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Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 2

2011-12-31T21:12:32Z

Error: nuance

==Chapter 2 - The Burden He Shoulders==


“Why is Ryner and Ferris-san together, and I’m aloneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

Suppressing her heated emotions, Kiefer Knolles walked alone.

With shoulder length red hair, and strong, dignified red eyes.

With a girlish body, feeling a little uncertain to be travelling alone as a girl, having a lovely appearance, and on top of that, wearing a one-piece dress that has a short skirt length.

The truth is, it would have been more convenient for her to wear the light armor made for travelling, but right now, there was no way she would wear that useful armor.

The reason was because, the strongest and worst love rival, peerless beauty Ferris Eris, for some reason, was wearing a one-piece dress for travelling!

For a girl with such an expressionless face!

For a girl who has no interest in fashion at all!


Wearing such a cute one-piece dress!

And if.

''And if I don't wear a few one-piece dresses as well, and because of that,''

''(Ah-reh, Kiefer doesn't look very womanly, not cute at all)''

''Ryner might mock me privately like that, and that is something I don't want happening, geez,''

"Idiot!"

Kiefer let out a soft incomprehensible holler.

By the way, currently, Kiefer was on a wilderness trail a short distance away from the highway of Nelpha.

She had heard from the villagers whom she had dropped by en route to here that there were bandits in the vicinity,

''"Hey, hey Miss, if a girl like you wears such 'flashy' clothes, you will get abducted for sure! Even if not so, for a cute girl like you, it's better to be more careful you know!"''

The part on ''"even if not so, for a cute girl like you"'', however much she wanted Ryner to hear that,


"Why is Ryner never by my side during crucial times like this!"

She ranted loudly all by herself.

And when Kiefer was done with her rants after some time,

"Wait, this isn't the time for this......"

She retorted at herself.

During these few years.

While Kiefer was travelling alone in search of a way to nullify Ryner's '''Alpha Stigma''' with the hope of saving him, she had acquired a bunch 'self-conversing' techniques to pass the time.

On this day as well, after leaving the village, getting off the highway and while walking along the wilderness trail, she had been talking to herself and fantasizing all this time, and consequently, she did not feel any boredom in the slightest.

"Wait, isn't it a little sad that I've gotten used to talking to myself?"

She muttered and followed that with a chuckle.

And then, she looked up at the clear sky.

"............"

Since morning, the weather had been good, giving off a comfortable air that made her wonder whether the current dark situation in Nelpha was really happening.


But the truth was things had become rather serious. It appeared that the chaos of the war was about to sweep across the country.

During her travels these past few years, she had witnessed such landscapes numerous times.

Attacked by neighboring countries, the people who had neither power, money, nor information to aid them in escaping got swallowed up the ambitions of other countries.

The ordinary people who knew nothing, were the ones who got sacrificed first.

Even the villagers at the village which Kiefer had made a pit stop at earlier seemed ignorant of when the Roland army would reach this vicinity and turn it into a battlefield, but yet, the only thing they were worried about was Kiefer travelling in a one-piece dress by herself.

No, most of the people who could escape had already escaped northwards. The only ones left were those elderly who did not have the strength to run, and they had clearly already given up and continued living here calmly.

"............"

Thinking of those calm faces made Kiefer feel like crying.

Wars had always been like this, she thought.

As always, there was no salvation anywhere.

Only destruction and despair.


It was the same during the time when Kiefer's sisters got killed.

And there was nothing she could do to change that. No, rather, she had also never have thought about doing something about it.

War is always cruel, but, it'll be fine as long as the people precious to her did not get caught in it, she would only think.

"...... in the end, everyone died......"

She murmured with a sad looking face.

But, this time, it was different.

Her journey this time was different.

The thing she was going to accomplish this time through her journey, was to stop this unproductive war.

It was a plan thought out by Ryner.

It was a plan thought out after much mulling by Ryner, who was always so kind, and always only thinking about sacrificing himself to save everyone.

It was a wonderful plan.

And the most important part of it was entrusted to Kiefer.

And that gave her a little sense of pride.


"............"

And at that moment, she recalled the words of Ryner.

''"Kiefer, I'm leaving the most important part to you though, but, I think you are the only one who can pull it off. That's why, I'm entrusting it to you."''

He had said.

''You are the only one who can pull it off. That's why, I'm entrusting it to you.''

That was what Ryner had said.

He had said it with a serious face.

She recalled that moment when Ryner had entrusted this to her, believing in her.

After having betrayed everyone again and again, when she recalled the moment when Ryner had entrusted this to her, believing in her,

"........................ uwufufu."

She laughed again, all by herself.

Despite the fact that her being all alone had bothered her when she thought about it, since this made her happy, it couldn't be helped, she thought.

That's why, even when she should be traveling alone enthusiastically, whenever she thought about the fact that the beauty Ferris-san was by the side of Ryner, ''uwuuu ~'', she would get depressed, but whenever she thought about how Ryner was believing in her, depending on her, ''uwufufu ~'', she would cheer up again; anyway she was a solitary busy woman right now.


"But, well."

She looked at her surroundings.

She then spread the map of Nelpha in her mind.

Entered into her head was most of the map, starting from Roland then northwards, past Imperial Nelpha and the Autonomous Holy City of Cassla, and even further past the central continent, up till the northern continent all the way to Gastark.

She was generally aware of the situations of roughly each and every country.

While she had accumulated all this knowledge after three years of traveling, she had never thought that this would be something useful to Ryner, but somehow, it was currently the most useful thing to him.

Kiefer looked in front of her.

A hill that was as small as her left hand was ahead of her, and beyond that would be a river.

But, further up the river, it opens up into a plain, and if Toale Nelphi's ten thousand troops were to hide themselves from the army of Roland, and prepare themselves from surrounding attacks, they might be lurking on the side of the woods there were beyond the plain, and with that supposition, Kiefer had come all the way till here.


Then.

"...... seems like my guess was right."

She looked at the ground.

On the ground were almost faded traces of campfires. If there were bandits, they would not bother erasing the traces of the fires they built. Then, who was responsible for all these?

"............"

Kiefer crouched down and touched the remnants. She brushed off the ashes, attempting to find out how long ago were the fires extinguished.

This was probably the work of scouts sent by Toale to find out the place where Roland's army was concentrated at, she thought.

Maybe Kiefer and them had just passed each other.

If that's the case, then it might be faster if Kiefer were to just go after the scouts and ask them the location of Toale.

"............"

At that moment, Ryner's face surfaced in her mind again.

His rare serious, drawn face.


''"Before you manage to meet up with Toale directly, avoid contact with any contact with Nelpha soldiers alright? Toale isn't the type of person who will do anything to a woman without first listening to her, but with regards to the soldiers of Nelpha, due to the hostility posed by Roland's army, they might act violently, and attack you without listening to your story, thinking that you might be a spy, so you must move cautiously."''

He had said.

And Kiefer had laughed at that.

''"Oh, Ryner, so you're worried about me?"''

On hearing that, he had made a strange face,

''"That's natural right. I'm sending you alone into the enemy's base. There's no way I won't be worried. Kiefer, please be careful no matter what."''

He had said.

Upon thinking about that.

"............"

Kiefer's face softened again.

However, she was also aware of how dangerous this mission was.


In this current situation, it was certain that the Nelpha soldiers would act hostilely against others. And they were not limited to outsiders, but included past comrades of the this very country as well.

The truth was, Prince Starnel had made use of these ten thousand troops to cover his escape, abandoning them. Before Toale appeared to lead them, the abandoned troops must have felt disheartened, she thought.

That's why, right now, this place was unbelievably dangerous.

But of course, compared to the plan that Ryner was executing now, which was to beat down the number one monster of Roland's forces --- Crimson Finger Claugh Klom, and use him as bargaining chip, this was nothing.

"But, my success or failure will also determine the fate of Ryner, so I have to give it my best......"

And she started walking again.

Paying heed to her surroundings, she erased her tracks so as not to set up an unfortunate encounter with the scouts of Nelpha while she advanced forward.

This was a specialty of hers.

Traveling alone, infiltrating other countries.


Alright, she shall do her job properly this time as well,

"In order to get praised by Ryner."

She murmured and at that moment.

"............"

A faint sound riding on the wind reached her ear.

Instantly.

She lowered her body.

It was really a faint sound that could be attributed to mishearing, but still, she tensed herself up and lowered her body.

While crouching down, she moved to a place where grass grew, hid herself there, and erased her presence. She listened intently.

However.

"............"

She could no longer hear anything. The only thing she could hear were the sounds of the grass rustling in the wind. Perhaps, she really had misheard.

But still, even so,


"............"

She kept still.

Her sixth sense, that had protected her all this while she journeyed alone, told her not to move.

Something was there.

She could feel it.

No, even if there wasn't, there wasn't a need for her to move for a while. If there wasn't, then so be it.

However, the problem would arise if there was something there and she were to let her guard down and move. That would be fatal.

Compared to Ryner and Ferris, she was not that strong. Even though she could take care of one or two soldiers who have not received a lot of training, but she could not afford to let her guard down just because of that.

She might just die if she even let her guard down one bit.

"............"

That's why she continued to conceal her presence.

At that moment, she could once again catch hold of a faraway sound riding on the wind.

"......ig.........................re."


This time round, she was certain of it.

It was the voice of a person.

And it was coming closer towards here.

This time round, she was pressed to make another choice. Whether to ascertain who was heading here or not.

Now, which one should she choose?

"............"

Kiefer considered as she held her breath.

In the meantime, the owner of the voice was getting closer. From the sounds, she could tell the number of people.

The hooves of horses.

Three of them.

From the sounds of the hooves, they were moving fast.

Seems like they are in a hurry.

From their hurried motion, the possibility of them being scouts is high, Kiefer thought.


"...... now, what should I do?"

Hidden in the grass, she peered through the gaps with her red eyes.

She could see the sand stir up from the south.

The sand stirred up by the horses.

Three horses galloping towards here.

However.

However, the people riding on the three horses were clearly strange.

"............"

Without thinking, Kiefer almost cried out in surprise. With her eyes widening, ''what's that!'' She withheld her impulse to almost cry out.

But, the scene that was unfolding before her was clearly a strange one.

There were three horses that were galloping at an extremely fast pace, but yet, only the one at the center was ridden by people.

And for some reason, that horse at the center was ridden by three people.

On top of that,

"Yahorh!!"


The one who was sitting right in front, leading the three horses and shouting loudly, was but, a ten year old, no matter how one looks at it, a bishoujo with golden hair and blue eyes.

On seeing that, Kiefer stood up.

"I-Iris-chan! You can't be so loud here!"

It was hard to tell whether she had said that in a loud or soft voice.

Following that, Iris turned.

Looking at Kiefer with a happy face, she waved without thinking,

"Wah Kiefer-neechan, here we are!!"

"Dduh, as I was saying, hush! Hush!"

She put a finger to her lip, gesturing to Iris to keep quiet.

In response to that,

"Hush?"

Iris raised a finger.

"Hush hush."

And then, on top of making a 'V' sign, she said,

"Yay!"


"Dang, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Somehow, the stupid thing that it had become made Kiefer flare up in anger without thinking.

As the horses reached her, Iris called them to a halt, and dismounted,

"Eh? Eh? What's wrong?"

On hearing that, Kiefer could only smile.

She let her tension leave her body and patted Iris's head,

"Nothing. It's ok. But, Iris-chan, you did manage to come from Roland safely huh."

Iris then made a triumphant face,

"I came back!"

She acknowledged loudly.

With golden hair resembling that of her big sister Ferris, and with her big, round, blue eyes, it seems like she will grow up to become an incredible beautiful woman.

She was wearing a dress with a lot of frills, and carrying a large backpack behind her, like always.

However, for a small girl like her, she was given an extremely mission this time.


That's how few comrades Ryner has beside him, to the point that even a girl like her need to do her best.

"............"

They have to fix this, Kiefer thought. It would be quite tough to go up against the Hero King Sion Astal. Of course they were not considering about waging a war against him or anything of that sort, but still, they should try to gather a few more allies as soon as they can, she thought.

If Ryner is already determined to carry this forward, then the sooner they do that the better.

Well, this might be too premature to think about now.

In any case, the girl right before her, Iris Eris, little sister of Ferris, was given an important mission just like Kiefer.

That was.

"............"

Kiefer then looked at the two horses which were riderless.

Strapped onto their backs, were backpacks which were similar in shape as the one carried by Iris, but much larger in size.


Looking at that, she asked.

"So, inside those packs."

Iris nodded.

"Yep, I've brought the flags. Roland's flag flag ~!"

Following that, she pointed to the pack behind her,

"But, this one right here is Onee-sama's dango dango ~"

She said.

Well, who cares about the dango, but with regards to Roland's flags, it's an indispensable item for them to carry out their strategy.

Nelpha troops carrying Roland's flags and attacking Runa.

Of course, it will be best if it doesn't come to that, but in truth, faced with that possible threat, it's necessary to hoist those flags.

That's why, with a slightly serious face, Kiefer approached the horses. Following that, she opened up the backpacks and ascertained the contents.

Inside it, were a few flags which had the symbolization of Roland, a spear with a snake twirling around it, drawn on them.


"Orh ~, Iris-chan, this is perfect!"

She smiled gently and turned around.

Iris then raised both her hands,

"Iris is a perfect kid!"

She said happily.

And that was one of the missions that Iris had to accomplish.

On top of that, there was one more mission that Iris was entrusted with.

"............"

Just by looking at the faces of the pair of young man and girl, she knew that Iris had completed all her missions properly.

She had managed to safely bring along two more of Ryner's comrades from Roland.

Well, even though she had called them comrades, they were merely seven, eight year old kids.

She looked at the pair on the horse, a cute-looking girl with light brown hair looking a little unsettled, and behind her, holding her as if he was protecting her, a black hair, chivalrous-looking young man who had an air which somewhat resembled that of Ryner around him.

Just by one look, she knew that these were the two who Ryner had left behind in Roland.


Previously captured by the Nelpha military<ref>'''Nelpha vs Runa Discrepancy:''' In Denyuuden, it was the Runa military that had captured Arua. This is obviously a mistake, and I'm sure Kagami is aware of the mistake since Denyuuden anime aired after he has written this. However, I do not know of any new edition where this is fixed. So I'm translating it as what was written in the novel rather than fixing it on my own accord, because there will be some linked mentions later. But even so, the impact of this discrepancy seems only limited to this volume and is not too big a deal, and does not affect the main plot in any major way. </ref> and tortured, '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer Arua, and his childhood friend, Kuku.

Arua looked at Kiefer and said.

"...... then you must be Kiefer-san right?"

He used a polite manner of speech unthinkable for a child. While, from the messy black hair and black eyes of an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer, she could feel that there's some resemblance to Ryner, Arua's mannerisms also gave the impression of him as an orderly and disciplined person.

His movements, very much un-childlike, also had no openings.

Showing traces that he had clearly undergone some sort of training. According to Ryner, after he had brought them out of Nelpha, they had been putting up at the famous swordsclan house, with the Eris family, and Arua had probably received some training there.

But even so, it was strange for a seven-eight year old boy like him to be that calm. It was as if he had seen through various things in life from his gruesome past.

"............"


Kiefer's face contorted in sadness for a moment. But immediately after, she shook her head and adopted a gentle smile, and then said.

"Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Kiefer Knolles. I've been traveling around various countries, and finally ended up as Ryner's comrade. And so, you are......"

Upon her saying that, Arua puffed his chest out and said,

"I'm the disciple of Ryner-sensei."

Disciple --- when Arua said that, he had a sense of pride in his tone, ''oh, Ryner I say, you are loved even by children huh'', Kiefer became a little happy.

Following that, Kuku who was in front of him said,

"I'm Kuku, the fiancee of Arua!"

Instantly.

Arua's face turned red suddenly.

"Eh? Wait, fiancee!? Hey, Kuku, erm......"

"Eh? I'm wrong?"

"No, that aside, we're not even ten yet......"


"Eeeeeeeehhhhh? Then, then, when we were leaving Roland, when you said that you're going to protect me for life, was that a lie?"

"No, it's not."

"Then we're engaged right!"

"Really?"

"Of course! You did say for life right? When you say for life, it means forever right?"

"Yeah but."

"Then we'll have to get married right!"

"Really?"

"Of course! So in other words, I'm Kuku, Arua's fiancee. Pleased to meet you, Kiefer-neesama!"

She said cheerfully.

On hearing that,

"Uwu ~?"

His face turned red.

That face was different from the earlier feeling it gave off, no matter how dark Arua's past was, right, he's smiling right from the bottom of his heart; Kiefer could see that, and she smiled.


Then, she thought.

Just like the time when Ryner saved Kiefer, he had saved Arua, she thought.

Around the world, there are other '''Alpha Stigma''' bearers, but most of them have a sad face of misfortune and will eventually die in the end.

Kiefer had witnessed those sad faces a number of times.

But Arua was different from them.

Having been blessed with a bothersome-looking sleepy-head teacher like Ryner, right now, he was really smiling cheerfully.

Just by seeing that, Kiefer knew that what they were about to do was the right thing to do.

What Ryner wanted to accomplish was the right thing to do, Kiefer thought.

Because he was always trying to save someone.

And right now, Ryner was attempting to save a comrade who was crying in anguish.


He was trying to save his best friend whom he had walked with all this while.

He was trying to save Sion Astal.

What will happen in the end?

"............"

Kiefer didn't know.

When Kiefer left Gastark Empire, the king of Gastark, Refal Edia had told her this.

''"I'd like you to go save Ryner from the monster of the south --- Sion Astal."''

''I'd like you to save Ryner from getting devoured by Sion.''

''If you don't, the foolish, sad, '''Lonesome Demon''' will gladly let himself get devoured by the '''Mad Dark Hero'''.''

Refal had said that.

He had said that he would like her to prevent that.

The fairy tale which had repeated itself again and again, told to her by Refal, was too large a scale for her to comprehend, but yet, somehow, she understood.


The Lonesome Demon who thinks about his friend.

The '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer who's too kind and too sad.

That kindness of Ryner will get betrayed.

But still, even so, Kiefer couldn't tell Ryner to abandon his friend.

''Since I.''

"............"

''Since I love that part, that kindness of Ryner.''

That's why, she would be putting her faith in Ryner, and try saving him. As to what will happen in the end, she did not know.

With the hope of saving Sion, and the desire to rescue Ryner, she will try moving forward, she thought.

And after that, if something that will cause Ryner to weep happens, even if she needs to sacrifice herself, she will save him, that's what she has decided. Even if she has to beat Ryner up, and get hated by him, she will take him to Gastark and save him, that's what she has decided.

But, until then.


Until she has seen it through to the end, she decided that she will devote herself to his cause wholeheartedly. She decided that she will save him from his destiny.

And in order to do that, the plan for the upcoming event must succeed.

Kiefer said.

"Well, now that we're done with the introductions, let's get going. It'll be dangerous if we tarry around here for too long."

On hearing that, Arua nodded and looked around him,

"...... Toale-sama's troops are probably hiding somewhere ahead."

He said.

In response to that, Kiefer nodded as well.

"Oh, as expected from someone born to Nelpha. I'm also of the same opinion. In terms of terrain, what's ahead of here would be the best."

"Yeah. But, since it's too much of a best place, Roland's troops will probably find them soon. We need to quickly get to the place that Ryner-sensei wants us to move to, but...... if the four of us move together, it may not be such a good thing. More importantly, it'll be dangerous if we get into contact with Nelpha troops with the Roland flags that we are carrying. That's why we should split up into two groups here. Iris-neesama, Kuku, and I should first proceed to near the Runa borders."


What he said was exactly the same idea that had unfolded in Kiefer's head.

This child is really sharp like his teacher.

Kiefer smiled and looked in the direction of Kuku.

"What an awesome fiance, isn't he?"

She said and ''yeah!'', Kuku nodded.

Arua's face turned red again.

For some reason, Iris was eating dango while standing on one of her hands.

"............"

''Hey, isn't this girl already ten plus years old, then why is she acting so childishly......''

As Kiefer pondered about that, she remembered the cute mannerism of Ferris, who is around her own age, and perhaps this girl is just like her big sister, she thought.

Just when she was thinking about how adorable those two are, once again, ''uwuu, Ryner you idiot, are you already head over heels in love with Ferris-san huhhhhhhhhhhhhh?'', she thought but now's not the time, let's get moving, and so Kiefer also has her own troubles brewing.

For a few seconds, those complicated thoughts ran amok in Kiefer.


"Now."

She said.

Once again, she looked towards the north.

A hill that was as small as her left hand was ahead of her, and beyond that would be a river. And upstream along that river, was a plain, and beyond that a forest, and past that, would probably be the place where Toale's ten thousand army was encamped at.

If she is to ride that distance, it will probably take less than two days.

In order not to get discovered, she had been slowly searching for the place where Toale's troops were, but right now, she already had a clear idea of where that was, so it would be better if she just head straight there by horse.

Of course, if she rides, it'll increases the danger of her getting discovered, but, the appointed time with Ryner was getting closer.

The appointed time to move nearer to Runa's borders and link up with Ryner. And there was not much time left to that appointed time.

At that moment, Arua dismounted and so did Kuku.

Then.

"Please use this horse. We'll bring the flags and proceed ahead to Runa's borders first."


Kiefer nodded.

Following that, she mounted the horse. She patted its head and turned around,

"Well then, Arua-kun. Take care of Kuku-chan and Iris-chan."

Upon saying that, Arua suddenly had a bewildered expression,

"Eh, erm but, Iris-neesama is much stronger than me......"

But, at that moment, Iris, who was still standing upside down said,

"Arua Arua!"

"Yes?"

"Please take care of me!"

She shouted cheerfully as if she had understood nothing, and in response to that, Arua looked troubled,

"...... y-yeah. I'll do my best."

He nodded.

Kiefer smiled, and with that,

"Alright, everyone, take care."

She said and started her horse forward.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 115.jpg|thumb]]

The scenery started to flow.

The destination was getting closer.

A mission to persuade the Toale Nelphi she had yet to meet, and the abandoned ten thousand soldiers, and to coax them into becoming their allies.

A dangerous mission which could get her killed if she did it badly.

But.

"............"

But, Kiefer merely smiled at that thought.

And while facing straight ahead,

"...... this is something I'm good at."

She murmured softly.

<center>♦</center>

The location shifts to somewhere further north.

Somewhere off the midstream of the Grydl River, inside a small tent erected in a clearing.


"But, no matter how many times I've worn this, it still feels tight."

Toale Nelphi said as he loosened the neck of the military uniform he was wearing.

With brown hair and gentle eyes. However, embedded deep within those eyes, a single-mindedness, air of nobility could be seen.

Nineteen years old.

Being born of the current king of Imperial Nelpha, Starnel Nelphi and his mistress, he was abandoned because of his commoner blood, and while living in an ordinary town while his half brothers and sisters were raised within the royal compounds, he was not involved in politics nor given any authority.

"............"

However, right now, he was followed by ten thousand soldiers, as well as over two thousand commoners who had joined up by themselves, and made the king of people.

"...... they've gotten me."

Toale murmured.

He stood up, and exited the tent.

Outside, filled to the point where he could hardly see anything else, were people, people, people.


Mixed in the group of people who were wearing the military uniform of Nelpha, were men, women, elderly, and children.

The children who saw Toale come out of the tent shouted,

"It's Toale-sama!"

Then, all the rest looked at him and waved.

There were also those who lowered their heads.

There were also those who prostrated.

On seeing that, more from just the tightness of his uniform, it became harder to breathe.

However, he couldn't show that on his face. The people who were gathered here were more unsettled than Toale himself.

That's why he smiled and waved his hand. As he did that, the soldiers and people started cheering. He then nodded with a confident expression on his face and murmured,

"...... this shouldn't be happening."

In response, from behind him,

"This is all because of Toale-sama's benevolence."

Said a familiar face, the master of the library that Toale had always hung out at, Gainel.


Toale grimaced and turned around.

"That'll be troubling, Gainel-jiisan. In the first place, I didn't want you to be following me here as well. To put it frankly, this is a journey of suicide you know?"

He said.

That was the truth.

He had desperately come all the way here to save the ten thousand troops that were thrown away by Prince Starnel as sacrificial pawns from getting crushed by Roland's forces, but for some reason,

''"Finally, our star, the true ruler, Toale Nelphi, has decided to rise up!"''

''"Everyone, follow Toale Nelphi-sama!"''

Incomprehensible things like that happened and after this and that, he was set up as king.

And right now, the soldiers and people who were here were filled with hope on their faces.

Even though it should be a situation that was hopeless beyond hopelessness, but yet, everyone was making a face as if they had found a beacon of light.


"............"

However, in response to that, Toale sighed.

The reason was because this light wouldn't continue for sure.

The life of their beacon of light that they had put up, Toale, would not remain for long.

Right now, the overwhelming large forces of Roland Empire were heading northwards. They were so mighty that the entire Imperial Nelpha had been sent into a panic.

And his father had gone nuts. Without consideration for the people, he took his troops, plundered the people and escaped.

However, that act itself was meaningless.

Roland will probably crush the whole of Nelpha.

When that happens, where in the world will Starnel run to?

Runa?

It can't be.

There was no way Runa, as Roland's ally, will accept him.

Then, to Cassla in the north?

That's also impossible.


There was no way he can enter with seventy thousand soldiers. Bring soldiers across the borders. That means war. On top of that, Starnel had massacred his own people and plundered them. Cassla will definitely not accept such a fella.

Then, what's left?

"............"

There is only one answer.

Imperial Nelpha will disappear. The humongous Roland Empire will oppress Nelpha and take her lands.

If you're weak, you lose.

That was a natural result and his grandpa --- the wise king Gread Nelphi was fully aware of that.

That's why he wanted to surrender.

His grandpa had thought of how to minimize the sacrifices and move forward to the best conclusion.

"............"

But, in the end, things had taken a turn for the worse.

However, Toale wanted to resume those plans.


He wanted to resume his grandpa's plans. That was his duty, the duty of a person who is connected to the royal blood, he thought.

That's why he rose up.

And the first thing he had to do was to save the sacrificial ten thousand soldiers, and following that, send Roland a letter telling them of his intention to surrender.

But, in order to do that, he must not resist the Roland's forces, and it was necessary to display his intention strongly.

That he was different from Starnel and won't go crazy. That he had no intention of going against Roland. That's why, ''In exchange for my life, can you please stop the war? In exchange for my life, can you please let the ten thousand soldiers and the people of Nelpha off?''

He had to proclaim that.

And from his proclamation, a percentage of the seventy thousand soldiers who were following Starnel will probably surrender as well, and that should reduce the number of meaningless killings.

Of course, the remaining soldiers who choose to stay on with Starnel will probably get decimated by Roland in the end, but this should already be the most ideal way to minimize the number of sacrifices.

That's why, this was definitely a suicidal journey.

A suicidal journey where salvation will start with Toale's execution.


However, in reality, things were starting to get worse.

Once the rumor that Toale had taken command of the ten thousand troops had spread, people who declared their intention to follow him appeared one after another. Not just the commoners. Even the bandits operating in this area were now in his camp.

On top of that, there were several nobles who had served under Gread Nelphi who had made the declaration as well. As well as soldiers who should have been following Starnel.

Right now, his location had yet to be found out by the people of Nelpha, so not that many were gathered yet, but in due time, this place would be found out.

Toale, who was going to give up his life, might end up having tens of thousands of people assembled under him.

This state of events can really be described as the worst possible situation.

With this, even if Toale were to proclaim that he has no intention of fighting, Roland will not believe him.

If such a thing were to come to pass, then the whole country will be plunged into war.

And it will be a war where they have no chance of winning, an all-out war that will only increase the number of sacrifices.

"...... this is troubling."

On hearing Toale's words, Gainel's confident, bearded face became agitated,


"Not at all. With this tide, Toale-sama shall become the king of Nelpha!"

He said.

"The people are the allies of Toale-sama."

He said.

"............"

Toale became gloomy on hearing that.

What is the king of Nelpha?

This king is going to die soon!

He wanted to cry out.

However, instead, with his troubled face,

"...... even so, I can't do a thing like abandoning everyone."

Upon saying that, he looked around him. He looked at the faces of the commoners and the ten thousand soldiers who had assembled for his sake.

Everyone was smiling at him.

But the scene of everyone smiling happily was the most awful scene to Toale.


The refugees who were abandoned by Nelpha and had been driven off their lands by Roland numbered more than thirty thousand.

The matter on giving out rations and feeding this large number of people was a serious problem.

From hereon, if they don't resort to plundering, it will be impossible to sustain them.

But if he were to do that, then he will be the same as his father --- Starnel.

But if he doesn't do that, then over thirty thousand people will not even last two months and starve to death.

Now.

"......now...... what should I do about this?"

As he muttered with a serious expression on his face, he looked intently at the crowd of people who had assembled for his sake.

The solemn faces of the soldiers.

The still lean, and hesitant faces of the soldiers.

The boys who were running around.

The elderly and the woman who were chasing after them.


And from behind all that, from behind the waves of people, the face of a woman poked out. And she looked at him.

She stared straight at him.

"............"

Toale noticed her.

A pair of charming, red eyes looking straight at him. With red hair reaching her shoulders. A beautiful girl, Toale thought. Her age was probably the same as his own right?

While the somewhat cute looking girl looked straight at him,

"...... you are Toale?"

She said.

As Toale nodded to that, she broke into a cheerful smile. That smiling face disappeared from his view for an instant. She was making her way forward,

"Orhh ~. Somehow, with the large number of children and women, it was easy to infiltrate into here ~"

She said and smiled again. That smiling face was definitely bewitching, a smiling face that seemed to bring happiness to those around her --- but, Toale's expression hardened.

"............"


The word she just said.

The word 'infiltrate'.

Toale's whole body tensed up.

Just a while ago. He had thought that such a person would come, but it was earlier than he had expected.

An assassin sent by Roland who had viewed Toale, who had attracted a following of people, as a menace.

Or perhaps, an assassin sent by Starnel who saw his son as an obstacle.

Whichever the case, this was no doubt a killer. Since right now, to the factions that were present in Nelpha, Toale was seen as the largest obstacle.

However, right now, Toale could not afford to get himself killed here. Before he could send a surrender proclamation to Roland, he could not afford to be killed.

That's why, he wanted to retreat hurriedly and shout ''Guards'' while doing so.

But, she was faster than him.

With a smiling, beaming face, she was faster than Toale, and took another step forward,

"Aah, aah, wait a minute, don't run. I'm here to help you guys."

"Liar."


"It's true."

"Then why are you chasing after me?"

"Because you're running away right?"

"I...... I can't afford to be killed here."

"I know. That's why I'm here to help you."

"Don't mess with me. Right now, in this country, the factions who will help me......"

Don't exist at all. Even though he was about to say that, she was faster than him and finished after him.

Staring straight at him with her red eyes.

"It is Ryner, who will be giving you a hand."

Instantly.

Toale's feet stopped, and following that,

"Eh?"

He uttered.

He knew that name. But, the last time he met him was a long time ago. More than a year ago. However, he remembered clearly.

A strange, sleepy-looking man by the name of Ryner Lute.


He and his partner, Ferris Eris, had rescued his little brother from getting assaulted by some hoodlums.

Following that, they became friendly with him, put up at his place for a while, and after that, they had set off on their journey again.

"............"

Toale looked intently at Kiefer. He stared at her in an attempt to read her, and search to see whether anything was hidden behind her smiling face.

Then, her smiling face became a little nervous,

"...... who on earth are you?"

"Orh, finally, you are willing to listen to me?"

"...... who knows. Well, at the very least, I know that you are not an assassin."

If she had wanted to kill Toale, she wouldn't have started a conversation, and would have stealthily come straight for the kill.

If a single woman like her had wanted to infiltrate a camp full of Nelpha soldiers to carry out an assassination, she wouldn't have time to tarry around like that.

However, she had come here to talk to Toale. Then, perhaps, she's here to bring a message?


Or is she a messenger who has come to threaten him, ''if you don't submit, we'll kill you''?

Whichever the case,

"...... if you don't have any intention of killing me, I'm willing to listen to you."

