Full Metal Panic! Short Stories Volume 3 by Shouji Gatou

Author:Shouji Gatou [GATOU, SHOUJI]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: J-Novel Club
Published: 2022-12-02T00:00:00+00:00

Sousuke and Mizuhoshi were silently but diligently mopping up the water in the art storage room. Listlessly, they soaked up their rags, wrung them into buckets, then repeated the process, over and over again.

“Sousuke,” Mr. Mizuhoshi said at last, around the time the floor was just starting to look clean.

“What is it?” Sousuke responded as he kept wiping. He had changed into his combat uniform.

“What do you think of that painting?” he asked, pointing to an oil painting on the wall.

It wasn’t the one he’d been working on during class. This painting was older; a landscape of a quiet forest morning, bathed in faint mist, with a beautiful balance of grays and misty greens. It was the kind of painting that really drew a viewer into the scene.

“This one?” Sousuke walked up to the oil painting and inspected it carefully. He poked at the wooden frame and peered at its reverse side. “I don’t think it would provide much of a shield in an emergency,” he concluded. “Mere cloth can’t block even a .22-caliber bullet.”

Here, Mr. Mizuhoshi was speechless.

“Have you considered weaving the backside with super aramid fibers and ceramic plates?” Sousuke suggested. “That would let you stop up to 5.56mm rounds.”

“Actually, I meant... What do you think of the painting itself?”

At this, Sousuke examined the picture itself, as if only just realizing it was there. He gazed at the landscape for about thirty seconds. “It’s a forest,” he observed.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“It looks like a very safe forest,” Sousuke went on. “No dangerous animals, like venomous snakes or leeches. No sign of landmines or any other traps. But the underbrush in the back is concerning.” Sousuke pointed at a spot on the picture, which he viewed as a perfect position to place a skilled sniper.

Sousuke’s interpretation caused Mizuhoshi to sag. “I see... Concerning in its incompetence, I’m sure,” he said, completely misinterpreting his student. “What a shame.”

“Don’t be despondent, sir,” Sousuke advised him. “It would be a difficult thing for any amateur to notice.”

Any time the two of them got together, they always seemed to talk past each other.

“I painted this when I was a student. I was rather proud of it. But if that’s all you have to say about it... I think it’s a sign that I really have no talent. There’s no way I can finish the painting I’m working on now...” Mizuhoshi sighed.

Sousuke then turned his attention to the painting in question, which was sitting on the easel. It was covered in a dust-proof sheet, so he couldn’t see what it depicted. “What kind of painting is it?” he asked, even as he made to remove the cover.

“No! Please don’t look,” Mizuhoshi begged him.

“Why not?”

Mizuhoshi seemed flustered for some reason. He said, “B-Because it’s unfinished, and I don’t like to show people unfinished work. I just... well, maybe I’ll get right to the point. This painting... it’s provided a temporary reinvigoration of the radical form that exists within me. Yes, it’s like

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