes and shook her head to wake herself up.
"Nii-san, is this really for the best?"
Mitsuki asked me sorrowfully.
"Yeah."
I nodded and Mitsuki looked at Iris.
"Mitsuki-chan, I've always been waiting for this moment to arrive."
Iris noticed Mitsuki's gaze and responded with a cheerful smile. It was a smile of resilience without a shred of hypocrisy.
Mitsuki looked like she wanted to say something but her lips moved without making a sound.
"Okay, Yuu, Tia will try hard too."
Under everyone's watch, Tia stood before me.
"What do I need to do?"
"Umm... Basically, Tia will access Yuu's brain next, rather than skin... lips would be better."
For some reason, Tia's face turned bright red while she spoke quietly.
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. What kind of contact?"
"Umm... W-Well... A-Anyway—Get down first!"
Saying that, Tia pulled my hand. I had no choice but to listen to her and stoop.
"U-Uh... This isn't a wedding vow kiss yet, okay?"
"Huh?"
Tiny cherry lips drew near and pressed against my lips.
Wha—
Due to this sudden attack, my thoughts halted. With shocked faces, the others watched Tia kissing me like this.
"Mmm..."
Tia kissed more forcefully and stuck her tongue inside my mouth. The instant the tip of Tia's hot tongue made contact with my tongue, there was a pop in my mind as though sparks had exploded.

Presumably, electrical access to the brain was established through a passage via oral mucous membranes.
By the time I became aware of the significance of what she had said earlier, Tia had already separated from me.
"Yuu, how do you feel?"
Blushing, Tia asked gently.
"Eh? How should I say this? Umm, my brain feels lighter—"
I answered in confusion. If it was over like this, that would be far too simple a process.
No, perhaps startled by Tia's kiss, I had failed to notice great changes.
I originally expected myself to be replaced by the real "Mononobe Yuu" but there was no special feeling.
"Tia has cleared away the bad stuff Yggdrasil sent into your body. Now you should become able to recall past memories."
"Become able to recall, past memories...? Not return to the way I was?"
"No, Yuu's memories were blocked. After clearing them, you'll naturally be able to remember bit by bit."
In other words, I would not feel a dramatic change in memory right now. I looked at everyone else, stunned as they were, my gaze settling on Mitsuki.
"Ah..."
Past experiences flashed in my mind, but those memories were too vague. I could not even tell when they had occurred. However, the image of Mitsuki's face, from when we were playing in this park, overlapped with her current face.
"N-Nii-san?"
Mitsuki called my name in concern.
By the time I noticed, my cheeks were burning and a single tear was sliding down from my eye.
"Sorry, although I'm not recalling everything, there are vague impressions, the memories are still there, they still remain... At the thought of this, I..."
I frantically wiped the corner of my eye and smiled at the worried Mitsuki.
Seeing me like that, Mitsuki wept with joy.
"Really...? I'm so glad, Mononobe, honestly, I'm so glad."
Seeing Iris crying with a smile, the others seemed to recover their from the shock.
"But Mononobe-kun cannot recall clearly... Is that a problem?"
Firill asked with worry.
"No, it isn't, Firill-san. I believe it is very normal for memories to be difficult to recall clearly. Memories are very ambiguous to begin with, especially those that have not been recalled for a long time. They probably entered a state that is relatively harder to recall."
Arms crossed, Lisa contemplated while offering her insight.
"Then let's take a walk all over town and check out the scenery, how's that? It might jog his memory. After all, this is his hometown."
Ren nodded to agree with Ariella's suggestion.
"That's a great idea."
"Then today, let's all have a tour of Mononobe's hometown."
Iris concurred happily. It looked like she was happy for real. However, as soon as I thought of Iris' last kiss with me, I knew she was pushing herself.
My heart was aching. My feelings for Iris had not disappeared. But while my memories slowly returned, these feelings might no longer remain "number one."
When my thoughts reached this point, I noticed that like me, Mitsuki was paying attention to Iris.
"Mitsuki..."
Seeing the slight expression of suffering from the side of her face, I spoke to her hesitantly. Then Mitsuki smiled wryly at me and said:
"As expected, I still have no idea how to react. Nii-san... Are you happy?"
"Well..."
I was at a loss for words. Seeing me like that, Mitsuki sighed.
"Well, no matter what, you ought to thank Tia-san. Nii-san, for your sake, she... even kissed you."
Mitsuki urged me with complicated expression that seemed a little angry and slightly appalled.
"Yuu..."
Tia looked at me with slight worry. She probably felt worried after seeing I was unable to answer Mitsuki's question immediately. Seeing as I was the one who hoped for this outcome, it would be bad if I did nothing to ease the worry on Tia's face.
"Tia, thank you for returning my memories to me."
Placing my hand on her head with the little horns, I stroked along her hair's direction.
"Yeah... But speak up if you feel anything weird. Tia still isn't familiar with using Yggdrasil's power—"
At this moment, Tia stopped mid-sentence and widened her eyes, staring over my shoulder.
"Tia?"
Just as I inquired, the surrounding suddenly darkened.
The trees in the park were shaking. A strong gust of wind swirled.
"What is going on!?"
I followed Tia's gaze to look at the sky too.
Floating in the sky... was a gigantic monster.
Large enough to blot the sky, its wings featured hard jet-black scales. Tiny black particles were flying around it.
—I had seen it before.
It was the giant dragon that I had seen many times during lectures at Midgard, capable of creating dark matter and the perpetrator of the first dragon disaster.
"'Black' Vritra..."
By my side, Mitsuki spoke its name in surprise.
Occupying Nanato City's airspace, the black dragon was ruling the sky with overwhelming presence.
A majestic sight truly befitting the title of dragon. To believe that having defeated Yggdrasil and retrieved my memories, all problems were resolved... That was an illusion.
Nothing was over.
The dragon possessing the same power as Ds was watching us from high in the sky...