She grinned again. That smiling face stole Toale's gaze.

Then, ''dangerous'', he thought.

Her charm is dangerous. If she is a spy from another country, she is one capable spy.

That's why Toale tensed up and looked intently at her.

While she continued to smile,

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kiefer. Kiefer Knolles."

"...... hm. So, Kiefer-san, where did you come from?"

Asked Toale.

Rather, Toale did not even know where the man known as Ryner Lute came from, and where he is now.

For some reason, a year ago, he had told him that he was looking up old legends and fairy tails from across the different lands, and had asked to have access to the national library of Nelpha.


And Toale had no clue as to what purpose and intent he had in doing that.

However, right now, the girl before him said that she had come as a messenger from Ryner to help him.

Who in the world are these people?

What do they intend to accomplish?

There's a need to see through all of this, and upon thinking that, Kiefer said.

"Er~m, if you want me to talk about where I came from, where I will be going, and why I've appeared here, it'll be a little too long, so, right now, since we don't really have much time for that, I'll just pass you Ryner's message first."

"Ryner-san's message?"

"Yeah."

"So, what did Ryner-san say?"

Kiefer then looked up at the sky, appearing to recall something, and following that, she looked intently at Toale, and for some reason, while adopting a sleepy, languid, but yet somehow gentle face resembling that of Ryner, she said.

"Orh ~ Toale, long time no see ~. Seems like you're in a pinch huh, even though it's bothersome, I'll help you out. The reason is because we're friends. Ok?"


On hearing those words.

''The reason is because we're friends. Ok?''

On hearing those light-hearted words.

"...... haha."

Toale couldn't help but laughed.

Following that, he looked intently at Kiefer,

"...... uwah ~, somehow, that's very persuasive."

He said while laughing.

As he did that, she then made a relieved face,

"Ah, this really worked. Ryner, you know, had said that if I told you that, it would work, and I was getting nervous about what if it doesn't work."

"That's certainly quite nerve-wrecking."

"Isn't it? Assuming it might fail, I ended up thinking out seven types of persuasion methods. But, it's great that it worked, so, are you ready to listen to me?"

"Of course. Ah, let's go into the tent."


Toale prompted for Kiefer towards the tent but, she shook her head.

"Unfortunately, we don't have that time. We need to get moving soon."

"Get moving?"

"Yeah. If we stay here, Roland's scouts will find us soon. We have to move."

"But, sooner or later, they will find us right? With this many people moving, there's no way the enemy won't......"

"Ryner has taken care of that. We're going to move to a place where both Nelpha soldiers and Roland soldiers wouldn't get close, allowing us to at least buy some time before getting discovered."

Toale tilted his head.

A place where Nelpha soldiers and Roland soldiers wouldn't get close.

"Where on earth would such a place be?"

A smile surfaced on Kiefer's face at that question. Once again, nervousness was mixed into that smile.

Following that, she pointed to the East with a finger.

"To the borders with Runa Empire."


On hearing those words.

On hearing those words of hers, Toale started to tense up.

Then, he gradually understood roughly what Ryner Lute's plan entailed.

Indeed, if they were to do that.

If they were to do that, there might indeed be a slight chance that they can break free of this worst case scenario.

However, that was way too dangerous.

An overly dangerous gamble.

A gamble that could put the lives of the commoners into danger, a gamble so dangerous that he hesitated.

However, his tension seemed to have reached Kiefer, and her initial smiling face disappeared, replaced by serious expression as she spoke to him.

"...... I can understand your hesitation, but there's no other way that can reduce the number of sac......"

Cutting her off,

"I understand."

Said Toale.

Indeed, it was so.


Right now, even if Toale gets executed, there is still a high chance that Roland won't stop their massacre.

If whatever he did wouldn't help the situation at all, sink or swim, perhaps, it wasn't that bad an idea to ride on Ryner's plan.

That's why Toale looked up and said.

Glaring at Kiefer,

"But, if there's any indication that you are going to betray us......"

Kiefer cut him off again.

"There's no merit for us to betray you."

"But there's no merit in helping us as well right?"

"That's true but...... but, Ryner is idiotically gentle, so he'll help you. Do you believe that? Well, if you don't believe, I will have to unveil those seven types of persuasion patterns."

"............"

On hearing that.


Toale waved his hand as a smile floated on his face.

"No, it's fine. I believe in Ryner-san."

There isn't any other way I can take anyway --- he couldn't say that.

But Kiefer smiled and nodded.

"Well then, I hope you can start moving your soldiers immediately though."

Once again, she looked around her.

"But, the situation's kind of different from what I've thought. I've heard that you have ten thousand troops following you but...... there are clearly more than ten thousand...... and on top of that, more than half are commoners......"

Toale looked around him. He scanned the crowd of commoners who had come following him.

And then.

"...... if you're telling me that they can't follow along, then, regarding this plan......"

But, immediately, Kiefer said,

"It's fine. Ryner will definitely keep complaining, ''what a bother what a bother'', and in the end, he will save each and everyone."

On hearing that, Toale recalled.


He recalled the time when he first met Ryner.

When Toale's little brother and sister were being assaulted by hoodlums, Ryner passed by and while he kept complaining how bothersome things were and how he didn't want to get involved in it, in the end, he still saved them.

"............"

So as to speak, perhaps Ryner is just that kind of person.

While he didn't know what has Ryner become right now, perhaps.

Perhaps, it might be interesting for him to entrust what may be his final suicidal fate to a friend, Toale thought.

"Well then, let's get moving."

After saying that, he turned to face the several commanders of the ten thousand strong army who had been looking at him inquiringly with nervous looks on their faces.

He then nodded,

"Get your butt moving. Get up. Don't move like a slug!"

He started yelling.

After ascertaining their responses, Toale turned to look at Kiefer. She smiled and nodded.

Once again, that smile took his eyes away.


He gazed at those red eyes in which embedded a strong will, but yet in which surfaced a fleeting shade of weakness.

''I have never met such a beautiful girl'', those words floated in his mind.

At that moment, she returned his gaze with a curious look on her face and said.

"What's wrong?"

"Eh? Ah, no ~...... erm...... I was just thinking it's going to be tough from here."

She then nodded with a straight face.

"Yeah. But, for the sake of the people gathered here, we need to manage somehow."

"Erm, ah ~, yeah."

Toale made an appropriate response and turned his gaze away from Kiefer.

And then, he became exasperated with the strange feelings that had been born inside of him.

''Fool'', he chided himself.

''No matter where I run to, in the end, I'll just get executed, what the hell am I thinking about?''

"...... aah, damn."

He shook his head, and started moving.


He really didn't have time to think about foolish things.

He had to move.

Carrying the lives of tens of thousands of people, he had to move.

He had no time to wrestle with strange feelings.

"Commanders, tell this to Major Selues. Set up a vanguard of five thousand troops and move towards the Runa borders. But, make sure they don't get too close to the Runa borders. Otherwise, we'll end up fighting Runa. And we have to avoid that at all costs. The commoners will follow next, and with the remaining five thousand troops will follow me and we'll erase our traces here and follow along. We'll disappear from here steadily but rapidly. Get it?"

On hearing that, the commanders bowed and left.

After a while, the soldiers started moving. And following that, the commoners also started moving.

With that, the over thirty thousand people led by Toale started moving in masses.

Looking at that,

"...... I pray to God that this decision is a right one......"

He murmured and Kiefer smiled,


"I thought that there're no religious groups in Nelpha?"

She said.

On hearing that, as much as possible, without looking back at her, Toale replied.

"Indeed. That's why I just prayed to the God of Runa. I prayed to that God of the religious country of Runa Empire...... I prayed for the outcome that even as we get close to the borders of Runa, it won't result in a war."

While saying that, he looked to the front of the moving crowd. The commoners were moving at a slow speed. With this pace of movement, it will probably take them three days to reach their destination.

Three days.

"Three days huh...... that's long."

He groaned.

And if they were to be discovered by Roland forces in these three days, everything would come to an end.

And that would be a very tough fight, he thought.

But, even so,

"...... I have to make this work......"

While murmuring that softly, with a bitter face, he looked up to the southern sky above the Roland forces which were making their way northwards here.


<center>♦</center>

<center>♦</center>

<center>♦</center>

He knew that the world was moving.

In a completely different direction than before.

He could hear the sounds of the moving world, giving birth to a completely different scenery.

"............"

In the whirlpool of the sounds, Sion Astal bent over slightly.

With silver air that has an air of nobility, and golden eyes in which a strong determination was embedded.

Those eyes were not now looking at his throne room but at a completely different world.

It was a dark, dark, scenery which was completely dark in its entirety.

Occasionally, a light would be given off but it would disappear immediately. In the overly dark world, the dim light would disappear immediately.


That was the scenery that he was looking at now.

It was a scenery seen by the former hero.

It was a scenery seen by the former demon.

Recently, it has overlapped with the real world.

"...... most terrible."

Muttered Sion.

Most of the madness inside him was about to awaken.

Most of the ecstasy within him could no longer be suppressed.

Change.

Everything will.

Be changed.

The world.

It starts right from here.

The door starts from here.

Looking at that door.


Looking at the door that connects to the darkness on the other side.

What's left is to open the lock of that door with a key.

Key.

Key.

The sacrificial demon.

If Ryner's life becomes mine......

"............"

And at that moment.

"Your Highness."

He was called.

Sion dispelled the darkness before his eyes. His consciousness returned to reality and he turned his gaze to the front.

A man stood there.

With long beautiful black hair, and frozen, dark, dark blue eyes.

Before him, was Lieutenant General Miran Froaude.

Those dark eyes looked intently at him.


"Your Highness."

Sion answered.

"What is it?"

"...... no, it's because you didn't seem to notice me when I entered the throne room...... are you tired?"

To that question, Sion replied.

"No, no problem at all."

But, Froaude had a worried look, which didn't seem to suit him, on his face,

"Is that so? When I'm not around, it's good to get some sle......"

But, Sion cut him off,

"Did you come here just to talk about that?"

He said.

Froaude stopped his words. With a troubled looking face, he looked intently at Sion,

"No. I have a few reports to make."

"Then speak."

"Yes. Firstly...... regarding the capturing of Ryner Lute......"


But, Sion said instead.

"You want to tell me he escaped? I know that. He went to Nelpha."

Froaude's eyes widened in slight surprise.

"I see. Your Highness is aware of that. Was someone assigned to spy on me......"

But, Sion shook his head.

"No."

"Then, how is it......"

"I'd know if Ryner leaves the country. Since he's the key to open the door. If a thing of necessity disappears from this country, I'd know. Aah, besides that......"

Sion turned to face his back, looking up at the empty space,

"Lucile has also praised you. ''He's a wonderful pawn, so treat him well'', he said."

While saying that, he looked at Froaude once more.

A thin smile formed on his deep red lips.

"...... well well, I'm really honored at his praise. Then, I presumed you've heard from him with regards to the matter?"


Froaude said, but the truth was different.

It was really as what Sion had said earlier.

That's the extent to which the '''Mad Hero''' inside of Sion had started encroaching on him.

He was starting to get dominated by the '''Power''' inside of him to the effect of attaining awareness of whether the target he wanted to devour was still nearby or not.

Occasionally, his consciousness would get blended in.

Really, by now, he should have already opened the door with the key, and become '''True''', but because of the delay, the '''Power''' has started meandering off into a strange direction.

For some reason, Lucile had said that it was interesting.

Moving forward without devouring Ryner, without repeating that screwed-up past; that is an interesting development, he had said.

"............"

No, now's not the time to think about that.

Sion looked at Froaude.

He was once again looking at him with a worried look on his face.

Sion smiled wryly.


He could tell that he had returned slightly to his former humanity with that wry smile.

"...... no...... aah, I'm sorry, Froaude. I was paying a little too much attention to another place. I haven't slept a lot in this place. Like you said, I'm a little tired."

Froaude nodded and said.

"...... there's still a long way to go. No, it might be more apt to say that your domination journey has just started. You have to take care of your body."

"I understand."

"Perhaps, you'd like to take a little rest?"

"...... you're right. But right now, I can't rest yet. Before that, let's hear about the situation in Nelpha."

"It's going well."

On hearing those words,

"Hah."

Sion laughed.

If it was going well, that means the war should come to an end soon. Nelpha will surrender soon and everything should end smoothly but.

"...... I've heard that Gread Nelphi died."


Sion said, to which Froaude nodded.

"He was killed by his son."

"It couldn't be prevented huh?"

A cynical smile then surfaced on Froaude's face.

"Nelpha's upper echelon was foolish beyond our expectations, it seems......"

"So, it will become an all out war?"

"Yes."

"Is Claugh agreeable?"

"...... no. Field Marshal Claugh has sent another message."

Upon saying that, Froaude handed over a piece of paper that he had held in his hand.

Sion took it and let his gaze fall onto the paper.

It was yet again another message from that fella. From the one who had escaped from this country, Ryner ---

A message from his best friend.

"............"

And in that message, was written a plan which he had come up with, on how to break through this worst case scneario.


"............"

Sion squinted his eyes.

Furthermore, at the end,

''"Because Sion Astal is my friend, I won't abandon him, that's the disgusting message that the sleepy-headed man gave, now, what will you do, Sion?"''

Such a line was scribbled by Claugh, in his not so beautiful handwriting.

"............"

Sion looked at that message.

Following that, he looked up at the ceiling once as if to consider the words.

Ryner's plan is a pretty interesting one, Sion thought. It might be interesting to go along with it, he thought.

Ryner has come up with this plan for my sake, isn't it? He thought.

Just as he thought, Ryner had moved to save Roland --- to save Sion, without Nelpha surrendering nor having Roland move backwards to where it has been before, he thought.


Because they are friends.

Because they are best friends.

''Even though I have betrayed him in the worst possible way, Ryner still said that.''

With his usual kind and sleepy face, he had said that.

"............"

However, in response to that.

Sion crushed the piece of paper in his hand.

And said.

To the man with a devil-like smile before him.

"Froaude."

"Yes."

"What do you think of this message?"

"...... a cowardly prank."

On hearing that,

"That's right."


Said Sion.

"The Roland now is not a country that can stop at this juncture."

He said.

"We have proclaimed that we'll conquer the world. With the least number of sacrifices, in the shortest possible way, in the fastest amount of time, we'll reach the center, central Menoris. For that reason, we need to show our absolute might here. Save the life of Toale Nelphi? To reduce the number of sacrifices, even if it's only a little? Fool. The gears are already spinning. It's no longer possible to stop them. If we don't move forward, the sacrifices will just keep mounting up, more than ever. In the first place, if we stop here, what shall we say to the lives that have already been lost up till this point? What shall we say to the lives that have been lost along our route of advancement? The dice have been cast. The landscape of this world is starting to change. If so, what is it that we must do? What is the best choice we must make?"

On hearing Sion's question, Froaude smiled happily. With a happy, devil-like smile floating on his face,

"...... Your Highness, I understand your feelings. Then, let's kill everyone. In order not to have anyone stand up again. In order not to have anyone want to bare their fangs again."

With that, he turned on his heel. And started walking.


Sion said his leaving back.

"Bring along Bayuuz as well. Take care of everything in a flash."

Without turning around,

"Your wish is my command."

Said Froaude, and he walked out of the throne room.

And once again, the room returned to silence.

Sion was alone again.

Shouldering the quiet world.

Shouldering the lonely world.

Shouldering a world in which he could not even take the hand of his best friend, Ryner, even when he had held it out to save him, a world with so much despair that he wanted to cry.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 153.jpg|thumb]]
To that.

"............"

To that, Sion smiled.

A sad smile.

But even so, the gears spun.


But even so, the landscape moved forward.

That's why once again, he closed his eyes quietly.

In order to erase this reality, and turn his consciousness back to the other side.

In order to sink himself into the darkness, to kill each and every of the gloomy '''Goddesses'''.

Then, at the time when he opened those eyes once more......

 
"........................"
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==Translator's Notes and References==
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| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol3|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
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Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Afterword

2011-12-19T17:42:54Z

Error: /* Afterword Part 2 */

==Afterword==


Geez, I'm so busy!

So busy!

What am I busy with? Thanks to the mischief from a cat, I'm busy with buying a new car to replace my destroyed car...... my bishoujo editor-in-charge went "Write the damn manuscript, heeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ☆"

Erm, I'm writing.

I'm writing you know!

And so ~.

This is Kagami, who's desperately writing the manuscripts for the afterword and the short story to be used for the awakening campaign present which is already due in the very same morning, among other things.

The truth is today,

"I-I-I'm sorry, for some reason, whether it is because I'm in a slump, or a trump, or due to my relatives' misfortune which were not, there's no manuscript<ref>'''Nonsense:''' Yes, it's pure nonsense. Don't worry if you don't get it, because half the time, I don't know what he's writing in his nonsensical afterwords. </ref>...... won't you extend the deadline? Ah, of course, it's not because I couldn't sleep from the excitement of buying a new car you know, really you know?"


Of course I can't possibly have such a phone conversation.

Because today!

Today there's a meeting in the editorial department on the plans for Toyota-san's interview and Denyuuden comic to be used for the July issue of DM alrightttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt ---

A ad on the comic adaptation of Denyuuden! (LOL)

Well --- so joyous.

Toyota-san already has a 4-koma, and following behind, the plans for a comic adaptation of Denyuuden has started.

Even though I don't know how the world of Denyuuden will be drawn, but since there's going to be a presentation done by the editorial department, I can't possibly go there with a sullen face as a result of not meeting my deadline, so consequently, I woke up at five in the morning to write this afterword.


The sun hasn't come out yet.

Well, the details about this book have already been revealed, I think.

Erm, anyway, before that, as usual.

'''"Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu 3 The Great Plan Of The Azure Breath"'''

How's it?

This is how I've been starting afterwords all this while. Why do I always use so much space, well, the afterwords space this time is not half-assed.

My editor-in-charge told me that there will be 13 pages for the afterword.

But since I can't write 13 pages, I think I will use up all my energy halfway, but I'll do my best!

Please support me!

I shall proceed the use up the space extravagantly.


==Afterword Part 2==

Once again, how did you find "Daidenyuuden 3"?

Of course, those who have already read this should know by now, this time round, we have a serious volume that we have never had before.

A volume in which Ryner's perspective changed greatly.

A volume in which his burdens changed greatly.

On top of that, right from the start, it was climax after climax, to the reader, it might be kind of an extremely fast paced development, are you guys alright with this?

Even my bishoujo editor-in-charge K-san has commented that, ''the development in this volume is fast'', and

"You take it slowly next volume you know!"

In Denyuuden, this kind of rare (LOL) developments might be strangely fast, but, for the rest of Daidenyuuden, it will be along these lines.

There are still many things to do to tie up the last part of the plot tightly.

Everyone, please continue to support this ongoing avalanche!


And so, next.

Editor K-san said,

"Anyway, just write about this in the afterwordddddddddddddddddd ☆"

To me and regarding the promotion.

Right now.

Inside the Dragon Magazine which has just undergone a renewal, is the once only revival of Denyuuden!

And it's going to be launched on the same day as this book, on May 20!

Denyuuden revives with its cover and opening special.

The cover appears to be demon king Ryner.

I haven't seen it myself yet, but the editorial department has judged the dark Ryner to be cool.

You, who are reading this book from the afterword in the bookstore.

Buy the Doramaga at the magazine corner as well! (LOL)

By the way, about the short story in the Doramaga --- then again, I wrote so much that it can't be called a short story though ---


What!

Seems like the contents are a rough continuation of "Dai Denyuuden 3". In the long chapter, the contents are pretty much crossovers.

Frankly, a long chapter is installed.

The core of the mystery behind Denyuuden, even I was trembling, completely moved to tears!

Me and my editor-in-charge, we would never have thought that the mystery will be unveiled in Doramaga! Wait, is this really ok? Is this really ok? The two of us moved to tears over the phone.

Those who are interested, please do buy it, read it, and send in the questionnaire.

Next, I shall tell you about the details of the Denyuuden manga adaptation, which I still know nothing about, as well as the Denyuuden Great Special Edition, lots of info, so please read on!

Denyuuden will probably not revive in Doramaga again except for occasionally, so this is valuable!

The symbol is Demon King Ryner.

Please support me!


That's what my editor-in-charge told me and that's all I have to write.

But still, there's something I need to go back to.

Umu.

13 pages is sure long ---.

Ah, that reminds me, I have to say thanks with regards to "The Legend of the Fallen Black Hero" where Sion is the protagonist.

For some reason, the "Ochiden" series has sold more than the already published "Toriden".

Normally, for a book, it definitely won't go past the accumulated numbers for the previous volume, but, maybe it's because from hereon, "Ochiden" will starting the Roland Revolution chapter, so it might feel like a new series, and with everyone's support, this impossible miracle has been accomplished.

Not just a volume before, but even two volumes before, super surprised.

Well, the truth is, I was really afraid. Since last time, the ad for the post "Toriden" series, "Denyuuden SHOW" was done, I forcibly pulled the plug on it and said I want to do the revolution chapter! Let's do "Ochiden"! I was really getting ahead of myself and trembling.


Thanks to everyone's encouragement, the higher ups answered to my willfulness and the editorial department and sales department even held a strategic meeting and many others really worked hard, and somehow I managed to get on this track.

That's why, together with the protagonist of Ochiden, Sion-kun, let us say our thanks.

Thank you.

So, please continue to support Daiden and Ochiden.

I ended it beautifully.

There are still enough pages left to kill me! (CRY)

I'm sorry to put in ads.

I shall continue to work hard.

Shall I write about my recent situation?

Speaking of recent situation, I've never written that many manuscripts before. I've been writing and writing. But writing manuscripts is normal, so I'll talk about something else.

I wrote about cars and cats in the opening section, erm, what's next?


Recently, at my workplace at 11.30pm, my fellow authors asked me to go to a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanami Hanami]. (By the way, I was writing this afterword during the Hanami season).

So on that night,

"Oh ~ little Taka."

And I was already having a sleepy face.

"Uwah, I'm already so sleepy and going to go back, and you called me?"

"No no, the night is still young right?"

"No, I want to go back already."

"Me too."

"Me three."

"Then don't call me during this houuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr."

I yelled out, but in the end, everyone got along till morning.

No one appeared at the workplace the next morning.

Well, as expected, work can only get done at the workplace! (LOL)


So, that's how I have fun in the workplace, together with four authors from Fujimi, and four authors from Dengeki.

Initially, there were only three of us, and before I knew it, it became like that.

Being an author can be a lonely thing, and when from the seat beside or the seat aside comes,

"Uwah ~, I want to die ~"

I don't feel that lonely anymore.

If you want to know about this, I've uploaded it in my homepage, Kagami Takaya's healthy lifestyle.

Somehow, I managed to finished 80% of the pages ~.

Time to go into the summing up!

By the way, if I don't conclude this soon, I won't make it in time for the next manuscript!

The deadline for this is one hour later!

Shall I end this with a short section!?

So, that's how it feels like, I'm tying things up.

But, before I conclude, there's something I always say.


Everyone, thank you as always.

With this volume, counting Elwin, Denyuuden, Kagami Takaya has written 39 books.

The next one will be the 40th!

Even though I felt like I've been swept to here, but the reason for that is because of everyone's encouragement.

A work can't be established without its readers. So really, thank you.

And to the bookstore peeps, thank you.

I've seen those signages.

As well as the displays of the books.

I'm amazed each time.

It's not just my effort, but everyone else, that this work can continue.

Thank you.

And, please continue to support me!

And somehow, as I'm writing this, the truth is, the editorial department has already sent me the manga adaptation as a present ~.


Information about the manga adaptation.

In July issue of the monthly Dragon Age (selling on 9-June (Monday)), an announcement comic for "Denyuuden" will be in!

In the August issue of Dragon Age, (selling on 9-July (Wednesdat)), the manga "Denyuuden" will start serialization!

The manga artist will be Nagakura Hiroko-san. At this point of time, I've not met him yet, but the Age editorial department sent me the drawings, the rough, and the name<ref>'''Name:''' A name is a draft of a manga chapter shown to the editor before the artist works on the manuscript.</ref>.

Somehow. It's awesooooommmmeeee!

The drawings, the name as well! I've seen the serious scenes of the long chapters, and it's really awesome!

On top of that, he sent his gratitude and about how much he likes Denyuuden, so everyone, please look forward to it!

So, we come to the conclusion again.

And also, after the end of this year, there are even more awesome things.


But, with regards to this awesome thing, it will start in September.

And, the start of that will be the launching of "Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu 4" in September.

Speaking of that, I have to release a long story in September as well...... really dying...... (LOL)

So as to speak, the next time we meet, will be in Dragon Magazine's Denyuuden opening special, which will be sold at the same time as this volume.

And then, the next time will be Daiden 4 in Septemeber!

Please continue to support me!

<DIV ALIGN="RIGHT">Kagami Takaya</DIV>
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----

==Translator's Notes and References==
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|-
| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol3|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 4 Illustrations|Volume 4 Illustrations]]
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</noinclude>

Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 3

2011-12-19T17:31:49Z

Error: /* Chapter 3 - The Burden I Shoulder */ misspelling, missing verb

==Chapter 3 - The Burden I Shoulder==


The horse galloped.

At full speed.

"My butt huuurrrtttttsssssss!"

While yelling, Ryner rode, he rode, for four days, he rode.

Beside him, Ferris, who had also been galloping for the past four days without sleeping, went,

".................................. mumyu ~"

"Hey, don't sleep while ridingggggggggg!"

Ryner yelled at the Ferris who seemed about to slip off her horse.

On hearing that, she opened her eyes suddenly, looked up, and wiped off the little drool from her mouth,

"Hm? What? It's morning?"

"No, it's evening though. Wait, that's not the problem, don't sleep on the horse! It's dangerous."


"I wasn't sleeping."

"I think you were sleeping with half of your body about to fall off."

"I was practicing body-bend riding."

"You're lying!"

"Yeah. A big lie!"

"And you're admitting to it so quickly!"

"Of course. I'm sleepy. And since I'm at my limits, I'm going to nap a little. Let me know when we reach."

"No, I was telling you not to sleep duh."

Ignoring Ryner's holler, she closed her eyes, and with that, she seemed about to slip off the horse again.

"That's why I was saying, don't sleeepppppppppppppppppp!"

Ignoring him, she fell off the horse, and in a splendid manner, she spun a few times in the air and landed on the ground. On top of that, with a soft plod, ''good night'', she said and entered the world of dreams.

Following that, the horse which Ferris had been riding on suddenly became energetic due to the lightened load, and whizzed off.


"Jeez, that fella's such a botherrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

While yelling, he whipped his horse. With that, he caught up to the horse which Ferris had discarded, and grabbed hold of its reins. And pulled. He stopped the horse, turned it around, and returned to the place where Ferris was sleeping.

Then.

"Hey."

"............"

"Hey, we don't really have time to tarry around. We're already one day late from the appointed day that we're supposed to link up with Kiefer."

"............"

"Hey, we only need to ride for another half a day before we reach our destination, so c'mon? Hey? Ferris. Please."

Without looking at him, she said,

"...... shut up. I'm sleepy. I'm sluggish. Bothersome. Go by yourself."

"Hey, are you me! I'm also sleepy to the point of dying, but, if we don't get our act together, Toale's life will be in danger. So let's do our best for a little bit more, ok?"


On hearing that, Ferris finally got up. She looked up at him with a pained expression,

"But Ryner. For the past four days, I haven't eaten a dango you know? As a person who is a hundred million, two thousand, eight hundred, and ninety-two percent made up of dango, do you think I can continue without any dango?"

At that question, Ryner, with a tired face,

"Wait, so how many percent does your entire body constitute?"

He asked back squarely,

"Who cares about that, just listen to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

She became really angry.

Ryner smiled wryly and said.

"...... erm, no, well, I know that it's been hard on you to not have eaten any dango for four days, but right now, it's an emergency so bear with it."

"I can't bear with it."

"No, but......"

"I can't bear <nowiki>-----------------------</nowiki> it! By the way, there's a nice dango shop nearby."


Upon saying that, she suddenly got up energetically, which was unthinkable for a person who was tired from going without sleep for four whole days.

Looking at that, Ryner exclaimed,

"Huuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh!? Eh? Eh? What's this? Is this that? All that ranting about being sleepy and falling off the horse was an act?"

Ferris promptly replied,

"Of course!"

"Don't 'of course' me!"

"Whatever you think about that is not the main issue here!"

Ferris said vehemently.

"............ hahh."

Ryner sighed out.

Even without that, he was already drained. Having fought with that red-haired monster, getting them horses, and riding crazily without sleep.


Riding crazily without sleep on the horses which he had sneaked out of a noble's stables along the way.

He already felt like dying. Not just from the lack of sleep, but more from the pain in his butt.

Indeed, it seems like they would need some rest soon, but......

So as to speak, after working so hard till this point, isn't it ok for him to take about two hundred years' worth of afternoon naps right? Isn't it ok for him to just disappear somewhere and take a long afternoon nap right? A temptation like this started to grow in him, but, Ryner stomped it out and said.

"...... b-but you know Ferris. At the appointed place, Iris will be waiting for us with Wynitt dango......"

But Ferris said.

"Nelpha dango and Roland dango are different things altogether."

Her tone became stronger than before,

"...... you're right I guess. Then, erm...... let's take a short break......"

Ryner gave in.

''Let's take a short break'', Ryner relaxed.


Instantly.

"Woah."

As his strength left him, he almost fell off his horse. Ferris supported him with a hand.

Then.

"See. You're also tired."

"Well...... it's obvious that I'll be tired after riding for four whole days......"

But, he had never thought that he would be so tired. He didn't realize it since he had been keeping his body tensed up all this while, but his body had become abnormally heavy. He immediately understood how it came to be so. It was a consequence of the Estabul magic which he had used to accelerate his movements during his fight with Claugh. That magic, in exchange for granting a period of increased bodily reflexes and ability, will cause the user to feel its weariness later. On top of that, this time round, in order to do something about that red-haired monster, he had seriously overused his body. It was probably the burdens from that which had come to assail him.

However, even those words alone were not enough to convey how heavy his body currently was. Right now, his entire body was enveloped with a level of fatigue that could make him pass out.

Seeing that, Ferris said.


She looked up at him, and somehow, with a slightly angry face, she averted her eyes and said.

"Jeez...... you've overdone it this time. I understand how you feel, but even so, there's a limit to what one person can do. Don't push yourself too much."

In other words.

"............"

It seems to be that.

It seems like all of Ferris's acting, and her willful behavior of wanting to go to a dango shop, were all for the purpose of saying this.

''Aah ~'', Ryner thought.

He stroked his disheveled bed-hair,

"Aah ~...... erm, sorry."

"Umu."

"Well then, let's go to that dango shop and rest up in the village."

Ferris then said,

"Idiot. There's no dango shop."

"Eh?"


"That's why you're a real idiot."

Upon saying that, for some reason, her face blushed, and in order to mask that, she made an angry face.

Looking intently at that.

"............"

Looking intently at her face,

"...... aah, I see."

Ryner smiled with a troubled look.

Ferris then jumped onto the horse, the horse that Ryner was now riding. With that, she took the reins away from his hand,

"Alright. If your overly stupid brain has understood, it's time to move. We don't have much time. Once we reach there, there will be work waiting for you again. That's why, the idiot can just sleep. I'll wake you when we reach there."

Upon saying that, she started to kick into the horse.

Ryner then frantically said,

"Eh, but Ferris, you haven't slept a wink as well......"


But at that moment,

"Don't worry about that, just sleep, idiot."

Upon saying that, she made a chopping stance with her hand and started sending it into the back of Ryner's neck,

"Eh, no wait, that's bad......"

"Shut up."

"Gyafu."

Instantly.

Ryner lost consciousness.

Darkness spread.

Deep darkness spread.

In that deep darkness.

Ryner was visited by dreams which had missed him for quite some time.

Strangely, they were cheerful dreams.

Sion appeared, and with a face full of mischief,


"Alright Ryner ~. Nap time's over. It's time to get working."

He said.

For some reason, Ferris, who was munching on dango beside him, drew her sword for no good reason,

"Die, you pervertttttttttttt."

She shouted and came beating him.

That was the scenery that was repeating again and again.

With Sion, and Ferris, the three of them.

A dream in which the three of them were making merry in that small office.

There was nothing to worry about there.

There were no lives nor troubles from others to shoulder.

Only a bunch of fools laughing happily.

And he thought.

It'd be nice if such days can go on forever, he thought.

No, he had believed that it would be so.

Such days would go on, even when he was complaining about how unpleasant or bothersome things were, as long as he worked hard, the world would be alright, he had thought.


That's why he was laughing like that.

He had never thought that it would end.

Laughing like an idiot.

Even when he was made to work throughout the night. Even when he was bashed up by her sword.

Ryner had always been laughing happily.

"............"

And he felt a little blessed.

Even though up till now, he had only been laden with tiresome things.

But, after seeing that dream, he felt like doing his best for a little longer and looking forward.

Since in his dream, he had been laughing like an idiot with them.

He had been laughing like an idiot from the bottom of his heart.

But, the dream came to an end.

Suddenly, it ended, he realized.

No, perhaps he had realized that right from the start of the dream.

That dream.


"............"

Sadly, that dream was nowhere close to reality.

"............"

But, he wished, for a little bit.

Each time he saw that dream, he'd wish.

Ryner would wish that, if only this bothersome reality could be the dream instead when he open his eyes, and that he could wake up to that noisy office, he would be willing to pay any price.

If he were to open his eyes right now.

If he were to awake from his dream.

And the nightmare would have ended and he could wake up to that noisy office again.

He would not make the same mistake again.

He would not leave Sion to his solitude again.

In order to laugh together.

In order to move forward together, this time round, without feeling bothersome, he would do his best, he thought.


And so, Ryner opened his eyes.

Wishing that he could wake up to that office.

"............"

He opened his eyes......

<center>♦</center>

<center>♦</center>

<center>♦</center>

"............"

When he opened his eyes, they had already reached their destination.

On the land that was very near to the borders between Nelpha and Runa.


There, were gathered tens of thousands of people.

Ryner opened his eyes and straightened his body,

"...... hn? You've awakened?"

From behind him, Ferris, who had been doing the riding, said.

Ryner turned around,

"...... eh? Ah, yeah. I had a good sleep. Thanks, Ferris."

"Umu. I also had a good sleep."

"Hey, what would have happened if you have slept as well."

Upon making that jab, with a slightly tired face,

"Fufufu."

She laughed.

From her face, it was clear that she hadn't really slept at all. Quite unbecoming of her, there were dark circles beneath her eyes. She was clearly very tired. Ryner then began,

"This time, it's your turn to sleep. Leave the rest to......"

But, before he could finish,

"............"


She rested her head on the back of Ryner, and slept.

Ryner smiled, and without letting her body fall off, he supported her with his left hand and once again started the horse galloping.

However, with the throngs of people gathered, they couldn't move very fast.

"............"

He then looked around him.

He looked at the faces of the people gathered here.

Clearly, the people here did not just comprise of soldiers.

Originally, Kiefer was supposed to guide the ten thousand soldiers, who were thrown away as sacrificial pawns by Starnel and later saved by Toale, to this place.

"What on earth is this?"

Ryner said with a troubled face.

Clearly, the commoners who were present here greatly outnumbered the soldiers.

Women, children, as well as the elderly.

A throng of people who couldn't contribute to the fighting strength.

Well, he could probably make a guess as to why they were here.


"...... Toale, that guy sure is popular."

While muttering that, he moved the horse forward.

The people all looked up in a dumbfounded manner at the riders on the advancing horse, at Ryner and the peerless golden hair beauty behind him.

He then asked a question to someone who was clad in military uniform among the people.

"...... ah ~, erm, you are one of the soldiers following Toale right? I have some business with Toale, so do you mind leading us to him?"

On hearing that, the soldier looked up. And he glared at Ryner.

A man who had a piercing gaze. With long light brown hair tied up at the back, and perhaps, due to his unshaven face, he looked to be in his mid-twenties.

He looked up at them and squinted his eyes.

"...... are you Ryner Lute?"

Ryner was surprised at hearing his own name.

"Oh? To know my name, am I perhaps famous around here?"

On hearing that, the man's face contorted,


"I'm Kazaal Selues. A Major. I was given command of ten thousand troops from Prince Starnel and ordered to fend off Roland's forces, but I went against that and am now following Toale-sama."

On hearing those words, Ryner looked again more carefully at this man called Kazaal Selues.

He was of medium build and medium height. A well-trained body with no opening. He's probably quite strong. Well, of course, he can't be compared to that abnormal killing intent from that red-haired muscled idiot though.

However, just from his appearance, he could tell that this fella has some ability. To elaborate on that, to have become a Major in his twenties, this fella must have achieved a number of accomplishments on the battlefield.

That was the reason why Starnel had assigned ten thousand troops to him, and abandoned them.

He had probably thought that this fella would be able to fend off the Roland forces for a while and buy him more time to escape.

Considering that.

A smile surfaced on Ryner.

"...... I'm grateful to Starnel's idiocy."

On hearing that, Selues looked at him with a look of surprise,


"What did you say?"

"No, I was just giving thanks to Starnel's idiocy for throwing away someone as capable as you without even batting an eyelid. Thanks to the foolishness of Starnel, the plan I came up with might just go well. By the way, are you popular among your subordinates?"

He asked.

"............"

Selues did not answer. However, even without answering, it was clear.

Ryner looked around him once more.

The soldiers around him all had brightly lit faces. There was not the slightest drop in morale.

After getting abandoned by Starnel, and on top of that having Roland's soldiers on their heels, their current brightly lit faces could not just be attributed to Toale's popularity alone.

Ryner's grin broadened increasingly.

"Unexpectedly, things may just move ahead even without us doing anything."

Toale is popular with the commoners. If both Starnel and Toale were to claim their names to the throne, most of the people would probably follow Toale.

However, this Selues appeared to be very popular with the soldiers.


With this, if Starnel was to continue with his oppression, he would probably end up destroying himself.

If Toale were to rise up, supported by Selues at his side, there was a possibility that the rest of the power-wielding nobles, soldiers, and people would follow him.

If that were to happen.

"............"

Starnel's life would probably be no more. Even without Ryner, Toale, or Roland doing anything.

Thanks to his own foolishness, Starnel would be killed by Imperial Nelpha.

If that were to happen, then there would be no need for Ryner to take the trouble to capture Starnel.

However, the real problem will start from there.

After Starnel's death.

After Toale becomes king.

At that time, Roland will probably be asking for Toale's life.

The current Roland will definitely not allow Toale to live.


That's why in order for Toale to live, there are two choices.

First.

Escape to outside of the country.

Second.

Lead Nelpha's soldiers to fight Roland.

"............"

But the latter was out of the question.

Right now, there was no longer any country in the southern part of the continent with enough power to fight the military might of Roland.

Ryner was very well aware of that.

For the past one year, he had always hung around Sion's side.

Working hard together in that office to strengthen Roland.

And in just one year, Roland was totally transformed to something different from before.

Roland was reborn.

Even though Ryner was not directly involved in the military affairs, he could still imagine roughly how much power the current Roland wielded.


To the Nelpha right now, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg.

Well, however, if they were to ally with Runa Empire to resist Roland, then it would be a different story.

"............"

Even for Roland, it would be difficult to face two countries as its opponents, he thought.

However, Runa was an ally of Roland.

As such, Nelpha no longer had any chance of winning. There was no other way other than to surrender.

In other words, for the short term, there was no way but for Toale to first capture Starnel, become the king, and issue a surrender, and before Roland catches him, escape out of the country.

As he unfolded the various development scenarios in his head,

"Aah, this is bothersome."

Upon groaning, Selues nodded.

"Yeah. It's extremely bothersome. That's why there's not much time left. According to Kiefer Knolles, you are supposed to have arrived yesterday. What in the world were you doing?"

Ryner's face turned serious at that and he looked at Selues.

"Sorry we're late. Even though we were already rushing all the way here, it was my calculation mistake. But, I'm not going to make another mistake hereon. I'll save this country, and save Toale's life. So can you lead us to Toale?"


Selues then grabbed hold of the reins of Ryner's horse and led them.

"Here."

"Right."

Once again, the horse started off slowly.

Ahead of where Selues was leading them, was a small tent. Outside of that tent, was a familiar group, made up of a golden hair girl, a black hair boy and his childhood girl friend, playing.

Iris, Arua, and Kuku.

At that moment, Iris noticed Ryner's group.

"Ah ~! Wild Beast-kun ~!"

She shouted.

Arua then turned towards here as well,

"Ryner-sensei!"

Following that, the tent opened, and out came Kiefer, with her hand waving.

Ryner then waved back at her, and lastly......


A man around the same age of Ryner came out of the tent. With brown hair and a kind face. However, compared to the time he met him a year ago, the face was more drawn. It was filled with more fatigue.

Just from that, he could see what he had been through for the past few weeks.

Ryner smiled at Toale.

And in response to that.

"............"

Toale returned with a wry, troubled smile.

Ryner then turned around.

"Hey, Ferris."

"............"

"Ferris, wake up. We have reached. There should be a bed somewhere, go sleep there."

On hearing that, without opening her eyes,

"Hah ~, then, carry me there."

"Walk on your own."

"Carry me there like a princess."


"Huuuuhhhhhhhh? Huuhhhhhh? You, with so many people looking......"

But, upon saying that, she grabbed hold of Ryner's neck. And while strangling him,

"You're so annoying. If you dare wake me again...... I'll kill you, get it?"

As she said that, her fingers seemed to be really crushing Ryner's neck,

"Hey, I get itttttttt! Whether is it like a princess or groom, I'll carry you so don't kill me."

"Um. Then, please carry on. I'll be going back to sleep."

"......................... jeez."

Ryner sighed out loudly, and following that, he dismounted the horse. After that, he brought down Ferris, who had descended into deep sleep.

Then, in her desired princess cradle fashion, he carried the bothersome princess,

"A princesssssssssssssss!"

Iris made a jab as she clung to Ferris's chest.

The weight of the two people on Ryner's hip. His hip seemed about to sprain. He really felt like killing the two troublesome sisters.


But.

"...... uhwu, I have to bear with it until I get her to a bed. Do your best, Ryner. I'll be able to relax when she sleeps......"

He encouraged himself, and started walking.

Following that, Kiefer came to him.

"............"

While staring at him, she smiled kindly.

But, somehow, it was different from the smile just now. She was looking intently at him with a somewhat, transfixed, biting gaze, and softly,

"...... princess cradle."

"Eh? What?"

"Nothing."

"But you know, these two people are really heavy...... hey, Kiefer, can you help me?"

Ryner asked, to which Kiefer said,


"Nope."

"Eh?"

"No way."

"Erm......"

But, at that moment, she grinned,

"Just kidding ~. It was a joke, a joke. I'll help you. The past few days have been tough on you guys right? You're tired right?"

While saying that, she supported Ryner's arms, and pushed upwards. With that, his burden lessened.

"Oh, that really helps."

"That's great."

"Thanks."

"Yeah!"

Kiefer acknowledged happily.

Following that, Ryner once again looked in front of him, at Toale.

For some reason, with a seemingly bad mood, he was looking at him --- rather, at Kiefer.


"Hn? What's wrong, Toale?"

On hearing Ryner's words, his face turned to one of surprise,

"Eh? Umm...... ah ~, no, nothing. Long time no see, Ryner-san."

"Long time no see."

Upon saying that, Ryner wanted to wave his hands, but realizing that both his arms were encumbered, he merely nodded his head at him.

Toale then rushed up to him.

"Do you need help?"

"Yeah, can you help me with the top one."

Toale nodded, and lifted up Iris, who had been clinging to Ferris's chest.

Iris's face then lit up,

"Wah! It's high, are you bringing me higher!? Iris loves that!"

On hearing that, Toale lifted Iris up and down. Following that, he looked at Ryner,

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 183.jpg|thumb]]

"Well Ryner-san, I would have never expected to reunite with you under such circumstances."

Ryner nodded as well. He smiled wryly at the tight-fitting, seemingly unsuitable military uniform that Toale was wearing.

"Yeah. I've never thought so either. So to speak, it became something real bothersome."

Following that, Toale opened the entrance to the tent. Inside was a simple bed, and he pointed to it,

"Over there."

"Yeah."

Ryner nodded as he carried Ferris there. He put Ferris down on the bed, and hugging the pillow, she slept comfortably.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Ryner then said smilingly.

Following that, once again, Kiefer looked at him with a slightly angry face.

Ryner cocked his head to the side.

"So, what's wrong?"


"N-o-t-h-i-n-g."

"Hey, those words sounded rather thorny."

"No they don't."

"Yes they do."

"I said no, they don't"

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Well ok...... forget it then."

"No way."

"Eeeehhh?"

"Humph."

Kiefer turned her face away from him and went out of the tent.

With an incomprehensible look on his face,

"...... what the hell was that?"

Ryner asked Toale.

On hearing that, for some reason, he also made an unpleasant face,


"Please don't ask me."

"Toale, why are you angry as well?"

"I'm not angry."

"Really?"

"Yes. More importantly......"

Upon saying that, he looked at Ryner.

And smiled.

"Really, long time no see. Ryner-san, I'm really happy to hear that you are coming here to help me. ''I'm coming here to save you. The reason is because we're friends. Ok?'', those words, frankly speaking, made me want to cry."

He said, to which Ryner smiled.

"Was that a little too mushy?"

"Nope. It was a great thing to me, who was depressed from getting cornered in all directions."

"Is that so. That's great then."

Ryner nodded, pulled up a nearby chair and sat down.

Toale then said,


"Should I brew some tea like what we did in the past?"

"Ah ~, the tea you brewed was really good. But, forget it now. There's really not much time left. Erm, so the situation we are now in......"

"I have already heard everything from Kiefer-san. As to where did you come from, and why are you here now......"

Upon saying that, Toale looked at Ryner with a pair of somewhat reproachful eyes,

"...... jeez, Ryner-san, you really had me with all those lies. You are a person from Roland right. And on top of that, the best friend of that hero king, Sion Astal. And to top if off, a year ago, you introduced that Sion-san as your cousin and ate in my house......"

On hearing that, Ryner nodded with a somewhat apologetic face.

That's right, that's how it was.

Ryner had met Toale and withheld his true identity then.

During that time, as a spy from Roland, he had to hide his identity while searching for the Heroes' Relics together with Ferris.


They had then visited Imperial Nelpha, Runa Empire, and Iyet Republic before returning back to Roland again.

On top of that, Toale had met Sion.

At that time, Sion was on a formal visit, calling on the grandfather of Toale, the previous king of Imperial Nelpha, Gread Nelphi, and had asked Ryner to become his bodyguard.

And so, Sion then went to the place where Ryner was at, which was Toale's house, and they had dined together on the same table.

"............"

During that time, he couldn't possibly have imagined that the relationship between Sion and Toale would have become such a bothersome thing.

Ryner nodded, and said.

"...... yeah. When we met you, Sion was masquerading as my cousin."

Toale then smiled vexedly.

"That fine young man is the hero king huh...... a powerful enemy indeed."

"Well, yeah. He's really a workaholic...... it will be a troublesome thing to surpass him."

"But we're going to surpass him right?"


"If not, you will be dead."

"Yeah. But, can I trust you? Ryner-san, you are the best friend of Sion-san right? I am a little doubtful that you will betray him and truly come here to help me. Perhaps, this is just Sion-san's ploy......"

However, Ryner shook his head immediately,

"No way."

He denied it outright.

But still,

"Even if you say that, I don't have enough information to make an assessment though. Now, with the lives of tens of thousands of people on my shoulder, will I be able to see this through correctly......?"

Said Toale.

Ryner then looked intently at Toale,

"Are you pressuring me to explain everything to you?"

Toale nodded.

"Yes, that's right. Even if it's me, I can't move too carelessly while carrying the lives of so many others."


"Well, you're right though. So, what do you want to know?"

"The first thing I want to ask is about the time when you first made contact with me. Was all that an act? Did you send that hoodlum to put up an act in order to get to me, who has royal blood flowing inside my veins?"

Said Toale.

When he said that.

Ryner felt a number of extraordinary killing intent from the surroundings outside of the tent. The tent was probably surrounded by soldiers.

"...... woah, Toale-chan I say, you're pretty cautious."

Ryner said in a light manner.

Following that, Ferris's eyes opened in response to that killing intent,

"...... hey Ryner."

But immediately, Ryner said,

"Go sleep, Ferris. There's no problem. I just need to explain things a little."

"But."

"I said it's fine. You're tired right? Just sleep. In the first place, with this level of opponents, I can take care of them myself. In the worst case, I'll take Toale hostage."


Ferris then replied,

"...... well, you have a point."

"That's right."

"Got it. But, if something......"

"I said it's fine. You should know that Toale and I are good buddies right? So, don't worry and sleep."

After Ryner said that, Ferris nodded and went back to sleep.

After ascertaining that, Ryner looked at Toale. With a troubled face. Then,

"Withdraw your troops. I told you I'm your ally right?"

However, without taking his eyes off him, Toale said,

"...... but you're the best friend of Sion."

''Best friend'' --- Toale had said.

Ryner made a sad face on hearing that,

"Yeah."


And he nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. But, for Sion's sake as well, I won't let him kill you."

"For Sion's sake, you say?"

"Yeah. His way of thinking is already different from mine. We're looking in different directions now."

While saying that, ''but, isn't it because we have been looking in different directions right from the start'', Ryner thought.

Even when he was shouldering everything, suffering, and on the verge of tears, he was a fool who would not even confide in his best friend.

Even when he had already been looking in a different direction, he had hidden his weeping face, and had kept on smiling perhaps.

That's why this had happened.

That's why things had progressed to this unrecoverable state.

However, he could more or less understand his thought process.

"...... he...... Sion probably wants to use the shortest amount of time to eradicate fighting in the world. Choosing the path with the least number of sacrifices, and advancing along that path. But I'm a little different. I can't distinguish between many lives and few lives, I think. Whether it is sacrificing you to save hundreds of thousands of lives, or sacrificing Sion to save millions of lives, I can't forgive something as stupid as that. At the very least, I don't want that. If you die, I'll cry, if Sion dies, I'll cry. But I hate crying."


Toale then smiled wryly.

"You're so willful."

"...... perhaps. But, that's probably what's different between me and him."

"Ryner-san, because you're too willful right?"

Ryner smiled,

"That's right."

He said.

"But, he should have the same kind of thinking as me. At any rate, he's the type of person who hates fighting, a person who hates crying, but yet, since there was no one who could save that rotten country, he became king even though he didn't really want to you know? So there's no way a gentle person like him, could kill you, or the people of Nelpha without batting an eyelid, just because this is something necessary, he isn't the kind of person who can decide this so easily with a smiling face, you know?"


Well, the truth was that he wasn't the kind of person who can come to such decisions easily. Otherwise, Ryner would not no longer be alive by now.

An '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer is an accursed creature who would end up killing others. Then, in order to save many other lives, he should have killed the Ryner, who's in danger of going berserk anytime, right away, in order to avoid such a calamity.

But yet, he didn't kill him.

Holding a knife while yelling how he would kill him, but yet, in the end, he didn't kill Ryner.

"He's really...... a fool. He's always carrying everything by himself and weeping by himself. But still, he started moving forward...... because he had no choice. But, I want to stop him. And I want to look for another way with him. I want to tell him that he's not alone, and doesn't need to shoulder everything by himself. But, I'm no longer by his side. My voice can no longer reach him. That's why I'm aiming higher. I want to reach a place where my loud voice can reach him. For that purpose, I......"

At that juncture, while looking intently at Ryner, Toale began,

"For that purpose, you've come to save me."

Ryner nodded.


"...... both of you are my friends. I've already said this earlier, but I hate to see my friends cry or die."

"...... I see. But I heard that Sion-san wants to kill you...... and you still want to save Sion-san in spite of that?"

But, to that question,

"Don't make me repeat myself please."

Ryner replied promptly.

Toale then smiled.

"......even when you are faced with that, you hate to see your friend cry...... and because I'm a friend, you will risk your life to protect me? That's quite reassuring huh."

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if you keep annoying me by making me say those lines again and again, I won't be your friend anymore."

On hearing that, ''haha'', Toale laughed out loud. Following that,

"Then, during the first time we met......"


"That was purely a coincidence. I didn't know about your identity then, and even if I did, it didn't matter. However, that's not the case with Roland. They see your popularity as a threat. You were asleep then so you didn't know this, but a year ago, when we were putting up at your house, Roland had sent an assassin, but got driven off by us. Well, during then, I didn't know that he was an assassin from Roland as well......"

At that moment, Ryner recalled the time when the assassin came to kill Toale.

He remembered the unpleasant guy called Miran Froaude, who had eyes cold like the devil, and wielded a Heroes' Relic.

The first time he fought him was in the backyard of Toale's house.

He never would have thought that Froaude was the subordinate of Sion.

Was that also.

Was that assassination attempt also carried out on the orders of Sion? If that's true, then right from the start, he was already looking in a different direction from Sion.

"............"

Well, even if he worried about it now, there was nothing he could do about it, so he brushed those thoughts aside.


Meanwhile, Toale had an expression of surprise on his face at hearing that.

"I didn't hear about it."

"We didn't tell you."

"You should have told me."

"Even if I had told you, it wouldn't amount to anything."

"Eh? No, that's true but...... but doesn't that mean my life got saved twice by you guys?"

But, Ryner waved his hand to brush that aside.

"You gave us food, a place to sleep, and on top of that let us into the library, we are even."

"Erm no, that can't make us even right."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

"Then, trust me this time. That will make us even."

"But, aren't you doing this to save me......"

However, Ryner shook his head.


"That's not it. I'm also asking you to lend me a hand to save Sion."

Upon saying that, Ryner held his hand out to Toale.

And said.

"Can you lend me a hand?"

He looked intently at Toale with a serious expression on his face.

Then, ''wasn't this how Sion held his hand out to me?'', Ryner thought in the corner of his mind.

''Let's go together'', Ryner thought back to the time when Sion had held his hand out to him.

That really saved him. Having been engulfed in loneliness and thinking that he was better off dead, that one line really saved him.

But it was different now.

He was no longer the one being saved, but the one who will try to save, he thought.

Of course, he didn't think that he could do it as well as Sion.

"............"


That's why Ryner held his hand out to Toale. Moreover, he didn't know whether he could be saved. No, to have taken this path, he didn't know whether he could save Toale, and after that Sion.

But, he could no longer bear seeing others get hurt and not do anything about it.

He had to move forward.

Whatever the result might be, he shall shoulder all that and move forward, Ryner thought.

Just like what Sion did.

''Just like how he has saved the me who has been running away all this while.''

That's why Ryner stretched his hand straight out to Toale.

Toale then looked at that hand. He looked intently at it with a troubled face.

It was difficult to make a determined decision. He was carrying tens of thousands of lives on his back. If he made a mistake, there was a possibility that all those lives would be lost.

He was probably fearful of that.

He was fearful of carrying all that.

A weight that was as heavy as the one as Sion, who was enduring everything like an idiot and screaming in anguish.


That was why Toale looked at Ryner's hand silently for a while.

But in the end,

"...... jeez, you got me. Coming at me straight in that manner with my troops surrounding the tent, doesn't that make me feel embarrassed?"

While saying that, he took Ryner's hand. And then,

"I understand. I shall trust you. You won't be falsifying your identity again, right?"

He smiled upon saying that.

To which Ryner smiled as well,

"No, I'm still fake this time you know? The truth is the hardworking me you're seeing now is a fake, the real me really wants to dump everything and take an afternoon nap."

On hearing that, Toale said,

"I know that, you know? I also want to dump everything and take a nice afternoon nap."

"You said it."

"Yes. But, we can't run away from troublesome things...... and what should our future plans be?"

On hearing that question, Ryner released Toale's hand. He scratched his head and started thinking again.


Originally, Ryner's plan was like this.

To look for valuable, capable people to protect the commoners with the soldiers.

In the meantime, Ryner will bring along Toale to subdue Starnel.

If however, Roland breaks its agreement and attacks while Ryner and Toale are not around, then the plan will change.

The Nelpha troops will carry the flags of Roland and attack Runa, then pretend to lose and run away.

This act should create a powerful threat to Roland.

At any rate, if things go badly, the alliance relationship between Runa and Roland could sour terribly.

Of course, since Runa and Roland are allies, there was a possibility that Runa has already been alerted to this plan of Ryner's, but that would not pose a problem.

The problem was how other countries would view the troops carrying Roland's flags getting beaten off by Runa.

Say for an example, what will happen if that is known to Cassla?

No, even if not other countries.


What will happen if this news reach the troops led by Starnel?

What if the soldiers of Runa were misled into thinking that their ally, Roland, was fearful of them?

The rumor would spread easily.

It's even better if it's a bad rumor.

And if that kind of rumor were to spread, the image of a mighty Roland that Sion was trying to paint would crumble. In this way, the image of nobody being able to resist against Roland who held an absolute amount of overbearing power, would easily crumble.

The other countries in the south would form an alliance and there was a possibility that Roland would no longer be able to advance northwards easily.

That's why the plan should work easily.

Since Sion is a gentle person who will choose the path with the lowest number of sacrifices.

That's why, just by doing the things they ought to do, even without attacking Runa, the plan should succeed.

Ryner was then about to explain the plan to Toale.

It's fine.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 203.jpg|thumb]]

He was about to explain it to him and tell him it's okay to follow him.

But, at that moment.

Before Ryner could explain the plan to Toale.

"............"

Abruptly, everything started going crazy.

Suddenly, the entrance to the tent opened.

"Hn?"

Ryner turned his gaze there.

Standing there, was the face of a familiar man.

Golden hair tied up behind him, a calm face.

That was the man who Ferris took hostage when Ryner attacked Claugh a few days ago.

His name was Shuss Shirazz, if he remembered correctly.

An excellent vice-commander of Claugh.

Ryner looked at Shuss with tinge of surprise,


"Oh, they sent a messenger at a surprisingly early time. Have you already told Sion my suggestion?"

On hearing that, Shuss nodded. Then,

"...... we did."

As he said that, for some reason, his face looked dark and a little pained.

On seeing that, Ryner asked with a puzzled look.

"...... so, what did he say? You've come here to give a reply because he accepted right? At any rate, he should not have any a choice other than to accept this plan......"

But, cutting his words off, Shuss said.

"No. The reply has not come yet."

"Huh? There's no reply?"

"Yes."

"Then, what did you come here for? If there's no reply, there's no meaning in you coming here right?"

On hearing Ryner's words, Shuss made an even more pained expression,

"...... the truth is that I came here not on His Majesty's orders, but to pass a message to you from Field Marshal Claugh Klom."


"From red-hair?"

"Yes."

On hearing that, Ryner face became increasingly more puzzled.

As if he had entirely no clue.

He had never expected that in this situation, it was not a reply from Sion, but a message from Claugh. That's why he could not guess what kind of message it would be.

But.

He knew that it would not be something good. He knew that immediately just by looking at Shuss's face.

Looking at the dark expression on Shuss's face, Ryner asked.

"So, what is it? What did that muscle idiot red-hair want to tell me? Did he say I'm annoying and that he wanted to kill me?"

Following that, in a grave voice unmatching of that light tone of Ryner, Shuss said.

"No. Field Marshal, his Honor, told you to...... 'Run away'......"


Run away.

Ryner cocked his head at those words.

"Huh? Run away? What is the meaning of that? Why do I have to run away? We are the ones threatening Roland right? Right now, you shouldn't be able to take on both Runa and Nelpha right. In order to prevent that, Sion definitely has to accept my idea......"

However, Shuss cut him off there,

"...... Roland has already started invading Runa Empire."

He said.

Ryner's eyes widened at that,

"...... what."

He could only utter.

But, Shuss continued.

"His Majesty made no reply to your message. He ignored it totally. And, Roland has already passed the southern borders of Runa, and advancing northwards at an overwhelming speed. The commander is Marshal Bayuuz White and, Lieutenant General Miran Froaude. Without accepting Runa's surrender, they are now massacring people. And we have also received our orders. Until we have killed both Starnel Nelphi and Toale Nelphi, do not relax on your attacks. Show them Roland's might --- it said."


On hearing that.

On hearing that, Ryner.

"............"

Was at a loss for words.

He then desperately turned over what Shuss had said in his head. Unable to breathe, his face pale, he thought desperately.

Shuss had said.

''"His Majesty made no reply to your message."''

Shuuss had said that.

But, he thought otherwise.

The reply had already come.

Sion had already made his stand on Ryner's plan.

''I'll not accede to your wise plan. Roland shall, without borrowing your power, challenge the world with its might, speed, fearsomeness, and massiveness.''


''In order to do that, I don't care how much sacrifices there will be. Even if it amounts to hundreds of thousands, or even millions of lives.''

The balance Sion was using has become a gigantic one.

On realizing that, Ryner uttered,

"............ damn."

He spat.

He had made another mistake.

He had made another mistake in his calculations.

Because of that, large numbers of people will die.

''Because of my stupidity, foolishness, and my lack of consideration, many people will die.''

''Because my resolve has yet reached the level of Sion's, large numbers of people will die once again.''

Upon thinking that,

"...... damn damn damn."

He wanted to cry.

He wanted to run away.


He wanted to run away to a faraway place right now.

But there was no place to run to. He was already shouldering large numbers of lives.

Even if he was slapped with sudden despair, and wanted to scream in anguish.

"............"

He could only move forward like what Sion did.

He could only move forward like him.

Since the gears were spinning.

Since they were spinning crazily, intensely.

That's why Ryner.

"............"

Looked up.

He glared at Shuss, and with a low, cracked voice,

"...... Roland already has the power to crush both Nelpha and Runa at the same time?"

He asked.

However, that was a foolish question.

The results had been proven.


Runa had already declared their surrender, but Roland did not accept it and continued to raze them.

And that performance was probably creating a dramatic effect. As a result of having razed and crushed two countries, Nelpha and Runa, with overwhelming might, Roland has created an image of itself to other countries as a fearsome country that will not accept any kind of surrender once it starts waging war.

It would be able to make other countries tremble in fear with that image.

So the next time when it moves again, others will proclaim a surrender without even putting up a resistance, allowing Roland to proceed unhindered.

For that purpose.

"............"

For that purpose, there was meaning to the massacre this time.

This was the best choice to minimize the number of sacrifices in the future.

In order to take the path of least sacrifices, Sion had again taken the lives of large numbers of people.

In order to take the shortest path, Sion had again chosen the lives of large numbers of people.

The one who had yet the resolve.

The one who had yet to make his resolve,


"...... is me."

Ryner said groaningly with a face that was on the verge of crying.

But, he had really never thought that Roland would be able to acquire such overwhelming power to be able take on both Nelpha and Runa at the same time. It was beyond his expectations.

"...... damn. That's also my calculation mistake."

Ryner muttered.

Even when he had been spending that same time with Sion, he had never noticed it.

He had never once noticed the depth of the darkness he bore.

He regretted it.

Even when the regrets did not help him, he regretted.

Ryner said.

"...... I understand now what Sion is doing. So, Claugh is asking me to run away?"

Shuss nodded.

"In two more days, we'll start advancing our troops again. The next time we meet on the battlefield, we intend to kill all of you. But for just two days...... we'll stop at our current location. In the meantime......"


Ryner continued from there.

"...... in the meantime, you want us to run away? In other words, this time, Claugh is unsatisfied with Sion's order?"

But, Shuss said.

"No, he didn't say that. Field Marshal, His Honor, will definitely not go against the orders of His Majesty."

Even if he said that, Claugh would not be setting off immediately, and would be delaying things for two days. On top of that, he even told Ryner about the current situation, where Sion had started attacking Runa.

If this is not going against his orders, then what else is?

But Ryner instead said,

"I see."

Shuss nodded again.

"That's right. And my mission ends here. The next time we meet will be......"


"On the battlefield?"

"Yes. The next time I will be killing you. I won't be so easily defeated like the last time, so brace yourself."

Upon saying that, Shuss turned on his heel. With that, he started exiting the tent.

To his back,

"...... tell Claugh thanks for his help."

On hearing that, Shuss merely waved lightly and left the tent.

Looking after his departing figure,

"............"

Ryner took a deep breath and breathed out. As if he were letting go of the built up despair in his body, he breathed out with all his strength.

And once again, he looked at the Toale beside him.

Toale was making a complicated face. Looking at that face,

"I'm sorry Toale. The plan's all messed up."

"I've heard."

"So, with regards to what's next......"


Upon saying that, a tired smile surfaced on Toale's lips,

"I shall show myself to Roland, and get executed publicly......?"

But Ryner shook his head.

"That's useless. Roland is not even willing to accept the surrender of Runa, we don't know how far they will go with the massacring until they are satisfied...... well, at the very least, the soldiers who followed you will be killed."

Toale then smiled sadly.

"Uwah, that is a little...... too much for me. It's all because of my fault to have led these soldiers......"

"No, that's not it. If you hadn't stopped these soldiers, they would have already been killed by Claugh. You have saved their lives."

"It's just for a few days though...... but, then, what should we do?"

On hearing those words, Ryner kept quiet again.

As he pondered, he looked up at the roof part of the tent. The sunlight that was passing through the tent top was red.

The sun was already setting.

Night was falling.


When night comes, they won't be able to move.

However, there was not much time left.

Roland's troops were pressing in from the south, as well as from Runa's side.

If they don't run, they'll get killed.

Everyone'll get killed.

Realizing that.

"............"

Realizing that, Ryner called out,

"Major Selues."

The entrance to the tent opened. Selues entered.

"What is it?"

Ryner said to the solemn face of his.

"My plan has failed. Roland's troops will be attacking from Runa's side. We need to escape now. So mobilize the troops. We're running."

Selues then stared at him,


"What about the commoners?"

"Scatter them, to the west. We shall go north, straight through the Autonomous Holy City of Cassla. Roland's forces will probably come after us."

"I see. So we are the decoy for the commoners to get away. That's a great way to die."

On hearing his words, Ryner's face contorted.

"...... sorry."

However, on the solemn face of Selues, a thin smile surfaced for the first time.

"No, you made the right choice. I can trust you a little more with this."

Upon saying that, he turned around. Then,

"The situation has changed! We need to change locations again!"

While yelling, he went outside.

After ascertaining that, Ryner turned towards Toale.

"Then, let's go, Toale. There's already no more time left. Let's get going quickly. Since you are the one being targeted, you should be moving right at the front."


However, for some reason, Toale smiled sadly,

"....... no, I can't do that. I shall stay back."

As he said that, Ryner's face contorted again.

"Huh? Why? What are you going to do here?"

Toale then said,

"...... I shall remain here and buy some time by negotiating with Roland......"

However, before he could finish, Ryner said,

"Idiot!"

He yelled.

"Use your head Toale! If you were to remain here, most of the troops who have followed you will also remain here right. What will then happen to them? Do you want everyone to die with you? You're leaving. Take the soldiers and flee to Cassla."

To which Toale made an unsettled face,

"Will Cassla take in the soldiers of Nelpha?"

However, Ryner promptly replied,

"I don't know. But, other than that, there's no other way. At any rate, if you stay here, everyone will get killed. We have no choice but to try. Now that we're going to do it...... now that we're going to do it, I'll...... definitely not let you die. Even though we were talking about decoys earlier there's no need to die. Before Roland catches up to us, we'll pass through Cassla. You'll live and get away. Everyone will get away and laugh in the end. So don't foolishly talk about dying again. Get it?"


In response to that strong tone of Ryner, Toale looked intently at him and said,

"....... got it."

And nodded. Then, with a somewhat delighted smile,

"And thanks for coming here to help me...... Ryner."

He said.

Not Ryner-san, he dropped the honorifics and called him Ryner.

On hearing that, with a somewhat embarrassed and vexed face, Ryner began,

"Aah jeez, don't worry about stuff like that. Now, go to where Major Selues is. If you take command, the soldiers will probably move faster. Get a thousand troops to remove their military uniforms to protect the commoners and disperse them. The remaining soldiers shall head north......"

But, at that moment before he could finish ---


Instantly.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

Screams rang out from their surroundings.

Following that, a thunderous roaring noise which made their heads spin sounded.

In response to that.

"............"

In response to that, Ryner's eyes widened in shock.

"No way......"

He murmured.

But, once again.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllppp."

Screams rang out.

Following by another thunderous roar, again and again.

Ryner then said again,

"...... no way, how could this......."


He murmured dumbfoundedly.

This shouldn't be happening.

So quickly.

There was no way the enemies could have reached them so quickly.

But, as before, thunderous roars reverberated.

Flickering lights that dazzled even the eyes of those in the tent.

Following that, another thunderous roar.

Ryner knew about all that.

It was a large-scale magic used by Roland.

"...... what the hell is happening!?"

Ryner yelled as he rushed out of the tent.

At the instant he exited the tent.

The night sky, the dark night sky was lit up.

Before Ryner's eyes, tens of people.

"............"

Were reduced to ashes in an instant.


Screams were heard from men, women, children, and the elderly who were roasted from the high temperatures caused by magic.

Screams rang out.

And then they got roasted.

The people who were roasted by the intense fire died.

"...... uwah...... damn, shit......"

Ryner trembled as he saw that. He couldn't move.

However, from the hell-like scene, Kiefer came dashing over.

"Ryner! Roland's troops are approaching from the borders at Runa's side......"

She was also on the verge of tears. In her arms was a four, five year old girl who was injured.

Looking at that.

Looking at Kiefer's teary face,

Ryner was brought back to his senses. Looking intently at her,

"...... I got it. Let's run away immediately. Selues! Protect everyone and make for the north! Move the troops! Get them to counter Roland's large-scale magic attack!"

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 223.jpg|thumb]]

At that voice of Ryner, Selues gave out orders and the soldiers started moving.

Following that, Toale came out of the tent as well and he told him.

"Toale, you go lead the people and escape."

"But."

"No buts. If you're not there, no one will move. Don't just stand there and get moving! I'll do something about the rear somehow, you just focus on getting everyone out of here!"

On hearing that, Toale wanted to say something again, but he relented, nodded once, and ran off.

Ryner looked at his departing figure, then said to the unsettled Kiefer beside him,

"Kiefer."

"Yes."

"Take Iris, Arua, and Kuku with you and follow Toale."

She then made an anguished face. She made a face as if wanting to say that she wants to fight with him here. But instead, her face contorted painfully and she said,

"...... got it."


She then carried the girl in a hugging fashion, and said,

"I'll do my best in supporting Toale to help him get into Cassla. But, Ryner also......"

However, at that juncture, he stopped paying attention to her words. He didn't have the luxury of time to listen to that anymore.

If he tarried further, the next large-scale magic attack would come. If that were to happen, tens of people, hundreds of people would die again.

He needed to defend against that.

Ryner looked in the direction of where the magic came from.

He looked in that direction and widened his eyes.

Following that, red pentacle shapes surfaced on the center of his black pupils and glowed.

Cursed eyes known as '''Alpha Stigma'''.

With those eyes of his, he tried to locate the faraway large-scale magic spell formation.

But, he couldn't see it.


He couldn't see the construct of the magic.

Was it because they had yet to start creating the large-scale magic, or was it because the troops were charging straight towards here without deploying the large-scale magic?

"Damn, if I can't see it, I can't come up with the counter spell......"

But at that moment.

"I say, Ryner!?"

His face got punched heavily from the side.

"Uoh?"

Ryner uttered.

Following that, he turned towards the one who punched him.

The same tearful Kiefer was standing there.

"Erm, eh? Why did you punch me?"

To his question, she said with an angry face.

"Because you are not listening to what I'm saying!"

"Erm, what you're saying?"


"Yeah!"

"B-but, this is not the time......"

But, she cut him off,

"It's precisely because of that, that I'm telling some seriously important stuff right! So listen up properly!"

She said menacingly.

On hearing that,

"...... erm, ah ~, alright. I'm sorry......."

''Uhm'', Kiefer then nodded at Ryner's apology.

"It's great that you understand."

"Er, erm, so Kiefer, what do you want to tell me?"

Kiefer looked once to the sky from which the large-scale magic was invoked, and then looked back at Ryner.

Then, with a serious-looking face,

"Since there isn't much time, I'm going to say all the important stuff that Ryner needs to know in one breath, ok?"


She said.

Ryner nodded in response.

She then exhaled softly, following that, she took a deep breath.

"...... here goes. Ryner. If say, you are unable to stop Roland's forces here and Nelpha's people and soldiers get massacred, it'd not be your fault. So don't go throwing away your life to save them, get it? I think from hereon, you'll be someone who will save a lot more lives. That's why you can't afford to die here. If you were to die easily here, then you're merely a brainless fool. A fool who won't be able to save Sion. But if you're not a fool, and really want to save a lot more lives...... it's forbidden for you to die here. Get it?"

On hearing those words, Ryner became flustered,

"Erm, but......"

"Buts are also forbidden. If you die, I'll commit suicide as well. I'll definitely do it you know?"

"Eeeeeeeeeh, hey, Kiefe......"

But, with a serious-looking face that was really on the verge of crying, she continued.

"I'm serious ok? I don't want to live in a world without you. So if you end up being unable to stop Roland's forces, run away. Get it?"


On hearing those words.

"............"

While Ryner was yet unable to reply, Kiefer started again,

"I'm asking you whether you get it or not!!"

She yelled loudly.

He trembled a little,

"......I-I, got it."

"Alright! Then go!"

"...... erm."

"Hurry up! If not, I'm really going to cry!!"

While shouting, Kiefer had in fact started crying. In response to that, Ryner frantically turned his face away,

"Erm, er ~, sorry."

"Uh-huh."

"Then, I'm off."


"Right...... you must definitely not die."

Kiefer said from behind.

Ryner then nodded,

"Kiefer, don't die as well."

"Uhn. Then...... see ya."

"Aah. See ya."

Upon saying that, Ryner started running.

Firstly, back to the tent. Ferris was already awake.

"What's happening?"

"Roland is attacking."

On hearing those words, her face became a little dazed and she said,

"...... horh. So, what are you planning to do?"

"Go receive them for a bit while the others escape. Wanna join me?"

A thin smile floated on her face. She then drew the sword at her waist.

"...... well, if I'm not around, you will be trembling in fear like a weak worm, pee in your pants and die. Jeez! You're already an adult and still pee in your pants, aren't you ashamed of yourself!"


"Hey, what are you talking about?"

Another smile appeared,

"I'm lending you a hand so that you don't pee in your pants."

After saying that, she swung her sword, and sliced apart the tent flaps.

Then, beyond the sliced portion. Far beyond that.

"............"

Ryner could see a light construct forming up.

It was a large scale lightning attack magic, '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

There were three of them.

"...... three, huh."

Too little. Ryner thought.

If Roland's main forces were closing in, there will be ten times more '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

In other words, right now, the ones that were attacking them were a smaller vanguard.

A force to hold them here while the main forces arrive.


So that none of them could escape.

"............"

In other words, they were attacking in order to massacre all the soldiers and commoners, without letting any one of them escape.

"...... damn. You're going to this extent huh, Sion."

Ryner groaned while he looked intently at the forming '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

If these three '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting) were completed, hundreds of people would be killed again.

However, they had only just started to form up. And Ryner knew how to shut down that magic. No. Even if, say, he didn't know, with his special pair of eyes he would be able to discover the way to shut it down.

A smile surfaced on Ryner.

"...... well, but, at this level, it's still possible to barely counteract them."

Upon saying that, he looked around him. And as expected, he found a group of Nelpha soldiers who were about to make a large scale magical attack,

"Hey you guys, that won't do. More importantly, don't you have any water-based magic?"


At that question, a soldier answered.

"Water, you say? We do...... but the power......"

But, cutting him off, Ryner said.

"We don't need power. We just need something simplified. Focus on the speed. The next coming attack would be lightning magic, you guys just render that ineffective......"

At that moment, from beside him, Ferris broke into a run.

Towards the enemy.

In the direction where the Roland soldiers appeared to be.

After looking at her back, Ryner once again turned to the soldiers and said.

"...... you guys just stop their large scale magical attack once, in the meantime, we'll keep them in check, can you do it?"

But the soldiers appeared to be flustered,

"B-But, how did you know that the enemies are launching a lightning magical attack on us......"

But Ryner cut him off,

"I'm an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer. I can tell what kind of magic the other side is using and where they will be coming from."


He said.

On hearing that.

On hearing his words.

A look of fear appeared on the soldiers' faces. And they peered into the eyes of Ryner.

At the red pentacles floating above the center of his black eyes ---

Following that, their faces became increasingly contorted with fear.

The killer eyes.

The massacring cursed eyes.

Once those crazy eyes go berserk, a scene of carnage and despair will ensue.

That's why everyone hated those cursed eyes.

Hated the people who possess those eyes.

Hated Ryner.

That's why he ran away.

Since he didn't want to be looked upon in that manner again.

Since he didn't want to be looked upon by those fearful, loathing, demeaning eyes again.


"............"

But, at that moment, the soldier said.

Looking at him, looking at him with fearful eyes,

"...... I, I see...... t-that's really reassuring under such circumstances......"

Said the soldier in a trembling voice, to which Ryner said,

"...... isn't it?"

And he smiled.

Following that, he started giving instructions.

"So listen to me, and defend against their magic. Defending is enough. We'll do the attacking."

"Understood. So, which way......"

With that, Ryner pointed in two different directions with both his hands.

"One from this direction. And another one from this direction. And also one from there. They'll be invoking three rounds. From the current constructing speed, you have probably another five minutes. So, how long do you need?"


That soldier then turned around.

And another soldier behind said,

"For the simplified version, in two minutes."

"Then get to it now."

"Yes."

As the soldier acknowledged, the soldiers and commoners who were heading north had started to move.

"Oh, finally, the preparations to escape are done huh."

Ryner turned towards the crowd who were starting to move.

''Aaarrrggghhh, sloooowwwww'', Ryner wanted to holler at the moving crowd.

But it couldn't be helped.

There were both children and elderly. They were not trained soldiers.

Even if the vanguard sent out by Roland were to retreat, the main forces would probably catch up in no time.

However, even so, they couldn't give up. Even if it was only for a little while, they needed to escape northwards.


That's why.

"............"

That's why he fought.

At the battlefield.

Not only that, at last, he had to fight the soldiers of his own country.

His finger danced in the air, and started carving out glowing words. And then.

"I OFFER THE CONTRACTED WORDS, LETTING THE SLUMBERING MALICIOUS SPIRIT DWELL WITHIN."

He chanted.

His body sparkled and his movement speed increased......

But, at that moment.

"Ryner-sensei!"

A voice sounded from behind him. It was the voice of Arua.

Ryner frowned and turned around.

"What are you doing! Hurry up and get out of here!"

But, Arua said,


"I......"

"I can't bring you along! This is not a situation where you can be useful! Go protect Kuku, Kiefer, and Iris!"

After saying that, he was about to ignore Arua and run off, but,

"No! I won't be a burden to Sensei! I've come here to bring you these."

On hearing those words,

"Huh?"

Ryner turned around.

Arua handed him a bunch of cloth-like objects that he was hugging against his chest,

"...... if you are going to fight Roland soldiers, won't it be easier to get close to them if you bring these along?"

He said.

Ryner took them. And opened them up.

They were the Roland flags which he had gotten Iris to prepare for him earlier.


Ryner then said,

"Ohhh, aren't you a smart one!"

Arua then smiled happily.

"Was I useful?"

"Very! As expected of my disciple!"

On hearing those words, Arua blushed and smiled, ''ehhehe'' like a kid.

"Well then, go back, and protect Kuku, Kiefer and Iris."

Arua then made a slightly worried face,

"What about Sensei......"

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll be right back. Kiefer said that she'll get mad at me if I die, so I'll come back alive."

"...... is that a promise?"

"Yeah. It's a promise. Ok, I'm off."

"Alright."

"See you."

After saying that, Ryner started running.


He went in the opposite direction of the waves of people. Before long, he left the crowd. And on the other side.

On the side of the open field, was Ferris riding a horse.

While riding on a horse, with her left hand, she was holding onto the reins of another horse running alongside her.

Ryner tried to catch up to her with everything he got, and gradually, gradually, the tiredness from the acceleration started seeping in,

"Ah, hey, Ferris! I can't do this! It's tiring to chase you! Could you stop for a little while?"

But,

"........."

Ferris ignored him.

"Heeeeeeeyyyy, you can hear me right! I'm telling you to stop!"

And at last, she turned around. And gleefully, ''pahn pahn'', she clapped her hands,

"Mr Ogre, I'm here ♪, the sound of my hands......"

"Shuutttt uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp!!"

Yelled Ryner as he accelerated even further. He ran at his full speed where he felt as if his legs were rupturing, and as the horse got closer, he kicked the ground.


With that, he got onto the back of the horse.

''Zeh zeh'', he groaned as he gripped the reins. Getting meaninglessly tired, his entire body was covered in sweat in an instant.

Looking at that, Ferris said,

"Ooh, you can do it if you try."

"Shut up. And, don't make me waste my energy like that......"

"Hm. But there's no time right? Before the enemy launches their next magical attack, we have to......"

"No, it'll be fine. The Nelpha soldiers will do something about that. Even though it'll indeed be terrible if they managed to invoke it next time......"

But, at that moment, Ferris faced the front and squinted her eyes. Ryner followed her sight.

He could tell that they were nearing the enemy squads. If the horses were to run at full speed, at this rate, they would probably be able to charge right in the enemy formation in three to four minutes.

Ferris said.

"Before the next magical attack, we can charge into the enemy it seems. But the problem is the enemy numbers. Do you think we can render them ineffective with just the two of us?"


On hearing those words, Ryner folded his arms.

"Uhn ~, I wonder ~"

The large scale magic, '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning) that was about to be invoked would need at least thirty casters.

In order to bring the greatest amount of power smoothly, they would need a hundred people.

In other words, for the enemy to invoke the three rounds of '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning), they would need at least ninety mage soldiers and at most three hundred of them.

But normally, with respect to the practice of Roland, the large scale magic squads are protected by four times more troops than the casters. Once the casters start to invoke the large scale magic, they will not be able to move for five minutes, and during that time, they will be completely defenseless, so in order to protect them, a substantial number of troops are needed.

In other words, on the other side of this open field, the number of Roland troops would number at least more than five hundred.

In the worst case, there could be a thousand people.

Of course, it was not a number that could be handled by just two people.

"Strategy?"

On hearing Ferris's words, Ryner nodded.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 243.jpg|thumb]]

"I've got one."

"What should we do?"

"...... I'll tamper with the large scale magic on their side."

"Horh. So in other words...... we have to bust right into the enemy, and you'll forcibly change the magic formations made by the enemy?"

"Yes."

"While being completely surrounded by a ton of enemies, I shall hold them off while you change their magic formations right?"

"Yes."

"...... hm. I see. And, there's something I want to ask."

"What?"

"...... can you call that moronic strategy a strategy?"

Ryner smiled wryly at that question.

"...... yeah you can't call that a strategy at all. We might die. Then again, shall I think of another plan...... I'd rather just risk my own life, but to get you caught up in it......"

But Ferris said to that,


"But, there's no time to come up with another strategy right?"

To which Ryner nodded.

"While coming up with one, others will die."

"Then, we have no choice but to do it."

"...... yeah. Sorry."

"No need for apologies. In the worst case, I'll just abandon you and escape."

On hearing those words of hers,

"It'll be great if you can do that."

Said Ryner, but, ''even though she said that, she won't just abandon me and escape, how troublesome'', he thought.

It was just as Kiefer had said.

There was no reason for Ryner to die here.

He could not succeed in his strategy all by himself. He would definitely need Ferris's cooperation.

However, if things come to a point where they can't do anything, Ferris will definitely.

"............"

''She will definitely not abandon me and escape.''


That's the type of person she is.

In other words, if Ryner were to die, Ferris would also die.

That would be terrible.

He didn't want that.

In other words, this time,

"...... I have to do my best......"

He moaned out.

He was exasperated at the fact that even though he had already been working hard up till here, but, why did he have to work even harder?

However, if he doesn't work even harder, he won't be able to protect the things that are important to him.

And they include Ferris, Kiefer, Iris, Kuku, Arua, Toale, and also Sion.

So, even while feeling exasperated,

"............"

He looked ahead.

They were nearly upon the enemy.


As to the enemy numbers ---

"...... ah ~, that's around three thousand."

"Uhm."

"A few thousand more than what I've thought."

"A calculation error."

"Yeah. With the two of us, we can take on about twenty to thirty of them......"

She nodded. And for some reason, she looked delighted,

"...... in the past, we also charged into a swarm of troops before. This time round, let's do the same."

On hearing those words, a smile surfaced on him.

"Yeah ~, that incident huh."

And he recalled.

That was an incident which had taken place in Nelpha.

He had just met Ferris not long ago then.

It was an incident which had taken place when they were just starting to search for the Heroes' Relics, and had just entered Nelpha from Roland.

The Nelpha troops had captured Milk, and they had gone to save her.


However, the enemy numbered fifty then. And it was tough even with just fifty of them. Rather, they were risking their lives there.

But the enemy numbered three thousand this time.

"...... somehow, I feel like running."

"The sacred Ryner wants to call out to Mama while he pees in his pants huh?"

Ferris said lightly as usual, but Ryner nodded readily.

"Yeah, I'm about to. If the strategy fails, and if you were to die, I will definitely be unable to take it, and pee from my eyes. So......"

At that moment, he looked at her.

"So Ferris. If things become really bad, get away."

She then looked at him as well,

"...... uhm. You too......"

"Uhn."

"Then, let's go."

Upon saying that, Ferris sped up her horse even further.

At the same time, Roland completed its large scale magic attack.


It was '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning).

And they fired it towards the Nelpha soldiers.

As they did so, a large scale magic for counteracting that was invoked from Nelpha.

Different from individual magic, one by one, three bouts of lightning that was powerful enough to blind the eyes were fired, but, they were received by a wall formed by large amounts of water erected by the Nelpha soldiers and rendered ineffective.

A buzz then started among the Roland soldiers. As Ryner expected, the enemy's attention was drawn to that wall of water. Nobody noticed their presence.

Looking at that,

"Let's go."

Upon saying that, Ryner spread the Roland flags. With that, he jumped off the horse, and charged into the Roland forces.

At that moment.

"W-What's happening?"

A person noticed him. And his face turned to one of surprise.

Ryner then showed the flag,

"I'm an ally. I carry an order from Field Marshal Claugh Klom from the south."


The soldier then started frantically,

"His Grace, Field Marshal Klom?"

"Yeah, that's right. It's an emergency. Who's the one commanding this force?"

As Ryner asked that, he tensed up a little.

''It'll be bad if it's him'', he thought.

That monster who was entirely covered in black, and a user of a Hero's Relic.

''It'll be bad if it's Miran Froaude'', he thought.

According to Shuss, currently, the ones attacking Runa were Lieutenant General Miran Froaude and, the former military man from the Kingdom of Estabul, Marshal Bayuuz White.

The one called White might be worse. While Ryner had never really met him before, he had heard from Sion that his ability is the real deal.

But the soldier said,

"The commander is Captain Terohm. He's right at the center."

Upon saying that, he pointed to behind him.

Ryner then,

"...... hm."


Sighed out softly.

It's not White nor Froaude. The two of them were probably with the main body.

With that, the situation was very much easier.

Ryner did not look in the direction where the soldier pointed. It was not like he had any business with the commander.

The ones whom he had business with were.

"............"

He looked at the left, right, center of the forces where new large scale magic were starting to get deployed.

The next spell they were invoking was once again '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs). The magic that was first used to burn the soldiers and commoners of Nelpha.

He would tamper with them.

Ryner pointed to the closest '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs) that was in the process of getting invoked to the right. Ferris then nodded.

At that moment, a number of soldiers started,

"Hey, don't you find it strange? Why aren't they wearing any military uniforms......"

However, without waiting for them to finish, the two of them started running.


Pushing through the soldiers, they dashed towards the '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

In the midst of that.

One of the soldiers looked at them,

"...... don't tell me they are enemies? Hey, report this to Captain Terohm......"

As the man was speaking, Ferris struck him down.

Seeing that, a number of soldiers said,

"Hey, did you see that!"

"It's the enemy!"

"The enemy has come!?"

While yelling that.

Ryner invoked his magic.

Drawing the magic inscription in the air at a high speed,

"WHAT I SEEK IS SILENCE >>> ANTE"

He murmured.

Instantly.

The sounds around them were gone.


With Ryner at the center, the sounds in the surrounding area were gone. A blanket of silence fell on them.

This is a simple magic that stops the vibration of the air and stops sounds from getting transmitted, however, when people are in a completely soundless environment, their hearts will become unsettled. Especially in the case of noisy battlefields.

Previously, when he used this magic against Nelpha soldiers, it caused a great panic among them. However, this time round, the reactions should be a little different.

The reason was because ---

"............."

The reason was because this was Roland's magic.

At that moment, sounds returned.

Immediately.

"What!? What's the meaning of this!? Someone extinguished the sounds!?"

"Who was the one who used Ante!"

A commotion started among the soldiers.

Gazing at that, Ryner started drawing another magic inscription. And then,

"WHAT I SEEK IS WATER MIST >>> MISUMI"


Instantly.

A large amount of water became a raging stream and rained upon the soldiers,

"I-It's the eneeeeeeeeemmmmyyyy!"

"No, wait! This is Roland's magic! It's a traitor! There's a traitor!"

This time round, a panic ensued.

And that's not the kind of panic caused by the desperate searching of the enemy. It was the kind of panic caused by the possibility of having everyone around oneself as an enemy.

And by that time, Ryner and Ferris had finally reached the invocation location of '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

Ferris drew her sword and started mowing down the mage soldiers who were casting '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

And as Ryner reached what was behind them,

"Now, here I go ~, ohrhya."

With a tremendous force, he started tampering with the '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

And around that time, the surrounding soldiers started realizing who the enemies were.

"Stop those two!"

With that yelling, a single person started drawing a magic inscription while facing them.


"I won't allow it."

Ferris beat him down with her sword.

Following that, a number of others drew their swords and came attacking her, but in an instant, they were sent sprawling onto the floor.

On top of that, a number of other soldiers drew their swords and came attacking Ryner,

"Damn."

Ferris said as she came back to him and somehow sent them flying.

But the enemy waves did not stop. A number of soldiers started drawing glowing magic inscriptions simultaneously.

Ferris frowned,

"Ryner!"

"Huh?"

"How long are you going to take?"

"Three minutes."

"Make it one."

"Impossible."


"Then, just hurry up and get on with it!"

While saying that, she jumped out again. After striking down one, two, three of the soldiers who had started inscribing magic circles, she returned to Ryner's side.

At the same time, the soldiers completed their magic.

Three bouts of '''Kurenai'''.

One '''Kuuri'''.

The streaking light of '''Kuuri''' that was fired off first was sliced apart by Ferris.

Following that, she snatched the Roland flags away from Ryner, knocked off some of the flaming shells from '''Kurenai''', and repelled the rest with her sword ---

Then, in the nick of time, she jumped towards the last remaining flaming shell flying towards Ryner and......

"...... gah."

She knocked it off with her bare hand.

Ferris's left arm got scorched and hung loosely. Unable to move.

"............"

"Ferris......"


Ryner uttered but,

"Don't worry about me, just finish what you need to do!"

She yelled angrily and jumped out again.

She then further went on to kick the face of a man who was about to start drawing a magic inscription, and swung her sword with just her right hand.

However, bit by bit, she was no longer able to defend against the enemy's attacks.

And Ferris's body became,

"............"

Covered in blood.

"...... damn, damn, what am I doing...... faster, I need to finish this faster......"

While saying that, Ryner hastened his hand.

He couldn't go help her. He wouldn't be able to do much by helping her.

That's why he stopped looking at her.

The last time his eyes were on her, she was cut by a sword from behind. She couldn't dodge that. Blood was spurting. Her cries of anguish could be heard.

But, even so, Ryner did not go help her. He merely,


"...... please...... please, don't die, Ferris!"

Yelled as he focused on the magic inscriptions before him.

And continued tampering with its composition. With an abnormal fast speed, he changed the structure of the complex puzzle that was constructed by many people.

A little bit more.

"I just have a little bit more, so Ferris! Keep on going!"

At the same time he shouted that, he completed it. In the center of that large scale magic's giant inscription, which could not have been drawn by a single person, on the platform, a billow of black smoke formed, and the smoke spread to the surroundings in just a moment.

Then, it penetrates into the magic inscriptions of the other '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs) that were concurrently in the process of getting invoked, and altered their structure.

What was invoked was a little curse. A curse that stopped the activity of the spirits in this area.

With this, for the next fifteen minutes, it would not be possible to use any magic near these magic inscriptions.

And this was not the magic of Roland. Rather, it was not a magic of any country. This was a special magic that Ryner had researched for the past few years, that's why, once again, unable to comprehend what was happening, panic descended upon the Roland soldiers.


At any rate, they could not use magic.

On the battlefield, if they could not use magic, they would not be able to pursue their enemies.

In the next fifteen minutes.

The Nelpha soldiers would have an overwhelming advantage.

Since Ryner had invoked that magic,

"...... I'm done! Now, let's get out of here, Ferris!"

He turned around to look for her.

However.

"............"

Covered entirely with blood, Ferris was on her knees.

Her entire body was full of wounds. Blood flowing. Even on her face. Even on her abnormally well-featured, beautiful face, there were wounds.

She looked at him.

She looked at him with a troubled face.

Then.

"...... I'm sorry, Ryner. I'm dy......"


At that moment, from beside her, a sword was about to swing down. As if to behead her, a sword was about to swing down.

Seeing that.

"............"

Seeing that,

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!?"

Ryner broke into a sprint.

But, his movements were terribly slow. Due to the magic invoked by Ryner which stopped the activity of all spirits, the acceleration magic which he had cast on himself had been terminated.

It seemed like he couldn't make it. Even while the sword was about to swing down on Ferris's neck, it seemed like he couldn't make it.

But, still, Ryner ran. With everything he got.

And he jumped.

He jumped into the space between the sword and Ferris and embraced her.

Instantly, the enemy's sword slashed deep into his left shoulder and struck his bone. And he was sent flying from the pain and impact. His left arm could no longer move.

But he did not let go of Ferris. While hugging her, he fell onto the ground.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 261.jpg|thumb]]

She then looked up at him, and following that, looked at his slashed left shoulder.

"A-Are you an idiot!? What the hell are you doing!? Y-You...... want to die!?"

As she said that, Ryner carried her and started running again.

"T-That's...... my line, idioooooooootttttttt!"

He hollered.

With his face on the verge of tears, he looked intently at her,

"Uwaaahhhh, that was close! I thought you were going to die! I thought you were going to die! And cut it out already! Do you really want to die so badly! Didn't you say that you'll run away when it looks like you're going to die! But yet, why were you still guarding me while you were on the verge of dying! Didn't I tell you that if you were to die....... if you were to die, I'll cry! Don't shit with me, jeez!"

He yelled uncontrollably with anger, and embraced her strongly.

"............"

She looked up in a dumbfounded manner, and for some reason, her face turned red. It's probably because she lost too much blood and was gradually weakening, he thought.

With a troubled face that appeared to be red from blushing, she said,


"...... ah? Errmm, don't...... don't get so angry, Ryner."

"Of course I'm angry."

"I-Is that so...... sorry."

"This is not something you can just make up by apologizing!"

"Uuu? Then, what should I do......?"

While running, Ryner said to that.

"That'd of course be to live on and get out of here. The two of us. We can't become, we can't become sacrifices in some godforsaken place......"

But, at that moment, Ryner's words stopped. A number of enemies were again upon them.

However, the Ferris who Ryner was carrying, swung her sword with her still movable right hand and mowed them down.

Ryner then said,

"Oh, that's pretty good."

"Umu."

"With this, it seems like we can still go on. Can you continue moving your right hand for a while?"

A weak smile then surfaced on her,


"Who do you think I am?"

"A troublesome rampaging dango girl."

"I'm going to kill you."

"Save that for later. If we survive, I'll let you kill me as much as you want later...... well, shall we go?"

Ryner asked, to which,

"Uhm."

Ferris nodded.

And the two of them started making their escape with everything they got.

While Ferris, who was carried by Ryner, was mowing down the enemies, they moved straight on.

Most of the enemies around them had already realized where they were. Rather, that commander called Terohm or Parohm, well, forget about the name; he should already have realized where they were.

Gradually, groups of the enemies came.

If this were to continue, they would definitely be killed.

He thought.


They couldn't make it.

They couldn't reach the place where they had left their horses earlier.

Just as he was thinking about that.

"............"

The enemy's attacks stopped.

With the yell from a soldier, the enemy's attacks stopped.

That soldier had yelled out,

"Ne-Nelpha is launching a large scale attackkkkkkk."

On hearing that, the eyes which had been trained on Ryner and Ferris turned together towards where the Nelpha forces were.

There, gigantic flames were gathering.

Massive flames used for slaughter were gathering.

Ryner's eyes widened.

Nelpha was about to launched their large scale magic here.

And there were around ten bouts of them.

Someone shouted.

"Deploy a counter magic!"


Someone shouted.

"Why!? Why doesn't our magic activate!?"

Someone cried out tearfully.

"Are we going to be killed!? Are we all going to die!?"

With that, terror descended upon the Roland soldiers, and completely ignoring Ryner and Ferris, they started making their escape.

No, Ryner also had to get away. The current wounded Ryner and Ferris wouldn't be able to dodge that many rounds of large scale magic attacks.

This was the worst possible situation.

It was a good thing if they were not to get killed by Roland's soldiers, but at this rate, it was not unlikely for them to get killed by their own allies, Nelpha's soldiers.

To get cornered into such a pressing situation.

"............"

But a frail smile surfaced on Ryner. He was looking at Nelpha's large scale attack magic which was quickly being deployed with his '''Alpha Stigma''' eyes.

It was a strange type of magic.


For some reason, it was a somewhat strange magic that appeared to be a combination of Roland and Nelpha's magic technology.

On top of that, the magic merely had a flashy appearance; the truth was that flames were not going to come flying towards here, and no attacks were going to come, they were merely flashy balls of fire.

In other words, what Nelpha was invoking now was magic for the purpose of threatening Roland.

A total deception magic, whereby two or three invocations could be performed by merely ten casters.

"............"

However, that alone had a tremendous effect. To the unsettled Roland soldiers who were not able to use any magic, upon seeing that fake large scale attack magic, everyone of them started retreating.

Looking at that.

Looking at that magic made up of a combination of Roland and Nelpha magic, Ryner smiled wryly.

"...... damn. We got saved by Arua......"

The only person who could do that was him.

Using the casters of Nelpha, by intermingling with Roland's magic, through improvisation, he devised a new type of magic.


That was a capability which could only exist in an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer, who could read the construct of a magic and use it immediately.

And on top of that, to do it at this kind of timing.

After seeing Ryner invoked a magic used for disabling the use of magic, Arua had activated that large scale magic used for threatening Roland's troops.

He was probably looking at them all this while with his '''Alpha Stigma'''.

In order to save Ryner.

In order to save Ferris.

''As kids, you'll just get in the way!'', he wanted to brush him off, but yet, in the end, at the most crucial moment, he was saved by him.

He smiled,

"...... seems like he has grown a lot...... I have to praise him later......"

Upon saying that, they reached the horses which they had ridden earlier. And while carrying Ferris, he mounted on one of them. Immediately after that, he galloped off.

There were no longer any Roland soldiers around them. They had all started retreating.


That was the right move, he thought. If they could not understand the situation they were in, they should retreat. On one hand they could not use any magic, on the other hand, the enemy appeared to be about to use a large scale attack magic on them, then they should just escape from the range of the enemy's magic for now.

To have as few casualties as possible --- that was the right decision. The commander here appeared to be pretty capable, he thought.

And once again, Ryner thought,

''...... fortunately, the commander is not Froaude.''

If it were him, then he might not care about the lives of his allies, and proceed on to attack. After all, the soldiers here were meant to delay the enemy. And even if all his troops were to die, he would continue to attack to slow down the enemy.

If that were to happen, all of Ryner's plans would have been thwarted.

However, the result this time,

"...... it's our win. We managed to buy time."

It was largely a meaningful thing.

For what reason did Roland send a group of soldiers to slow them down? It was easy if one thought about it.


If they didn't come to slow them down, then Roland wouldn't be able to catch up to the Nelpha forces who already had started moving.

In other words, if the delaying attack on Nelpha's soldiers this time round failed, then it meant that the situation had turned favorable.

They had managed to buy time to escape.

Ryner then said,

"...... ahh, somehow, this is really tiring."

As the horse galloped on.

Upon saying that, in front of him, Ferris, who was sitting facing him, looked up,

"Uhm. Thanks to your thoughtless plan, our bodies and heart are in shambles......"

As she said that, she suddenly had a 'that's it!' face,

"Th-Thanks to your violent behavior after getting drunk, my body and heart are in shambles! I'll sue you! I'll definitely sue you! And thus, the trial starts...... cough cough......"

In the midst of saying all that, she started coughing.


Ryner then frantically said,

"Jeeeezz, don't start spouting nonsense when you have all those wounds."

While saying that, he stroked her back. Ferris then made a unsatisfied face.

Looking at that, Ryner smiled faintly. Even as he smiled, his shoulder hurt, but compared to Ferris's wounds, this pain didn't bother him.

Looking at her bloodied body, he said softly,

"...... damn. I'm sorry."

"Hn?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"Nothing, I said. It's just that, after having put you through this much this time, I was thinking of giving you a dango treat."

On hearing his words.

"............"

She stared intently at Ryner for some reason, and said.


"Hey Ryner. Don't be too conceited."

She said all of a sudden.

"Huh?"

Ryner then said. Unable to understand her words, he was a little bewildered.

She was still staring at him.

And then, she said. With a somewhat angry voice,

"...... whatever others may think, my wounds are not the fault of yours. The deaths of the Nelpha's commoners are not the fault of yours. So what's with that apologetic look? Are you omnipotent and right in everything, and will always succeed? Are you God? Stop getting conceited. You've already more than done your best. For a useless scumbag who only attacks girls night after night, you've already done your best. So be proud of yourself. Don't make such a face. Don't talk about treating me to dango, fool. Understand?"

Ferris said all of a sudden.

To that, Ryner.

"............"


Couldn't say a thing. He could only look at her with a surprised face.

But Ferris buried her face into Ryner's chest,

"That's all I wanted to say. I'm going to sleep. I'm a little tired."

"Ah, er~m, ok. I got it. Wait, you......."

But, she immediately said,

"Ah, but I think it's better to treat me dango anyway. Ok, I'm sleeping. I'll leave the rest to you."

Without saying anything further to Ryner, she lost consciousness. Her strength left her and she started to fall off the horse,

"Owah, crap."

Ryner frantically caught her. However, she did not react to his touch at all. She was really covered with terrible wounds. He had to link up with the Nelpha troops quickly and render medical aid to her.

But yet.

"............"

Even when she was covered with such terrible wounds, she was still worried about others like a fool.

Even when she always had a serious face while acting violently and causing trouble to others, at such a time, she only worried about others.


Ryner then,

"............"

Wanted to say something to Ferris.

He wanted to say something softly to Ferris, and at that moment.

Suddenly, the light started to disappear.

"Wha......"

Ryner was surprised.

That was not a metaphor, but truly, all the light of this world was disappearing as if it was being sucked away by something.

The sky, the atmosphere, the land, swiftly before his eyes, the light disappeared and the world was plunged into darkness.

A dizzying darkness.


And then, that darkness ---

"Don't tell me......"

Ryner knew of that darkness.

But that shouldn't be. If that was really the thing that Ryner knew of, then things had become troublesome.

No, not just troublesome.

Rather, it was the worst possible situation.

But clearly, that was the thing that Ryner knew of.

It was the same scene when the necklace Hero's Relic, which he and Ferris had gotten hold of while they were visiting Runa, went on a rampage.

The light disappeared from the world.

The light disappeared from the world.

And the light gathered behind Ryner.

In the direction where the Roland soldiers were running away, the light was sucked towards there and gathered.

He turned around.


And looked.

"............."

He looked at the intense bright light gathering at a distance away behind him.

Ryner had seen that before.

It was indeed the same gathering of light by that necklace in Runa.

Looking at that, Ryner trembled.

"...... you're kidding me."

Murmuring that, Ryner trembled.

That light gradually enlarged as it gathered the surrounding power.

Last time, when the light burst off and unleashed its power outwards, the scenery had changed entirely.

An entire mountain was leveled from the abnormally powerful light.

But, the necklace had disappeared at the same time. For some reason, once it was used, it would disappear it seemed, and Ryner had used it by mistake, and should not have brought it back to Roland.

But yet.


"............"

Why did Roland have it?

And why did they use that abnormal power against humans?

That's not something one should use against humans right?

That is......

That power is......

"...... what in the world does Roland....... what in the world does Sion want to do......."

But, in the next instant.

The world was bathed in light, the darkness sundered.

He could not see anything.

He could not dodge.

Ryner could only stand there, stunned at the end of everything.

And everything ended.

"............"

Ryner opened his blinded eyes.


The land beside him started hollowing.

Away from Roland, along the direction towards the Nelpha soldiers, the land started hollowing.

The scale of the destruction was smaller than the time Ryner invoked the necklace. It might be another type of the same relic perhaps.

But still, even so.

"............"

Even so, that was not a power to be used by humans.

"............"

Ryner turned around.

The thirty thousand over Nelpha soldiers and commoners who were running away was down by a third.

The rest had died.

In that instant just now.

With just a burst of light, over ten thousand people had died.

And.


"............"

And, Kiefer and the rest might have been among those.

Iris, Toale, Arua, Kuku, might have gotten caught up in it.

On seeing that.

On seeing that,

"....... y-you're kidding me."

Ryner started urging his horse forward.

"......... this must be a joke, a joke, a joooooooooooooooooookkkkkkkkeeeeeeeee."

Towards where Kiefer and the rest were. Towards his comrades, Ryner urged his horse to gallop at full speed.

However, once again.

The light started disappearing from the world again.

The light was stolen from the sky, the atmosphere, the land, and darkness started to spread.

Ryner turned around.


He glared at a distant place where the light was being sucked towards.

Then.

"...... d-don't shit with me...... don't shit with me Sion!! What the hell is this. What the hell is this! I didn't write that report for this purpose! I didn't gather the relics for this purpose!!"

He hollered.

But that voice reached no one.

That voice did not reach his best friend.

Since he was too far away.

Since the path he tread on was far too different.

The light just gradually disappeared.

The light just gradually disappeared.

And the light of despair gathered at Roland's side.

The immensely huge destructive power that could take away thousands, tens of thousands of lives gathered at Roland's side.

The next time when this were to be unleashed, it would probably wipe out nearly all the humans.


Adults, children, men, women, everything would be erased into oblivion.

Everything would go to nothingness.

It was like the lightning of God.

It was like the flames of the Devil.

It was not the power of a human. Such a power was not a power used by humans.

But, Roland was using that power.

Sion was using that power.

It was like God passing His divine judgement.

It was like the Devil using a forbidden power.

"Why...... why did it come to this? Why did it turn out like this?"

Ryner could only murmur while on the verge of tears.

At his own powerlessness.

At his own worthlessness.

There was nothing he could do.


The '''Alpha Stigma''' is unable to see the construct of a '''Hero's Relic'''. He could come up with no countermeasure.

But, death was definitely near.

A certain death was near.

The gathering of light was done.

"...... please stop."

But the despair didn't stop.

"...... I beg you, please stop."

But the darkness didn't stop.

And once again, across the surroundings of Ryner, the light flashed......

Shrouding everything in despair ---

In that very instant.

"...... wah ~, seems like you are really in a dire situation, Ryner-san. If I save you guys here, I should become popular with little girls as well as mature women right?"


A light-hearted voice sounded suddenly from beside him.

"Huh?"

Ryner turned towards the voice.

But, just in the instant he was turning, the light from the necklace of Roland burst forth.

And Ryner could only say,

"Crap......"

But, at that moment,

"Horh. It seems like Roland is using '''Ellearms''' (Demonic Beast Destroyer). Then we shall use this.

--- devour and disperse that light, '''Euloss Elma''' (Divine Parasite Bugs)."

Instantly.

From beside Ryner, for some reason, the sounds of countless insect wings could be heard, flickering in seven colors, fluorescent-glowing tiny bugs appeared and flew ahead.

They probably numbered in tens of millions.


Like a swarm of locusts, the flickering bugs filled the sky in a moment, and collided against the light unleashed by Roland.

At that moment.

<< Kyukyukyukyukyukyukyukyukyukya <nowiki>-------------------------------------------------------</nowiki>!? >>

From the tens of millions of the insects, ear-splitting screeches started filling their ears, and then.

And then, they started devouring the light.

"W-What......"

Upon seeing that abrupt bizarre scene, Ryner could only utter that.

But, before his eyes, it unfolded.

The tens of millions of flickering bugs devoured the light, completely devoured, completely devoured, as they advanced.

The bugs devoured the divine lightning unleashed by Roland, and before long, everything disappeared.

The light did not reach here.


They were saved. Without anyone dying, the light was devoured by the bugs and disappeared.

But, what on earth.

"What on earth was that?"

Immediately after Ryner said that.

<< Kyukya <nowiki>-----------------------------------------------------------------</nowiki>!? >>

The bugs screeched loudly, in an ear-deafening manner.

"Uwah."

Ryner groaned as he covered his ears.

Before his eyes, the bugs spun around in circles. As if they were looking for prey. As if they were looking for the next sacrifice.

No prey?

No other prey?

And after circling for a while, they turned around. And with that. They started moving towards Ryner.


"...... d-don't tell me now they want to eat us......"

Ryner said, and once again,

"No way. They don't like human flesh."

The voice sounded again.

Ryner remembered that voice. That's right. All this while, since the pressing situation earlier, he felt that someone was speaking to him. On top of that, he seemed to recall hearing that voice before.

"W-Who is it?"

Sitting on top of his horse, Ryner looked at his surroundings.

But there was no one.

Some distance away, he could see the Nelpha soldiers and the commoners, but he didn't feel that the voice had come from there.

Then, where on earth......

At that moment.


"No no, lower your line of sight a little, Ryner-san."

On hearing those words, Ryner dropped his gaze. And before he knew it, there was a smiling young man standing there.

A single young man who seemed to be around thirteen, fourteen years of age.

With beautiful black hair, and intelligent looking black eyes. A beautiful young man who was wearing an outfit that resembled the clothes of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miko Miko].

Looking at his face.

And the face surfaced from his memories,

"Y-You..... aren't you Vois!?""

Shouted Ryner.

He knew that young man.

The name of the young man is Vois Fiurelle.

While Ryner and Ferris were searching for Heroes' Relics, after passing through Nelpha and Runa, they met him at their last stop, in the country of the Iyet Republic.

And in that Iyet Republic, this fella reigned like a king.


"............."

No, rather than a king, it is more apt to describe him as the head of a mafia.

Despite being a brat, he is the head of the Fiurelle Group that forcefully governed a country with power and information.

Every time he saw him, he was always exploding with Hentai tendencies, a troublesome fellow creating plenty of troublesome matters, a fellow who numbered first in the ranking list of the people he didn't want to meet, but, when the Iyet Republic crumbled from the rampaging of a Hero's Relic, he disappeared.

That's why he had not seen him for the past year.

But that same Vois was before him right now.

As he looked at Vois's face, Ryner said.

"W-What did you do just now?"

And Vois replied.

"What, you say, Ryner-san, I'm here to save you...... ah, do you want to thank me? That's it isn't it? It's only right to show gratitude when receiving favors from someone. This is just basic manners right. Is ok right? To give me around twenty cute girls......"

"HEY, aren't you the same as before!"


Vois then said happily.

"Ryner-san, I'm so happy to see your usual Hentai antics. Ferris-san seems to be full of wounds! Your bedroom play sure is intense as usual......"

"What the hell are you talking aboooouuuutttttttttttt!"

Ryner hollered at Vois, who was full of his usual antics.

Vois then smiled cheerfully, and said,

"Well, we shall save our reunion for now......"

Upon saying that, he reached into his bosom. And took out something resembling a necklace.

A necklace with a scarlet orb.

Upon seeing that necklace,

"Uwah."

Ryner uttered without thinking.

The reason was because, that necklace was clearly that.

The one Ryner saw in Runa.

The necklace that has an extraordinary destructive power.

Grasping that necklace, like a child, a smile surfaced on Vois,


"Let's finish our work for now, Ryner-san. Let's kill everyone in the direction of Roland. It's troubling that they have gotten hold of something like '''Ellearms''' (Demonic Beast Destroyer). Let's kill them first and we'll talk later......"

As he said that, he held out the necklace......

"Hey, wait a minuteeeeeeeeeee!"

Ryner snatched away the necklace.

Then,

"You, what the hell are you trying to do?"

"Huh? I'm just trying to teach the arrogant Roland to know their place. Now, hand that back please. Then, I'll just kill them all in a blink......"

"No, like I said, you can't!"

On hearing Ryner's yell, Vois cocked his head incredulously.

"What do you mean by I can't?"

"Killing! Isn't it terrible to just kill them like insects?"

But Vois's face just became more and more bewildered at his words,


"Huh? What on earth are you talking about, Ryner-san? This is war you know? It's about killing each other. If we don't kill, we'll get killed. Am I wrong?"

On hearing that sensible rebuttal, which was unthinkable to have come from a brat, Ryner said,

"Ah, no, that's true, but...... but......"

"Alright alright, since you got it, let's kill them first then talk. Please give me back the necklace."

"No no, like I said, you can't do that. Especially with regards to using this necklace that's embedded with such an insane power, that's a definite no no. If we use such a thing to wage a war, it will just end up dreadfully with both sides in despair......"

Said Ryner.

Rather, that should be obviously a no-brainer.

It was an enormous power that was unattainable through the intellect of Man. It was an abnormally mysterious power to the extent which no one knows how to activate nor stop. If that were to be used in wars, the end result would definitely be the worst possible one.

Countries getting wiped out, no, perhaps the entire world would be wiped out. What would be left would just be dead bodies and despair. To wage a war using that, was too much of a foolish thing.


That was what Ryner thought, but,

"..........."

As expected, Vois's face clearly showed that he did not comprehend.

On realizing that, he made an exasperated face,

"...... aah well, forget that. More importantly, why have you come here? Did you really come to save me?"

To that question, Vois promptly replied,

"You won't be getting any free help from me. That's the teaching of the Fiurelle family."

On hearing those words, Ryner frowned,

"...... you really haven't changed...... then why are you saving me? In the first place, where have you been and what have you been up to all this while, and what did you come here for?"

After saying that, Ryner looked intently at the necklace that he had snatched away.

The swarm of bugs which had been flying in mid-air earlier probably belonged to him as well.

Both items were clearly Heroes' Relics.

What has he been using these for all this while, and what did he come here for?


Ryner glared at him, but, with his childish face, a cruel smile surfaced as he said.

Looking straight at him.

"No, I just came here to give a somewhat interesting suggestion."

"Suggestion?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

Vois's intelligent looking eyes narrowed further. Then,

"No, well, it's not something that I have to stand on ceremony about. The truth is, Ryner-san, I was thinking of having you become the King."

He said.

Ryner's eyes widened,

"Haah? King? Hey, what the hell......"

But Vois cut him off.

His eyes became narrower, until his eyes could hardly be seen, and he smiled.


"...... I was thinking of having you become the King of the Anti-Roland Coalition which I've created......"

At the same time he said those words.

Vois raised up his hand.

At his signal, all of a sudden, a little further away from where the soldiers and commoners of Nelpha were, a few hundred soldiers wearing strange armor appeared.

Not the brown armor of Nelpha, not the white armor of Roland, but pitch black armor.

Ryner looked at those soldiers,

"...... what's that?"

To those words, Vois smiled again.

"Like I said, they are the Anti-Roland Coalition forces. I've put it together in this one year. Well, in name, it's actually a force built with the small country in the southeast part of the central continent, Belis, as its center, but I'm the one who holds the true authority over it. So, right now, three countries have joined the Anti-Roland Coalition, and I'm seeking out the Autonomous Holy City of Cassla, which is the strategic point for stopping Roland from swallowing up Central Menoris, as its fourth member......"

In the midst of his proclamation,

"Hey wait a minute wait a minute! Huh? Eeh? What the hell are you talking about? You've made the Anti-Roland Coalition?"


Vois promptly nodded,

"Yes."

Ryner had an increasingly bewildered expression,

"For what purpose?"

Once again, a smile surfaced on Vois. An increasingly cruel, inhumane, cold smile surfaced,

"...... that's simple. Because the world needs it."

"Aah? The world? What the hell are you talking about? About the world needing the Anti-Roland Coalition?"

On hearing Ryner's question, Vois shook his head. And he said in a low, cold voice.


"That's not it. What is needed is the power to kill the cursed monster called Sion Astal. The power to destroy the mad sword known as Lucile Eris. Right now, the world doesn't want a hero king. It doesn't want a Sion Astal. The world doesn't want that mad demon. Excessively tremendous power, and overly huge ambitions, are hindrances. That's why I have come to pick you up. I've come to pick up the one that has the power to kill him, you. Now, let's kill him together. Let's kill that mad devil. He's the one who will topple the world's balance. He's the one who will take away the light from everything.

But, that cannot be forgiven.

The '''Goddesses''' cannot forgive that.

So Ryner-san, join up with me. No, that's not it. I'll follow you. I'll lend you a hand. So, by your hand...... by the hand of his best friend......"

Vois said as he held out his hand with his usual grinning, cheerful face.

"...... please kill Sion Astal with your hand."

He said.

"............"

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 297.jpg|thumb]]

But Ryner frowned.

His face contorted.

For some reason, Vois's words made the depths of his heart feel hollow.

However, that was not because of the fact that he was told to kill Sion. It's not because of the fact that Sion was called the mad devil. Even though he was bothered by what Vois had said all of a sudden. Rather, he was bothered by what what was happening in the central part of the continent.

But, those were not at the top of his mind right now.

The only word which made Ryner's chest hollow.

A word which made Ryner feel terribly, terribly, terribly unpleasant.

He thought about it.

That word from Vois which made him feel nauseous.

'''Goddesses'''.

Just by hearing that word, Ryner could no longer move. Even though it wasn't a word that was out of the ordinary, nor did it bear any particular connection, but yet, Ryner could no longer move.


"W-What in the world......"

He said in a groaning tone. But his voice was also trembling. Trembling uncontrollably.

He could no longer think of anything else.

Only the word '''Goddesses''' kept reverberating in his head.

'''Goddesses'''.

'''Goddesses'''.

'''Goddesses'''.

The word reverberated in his head.

'''Goddesses'''.

'''Goddesses'''.

'''Goddesses'''.

The word resounded in his heart.

A surge of nauseousness.

A surge of anxiety.


What on earth is this?

What the hell is this?

'''Goddesses'''.

'''Goddesses'''.

'''Goddesses'''.

And at that moment.

"Aah, they are here."

Said Vois.

And at his feet.

In his shadow extended by the moonlight, a creepiness started moving.

Ryner looked down at them. He could tell from his instinct that something that was terribly awful was about to rise up.

But, he couldn't move. He couldn't move for some reason. The only thing he could move were his eyes. Only cursed eyes which were overlaid with bright red pentacles.

Only his eyes were resisting something.

Only his eyes were resisting some power.


Ryner looked at Vois's shadow with his cursed eyes. He could see something squirming in that shadow. Something black. No, something darker than black.

"...... what on earth...... what on earth are you talking about? They? '''Goddesses'''? What on earth, are you......"

But at that moment.

Ryner's words stopped.

Suddenly, in his head,

<< Prostrate, worm. >>

A voice descended into his head.

On hearing that voice,

"...... uwah."

Ryner groaned out softly, and fell off the horse. Together with Ferris. She was unconscious. As he attempted to help her up, once again,


<< Prostrate, worm. >>

The voice descended upon him.

It was like the voice of a god.

It was like the holler of a devil.

Reacting to that voice, his body started moving on its own. Ryner squatted down onto the ground, and then prostrated. His face pressed painfully against the ground.

He couldn't resist.

He couldn't resist at all. His entire body was dominated by that voice, as if he was a puppet that was being manipulated, his body moved on its own.

What the hell!?

What the hell just happened!?

He cried out silently.

The only things he could move were his eyes.


His own cursed eyes.

But with those eyes. Those eyes that were glowing bright red like the color of blood, with those glowing pentacles that seemed to be resisting against everything in this world, he looked at Vois.

No, he looked at the black shadows at Vois's feet.

Then, from inside the shadow --- it came out.

The owner of the voice.

The owner of the voice that sounded like a god, crept out of that darkness which was darker than black, and deeper than the abyss.

Ryner looked at that.

Ryner looked at that.

And then.

"............"

Ryner looked straight at that figure.

"............"

And cried out in anguish.
<noinclude>
 
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==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>
 
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| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol3|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Afterword|Afterword]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 3

2011-12-13T19:04:19Z

Error:

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==The Burden I Shoulder==


The horse galloped.

At full speed.

"My butt huuurrrtttttsssssss!"

While yelling, Ryner rode, he rode, for four days, he rode.

Beside him, Ferris, who had also been galloping for the past four days without sleeping, went,

".................................. mumyu ~"

"Hey, don't sleep while ridingggggggggg!"

Ryner yelled at the Ferris who seemed about to slip off her horse.

On hearing that, she opened her eyes suddenly, looked up, and wiped off the little drool from her mouth,

"Hm? What? It's morning?"

"No, it's evening though. Wait, that's not the problem, don't sleep on the horse! It's dangerous."


"I wasn't sleeping."

"I think you were sleeping with half of your body about to fall off."

"I was practicing body-bend riding."

"You're lying!"

"Yeah. A big lie!"

"And you're admitting to it so quickly!"

"Of course. I'm sleepy. And since I'm at my limits, I'm going to nap a little. Let me know when we reach."

"No, I was telling you not to sleep duh."

Ignoring Ryner's holler, she closed her eyes, and with that, she seemed about to slip off the horse again.

"That's why I was saying, don't sleeepppppppppppppppppp!"

Ignoring him, she fell off the horse, and in a splendid manner, she spun a few times in the air and landed on the ground. On top of that, with a soft plod, ''good night'', she said and entered the world of dreams.

Following that, the horse which Ferris had been riding on suddenly became energetic due to the lightened load, and whizzed off.


"Jeez, that fella's such a botherrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

While yelling, he whipped his horse. With that, he caught up to the horse which Ferris had discarded, and grabbed hold of its reins. And pulled. He stopped the horse, turned it around, and returned to the place where Ferris was sleeping.

Then.

"Hey."

"............"

"Hey, we don't really have time to tarry around. We're already one day late from the appointed day that we're supposed to link up with Kiefer."

"............"

"Hey, we only need to ride for another half a day before we reach our destination, so c'mon? Hey? Ferris. Please."

Without looking at him, she said,

"...... shut up. I'm sleepy. I'm sluggish. Bothersome. Go by yourself."

"Hey, are you me! I'm also sleepy to the point of dying, but, if we don't get our act together, Toale's life will be in danger. So let's do our best for a little bit more, ok?"


On hearing that, Ferris finally got up. She looked up at him with a pained expression,

"But Ryner. For the past four days, I haven't eaten a dango you know? As a person who is a hundred million, two thousand, eight hundred, and ninety-two percent made up of dango, do you think I can continue without any dango?"

At that question, Ryner, with a tired face,

"Wait, so how many percent does your entire body constitute?"

He asked back squarely,

"Who cares about that, just listen to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

She became really angry.

Ryner smiled wryly and said.

"...... erm, no, well, I know that it's been hard on you to not have eaten any dango for four days, but right now, it's an emergency so bear with it."

"I can't bear with it."

"No, but......"

"I can't bear <nowiki>-----------------------</nowiki> it! By the way, there's a nice dango shop nearby."


Upon saying that, she suddenly got up energetically, which was unthinkable for a person who was tired from going without sleep for four whole days.

Looking at that, Ryner exclaimed,

"Huuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh!? Eh? Eh? What's this? Is this that? All that ranting about being sleepy and falling off the horse was an act?"

Ferris promptly replied,

"Of course!"

"Don't 'of course' me!"

"Whatever you think about that is not the main issue here!"

Ferris said vehemently.

"............ hahh."

Ryner sighed out.

Even without that, he was already drained. Having fought with that red-haired monster, getting them horses, and riding crazily without sleep.


Riding crazily without sleep on the horses which he had sneaked out of a noble's stables along the way.

He already felt like dying. Not just from the lack of sleep, but more from the pain in his butt.

Indeed, it seems like they would need some rest soon, but......

So as to speak, after working so hard till this point, isn't it ok for him to take about two hundred years' worth of afternoon naps right? Isn't it ok for him to just disappear somewhere and take a long afternoon nap right? A temptation like this started to grow in him, but, Ryner stomped it out and said.

"...... b-but you know Ferris. At the appointed place, Iris will be waiting for us with Wynitt dango......"

But Ferris said.

"Nelpha dango and Roland dango are different things altogether."

Her tone became stronger than before,

"...... you're right I guess. Then, erm...... let's take a short break......"

Ryner gave in.

''Let's take a short break'', Ryner relaxed.


Instantly.

"Woah."

As his strength left him, he almost fell off his horse. Ferris supported him with a hand.

Then.

"See. You're also tired."

"Well...... it's obvious that I'll be tired after riding for four whole days......"

But, he had never thought that he would be so tired. He didn't realize it since he had been keeping his body tensed up all this while, but his body had become abnormally heavy. He immediately understood how it came to be so. It was a consequence of the Estabul magic which he had used to accelerate his movements during his fight with Claugh. That magic, in exchange for granting a period of increased bodily reflexes and ability, will cause the user to feel its weariness later. On top of that, this time round, in order to do something about that red-haired monster, he had seriously overused his body. It was probably the burdens from that which had come to assail him.

However, even those words alone were not enough to convey how heavy his body currently was. Right now, his entire body was enveloped with a level of fatigue that could make him pass out.

Seeing that, Ferris said.


She looked up at him, and somehow, with a slightly angry face, she averted her eyes and said.

"Jeez...... you've overdone it this time. I understand how you feel, but even so, there's a limit to what one person can do. Don't push yourself too much."

In other words.

"............"

It seems to be that.

It seems like all of Ferris's acting, and her willful behavior of wanting to go to a dango shop, were all for the purpose of saying this.

''Aah ~'', Ryner thought.

He stroked his disheveled bed-hair,

"Aah ~...... erm, sorry."

"Umu."

"Well then, let's go to that dango shop and rest up in the village."

Ferris then said,

"Idiot. There's no dango shop."

"Eh?"


"That's why you're a real idiot."

Upon saying that, for some reason, her face blushed, and in order to mask that, she made an angry face.

Looking intently at that.

"............"

Looking intently at her face,

"...... aah, I see."

Ryner smiled with a troubled look.

Ferris then jumped onto the horse, the horse that Ryner was now riding. With that, she took the reins away from his hand,

"Alright. If your overly stupid brain has understood, it's time to move. We don't have much time. Once we reach there, there will be work waiting for you again. That's why, the idiot can just sleep. I'll wake you when we reach there."

Upon saying that, she started to kick into the horse.

Ryner then frantically said,

"Eh, but Ferris, you haven't slept a wink as well......"


But at that moment,

"Don't worry about that, just sleep, idiot."

Upon saying that, she made a chopping stance with her hand and started sending it into the back of Ryner's neck,

"Eh, no wait, that's bad......"

"Shut up."

"Gyafu."

Instantly.

Ryner lost consciousness.

Darkness spread.

Deep darkness spread.

In that deep darkness.

Ryner was visited by dreams which had missed him for quite some time.

Strangely, they were cheerful dreams.

Sion appeared, and with a face full of mischief,


"Alright Ryner ~. Nap time's over. It's time to get working."

He said.

For some reason, Ferris, who was munching on dango beside him, drew her sword for no good reason,

"Die, you pervertttttttttttt."

She shouted and came beating him.

That was the scenery that was repeating again and again.

With Sion, and Ferris, the three of them.

A dream in which the three of them were making merry in that small office.

There was nothing to worry about there.

There were no lives nor troubles from others to shoulder.

Only a bunch of fools laughing happily.

And he thought.

It'd be nice if such days can go on forever, he thought.

No, he had believed that it would be so.

Such days would go on, even when he was complaining about how unpleasant or bothersome things were, as long as he worked hard, the world would be alright, he had thought.


That's why he was laughing like that.

He had never thought that it would end.

Laughing like an idiot.

Even when he was made to work throughout the night. Even when he was bashed up by her sword.

Ryner had always been laughing happily.

"............"

And he felt a little blessed.

Even though up till now, he had only been laden with tiresome things.

But, after seeing that dream, he felt like doing his best for a little longer and looking forward.

Since in his dream, he had been laughing like an idiot with them.

He had been laughing like an idiot from the bottom of his heart.

But, the dream came to an end.

Suddenly, it ended, he realized.

No, perhaps he had realized that right from the start of the dream.

That dream.


"............"

Sadly, that dream was nowhere close to reality.

"............"

But, he wished, for a little bit.

Each time he saw that dream, he'd wish.

Ryner would wish that, if only this bothersome reality could be the dream instead when he open his eyes, and that he could wake up to that noisy office, he would be willing to pay any price.

If he were to open his eyes right now.

If he were to awake from his dream.

And the nightmare would have ended and he could wake up to that noisy office again.

He would not make the same mistake again.

He would not leave Sion to his solitude again.

In order to laugh together.

In order to move forward together, this time round, without feeling bothersome, he would do his best, he thought.


And so, Ryner opened his eyes.

Wishing that he could wake up to that office.

"............"

He opened his eyes......

<center>♦</center>

<center>♦</center>

<center>♦</center>

"............"

When he opened his eyes, they had already reached their destination.

On the land that was very near to the borders between Nelpha and Runa.


There, were gathered tens of thousands of people.

Ryner opened his eyes and straightened his body,

"...... hn? You've awakened?"

From behind him, Ferris, who had been doing the riding, said.

Ryner turned around,

"...... eh? Ah, yeah. I had a good sleep. Thanks, Ferris."

"Umu. I also had a good sleep."

"Hey, what would have happened if you have slept as well."

Upon making that jab, with a slightly tired face,

"Fufufu."

She laughed.

From her face, it was clear that she hadn't really slept at all. Quite unbecoming of her, there were dark circles beneath her eyes. She was clearly very tired. Ryner then began,

"This time, it's your turn to sleep. Leave the rest to......"

But, before he could finish,

"............"


She rested her head on the back of Ryner, and slept.

Ryner smiled, and without letting her body fall off, he supported her with his left hand and once again started the horse galloping.

However, with the throngs of people gathered, they couldn't move very fast.

"............"

He then looked around him.

He looked at the faces of the people gathered here.

Clearly, the people here did not just comprise of soldiers.

Originally, Kiefer was supposed to guide the ten thousand soldiers, who were thrown away as sacrificial pawns by Starnel and later saved by Toale, to this place.

"What on earth is this?"

Ryner said with a troubled face.

Clearly, the commoners who were present here greatly outnumbered the soldiers.

Women, children, as well as the elderly.

A throng of people who couldn't contribute to the fighting strength.

Well, he could probably make a guess as to why they were here.


"...... Toale, that guy sure is popular."

While muttering that, he moved the horse forward.

The people all looked up in a dumbfounded manner at the riders on the advancing horse, at Ryner and the peerless golden hair beauty behind him.

He then asked a question to someone who was clad in military uniform among the people.

"...... ah ~, erm, you are one of the soldiers following Toale right? I have some business with Toale, so do you mind leading us to him?"

On hearing that, the soldier looked up. And he glared at Ryner.

A man who had a piercing gaze. With long light brown hair tied up at the back, and perhaps, due to his unshaven face, he looked to be in his mid-twenties.

He looked up at them and squinted his eyes.

"...... are you Ryner Lute?"

Ryner was surprised at hearing his own name.

"Oh? To know my name, am I perhaps famous around here?"

On hearing that, the man's face contorted,


"I'm Kazaal Selues. A Major. I was given command of ten thousand troops from Prince Starnel and ordered to fend off Roland's forces, but I went against that and am now following Toale-sama."

On hearing those words, Ryner looked again more carefully at this man called Kazaal Selues.

He was of medium build and medium height. A well-trained body with no opening. He's probably quite strong. Well, of course, he can't be compared to that abnormal killing intent from that red-haired muscled idiot though.

However, just from his appearance, he could tell that this fella has some ability. To elaborate on that, to have become a Major in his twenties, this fella must have achieved a number of accomplishments on the battlefield.

That was the reason why Starnel had assigned ten thousand troops to him, and abandoned them.

He had probably thought that this fella would be able to fend off the Roland forces for a while and buy him more time to escape.

Considering that.

A smile surfaced on Ryner.

"...... I'm grateful to Starnel's idiocy."

On hearing that, Selues looked at him with a look of surprise,


"What did you say?"

"No, I was just giving thanks to Starnel's idiocy for throwing away someone as capable as you without even batting an eyelid. Thanks to the foolishness of Starnel, the plan I came up with might just go well. By the way, are you popular among your subordinates?"

He asked.

"............"

Selues did not answer. However, even without answering, it was clear.

Ryner looked around him once more.

The soldiers around him all had brightly lit faces. There was not the slightest drop in morale.

After getting abandoned by Starnel, and on top of that having Roland's soldiers on their heels, their current brightly lit faces could not just be attributed to Toale's popularity alone.

Ryner's grin broadened increasingly.

"Unexpectedly, things may just move ahead even without us doing anything."

Toale is popular with the commoners. If both Starnel and Toale were to claim their names to the throne, most of the people would probably follow Toale.

However, this Selues appeared to be very popular with the soldiers.


With this, if Starnel was to continue with his oppression, he would probably end up destroying himself.

If Toale were to rise up, supported by Selues at his side, there was a possibility that the rest of the power-wielding nobles, soldiers, and people would follow him.

If that were to happen.

"............"

Starnel's life would probably be no more. Even without Ryner, Toale, or Roland doing anything.

Thanks to his own foolishness, Starnel would be killed by Imperial Nelpha.

If that were to happen, then there would be no need for Ryner to take the trouble to capture Starnel.

However, the real problem will start from there.

After Starnel's death.

After Toale becomes king.

At that time, Roland will probably be asking for Toale's life.

The current Roland will definitely not allow Toale to live.


That's why in order for Toale to live, there are two choices.

First.

Escape to outside of the country.

Second.

Lead Nelpha's soldiers to fight Roland.

"............"

But the latter was out of the question.

Right now, there was no longer any country in the southern part of the continent with enough power to fight the military might of Roland.

Ryner was very well aware of that.

For the past one year, he had always hung around Sion's side.

Working hard together in that office to strengthen Roland.

And in just one year, Roland was totally transformed to something different from before.

Roland was reborn.

Even though Ryner was not directly involved in the military affairs, he could still imagine roughly how much power the current Roland wielded.


To the Nelpha right now, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg.

Well, however, if they were to ally with Runa Empire to resist Roland, then it would be a different story.

"............"

Even for Roland, it would be difficult to face two countries as its opponents, he thought.

However, Runa was an ally of Roland.

As such, Nelpha no longer had any chance of winning. There was no other way other than to surrender.

In other words, for the short term, there was no way but for Toale to first capture Starnel, become the king, and issue a surrender, and before Roland catches him, escape out of the country.

As he unfolded the various development scenarios in his head,

"Aah, this is bothersome."

Upon groaning, Selues nodded.

"Yeah. It's extremely bothersome. That's why there's not much time left. According to Kiefer Knolles, you are supposed to have arrived yesterday. What in the world were you doing?"

Ryner's face turned serious at that and he looked at Selues.

"Sorry we're late. Even though we were already rushing all the way here, it was my calculation mistake. But, I'm not going to make another mistake hereon. I'll save this country, and save Toale's life. So can you lead us to Toale?"


Selues then grabbed hold of the reins of Ryner's horse and led them.

"Here."

"Right."

Once again, the horse started off slowly.

Ahead of where Selues was leading them, was a small tent. Outside of that tent, was a familiar group, made up of a golden hair girl, a black hair boy and his childhood girl friend, playing.

Iris, Arua, and Kuku.

At that moment, Iris noticed Ryner's group.

"Ah ~! Wild Beast-kun ~!"

She shouted.

Arua then turned towards here as well,

"Ryner-sensei!"

Following that, the tent opened, and out came Kiefer, with her hand waving.

Ryner then waved back at her, and lastly......


A man around the same age of Ryner came out of the tent. With brown hair and a kind face. However, compared to the time he met him a year ago, the face was more drawn. It was filled with more fatigue.

Just from that, he could see what he had been through for the past few weeks.

Ryner smiled at Toale.

And in response to that.

"............"

Toale returned with a wry, troubled smile.

Ryner then turned around.

"Hey, Ferris."

"............"

"Ferris, wake up. We have reached. There should be a bed somewhere, go sleep there."

On hearing that, without opening her eyes,

"Hah ~, then, carry me there."

"Walk on your own."

"Carry me there like a princess."


"Huuuuhhhhhhhh? Huuhhhhhh? You, with so many people looking......"

But, upon saying that, she grabbed hold of Ryner's neck. And while strangling him,

"You're so annoying. If you dare wake me again...... I'll kill you, get it?"

As she said that, her fingers seemed to be really crushing Ryner's neck,

"Hey, I get itttttttt! Whether is it like a princess or groom, I'll carry you so don't kill me."

"Um. Then, please carry on. I'll be going back to sleep."

"......................... jeez."

Ryner sighed out loudly, and following that, he dismounted the horse. After that, he brought down Ferris, who had descended into deep sleep.

Then, in her desired princess cradle fashion, he carried the bothersome princess,

"A princesssssssssssssss!"

Iris made a jab as she clung to Ferris's chest.

The weight of the two people on Ryner's hip. His hip seemed about to sprain. He really felt like killing the two troublesome sisters.


But.

"...... uhwu, I have to bear with it until I get her to a bed. Do your best, Ryner. I'll be able to relax when she sleeps......"

He encouraged himself, and started walking.

Following that, Kiefer came to him.

"............"

While staring at him, she smiled kindly.

But, somehow, it was different from the smile just now. She was looking intently at him with a somewhat, transfixed, biting gaze, and softly,

"...... princess cradle."

"Eh? What?"

"Nothing."

"But you know, these two people are really heavy...... hey, Kiefer, can you help me?"

Ryner asked, to which Kiefer said,


"Nope."

"Eh?"

"No way."

"Erm......"

But, at that moment, she grinned,

"Just kidding ~. It was a joke, a joke. I'll help you. The past few days have been tough on you guys right? You're tired right?"

While saying that, she supported Ryner's arms, and pushed upwards. With that, his burden lessened.

"Oh, that really helps."

"That's great."

"Thanks."

"Yeah!"

Kiefer acknowledged happily.

Following that, Ryner once again looked in front of him, at Toale.

For some reason, with a seemingly bad mood, he was looking at him --- rather, at Kiefer.


"Hn? What's wrong, Toale?"

On hearing Ryner's words, his face turned to one of surprise,

"Eh? Umm...... ah ~, no, nothing. Long time no see, Ryner-san."

"Long time no see."

Upon saying that, Ryner wanted to wave his hands, but realizing that both his arms were encumbered, he merely nodded his head at him.

Toale then rushed up to him.

"Do you need help?"

"Yeah, can you help me with the top one."

Toale nodded, and lifted up Iris, who had been clinging to Ferris's chest.

Iris's face then lit up,

"Wah! It's high, are you bringing me higher!? Iris loves that!"

On hearing that, Toale lifted Iris up and down. Following that, he looked at Ryner,

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 183.jpg|thumb]]

"Well Ryner-san, I would have never expected to reunite with you under such circumstances."

Ryner nodded as well. He smiled wryly at the tight-fitting, seemingly unsuitable military uniform that Toale was wearing.

"Yeah. I've never thought so either. So to speak, it became something real bothersome."

Following that, Toale opened the entrance to the tent. Inside was a simple bed, and he pointed to it,

"Over there."

"Yeah."

Ryner nodded as he carried Ferris there. He put Ferris down on the bed, and hugging the pillow, she slept comfortably.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Ryner then said smilingly.

Following that, once again, Kiefer looked at him with a slightly angry face.

Ryner cocked his head to the side.

"So, what's wrong?"


"N-o-t-h-i-n-g."

"Hey, those words sounded rather thorny."

"No they don't."

"Yes they do."

"I said no, they don't"

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Well ok...... forget it then."

"No way."

"Eeeehhh?"

"Humph."

Kiefer turned her face away from him and went out of the tent.

With an incomprehensible look on his face,

"...... what the hell was that?"

Ryner asked Toale.

On hearing that, for some reason, he also made an unpleasant face,


"Please don't ask me."

"Toale, why are you angry as well?"

"I'm not angry."

"Really?"

"Yes. More importantly......"

Upon saying that, he looked at Ryner.

And smiled.

"Really, long time no see. Ryner-san, I'm really happy to hear that you are coming here to help me. ''I'm coming here to save you. The reason is because we're friends. Ok?'', those words, frankly speaking, made me want to cry."

He said, to which Ryner smiled.

"Was that a little too mushy?"

"Nope. It was a great thing to me, who was depressed from getting cornered in all directions."

"Is that so. That's great then."

Ryner nodded, pulled up a nearby chair and sat down.

Toale then said,


"Should I brew some tea like what we did in the past?"

"Ah ~, the tea you brewed was really good. But, forget it now. There's really not much time left. Erm, so the situation we are now in......"

"I have already heard everything from Kiefer-san. As to where did you come from, and why are you here now......"

Upon saying that, Toale looked at Ryner with a pair of somewhat reproachful eyes,

"...... jeez, Ryner-san, you really had me with all those lies. You are a person from Roland right. And on top of that, the best friend of that hero king, Sion Astal. And to top if off, a year ago, you introduced that Sion-san as your cousin and ate in my house......"

On hearing that, Ryner nodded with a somewhat apologetic face.

That's right, that's how it was.

Ryner had met Toale and withheld his true identity then.

During that time, as a spy from Roland, he had to hide his identity while searching for the Heroes' Relics together with Ferris.


They had then visited Imperial Nelpha, Runa Empire, and Iyet Republic before returning back to Roland again.

On top of that, Toale had met Sion.

At that time, Sion was on a formal visit, calling on the grandfather of Toale, the previous king of Imperial Nelpha, Gread Nelphi, and had asked Ryner to become his bodyguard.

And so, Sion then went to the place where Ryner was at, which was Toale's house, and they had dined together on the same table.

"............"

During that time, he couldn't possibly have imagined that the relationship between Sion and Toale would have become such a bothersome thing.

Ryner nodded, and said.

"...... yeah. When we met you, Sion was masquerading as my cousin."

Toale then smiled vexedly.

"That fine young man is the hero king huh...... a powerful enemy indeed."

"Well, yeah. He's really a workaholic...... it will be a troublesome thing to surpass him."

"But we're going to surpass him right?"


"If not, you will be dead."

"Yeah. But, can I trust you? Ryner-san, you are the best friend of Sion-san right? I am a little doubtful that you will betray him and truly come here to help me. Perhaps, this is just Sion-san's ploy......"

However, Ryner shook his head immediately,

"No way."

He denied it outright.

But still,

"Even if you say that, I don't have enough information to make an assessment though. Now, with the lives of tens of thousands of people on my shoulder, will I be able to see this through correctly......?"

Said Toale.

Ryner then looked intently at Toale,

"Are you pressuring me to explain everything to you?"

Toale nodded.

"Yes, that's right. Even if it's me, I can't move too carelessly while carrying the lives of so many others."


"Well, you're right though. So, what do you want to know?"

"The first thing I want to ask is about the time when you first made contact with me. Was all that an act? Did you send that hoodlum to put up an act in order to get to me, who has royal blood flowing inside my veins?"

Said Toale.

When he said that.

Ryner felt a number of extraordinary killing intent from the surroundings outside of the tent. The tent was probably surrounded by soldiers.

"...... woah, Toale-chan I say, you're pretty cautious."

Ryner said in a light manner.

Following that, Ferris's eyes opened in response to that killing intent,

"...... hey Ryner."

But immediately, Ryner said,

"Go sleep, Ferris. There's no problem. I just need to explain things a little."

"But."

"I said it's fine. You're tired right? Just sleep. In the first place, with this level of opponents, I can take care of them myself. In the worst case, I'll take Toale hostage."


Ferris then replied,

"...... well, you have a point."

"That's right."

"Got it. But, if something......"

"I said it's fine. You should know that Toale and I are good buddies right? So, don't worry and sleep."

After Ryner said that, Ferris nodded and went back to sleep.

After ascertaining that, Ryner looked at Toale. With a troubled face. Then,

"Withdraw your troops. I told you I'm your ally right?"

However, without taking his eyes off him, Toale said,

"...... but you're the best friend of Sion."

''Best friend'' --- Toale had said.

Ryner made a sad face on hearing that,

"Yeah."


And he nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. But, for Sion's sake as well, I won't let him kill you."

"For Sion's sake, you say?"

"Yeah. His way of thinking is already different from mine. We're looking in different directions now."

While saying that, ''but, isn't it because we have been looking in different directions right from the start'', Ryner thought.

Even when he was shouldering everything, suffering, and on the verge of tears, he was a fool who would not even confide in his best friend.

Even when he had already been looking in a different direction, he had hidden his weeping face, and had kept on smiling perhaps.

That's why this had happened.

That's why things had progressed to this unrecoverable state.

However, he could more or less understand his thought process.

"...... he...... Sion probably wants to use the shortest amount of time to eradicate fighting in the world. Choosing the path with the least number of sacrifices, and advancing along that path. But I'm a little different. I can't distinguish between many lives and few lives, I think. Whether it is sacrificing you to save hundreds of thousands of lives, or sacrificing Sion to save millions of lives, I can't forgive something as stupid as that. At the very least, I don't want that. If you die, I'll cry, if Sion dies, I'll cry. But I hate crying."


Toale then smiled wryly.

"You're so willful."

"...... perhaps. But, that's probably what's different between me and him."

"Ryner-san, because you're too willful right?"

Ryner smiled,

"That's right."

He said.

"But, he should have the same kind of thinking as me. At any rate, he's the type of person who hates fighting, a person who hates crying, but yet, since there was no one who could save that rotten country, he became king even though he didn't really want to you know? So there's no way a gentle person like him, could kill you, or the people of Nelpha without batting an eyelid, just because this is something necessary, he isn't the kind of person who can decide this so easily with a smiling face, you know?"


Well, the truth was that he wasn't the kind of person who can come to such decisions easily. Otherwise, Ryner would not no longer be alive by now.

An '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer is an accursed creature who would end up killing others. Then, in order to save many other lives, he should have killed the Ryner, who's in danger of going berserk anytime, right away, in order to avoid such a calamity.

But yet, he didn't kill him.

Holding a knife while yelling how he would kill him, but yet, in the end, he didn't kill Ryner.

"He's really...... a fool. He's always carrying everything by himself and weeping by himself. But still, he started moving forward...... because he had no choice. But, I want to stop him. And I want to look for another way with him. I want to tell him that he's not alone, and doesn't need to shoulder everything by himself. But, I'm no longer by his side. My voice can no longer reach him. That's why I'm aiming higher. I want to reach a place where my loud voice can reach him. For that purpose, I......"

At that juncture, while looking intently at Ryner, Toale began,

"For that purpose, you've come to save me."

Ryner nodded.


"...... both of you are my friends. I've already said this earlier, but I hate to see my friends cry or die."

"...... I see. But I heard that Sion-san wants to kill you...... and you still want to save Sion-san in spite of that?"

But, to that question,

"Don't make me repeat myself please."

Ryner replied promptly.

Toale then smiled.

"......even when you are faced with that, you hate to see your friend cry...... and because I'm a friend, you will risk your life to protect me? That's quite reassuring huh."

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if you keep annoying me by making me say those lines again and again, I won't be your friend anymore."

On hearing that, ''haha'', Toale laughed out loud. Following that,

"Then, during the first time we met......"


"That was purely a coincidence. I didn't know about your identity then, and even if I did, it didn't matter. However, that's not the case with Roland. They see your popularity as a threat. You were asleep then so you didn't know this, but a year ago, when we were putting up at your house, Roland had sent an assassin, but got driven off by us. Well, during then, I didn't know that he was an assassin from Roland as well......"

At that moment, Ryner recalled the time when the assassin came to kill Toale.

He remembered the unpleasant guy called Miran Froaude, who had eyes cold like the devil, and wielded a Heroes' Relic.

The first time he fought him was in the backyard of Toale's house.

He never would have thought that Froaude was the subordinate of Sion.

Was that also.

Was that assassination attempt also carried out on the orders of Sion? If that's true, then right from the start, he was already looking in a different direction from Sion.

"............"

Well, even if he worried about it now, there was nothing he could do about it, so he brushed those thoughts aside.


Meanwhile, Toale had an expression of surprise on his face at hearing that.

"I didn't hear about it."

"We didn't tell you."

"You should have told me."

"Even if I had told you, it wouldn't amount to anything."

"Eh? No, that's true but...... but doesn't that mean my life got saved twice by you guys?"

But, Ryner waved his hand to brush that aside.

"You gave us food, a place to sleep, and on top of that let us into the library, we are even."

"Erm no, that can't make us even right."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

"Then, trust me this time. That will make us even."

"But, aren't you doing this to save me......"

However, Ryner shook his head.


"That's not it. I'm also asking you to lend me a hand to save Sion."

Upon saying that, Ryner held his hand out to Toale.

And said.

"Can you lend me a hand?"

He looked intently at Toale with a serious expression on his face.

Then, ''wasn't this how Sion held his hand out to me?'', Ryner thought in the corner of his mind.

''Let's go together'', Ryner thought back to the time when Sion had held his hand out to him.

That really saved him. Having been engulfed in loneliness and thinking that he was better off dead, that one line really saved him.

But it was different now.

He was no longer the one being saved, but the one who will try to save, he thought.

Of course, he didn't think that he could do it as well as Sion.

"............"


That's why Ryner held his hand out to Toale. Moreover, he didn't know whether he could be saved. No, to have taken this path, he didn't know whether he could save Toale, and after that Sion.

But, he could no longer bear seeing others get hurt and not do anything about it.

He had to move forward.

Whatever the result might be, he shall shoulder all that and move forward, Ryner thought.

Just like what Sion did.

''Just like how he has saved the me who has been running away all this while.''

That's why Ryner stretched his hand straight out to Toale.

Toale then looked at that hand. He looked intently at it with a troubled face.

It was difficult to make a determined decision. He was carrying tens of thousands of lives on his back. If he made a mistake, there was a possibility that all those lives would be lost.

He was probably fearful of that.

He was fearful of carrying all that.

A weight that was as heavy as the one as Sion, who was enduring everything like an idiot and screaming in anguish.


That was why Toale looked at Ryner's hand silently for a while.

But in the end,

"...... jeez, you got me. Coming at me straight in that manner with my troops surrounding the tent, doesn't that make me feel embarrassed?"

While saying that, he took Ryner's hand. And then,

"I understand. I shall trust you. You won't be falsifying your identity again, right?"

He smiled upon saying that.

To which Ryner smiled as well,

"No, I'm still fake this time you know? The truth is the hardworking me you're seeing now is a fake, the real me really wants to dump everything and take an afternoon nap."

On hearing that, Toale said,

"I know that, you know? I also want to dump everything and take a nice afternoon nap."

"You said it."

"Yes. But, we can't run away from troublesome things...... and what should our future plans be?"

On hearing that question, Ryner released Toale's hand. He scratched his head and started thinking again.


Originally, Ryner's plan was like this.

To look for valuable, capable people to protect the commoners with the soldiers.

In the meantime, Ryner will bring along Toale to subdue Starnel.

If however, Roland breaks its agreement and attacks while Ryner and Toale are not around, then the plan will change.

The Nelpha troops will carry the flags of Roland and attack Runa, then pretend to lose and run away.

This act should create a powerful threat to Roland.

At any rate, if things go badly, the alliance relationship between Runa and Roland could sour terribly.

Of course, since Runa and Roland are allies, there was a possibility that Runa has already been alerted to this plan of Ryner's, but that would not pose a problem.

The problem was how other countries would view the troops carrying Roland's flags getting beaten off by Runa.

Say for an example, what will happen if that is known to Cassla?

No, even if not other countries.


What will happen if this news reach the troops led by Starnel?

What if the soldiers of Runa were misled into thinking that their ally, Roland, was fearful of them?

The rumor would spread easily.

It's even better if it's a bad rumor.

And if that kind of rumor were to spread, the image of a mighty Roland that Sion was trying to paint would crumble. In this way, the image of nobody being able to resist against Roland who held an absolute amount of overbearing power, would easily crumble.

The other countries in the south would form an alliance and there was a possibility that Roland would no longer be able to advance northwards easily.

That's why the plan should work easily.

Since Sion is a gentle person who will choose the path with the lowest number of sacrifices.

That's why, just by doing the things they ought to do, even without attacking Runa, the plan should succeed.

Ryner was then about to explain the plan to Toale.

It's fine.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 203.jpg|thumb]]

He was about to explain it to him and tell him it's okay to follow him.

But, at that moment.

Before Ryner could explain the plan to Toale.

"............"

Abruptly, everything started going crazy.

Suddenly, the entrance to the tent opened.

"Hn?"

Ryner turned his gaze there.

Standing there, was the face of a familiar man.

Golden hair tied up behind him, a calm face.

That was the man who Ferris took hostage when Ryner attacked Claugh a few days ago.

His name was Shuss Shirazz, if he remembered correctly.

An excellent vice-commander of Claugh.

Ryner looked at Shuss with tinge of surprise,


"Oh, they sent a messenger at a surprisingly early time. Have you already told Sion my suggestion?"

On hearing that, Shuss nodded. Then,

"...... we did."

As he said that, for some reason, his face looked dark and a little pained.

On seeing that, Ryner asked with a puzzled look.

"...... so, what did he say? You've come here to give a reply because he accepted right? At any rate, he should not have any a choice other than to accept this plan......"

But, cutting his words off, Shuss said.

"No. The reply has not come yet."

"Huh? There's no reply?"

"Yes."

"Then, what did you come here for? If there's no reply, there's no meaning in you coming here right?"

On hearing Ryner's words, Shuss made an even more pained expression,

"...... the truth is that I came here not on His Majesty's orders, but to pass a message to you from Field Marshal Claugh Klom."


"From red-hair?"

"Yes."

On hearing that, Ryner face became increasingly more puzzled.

As if he had entirely no clue.

He had never expected that in this situation, it was not a reply from Sion, but a message from Claugh. That's why he could not guess what kind of message it would be.

But.

He knew that it would not be something good. He knew that immediately just by looking at Shuss's face.

Looking at the dark expression on Shuss's face, Ryner asked.

"So, what is it? What did that muscle idiot red-hair want to tell me? Did he say I'm annoying and that he wanted to kill me?"

Following that, in a grave voice unmatching of that light tone of Ryner, Shuss said.

"No. Field Marshal, his Honor, told you to...... 'Run away'......"


Run away.

Ryner cocked his head at those words.

"Huh? Run away? What is the meaning of that? Why do I have to run away? We are the ones threatening Roland right? Right now, you shouldn't be able to take on both Runa and Nelpha right. In order to prevent that, Sion definitely has to accept my idea......"

However, Shuss cut him off there,

"...... Roland has already started invading Runa Empire."

He said.

Ryner's eyes widened at that,

"...... what."

He could only utter.

But, Shuss continued.

"His Majesty made no reply to your message. He ignored it totally. And, Roland has already passed the southern borders of Runa, and advancing northwards at an overwhelming speed. The commander is Marshal Bayuuz White and, Lieutenant General Miran Froaude. Without accepting Runa's surrender, they are now massacring people. And we have also received our orders. Until we have killed both Starnel Nelphi and Toale Nelphi, do not relax on your attacks. Show them Roland's might --- it said."


On hearing that.

On hearing that, Ryner.

"............"

Was at a loss for words.

He then desperately turned over what Shuss had said in his head. Unable to breathe, his face pale, he thought desperately.

Shuss had said.

''"His Majesty made no reply to your message."''

Shuuss had said that.

But, he thought otherwise.

The reply had already come.

Sion had already made his stand on Ryner's plan.

''I'll not accede to your wise plan. Roland shall, without borrowing your power, challenge the world with its might, speed, fearsomeness, and massiveness.''


''In order to do that, I don't care how much sacrifices there will be. Even if it amounts to hundreds of thousands, or even millions of lives.''

The balance Sion was using has become a gigantic one.

On realizing that, Ryner uttered,

"............ damn."

He spat.

He had made another mistake.

He had made another mistake in his calculations.

Because of that, large numbers of people will die.

''Because of my stupidity, foolishness, and my lack of consideration, many people will die.''

''Because my resolve has yet reached the level of Sion's, large numbers of people will die once again.''

Upon thinking that,

"...... damn damn damn."

He wanted to cry.

He wanted to run away.


He wanted to run away to a faraway place right now.

But there was no place to run to. He was already shouldering large numbers of lives.

Even if he was slapped with sudden despair, and wanted to scream in anguish.

"............"

He could only move forward like what Sion did.

He could only move forward like him.

Since the gears were spinning.

Since they were spinning crazily, intensely.

That's why Ryner.

"............"

Looked up.

He glared at Shuss, and with a low, cracked voice,

"...... Roland already has the power to crush both Nelpha and Runa at the same time?"

He asked.

However, that was a foolish question.

The results had been proven.


Runa had already declared their surrender, but Roland did not accept it and continued to raze them.

And that performance was probably creating a dramatic effect. As a result of having razed and crushed two countries, Nelpha and Runa, with overwhelming might, Roland has created an image of itself to other countries as a fearsome country that will not accept any kind of surrender once it starts waging war.

It would be able to make other countries tremble in fear with that image.

So the next time when it moves again, others will proclaim a surrender without even putting up a resistance, allowing Roland to proceed unhindered.

For that purpose.

"............"

For that purpose, there was meaning to the massacre this time.

This was the best choice to minimize the number of sacrifices in the future.

In order to take the path of least sacrifices, Sion had again taken the lives of large numbers of people.

In order to take the shortest path, Sion had again chosen the lives of large numbers of people.

The one who had yet the resolve.

The one who had yet to make his resolve,


"...... is me."

Ryner said groaningly with a face that was on the verge of crying.

But, he had really never thought that Roland would be able to acquire such overwhelming power to be able take on both Nelpha and Runa at the same time. It was beyond his expectations.

"...... damn. That's also my calculation mistake."

Ryner muttered.

Even when he had been spending that same time with Sion, he had never noticed it.

He had never once noticed the depth of the darkness he bore.

He regretted it.

Even when the regrets did not help him, he regretted.

Ryner said.

"...... I understand now what Sion is doing. So, Claugh is asking me to run away?"

Shuss nodded.

"In two more days, we'll start advancing our troops again. The next time we meet on the battlefield, we intend to kill all of you. But for just two days...... we'll stop at our current location. In the meantime......"


Ryner continued from there.

"...... in the meantime, you want us to run away? In other words, this time, Claugh is unsatisfied with Sion's order?"

But, Shuss said.

"No, he didn't say that. Field Marshal, His Honor, will definitely not go against the orders of His Majesty."

Even if he said that, Claugh would not be setting off immediately, and would be delaying things for two days. On top of that, he even told Ryner about the current situation, where Sion had started attacking Runa.

If this is not going against his orders, then what else is?

But Ryner instead said,

"I see."

Shuss nodded again.

"That's right. And my mission ends here. The next time we meet will be......"


"On the battlefield?"

"Yes. The next time I will be killing you. I won't be so easily defeated like the last time, so brace yourself."

Upon saying that, Shuss turned on his heel. With that, he started exiting the tent.

To his back,

"...... tell Claugh thanks for his help."

On hearing that, Shuss merely waved lightly and left the tent.

Looking after his departing figure,

"............"

Ryner took a deep breath and breathed out. As if he were letting go of the built up despair in his body, he breathed out with all his strength.

And once again, he looked at the Toale beside him.

Toale was making a complicated face. Looking at that face,

"I'm sorry Toale. The plan's all messed up."

"I've heard."

"So, with regards to what's next......"


Upon saying that, a tired smile surfaced on Toale's lips,

"I shall show myself to Roland, and get executed publicly......?"

But Ryner shook his head.

"That's useless. Roland is not even willing to accept the surrender of Runa, we don't know how far they will go with the massacring until they are satisfied...... well, at the very least, the soldiers who followed you will be killed."

Toale then smiled sadly.

"Uwah, that is a little...... too much for me. It's all because of my fault to have led these soldiers......"

"No, that's not it. If you hadn't stopped these soldiers, they would have already been killed by Claugh. You have saved their lives."

"It's just for a few days though...... but, then, what should we do?"

On hearing those words, Ryner kept quiet again.

As he pondered, he looked up at the roof part of the tent. The sunlight that was passing through the tent top was red.

The sun was already setting.

Night was falling.


When night comes, they won't be able to move.

However, there was not much time left.

Roland's troops were pressing in from the south, as well as from Runa's side.

If they don't run, they'll get killed.

Everyone'll get killed.

Realizing that.

"............"

Realizing that, Ryner called out,

"Major Selues."

The entrance to the tent opened. Selues entered.

"What is it?"

Ryner said to the solemn face of his.

"My plan has failed. Roland's troops will be attacking from Runa's side. We need to escape now. So mobilize the troops. We're running."

Selues then stared at him,


"What about the commoners?"

"Scatter them, to the west. We shall go north, straight through the Autonomous Holy City of Cassla. Roland's forces will probably come after us."

"I see. So we are the decoy for the commoners to get away. That's a great way to die."

On hearing his words, Ryner's face contorted.

"...... sorry."

However, on the solemn face of Selues, a thin smile surfaced for the first time.

"No, you made the right choice. I can trust you a little more with this."

Upon saying that, he turned around. Then,

"The situation has changed! We need to change locations again!"

While yelling, he went outside.

After ascertaining that, Ryner turned towards Toale.

"Then, let's go, Toale. There's already no more time left. Let's get going quickly. Since you are the one being targeted, you should be moving right at the front."


However, for some reason, Toale smiled sadly,

"....... no, I can't do that. I shall stay back."

As he said that, Ryner's face contorted again.

"Huh? Why? What are you going to do here?"

Toale then said,

"...... I shall remain here and buy some time by negotiating with Roland......"

However, before he could finish, Ryner said,

"Idiot!"

He yelled.

"Use your head Toale! If you were to remain here, most of the troops who have followed you will also remain here right. What will then happen to them? Do you want everyone to die with you? You're leaving. Take the soldiers and flee to Cassla."

To which Toale made an unsettled face,

"Will Cassla take in the soldiers of Nelpha?"

However, Ryner promptly replied,

"I don't know. But, other than that, there's no other way. At any rate, if you stay here, everyone will get killed. We have no choice but to try. Now that we're going to do it...... now that we're going to do it, I'll...... definitely not let you die. Even though we were talking about decoys earlier there's no need to die. Before Roland catches up to us, we'll pass through Cassla. You'll live and get away. Everyone will get away and laugh in the end. So don't foolishly talk about dying again. Get it?"


In response to that strong tone of Ryner, Toale looked intently at him and said,

"....... got it."

And nodded. Then, with a somewhat delighted smile,

"And thanks for coming here to help me...... Ryner."

He said.

Not Ryner-san, he dropped the honorifics and called him Ryner.

On hearing that, with a somewhat embarrassed and vexed face, Ryner began,

"Aah jeez, don't worry about stuff like that. Now, go to where Major Selues is. If you take command, the soldiers will probably move faster. Get a thousand troops to remove their military uniforms to protect the commoners and disperse them. The remaining soldiers shall head north......"

But, at that moment before he could finish ---


Instantly.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

Screams rang out from their surroundings.

Following that, a thunderous roaring noise which made their heads spin sounded.

In response to that.

"............"

In response to that, Ryner's eyes widened in shock.

"No way......"

He murmured.

But, once again.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllppp."

Screams rang out.

Following by another thunderous roar, again and again.

Ryner then said again,

"...... no way, how could this......."


He murmured dumbfoundedly.

This shouldn't be happening.

So quickly.

There was no way the enemies could have reached them so quickly.

But, as before, thunderous roars reverberated.

Flickering lights that dazzled even the eyes of those in the tent.

Following that, another thunderous roar.

Ryner knew about all that.

It was a large-scale magic used by Roland.

"...... what the hell is happening!?"

Ryner yelled as he rushed out of the tent.

At the instant he exited the tent.

The night sky, the dark night sky was lit up.

Before Ryner's eyes, tens of people.

"............"

Were reduced to ashes in an instant.


Screams were heard from men, women, children, and the elderly who were roasted from the high temperatures caused by magic.

Screams rang out.

And then they got roasted.

The people who were roasted by the intense fire died.

"...... uwah...... damn, shit......"

Ryner trembled as he saw that. He couldn't move.

However, from the hell-like scene, Kiefer came dashing over.

"Ryner! Roland's troops are approaching from the borders at Runa's side......"

She was also on the verge of tears. In her arms was a four, five year old girl who was injured.

Looking at that.

Looking at Kiefer's teary face,

Ryner was brought back to his senses. Looking intently at her,

"...... I got it. Let's run away immediately. Selues! Protect everyone and make for the north! Move the troops! Get them to counter Roland's large-scale magic attack!"

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 223.jpg|thumb]]

At that voice of Ryner, Selues gave out orders and the soldiers started moving.

Following that, Toale came out of the tent as well and he told him.

"Toale, you go lead the people and escape."

"But."

"No buts. If you're not there, no one will move. Don't just stand there and get moving! I'll do something about the rear somehow, you just focus on getting everyone out of here!"

On hearing that, Toale wanted to say something again, but he relented, nodded once, and ran off.

Ryner looked at his departing figure, then said to the unsettled Kiefer beside him,

"Kiefer."

"Yes."

"Take Iris, Arua, and Kuku with you and follow Toale."

She then made an anguished face. She made a face as if wanting to say that she wants to fight with him here. But instead, her face contorted painfully and she said,

"...... got it."


She then carried the girl in a hugging fashion, and said,

"I'll do my best in supporting Toale to help him get into Cassla. But, Ryner also......"

However, at that juncture, he stopped paying attention to her words. He didn't have the luxury of time to listen to that anymore.

If he tarried further, the next large-scale magic attack would come. If that were to happen, tens of people, hundreds of people would die again.

He needed to defend against that.

Ryner looked in the direction of where the magic came from.

He looked in that direction and widened his eyes.

Following that, red pentacle shapes surfaced on the center of his black pupils and glowed.

Cursed eyes known as '''Alpha Stigma'''.

With those eyes of his, he tried to locate the faraway large-scale magic spell formation.

But, he couldn't see it.


He couldn't see the construct of the magic.

Was it because they had yet to start creating the large-scale magic, or was it because the troops were charging straight towards here without deploying the large-scale magic?

"Damn, if I can't see it, I can't come up with the counter spell......"

But at that moment.

"I say, Ryner!?"

His face got punched heavily from the side.

"Uoh?"

Ryner uttered.

Following that, he turned towards the one who punched him.

The same tearful Kiefer was standing there.

"Erm, eh? Why did you punch me?"

To his question, she said with an angry face.

"Because you are not listening to what I'm saying!"

"Erm, what you're saying?"


"Yeah!"

"B-but, this is not the time......"

But, she cut him off,

"It's precisely because of that, that I'm telling some seriously important stuff right! So listen up properly!"

She said menacingly.

On hearing that,

"...... erm, ah ~, alright. I'm sorry......."

''Uhm'', Kiefer then nodded at Ryner's apology.

"It's great that you understand."

"Er, erm, so Kiefer, what do you want to tell me?"

Kiefer looked once to the sky from which the large-scale magic was invoked, and then looked back at Ryner.

Then, with a serious-looking face,

"Since there isn't much time, I'm going to say all the important stuff that Ryner needs to know in one breath, ok?"


She said.

Ryner nodded in response.

She then exhaled softly, following that, she took a deep breath.

"...... here goes. Ryner. If say, you are unable to stop Roland's forces here and Nelpha's people and soldiers get massacred, it'd not be your fault. So don't go throwing away your life to save them, get it? I think from hereon, you'll be someone who will save a lot more lives. That's why you can't afford to die here. If you were to die easily here, then you're merely a brainless fool. A fool who won't be able to save Sion. But if you're not a fool, and really want to save a lot more lives...... it's forbidden for you to die here. Get it?"

On hearing those words, Ryner became flustered,

"Erm, but......"

"Buts are also forbidden. If you die, I'll commit suicide as well. I'll definitely do it you know?"

"Eeeeeeeeeh, hey, Kiefe......"

But, with a serious-looking face that was really on the verge of crying, she continued.

"I'm serious ok? I don't want to live in a world without you. So if you end up being unable to stop Roland's forces, run away. Get it?"


On hearing those words.

"............"

While Ryner was yet unable to reply, Kiefer started again,

"I'm asking you whether you get it or not!!"

She yelled loudly.

He trembled a little,

"......I-I, got it."

"Alright! Then go!"

"...... erm."

"Hurry up! If not, I'm really going to cry!!"

While shouting, Kiefer had in fact started crying. In response to that, Ryner frantically turned his face away,

"Erm, er ~, sorry."

"Uh-huh."

"Then, I'm off."


"Right...... you must definitely not die."

Kiefer said from behind.

Ryner then nodded,

"Kiefer, don't die as well."

"Uhn. Then...... see ya."

"Aah. See ya."

Upon saying that, Ryner started running.

Firstly, back to the tent. Ferris was already awake.

"What's happening?"

"Roland is attacking."

On hearing those words, her face became a little dazed and she said,

"...... horh. So, what are you planning to do?"

"Go receive them for a bit while the others escape. Wanna join me?"

A thin smile floated on her face. She then drew the sword at her waist.

"...... well, if I'm not around, you will be trembling in fear like a weak worm, pee in your pants and die. Jeez! You're already an adult and still pee in your pants, aren't you ashamed of yourself!"


"Hey, what are you talking about?"

Another smile appeared,

"I'm lending you a hand so that you don't pee in your pants."

After saying that, she swung her sword, and sliced apart the tent flaps.

Then, beyond the sliced portion. Far beyond that.

"............"

Ryner could see a light construct forming up.

It was a large scale lightning attack magic, '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

There were three of them.

"...... three, huh."

Too little. Ryner thought.

If Roland's main forces were closing in, there will be ten times more '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

In other words, right now, the ones that were attacking them were a smaller vanguard.

A force to hold them here while the main forces arrive.


So that none of them could escape.

"............"

In other words, they were attacking in order to massacre all the soldiers and commoners, without letting any one of them escape.

"...... damn. You're going to this extent huh, Sion."

Ryner groaned while he looked intently at the forming '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

If these three '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting) were completed, hundreds of people would be killed again.

However, they had only just started to form up. And Ryner knew how to shut down that magic. No. Even if, say, he didn't know, with his special pair of eyes he would be able to discover the way to shut it down.

A smile surfaced on Ryner.

"...... well, but, at this level, it's still possible to barely counteract them."

Upon saying that, he looked around him. And as expected, he found a group of Nelpha soldiers who were about to make a large scale magical attack,

"Hey you guys, that won't do. More importantly, don't you have any water-based magic?"


At that question, a soldier answered.

"Water, you say? We do...... but the power......"

But, cutting him off, Ryner said.

"We don't need power. We just need something simplified. Focus on the speed. The next coming attack would be lightning magic, you guys just render that ineffective......"

At that moment, from beside him, Ferris broke into a run.

Towards the enemy.

In the direction where the Roland soldiers appeared to be.

After looking at her back, Ryner once again turned to the soldiers and said.

"...... you guys just stop their large scale magical attack once, in the meantime, we'll keep them in check, can you do it?"

But the soldiers appeared to be flustered,

"B-But, how did you know that the enemies are launching a lightning magical attack on us......"

But Ryner cut him off,

"I'm an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer. I can tell what kind of magic the other side is using and where they will be coming from."


He said.

On hearing that.

On hearing his words.

A look of fear appeared on the soldiers' faces. And they peered into the eyes of Ryner.

At the red pentacles floating above the center of his black eyes ---

Following that, their faces became increasingly contorted with fear.

The killer eyes.

The massacring cursed eyes.

Once those crazy eyes go berserk, a scene of carnage and despair will ensue.

That's why everyone hated those cursed eyes.

Hated the people who possess those eyes.

Hated Ryner.

That's why he ran away.

Since he didn't want to be looked upon in that manner again.

Since he didn't want to be looked upon by those fearful, loathing, demeaning eyes again.


"............"

But, at that moment, the soldier said.

Looking at him, looking at him with fearful eyes,

"...... I, I see...... t-that's really reassuring under such circumstances......"

Said the soldier in a trembling voice, to which Ryner said,

"...... isn't it?"

And he smiled.

Following that, he started giving instructions.

"So listen to me, and defend against their magic. Defending is enough. We'll do the attacking."

"Understood. So, which way......"

With that, Ryner pointed in two different directions with both his hands.

"One from this direction. And another one from this direction. And also one from there. They'll be invoking three rounds. From the current constructing speed, you have probably another five minutes. So, how long do you need?"


That soldier then turned around.

And another soldier behind said,

"For the simplified version, in two minutes."

"Then get to it now."

"Yes."

As the soldier acknowledged, the soldiers and commoners who were heading north had started to move.

"Oh, finally, the preparations to escape are done huh."

Ryner turned towards the crowd who were starting to move.

''Aaarrrggghhh, sloooowwwww'', Ryner wanted to holler at the moving crowd.

But it couldn't be helped.

There were both children and elderly. They were not trained soldiers.

Even if the vanguard sent out by Roland were to retreat, the main forces would probably catch up in no time.

However, even so, they couldn't give up. Even if it was only for a little while, they needed to escape northwards.


That's why.

"............"

That's why he fought.

At the battlefield.

Not only that, at last, he had to fight the soldiers of his own country.

His finger danced in the air, and started carving out glowing words. And then.

"I OFFER THE CONTRACTED WORDS, LETTING THE SLUMBERING MALICIOUS SPIRIT DWELL WITHIN."

He chanted.

His body sparkled and his movement speed increased......

But, at that moment.

"Ryner-sensei!"

A voice sounded from behind him. It was the voice of Arua.

Ryner frowned and turned around.

"What are you doing! Hurry up and get out of here!"

But, Arua said,


"I......"

"I can't bring you along! This is not a situation where you can be useful! Go protect Kuku, Kiefer, and Iris!"

After saying that, he was about to ignore Arua and run off, but,

"No! I won't be a burden to Sensei! I've come here to bring you these."

On hearing those words,

"Huh?"

Ryner turned around.

Arua handed him a bunch of cloth-like objects that he was hugging against his chest,

"...... if you are going to fight Roland soldiers, won't it be easier to get close to them if you bring these along?"

He said.

Ryner took them. And opened them up.

They were the Roland flags which he had gotten Iris to prepare for him earlier.


Ryner then said,

"Ohhh, aren't you a smart one!"

Arua then smiled happily.

"Was I useful?"

"Very! As expected of my disciple!"

On hearing those words, Arua blushed and smiled, ''ehhehe'' like a kid.

"Well then, go back, and protect Kuku, Kiefer and Iris."

Arua then made a slightly worried face,

"What about Sensei......"

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll be right back. Kiefer said that she'll get mad at me if I die, so I'll come back alive."

"...... is that a promise?"

"Yeah. It's a promise. Ok, I'm off."

"Alright."

"See you."

After saying that, Ryner started running.


He went in the opposite direction of the waves of people. Before long, he left the crowd. And on the other side.

On the side of the open field, was Ferris riding a horse.

While riding on a horse, with her left hand, she was holding onto the reins of another horse running alongside her.

Ryner tried to catch up to her with everything he got, and gradually, gradually, the tiredness from the acceleration started seeping in,

"Ah, hey, Ferris! I can't do this! It's tiring to chase you! Could you stop for a little while?"

But,

"........."

Ferris ignored him.

"Heeeeeeeyyyy, you can hear me right! I'm telling you to stop!"

And at last, she turned around. And gleefully, ''pahn pahn'', she clapped her hands,

"Mr Ogre, I'm here ♪, the sound of my hands......"

"Shuutttt uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp!!"

Yelled Ryner as he accelerated even further. He ran at his full speed where he felt as if his legs were rupturing, and as the horse got closer, he kicked the ground.


With that, he got onto the back of the horse.

''Zeh zeh'', he groaned as he gripped the reins. Getting meaninglessly tired, his entire body was covered in sweat in an instant.

Looking at that, Ferris said,

"Ooh, you can do it if you try."

"Shut up. And, don't make me waste my energy like that......"

"Hm. But there's no time right? Before the enemy launches their next magical attack, we have to......"

"No, it'll be fine. The Nelpha soldiers will do something about that. Even though it'll indeed be terrible if they managed to invoke it next time......"

But, at that moment, Ferris faced the front and squinted her eyes. Ryner followed her sight.

He could tell that they were nearing the enemy squads. If the horses were to run at full speed, at this rate, they would probably be able to charge right in the enemy formation in three to four minutes.

Ferris said.

"Before the next magical attack, we can charge into the enemy it seems. But the problem is the enemy numbers. Do you think we can render them ineffective with just the two of us?"


On hearing those words, Ryner folded his arms.

"Uhn ~, I wonder ~"

The large scale magic, '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning) that was about to be invoked would need at least thirty casters.

In order to bring the greatest amount of power smoothly, they would need a hundred people.

In other words, for the enemy to invoke the three rounds of '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning), they would need at least ninety mage soldiers and at most three hundred of them.

But normally, with respect to the practice of Roland, the large scale magic squads are protected by four times more troops than the casters. Once the casters start to invoke the large scale magic, they will not be able to move for five minutes, and during that time, they will be completely defenseless, so in order to protect them, a substantial number of troops are needed.

In other words, on the other side of this open field, the number of Roland troops would number at least more than five hundred.

In the worst case, there could be a thousand people.

Of course, it was not a number that could be handled by just two people.

"Strategy?"

On hearing Ferris's words, Ryner nodded.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 243.jpg|thumb]]

"I've got one."

"What should we do?"

"...... I'll tamper with the large scale magic on their side."

"Horh. So in other words...... we have to bust right into the enemy, and you'll forcibly change the magic formations made by the enemy?"

"Yes."

"While being completely surrounded by a ton of enemies, I shall hold them off while you change their magic formations right?"

"Yes."

"...... hm. I see. And, there's something I want to ask."

"What?"

"...... can you call that moronic strategy a strategy?"

Ryner smiled wryly at that question.

"...... yeah you can't call that a strategy at all. We might die. Then again, shall I think of another plan...... I'd rather just risk my own life, but to get you caught up in it......"

But Ferris said to that,


"But, there's no time to come up with another strategy right?"

To which Ryner nodded.

"While coming up with one, others will die."

"Then, we have no choice but to do it."

"...... yeah. Sorry."

"No need for apologies. In the worst case, I'll just abandon you and escape."

On hearing those words of hers,

"It'll be great if you can do that."

Said Ryner, but, ''even though she said that, she won't just abandon me and escape, how troublesome'', he thought.

It was just as Kiefer had said.

There was no reason for Ryner to die here.

He could not succeed in his strategy all by himself. He would definitely need Ferris's cooperation.

However, if things come to a point where they can't do anything, Ferris will definitely.

"............"

''She will definitely not abandon me and escape.''


That's the type of person she is.

In other words, if Ryner were to die, Ferris would also die.

That would be terrible.

He didn't want that.

In other words, this time,

"...... I have to do my best......"

He moaned out.

He was exasperated at the fact that even though he had already been working hard up till here, but, why did he have to work even harder?

However, if he doesn't work even harder, he won't be able to protect the things that are important to him.

And they include Ferris, Kiefer, Iris, Kuku, Arua, Toale, and also Sion.

So, even while feeling exasperated,

"............"

He looked ahead.

They were nearly upon the enemy.


As to the enemy numbers ---

"...... ah ~, that's around three thousand."

"Uhm."

"A few thousand more than what I've thought."

"A calculation error."

"Yeah. With the two of us, we can take on about twenty to thirty of them......"

She nodded. And for some reason, she looked delighted,

"...... in the past, we also charged into a swarm of troops before. This time round, let's do the same."

On hearing those words, a smile surfaced on him.

"Yeah ~, that incident huh."

And he recalled.

That was an incident which had taken place in Nelpha.

He had just met Ferris not long ago then.

It was an incident which had taken place when they were just starting to search for the Heroes' Relics, and had just entered Nelpha from Roland.

The Nelpha troops had captured Milk, and they had gone to save her.


However, the enemy numbered fifty then. And it was tough even with just fifty of them. Rather, they were risking their lives there.

But the enemy numbered three thousand this time.

"...... somehow, I feel like running."

"The sacred Ryner wants to call out to Mama while he pees in his pants huh?"

Ferris said lightly as usual, but Ryner nodded readily.

"Yeah, I'm about to. If the strategy fails, and if you were to die, I will definitely be unable to take it, and pee from my eyes. So......"

At that moment, he looked at her.

"So Ferris. If things become really bad, get away."

She then looked at him as well,

"...... uhm. You too......"

"Uhn."

"Then, let's go."

Upon saying that, Ferris sped up her horse even further.

At the same time, Roland completed its large scale magic attack.


It was '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning).

And they fired it towards the Nelpha soldiers.

As they did so, a large scale magic for counteracting that was invoked from Nelpha.

Different from individual magic, one by one, three bouts of lightning that was powerful enough to blind the eyes were fired, but, they were received by a wall formed by large amounts of water erected by the Nelpha soldiers and rendered ineffective.

A buzz then started among the Roland soldiers. As Ryner expected, the enemy's attention was drawn to that wall of water. Nobody noticed their presence.

Looking at that,

"Let's go."

Upon saying that, Ryner spread the Roland flags. With that, he jumped off the horse, and charged into the Roland forces.

At that moment.

"W-What's happening?"

A person noticed him. And his face turned to one of surprise.

Ryner then showed the flag,

"I'm an ally. I carry an order from Field Marshal Claugh Klom from the south."


The soldier then started frantically,

"His Grace, Field Marshal Klom?"

"Yeah, that's right. It's an emergency. Who's the one commanding this force?"

As Ryner asked that, he tensed up a little.

''It'll be bad if it's him'', he thought.

That monster who was entirely covered in black, and a user of a Hero's Relic.

''It'll be bad if it's Miran Froaude'', he thought.

According to Shuss, currently, the ones attacking Runa were Lieutenant General Miran Froaude and, the former military man from the Kingdom of Estabul, Marshal Bayuuz White.

The one called White might be worse. While Ryner had never really met him before, he had heard from Sion that his ability is the real deal.

But the soldier said,

"The commander is Captain Terohm. He's right at the center."

Upon saying that, he pointed to behind him.

Ryner then,

"...... hm."


Sighed out softly.

It's not White nor Froaude. The two of them were probably with the main body.

With that, the situation was very much easier.

Ryner did not look in the direction where the soldier pointed. It was not like he had any business with the commander.

The ones whom he had business with were.

"............"

He looked at the left, right, center of the forces where new large scale magic were starting to get deployed.

The next spell they were invoking was once again '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs). The magic that was first used to burn the soldiers and commoners of Nelpha.

He would tamper with them.

Ryner pointed to the closest '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs) that was in the process of getting invoked to the right. Ferris then nodded.

At that moment, a number of soldiers started,

"Hey, don't you find it strange? Why aren't they wearing any military uniforms......"

However, without waiting for them to finish, the two of them started running.


Pushing through the soldiers, they dashed towards the '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

In the midst of that.

One of the soldiers looked at them,

"...... don't tell me they are enemies? Hey, report this to Captain Terohm......"

As the man was speaking, Ferris struck him down.

Seeing that, a number of soldiers said,

"Hey, did you see that!"

"It's the enemy!"

"The enemy has come!?"

While yelling that.

Ryner invoked his magic.

Drawing the magic inscription in the air at a high speed,

"WHAT I SEEK IS SILENCE >>> ANTE"

He murmured.

Instantly.

The sounds around them were gone.


With Ryner at the center, the sounds in the surrounding area were gone. A blanket of silence fell on them.

This is a simple magic that stops the vibration of the air and stops sounds from getting transmitted, however, when people are in a completely soundless environment, their hearts will become unsettled. Especially in the case of noisy battlefields.

Previously, when he used this magic against Nelpha soldiers, it caused a great panic among them. However, this time round, the reactions should be a little different.

The reason was because ---

"............."

The reason was because this was Roland's magic.

At that moment, sounds returned.

Immediately.

"What!? What's the meaning of this!? Someone extinguished the sounds!?"

"Who was the one who used Ante!"

A commotion started among the soldiers.

Gazing at that, Ryner started drawing another magic inscription. And then,

"WHAT I SEEK IS WATER MIST >>> MISUMI"


Instantly.

A large amount of water became a raging stream and rained upon the soldiers,

"I-It's the eneeeeeeeeemmmmyyyy!"

"No, wait! This is Roland's magic! It's a traitor! There's a traitor!"

This time round, a panic ensued.

And that's not the kind of panic caused by the desperate searching of the enemy. It was the kind of panic caused by the possibility of having everyone around oneself as an enemy.

And by that time, Ryner and Ferris had finally reached the invocation location of '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

Ferris drew her sword and started mowing down the mage soldiers who were casting '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

And as Ryner reached what was behind them,

"Now, here I go ~, ohrhya."

With a tremendous force, he started tampering with the '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

And around that time, the surrounding soldiers started realizing who the enemies were.

"Stop those two!"

With that yelling, a single person started drawing a magic inscription while facing them.


"I won't allow it."

Ferris beat him down with her sword.

Following that, a number of others drew their swords and came attacking her, but in an instant, they were sent sprawling onto the floor.

On top of that, a number of other soldiers drew their swords and came attacking Ryner,

"Damn."

Ferris said as she came back to him and somehow sent them flying.

But the enemy waves did not stop. A number of soldiers started drawing glowing magic inscriptions simultaneously.

Ferris frowned,

"Ryner!"

"Huh?"

"How long are you going to take?"

"Three minutes."

"Make it one."

"Impossible."


"Then, just hurry up and get on with it!"

While saying that, she jumped out again. After striking down one, two, three of the soldiers who had started inscribing magic circles, she returned to Ryner's side.

At the same time, the soldiers completed their magic.

Three bouts of '''Kurenai'''.

One '''Kuuri'''.

The streaking light of '''Kuuri''' that was fired off first was sliced apart by Ferris.

Following that, she snatched the Roland flags away from Ryner, knocked off some of the flaming shells from '''Kurenai''', and repelled the rest with her sword ---

Then, in the nick of time, she jumped towards the last remaining flaming shell flying towards Ryner and......

"...... gah."

She knocked it off with her bare hand.

Ferris's left arm got scorched and hung loosely. Unable to move.

"............"

"Ferris......"


Ryner uttered but,

"Don't worry about me, just finish what you need to do!"

She yelled angrily and jumped out again.

She then further went on to kick the face of a man who was about to start drawing a magic inscription, and swung her sword with just her right hand.

However, bit by bit, she was no longer able to defend against the enemy's attacks.

And Ferris's body became,

"............"

Covered in blood.

"...... damn, damn, what am I doing...... faster, I need to finish this faster......"

While saying that, Ryner hastened his hand.

He couldn't go help her. He wouldn't be able to do much by helping her.

That's why he stopped looking at her.

The last time his eyes were on her, she was cut by a sword from behind. She couldn't dodge that. Blood was spurting. Her cries of anguish could be heard.

But, even so, Ryner did not go help her. He merely,


"...... please...... please, don't die, Ferris!"

Yelled as he focused on the magic inscriptions before him.

And continued tampering with its composition. With an abnormal fast speed, he changed the structure of the complex puzzle that was constructed by many people.

A little bit more.

"I just have a little bit more, so Ferris! Keep on going!"

At the same time he shouted that, he completed it. In the center of that large scale magic's giant inscription, which could not have been drawn by a single person, on the platform, a billow of black smoke formed, and the smoke spread to the surroundings in just a moment.

Then, it penetrates into the magic inscriptions of the other '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs) that were concurrently in the process of getting invoked, and altered their structure.

What was invoked was a little curse. A curse that stopped the activity of the spirits in this area.

With this, for the next fifteen minutes, it would not be possible to use any magic near these magic inscriptions.

And this was not the magic of Roland. Rather, it was not a magic of any country. This was a special magic that Ryner had researched for the past few years, that's why, once again, unable to comprehend what was happening, panic descended upon the Roland soldiers.


At any rate, they could not use magic.

On the battlefield, if they could not use magic, they would not be able to pursue their enemies.

In the next fifteen minutes.

The Nelpha soldiers would have an overwhelming advantage.

Since Ryner had invoked that magic,

"...... I'm done! Now, let's get out of here, Ferris!"

He turned around to look for her.

However.

"............"

Covered entirely with blood, Ferris was on her knees.

Her entire body was full of wounds. Blood flowing. Even on her face. Even on her abnormally well-featured, beautiful face, there were wounds.

She looked at him.

She looked at him with a troubled face.

Then.

"...... I'm sorry, Ryner. I'm dy......"


At that moment, from beside her, a sword was about to swing down. As if to behead her, a sword was about to swing down.

Seeing that.

"............"

Seeing that,

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!?"

Ryner broke into a sprint.

But, his movements were terribly slow. Due to the magic invoked by Ryner which stopped the activity of all spirits, the acceleration magic which he had cast on himself had been terminated.

It seemed like he couldn't make it. Even while the sword was about to swing down on Ferris's neck, it seemed like he couldn't make it.

But, still, Ryner ran. With everything he got.

And he jumped.

He jumped into the space between the sword and Ferris and embraced her.

Instantly, the enemy's sword slashed deep into his left shoulder and struck his bone. And he was sent flying from the pain and impact. His left arm could no longer move.

But he did not let go of Ferris. While hugging her, he fell onto the ground.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 261.jpg|thumb]]

She then looked up at him, and following that, looked at his slashed left shoulder.

"A-Are you an idiot!? What the hell are you doing!? Y-You...... want to die!?"

As she said that, Ryner carried her and started running again.

"T-That's...... my line, idioooooooootttttttt!"

He hollered.

With his face on the verge of tears, he looked intently at her,

"Uwaaahhhh, that was close! I thought you were going to die! I thought you were going to die! And cut it out already! Do you really want to die so badly! Didn't you say that you'll run away when it looks like you're going to die! But yet, why were you still guarding me while you were on the verge of dying! Didn't I tell you that if you were to die....... if you were to die, I'll cry! Don't shit with me, jeez!"

He yelled uncontrollably with anger, and embraced her strongly.

"............"

She looked up in a dumbfounded manner, and for some reason, her face turned red. It's probably because she lost too much blood and was gradually weakening, he thought.

With a troubled face that appeared to be red from blushing, she said,


"...... ah? Errmm, don't...... don't get so angry, Ryner."

"Of course I'm angry."

"I-Is that so...... sorry."

"This is not something you can just make up by apologizing!"

"Uuu? Then, what should I do......?"

While running, Ryner said to that.

"That'd of course be to live on and get out of here. The two of us. We can't become, we can't become sacrifices in some godforsaken place......"

But, at that moment, Ryner's words stopped. A number of enemies were again upon them.

However, the Ferris who Ryner was carrying, swung her sword with her still movable right hand and mowed them down.

Ryner then said,

"Oh, that's pretty good."

"Umu."

"With this, it seems like we can still go on. Can you continue moving your right hand for a while?"

A weak smile then surfaced on her,


"Who do you think I am?"

"A troublesome rampaging dango girl."

"I'm going to kill you."

"Save that for later. If we survive, I'll let you kill me as much as you want later...... well, shall we go?"

Ryner asked, to which,

"Uhm."

Ferris nodded.

And the two of them started making their escape with everything they got.

While Ferris, who was carried by Ryner, was mowing down the enemies, they moved straight on.

Most of the enemies around them had already realized where they were. Rather, that commander called Terohm or Parohm, well, forget about the name; he should already have realized where they were.

Gradually, groups of the enemies came.

If this were to continue, they would definitely be killed.

He thought.


They couldn't make it.

They couldn't reach the place where they had left their horses earlier.

Just as he was thinking about that.

"............"

The enemy's attacks stopped.

With the yell from a soldier, the enemy's attacks stopped.

That soldier had yelled out,

"Ne-Nelpha is launching a large scale attackkkkkkk."

On hearing that, the eyes which had been trained on Ryner and Ferris turned together towards where the Nelpha forces were.

There, gigantic flames were gathering.

Massive flames used for slaughter were gathering.

Ryner's eyes widened.

Nelpha was about to launched their large scale magic here.

And there were around ten bouts of them.

Someone shouted.

"Deploy a counter magic!"


Someone shouted.

"Why!? Why doesn't our magic activate!?"

Someone cried out tearfully.

"Are we going to be killed!? Are we all going to die!?"

With that, terror descended upon the Roland soldiers, and completely ignoring Ryner and Ferris, they started making their escape.

No, Ryner also had to get away. The current wounded Ryner and Ferris wouldn't be able to dodge that many rounds of large scale magic attacks.

This was the worst possible situation.

It was a good thing if they were not to get killed by Roland's soldiers, but at this rate, it was not unlikely for them to get killed by their own allies, Nelpha's soldiers.

To get cornered into such a pressing situation.

"............"

But a frail smile surfaced on Ryner. He was looking at Nelpha's large scale attack magic which was quickly being deployed with his '''Alpha Stigma''' eyes.

It was a strange type of magic.


For some reason, it was a somewhat strange magic that appeared to be a combination of Roland and Nelpha's magic technology.

On top of that, the magic merely had a flashy appearance; the truth was that flames were not going to come flying towards here, and no attacks were going to come, they were merely flashy balls of fire.

In other words, what Nelpha was invoking now was magic for the purpose of threatening Roland.

A total deception magic, whereby two or three invocations could be performed by merely ten casters.

"............"

However, that alone had a tremendous effect. To the unsettled Roland soldiers who were not able to use any magic, upon seeing that fake large scale attack magic, everyone of them started retreating.

Looking at that.

Looking at that magic made up of a combination of Roland and Nelpha magic, Ryner smiled wryly.

"...... damn. We got saved by Arua......"

The only person who could do that was him.

Using the casters of Nelpha, by intermingling with Roland's magic, through improvisation, he devised a new type of magic.


That was a capability which could only exist in an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer, who could read the construct of a magic and use it immediately.

And on top of that, to do it at this kind of timing.

After seeing Ryner invoked a magic used for disabling the use of magic, Arua had activated that large scale magic used for threatening Roland's troops.

He was probably looking at them all this while with his '''Alpha Stigma'''.

In order to save Ryner.

In order to save Ferris.

''As kids, you'll just get in the way!'', he wanted to brush him off, but yet, in the end, at the most crucial moment, he was saved by him.

He smiled,

"...... seems like he has grown a lot...... I have to praise him later......"

Upon saying that, they reached the horses which they had ridden earlier. And while carrying Ferris, he mounted on one of them. Immediately after that, he galloped off.

There were no longer any Roland soldiers around them. They had all started retreating.


That was the right move, he thought. If they could not understand the situation they were in, they should retreat. On one hand they could not use any magic, on the other hand, the enemy appeared to be about to use a large scale attack magic on them, then they should just escape from the range of the enemy's magic for now.

To have as few casualties as possible --- that was the right decision. The commander here appeared to be pretty capable, he thought.

And once again, Ryner thought,

''...... fortunately, the commander is not Froaude.''

If it were him, then he might not care about the lives of his allies, and proceed on to attack. After all, the soldiers here were meant to delay the enemy. And even if all his troops were to die, he would continue to attack to slow down the enemy.

If that were to happen, all of Ryner's plans would have been thwarted.

However, the result this time,

"...... it's our win. We managed to buy time."

It was largely a meaningful thing.

For what reason did Roland send a group of soldiers to slow them down? It was easy if one thought about it.


If they didn't come to slow them down, then Roland wouldn't be able to catch up to the Nelpha forces who already had started moving.

In other words, if the delaying attack on Nelpha's soldiers this time round failed, then it meant that the situation had turned favorable.

They had managed to buy time to escape.

Ryner then said,

"...... ahh, somehow, this is really tiring."

As the horse galloped on.

Upon saying that, in front of him, Ferris, who was sitting facing him, looked up,

"Uhm. Thanks to your thoughtless plan, our bodies and heart are in shambles......"

As she said that, she suddenly had a 'that's it!' face,

"Th-Thanks to your violent behavior after getting drunk, my body and heart are in shambles! I'll sue you! I'll definitely sue you! And thus, the trial starts...... cough cough......"

In the midst of saying all that, she started coughing.


Ryner then frantically said,

"Jeeeezz, don't start spouting nonsense when you have all those wounds."

While saying that, he stroked her back. Ferris then made a unsatisfied face.

Looking at that, Ryner smiled faintly. Even as he smiled, his shoulder hurt, but compared to Ferris's wounds, this pain didn't bother him.

Looking at her bloodied body, he said softly,

"...... damn. I'm sorry."

"Hn?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"Nothing, I said. It's just that, after having put you through this much this time, I was thinking of giving you a dango treat."

On hearing his words.

"............"

She stared intently at Ryner for some reason, and said.


"Hey Ryner. Don't be too conceited."

She said all of a sudden.

"Huh?"

Ryner then said. Unable to understand her words, he was a little bewildered.

She was still staring at him.

And then, she said. With a somewhat angry voice,

"...... whatever others may think, my wounds are not the fault of yours. The deaths of the Nelpha's commoners are not the fault of yours. So what's with that apologetic look? Are you omnipotent and right in everything, and will always succeed? Are you God? Stop getting conceited. You've already more than done your best. For a useless scumbag who only attacks girls night after night, you've already done your best. So be proud of yourself. Don't make such a face. Don't talk about treating me to dango, fool. Understand?"

Ferris said all of a sudden.

To that, Ryner.

"............"


Couldn't say a thing. He could only look at her with a surprised face.

But Ferris buried her face into Ryner's chest,

"That's all I wanted to say. I'm going to sleep. I'm a little tired."

"Ah, er~m, ok. I got it. Wait, you......."

But, she immediately said,

"Ah, but I think it's better to treat me dango anyway. Ok, I'm sleeping. I'll leave the rest to you."

Without saying anything further to Ryner, she lost consciousness. Her strength left her and she started to fall off the horse,

"Owah, crap."

Ryner frantically caught her. However, she did not react to his touch at all. She was really covered with terrible wounds. He had to link up with the Nelpha troops quickly and render medical aid to her.

But yet.

"............"

Even when she was covered with such terrible wounds, she was still worried about others like a fool.

Even when she always had a serious face while acting violently and causing trouble to others, at such a time, she only worried about others.


Ryner then,

"............"

Wanted to say something to Ferris.

He wanted to say something softly to Ferris, and at that moment.

Suddenly, the light started to disappear.

"Wha......"

Ryner was surprised.

That was not a metaphor, but truly, all the light of this world was disappearing as if it was being sucked away by something.

The sky, the atmosphere, the land, swiftly before his eyes, the light disappeared and the world was plunged into darkness.

A dizzying darkness.



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==Translator's Notes and References==
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| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol3|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Afterword|Afterword]]
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Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 3

2011-12-07T18:13:44Z

Error: Understood. Flow/paraphrasing mainly, but feel free to tear apart.

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==The Burden I Shoulder==


The horse galloped.

At full speed.

"My butt huuurrrtttttsssssss!"

While yelling, Ryner rode, he rode, for four days, he rode.

Beside him, Ferris, who had also been galloping for the past four days without sleeping, went,

".................................. mumyu ~"

"Hey, don't sleep while ridingggggggggg!"

Ryner yelled at the Ferris who seemed about to slip off her horse.

On hearing that, she opened her eyes suddenly, looked up, and wiped off the little drool from her mouth,

"Hm? What? It's morning?"

"No, it's evening though. Wait, that's not the problem, don't sleep on the horse! It's dangerous."


"I wasn't sleeping."

"I think you were sleeping with half of your body about to fall off."

"I was practicing body-bend riding."

"You're lying!"

"Yeah. A big lie!"

"And you're admitting to it so quickly!"

"Of course. I'm sleepy. And since I'm at my limits, I'm going to nap a little. Let me know when we reach."

"No, I was telling you not to sleep duh."

Ignoring Ryner's holler, she closed her eyes, and with that, she seemed about to slip off the horse again.

"That's why I was saying, don't sleeepppppppppppppppppp!"

Ignoring him, she fell off the horse, and in a splendid manner, she spun a few times in the air and landed on the ground. On top of that, with a soft plod, ''good night'', she said and entered the world of dreams.

Following that, the horse which Ferris had been riding on suddenly became energetic due to the lightened load, and whizzed off.


"Jeez, that fella's such a botherrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

While yelling, he whipped his horse. With that, he caught up to the horse which Ferris had discarded, and grabbed hold of its reins. And pulled. He stopped the horse, turned it around, and returned to the place where Ferris was sleeping.

Then.

"Hey."

"............"

"Hey, we don't really have time to tarry around. We're already one day late from the appointed day that we're supposed to link up with Kiefer."

"............"

"Hey, we only need to ride for another half a day before we reach our destination, so c'mon? Hey? Ferris. Please."

Without looking at him, she said,

"...... shut up. I'm sleepy. I'm sluggish. Bothersome. Go by yourself."

"Hey, are you me! I'm also sleepy to the point of dying, but, if we don't get our act together, Toale's life will be in danger. So let's do our best for a little bit more, ok?"


On hearing that, Ferris finally got up. She looked up at him with a pained expression,

"But Ryner. For the past four days, I haven't eaten a dango you know? As a person who is a hundred million, two thousand, eight hundred, and ninety-two percent made up of dango, do you think I can continue without any dango?"

At that question, Ryner, with a tired face,

"Wait, so how many percent does your entire body constitute?"

He asked back squarely,

"Who cares about that, just listen to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

She became really angry.

Ryner smiled wryly and said.

"...... erm, no, well, I know that it's been hard on you to not have eaten any dango for four days, but right now, it's an emergency so bear with it."

"I can't bear with it."

"No, but......"

"I can't bear <nowiki>-----------------------</nowiki> it! By the way, there's a nice dango shop nearby."


Upon saying that, she suddenly got up energetically, which was unthinkable for a person who was tired from going without sleep for four whole days.

Looking at that, Ryner exclaimed,

"Huuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh!? Eh? Eh? What's this? Is this that? All that ranting about being sleepy and falling off the horse was an act?"

Ferris promptly replied,

"Of course!"

"Don't 'of course' me!"

"Whatever you think about that is not the main issue here!"

Ferris said vehemently.

"............ hahh."

Ryner sighed out.

Even without that, he was already drained. Having fought with that red-haired monster, getting them horses, and riding crazily without sleep.


Riding crazily without sleep on the horses which he had sneaked out of a noble's stables along the way.

He already felt like dying. Not just from the lack of sleep, but more from the pain in his butt.

Indeed, it seems like they would need some rest soon, but......

So as to speak, after working so hard till this point, isn't it ok for him to take about two hundred years' worth of afternoon naps right? Isn't it ok for him to just disappear somewhere and take a long afternoon nap right? A temptation like this started to grow in him, but, Ryner stomped it out and said.

"...... b-but you know Ferris. At the appointed place, Iris will be waiting for us with Wynitt dango......"

But Ferris said.

"Nelpha dango and Roland dango are different things altogether."

Her tone became stronger than before,

"...... you're right I guess. Then, erm...... let's take a short break......"

Ryner gave in.

''Let's take a short break'', Ryner relaxed.


Instantly.

"Woah."

As his strength left him, he almost fell off his horse. Ferris supported him with a hand.

Then.

"See. You're also tired."

"Well...... it's obvious that I'll be tired after riding for four whole days......"

But, he had never thought that he would be so tired. He didn't realize it since he had been keeping his body tensed up all this while, but his body had become abnormally heavy. He immediately understood how it came to be so. It was a consequence of the Estabul magic which he had used to accelerate his movements during his fight with Claugh. That magic, in exchange for granting a period of increased bodily reflexes and ability, will cause the user to feel its weariness later. On top of that, this time round, in order to do something about that red-haired monster, he had seriously overused his body. It was probably the burdens from that which had come to assail him.

However, even those words alone were not enough to convey how heavy his body currently was. Right now, his entire body was enveloped with a level of fatigue that could make him pass out.

Seeing that, Ferris said.


She looked up at him, and somehow, with a slightly angry face, she averted her eyes and said.

"Jeez...... you've overdone it this time. I understand how you feel, but even so, there's a limit to what one person can do. Don't push yourself too much."

In other words.

"............"

It seems to be that.

It seems like all of Ferris's acting, and her willful behavior of wanting to go to a dango shop, were all for the purpose of saying this.

''Aah ~'', Ryner thought.

He stroked his disheveled bed-hair,

"Aah ~...... erm, sorry."

"Umu."

"Well then, let's go to that dango shop and rest up in the village."

Ferris then said,

"Idiot. There's no dango shop."

"Eh?"


"That's why you're a real idiot."

Upon saying that, for some reason, her face blushed, and in order to mask that, she made an angry face.

Looking intently at that.

"............"

Looking intently at her face,

"...... aah, I see."

Ryner smiled with a troubled look.

Ferris then jumped onto the horse, the horse that Ryner was now riding. With that, she took the reins away from his hand,

"Alright. If your overly stupid brain has understood, it's time to move. We don't have much time. Once we reach there, there will be work waiting for you again. That's why, the idiot can just sleep. I'll wake you when we reach there."

Upon saying that, she started to kick into the horse.

Ryner then frantically said,

"Eh, but Ferris, you haven't slept a wink as well......"


But at that moment,

"Don't worry about that, just sleep, idiot."

Upon saying that, she made a chopping stance with her hand and started sending it into the back of Ryner's neck,

"Eh, no wait, that's bad......"

"Shut up."

"Gyafu."

Instantly.

Ryner lost consciousness.

Darkness spread.

Deep darkness spread.

In that deep darkness.

Ryner was visited by dreams which had missed him for quite some time.

Strangely, they were cheerful dreams.

Sion appeared, and with a face full of mischief,


"Alright Ryner ~. Nap time's over. It's time to get working."

He said.

For some reason, Ferris, who was munching on dango beside him, drew her sword for no good reason,

"Die, you pervertttttttttttt."

She shouted and came beating him.

That was the scenery that was repeating again and again.

With Sion, and Ferris, the three of them.

A dream in which the three of them were making merry in that small office.

There was nothing to worry about there.

There were no lives nor troubles from others to shoulder.

Only a bunch of fools laughing happily.

And he thought.

It'd be nice if such days can go on forever, he thought.

No, he had believed that it would be so.

Such days would go on, even when he was complaining about how unpleasant or bothersome things were, as long as he worked hard, the world would be alright, he had thought.


That's why he was laughing like that.

He had never thought that it would end.

Laughing like an idiot.

Even when he was made to work throughout the night. Even when he was bashed up by her sword.

Ryner had always been laughing happily.

"............"

And he felt a little blessed.

Even though up till now, he had only been laden with tiresome things.

But, after seeing that dream, he felt like doing his best for a little longer and looking forward.

Since in his dream, he had been laughing like an idiot with them.

He had been laughing like an idiot from the bottom of his heart.

But, the dream came to an end.

Suddenly, it ended, he realized.

No, perhaps he had realized that right from the start of the dream.

That dream.


"............"

Sadly, that dream was nowhere close to reality.

"............"

But, he wished, for a little bit.

Each time he saw that dream, he'd wish.

Ryner would wish that, if only this bothersome reality could be the dream instead when he open his eyes, and that he could wake up to that noisy office, he would be willing to pay any price.

If he were to open his eyes right now.

If he were to awake from his dream.

And the nightmare would have ended and he could wake up to that noisy office again.

He would not make the same mistake again.

He would not leave Sion to his solitude again.

In order to laugh together.

In order to move forward together, this time round, without feeling bothersome, he would do his best, he thought.


And so, Ryner opened his eyes.

Wishing that he could wake up to that office.

"............"

He opened his eyes......

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"............"

When he opened his eyes, they had already reached their destination.

On the land that was very near to the borders between Nelpha and Runa.


There, were gathered tens of thousands of people.

Ryner opened his eyes and straightened his body,

"...... hn? You've awakened?"

From behind him, Ferris, who had been doing the riding, said.

Ryner turned around,

"...... eh? Ah, yeah. I had a good sleep. Thanks, Ferris."

"Umu. I also had a good sleep."

"Hey, what would have happened if you have slept as well."

Upon making that jab, with a slightly tired face,

"Fufufu."

She laughed.

From her face, it was clear that she hadn't really slept at all. Quite unbecoming of her, there were dark circles beneath her eyes. She was clearly very tired. Ryner then began,

"This time, it's your turn to sleep. Leave the rest to......"

But, before he could finish,

"............"


She rested her head on the back of Ryner, and slept.

Ryner smiled, and without letting her body fall off, he supported her with his left hand and once again started the horse galloping.

However, with the throngs of people gathered, they couldn't move very fast.

"............"

He then looked around him.

He looked at the faces of the people gathered here.

Clearly, the people here did not just comprise of soldiers.

Originally, Kiefer was supposed to guide the ten thousand soldiers, who were thrown away as sacrificial pawns by Starnel and later saved by Toale, to this place.

"What on earth is this?"

Ryner said with a troubled face.

Clearly, the commoners who were present here greatly outnumbered the soldiers.

Women, children, as well as the elderly.

A throng of people who couldn't contribute to the fighting strength.

Well, he could probably make a guess as to why they were here.


"...... Toale, that guy sure is popular."

While muttering that, he moved the horse forward.

The people all looked up in a dumbfounded manner at the riders on the advancing horse, at Ryner and the peerless golden hair beauty behind him.

He then asked a question to someone who was clad in military uniform among the people.

"...... ah ~, erm, you are one of the soldiers following Toale right? I have some business with Toale, so do you mind leading us to him?"

On hearing that, the soldier looked up. And he glared at Ryner.

A man who had a piercing gaze. With long light brown hair tied up at the back, and perhaps, due to his unshaven face, he looked to be in his mid-twenties.

He looked up at them and squinted his eyes.

"...... are you Ryner Lute?"

Ryner was surprised at hearing his own name.

"Oh? To know my name, am I perhaps famous around here?"

On hearing that, the man's face contorted,


"I'm Kazaal Selues. A Major. I was given command of ten thousand troops from Prince Starnel and ordered to fend off Roland's forces, but I went against that and am now following Toale-sama."

On hearing those words, Ryner looked again more carefully at this man called Kazaal Selues.

He was of medium build and medium height. A well-trained body with no opening. He's probably quite strong. Well, of course, he can't be compared to that abnormal killing intent from that red-haired muscled idiot though.

However, just from his appearance, he could tell that this fella has some ability. To elaborate on that, to have become a Major in his twenties, this fella must have achieved a number of accomplishments on the battlefield.

That was the reason why Starnel had assigned ten thousand troops to him, and abandoned them.

He had probably thought that this fella would be able to fend off the Roland forces for a while and buy him more time to escape.

Considering that.

A smile surfaced on Ryner.

"...... I'm grateful to Starnel's idiocy."

On hearing that, Selues looked at him with a look of surprise,


"What did you say?"

"No, I was just giving thanks to Starnel's idiocy for throwing away someone as capable as you without even batting an eyelid. Thanks to the foolishness of Starnel, the plan I came up with might just go well. By the way, are you popular among your subordinates?"

He asked.

"............"

Selues did not answer. However, even without answering, it was clear.

Ryner looked around him once more.

The soldiers around him all had brightly lit faces. There was not the slightest drop in morale.

After getting abandoned by Starnel, and on top of that having Roland's soldiers on their heels, their current brightly lit faces could not just be attributed to Toale's popularity alone.

Ryner's grin broadened increasingly.

"Unexpectedly, things may just move ahead even without us doing anything."

Toale is popular with the commoners. If both Starnel and Toale were to claim their names to the throne, most of the people would probably follow Toale.

However, this Selues appeared to be very popular with the soldiers.


With this, if Starnel was to continue with his oppression, he would probably end up destroying himself.

If Toale were to rise up, supported by Selues at his side, there was a possibility that the rest of the power-wielding nobles, soldiers, and people would follow him.

If that were to happen.

"............"

Starnel's life would probably be no more. Even without Ryner, Toale, or Roland doing anything.

Thanks to his own foolishness, Starnel would be killed by Imperial Nelpha.

If that were to happen, then there would be no need for Ryner to take the trouble to capture Starnel.

However, the real problem will start from there.

After Starnel's death.

After Toale becomes king.

At that time, Roland will probably be asking for Toale's life.

The current Roland will definitely not allow Toale to live.


That's why in order for Toale to live, there are two choices.

First.

Escape to outside of the country.

Second.

Lead Nelpha's soldiers to fight Roland.

"............"

But the latter was out of the question.

Right now, there was no longer any country in the southern part of the continent with enough power to fight the military might of Roland.

Ryner was very well aware of that.

For the past one year, he had always hung around Sion's side.

Working hard together in that office to strengthen Roland.

And in just one year, Roland was totally transformed to something different from before.

Roland was reborn.

Even though Ryner was not directly involved in the military affairs, he could still imagine roughly how much power the current Roland wielded.


To the Nelpha right now, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg.

Well, however, if they were to ally with Runa Empire to resist Roland, then it would be a different story.

"............"

Even for Roland, it would be difficult to face two countries as its opponents, he thought.

However, Runa was an ally of Roland.

As such, Nelpha no longer had any chance of winning. There was no other way other than to surrender.

In other words, for the short term, there was no way but for Toale to first capture Starnel, become the king, and issue a surrender, and before Roland catches him, escape out of the country.

As he unfolded the various development scenarios in his head,

"Aah, this is bothersome."

Upon groaning, Selues nodded.

"Yeah. It's extremely bothersome. That's why there's not much time left. According to Kiefer Knolles, you are supposed to have arrived yesterday. What in the world were you doing?"

Ryner's face turned serious at that and he looked at Selues.

"Sorry we're late. Even though we were already rushing all the way here, it was my calculation mistake. But, I'm not going to make another mistake hereon. I'll save this country, and save Toale's life. So can you lead us to Toale?"


Selues then grabbed hold of the reins of Ryner's horse and led them.

"Here."

"Right."

Once again, the horse started off slowly.

Ahead of where Selues was leading them, was a small tent. Outside of that tent, was a familiar group, made up of a golden hair girl, a black hair boy and his childhood girl friend, playing.

Iris, Arua, and Kuku.

At that moment, Iris noticed Ryner's group.

"Ah ~! Wild Beast-kun ~!"

She shouted.

Arua then turned towards here as well,

"Ryner-sensei!"

Following that, the tent opened, and out came Kiefer, with her hand waving.

Ryner then waved back at her, and lastly......


A man around the same age of Ryner came out of the tent. With brown hair and a kind face. However, compared to the time he met him a year ago, the face was more drawn. It was filled with more fatigue.

Just from that, he could see what he had been through for the past few weeks.

Ryner smiled at Toale.

And in response to that.

"............"

Toale returned with a wry, troubled smile.

Ryner then turned around.

"Hey, Ferris."

"............"

"Ferris, wake up. We have reached. There should be a bed somewhere, go sleep there."

On hearing that, without opening her eyes,

"Hah ~, then, carry me there."

"Walk on your own."

"Carry me there like a princess."


"Huuuuhhhhhhhh? Huuhhhhhh? You, with so many people looking......"

But, upon saying that, she grabbed hold of Ryner's neck. And while strangling him,

"You're so annoying. If you dare wake me again...... I'll kill you, get it?"

As she said that, her fingers seemed to be really crushing Ryner's neck,

"Hey, I get itttttttt! Whether is it like a princess or groom, I'll carry you so don't kill me."

"Um. Then, please carry on. I'll be going back to sleep."

"......................... jeez."

Ryner sighed out loudly, and following that, he dismounted the horse. After that, he brought down Ferris, who had descended into deep sleep.

Then, in her desired princess cradle fashion, he carried the bothersome princess,

"A princesssssssssssssss!"

Iris made a jab as she clung to Ferris's chest.

The weight of the two people on Ryner's hip. His hip seemed about to sprain. He really felt like killing the two troublesome sisters.


But.

"...... uhwu, I have to bear with it until I get her to a bed. Do your best, Ryner. I'll be able to relax when she sleeps......"

He encouraged himself, and started walking.

Following that, Kiefer came to him.

"............"

While staring at him, she smiled kindly.

But, somehow, it was different from the smile just now. She was looking intently at him with a somewhat, transfixed, biting gaze, and softly,

"...... princess cradle."

"Eh? What?"

"Nothing."

"But you know, these two people are really heavy...... hey, Kiefer, can you help me?"

Ryner asked, to which Kiefer said,


"Nope."

"Eh?"

"No way."

"Erm......"

But, at that moment, she grinned,

"Just kidding ~. It was a joke, a joke. I'll help you. The past few days have been tough on you guys right? You're tired right?"

While saying that, she supported Ryner's arms, and pushed upwards. With that, his burden lessened.

"Oh, that really helps."

"That's great."

"Thanks."

"Yeah!"

Kiefer acknowledged happily.

Following that, Ryner once again looked in front of him, at Toale.

For some reason, with a seemingly bad mood, he was looking at him --- rather, at Kiefer.


"Hn? What's wrong, Toale?"

On hearing Ryner's words, his face turned to one of surprise,

"Eh? Umm...... ah ~, no, nothing. Long time no see, Ryner-san."

"Long time no see."

Upon saying that, Ryner wanted to wave his hands, but realizing that both his arms were encumbered, he merely nodded his head at him.

Toale then rushed up to him.

"Do you need help?"

"Yeah, can you help me with the top one."

Toale nodded, and lifted up Iris, who had been clinging to Ferris's chest.

Iris's face then lit up,

"Wah! It's high, are you bringing me higher!? Iris loves that!"

On hearing that, Toale lifted Iris up and down. Following that, he looked at Ryner,

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 183.jpg|thumb]]

"Well Ryner-san, I would have never expected to reunite with you under such circumstances."

Ryner nodded as well. He smiled wryly at the tight-fitting, seemingly unsuitable military uniform that Toale was wearing.

"Yeah. I've never thought so either. So to speak, it became something real bothersome."

Following that, Toale opened the entrance to the tent. Inside was a simple bed, and he pointed to it,

"Over there."

"Yeah."

Ryner nodded as he carried Ferris there. He put Ferris down on the bed, and hugging the pillow, she slept comfortably.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Ryner then said smilingly.

Following that, once again, Kiefer looked at him with a slightly angry face.

Ryner cocked his head to the side.

"So, what's wrong?"


"N-o-t-h-i-n-g."

"Hey, those words sounded rather thorny."

"No they don't."

"Yes they do."

"I said no, they don't"

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Well ok...... forget it then."

"No way."

"Eeeehhh?"

"Humph."

Kiefer turned her face away from him and went out of the tent.

With an incomprehensible look on his face,

"...... what the hell was that?"

Ryner asked Toale.

On hearing that, for some reason, he also made an unpleasant face,


"Please don't ask me."

"Toale, why are you angry as well?"

"I'm not angry."

"Really?"

"Yes. More importantly......"

Upon saying that, he looked at Ryner.

And smiled.

"Really, long time no see. Ryner-san, I'm really happy to hear that you are coming here to help me. ''I'm coming here to save you. The reason is because we're friends. Ok?'', those words, frankly speaking, made me want to cry."

He said, to which Ryner smiled.

"Was that a little too mushy?"

"Nope. It was a great thing to me, who was depressed from getting cornered in all directions."

"Is that so. That's great then."

Ryner nodded, pulled up a nearby chair and sat down.

Toale then said,


"Should I brew some tea like what we did in the past?"

"Ah ~, the tea you brewed was really good. But, forget it now. There's really not much time left. Erm, so the situation we are now in......"

"I have already heard everything from Kiefer-san. As to where did you come from, and why are you here now......"

Upon saying that, Toale looked at Ryner with a pair of somewhat reproachful eyes,

"...... jeez, Ryner-san, you really had me with all those lies. You are a person from Roland right. And on top of that, the best friend of that hero king, Sion Astal. And to top if off, a year ago, you introduced that Sion-san as your cousin and ate in my house......"

On hearing that, Ryner nodded with a somewhat apologetic face.

That's right, that's how it was.

Ryner had met Toale and withheld his true identity then.

During that time, as a spy from Roland, he had to hide his identity while searching for the Heroes' Relics together with Ferris.


They had then visited Imperial Nelpha, Runa Empire, and Iyet Republic before returning back to Roland again.

On top of that, Toale had met Sion.

At that time, Sion was on a formal visit, calling on the grandfather of Toale, the previous king of Imperial Nelpha, Gread Nelphi, and had asked Ryner to become his bodyguard.

And so, Sion then went to the place where Ryner was at, which was Toale's house, and they had dined together on the same table.

"............"

During that time, he couldn't possibly have imagined that the relationship between Sion and Toale would have become such a bothersome thing.

Ryner nodded, and said.

"...... yeah. When we met you, Sion was masquerading as my cousin."

Toale then smiled vexedly.

"That fine young man is the hero king huh...... a powerful enemy indeed."

"Well, yeah. He's really a workaholic...... it will be a troublesome thing to surpass him."

"But we're going to surpass him right?"


"If not, you will be dead."

"Yeah. But, can I trust you? Ryner-san, you are the best friend of Sion-san right? I am a little doubtful that you will betray him and truly come here to help me. Perhaps, this is just Sion-san's ploy......"

However, Ryner shook his head immediately,

"No way."

He denied it outright.

But still,

"Even if you say that, I don't have enough information to make an assessment though. Now, with the lives of tens of thousands of people on my shoulder, will I be able to see this through correctly......?"

Said Toale.

Ryner then looked intently at Toale,

"Are you pressuring me to explain everything to you?"

Toale nodded.

"Yes, that's right. Even if it's me, I can't move too carelessly while carrying the lives of so many others."


"Well, you're right though. So, what do you want to know?"

"The first thing I want to ask is about the time when you first made contact with me. Was all that an act? Did you send that hoodlum to put up an act in order to get to me, who has royal blood flowing inside my veins?"

Said Toale.

When he said that.

Ryner felt a number of extraordinary killing intent from the surroundings outside of the tent. The tent was probably surrounded by soldiers.

"...... woah, Toale-chan I say, you're pretty cautious."

Ryner said in a light manner.

Following that, Ferris's eyes opened in response to that killing intent,

"...... hey Ryner."

But immediately, Ryner said,

"Go sleep, Ferris. There's no problem. I just need to explain things a little."

"But."

"I said it's fine. You're tired right? Just sleep. In the first place, with this level of opponents, I can take care of them myself. In the worst case, I'll take Toale hostage."


Ferris then replied,

"...... well, you have a point."

"That's right."

"Got it. But, if something......"

"I said it's fine. You should know that Toale and I are good buddies right? So, don't worry and sleep."

After Ryner said that, Ferris nodded and went back to sleep.

After ascertaining that, Ryner looked at Toale. With a troubled face. Then,

"Withdraw your troops. I told you I'm your ally right?"

However, without taking his eyes off him, Toale said,

"...... but you're the best friend of Sion."

''Best friend'' --- Toale had said.

Ryner made a sad face on hearing that,

"Yeah."


And he nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. But, for Sion's sake as well, I won't let him kill you."

"For Sion's sake, you say?"

"Yeah. His way of thinking is already different from mine. We're looking in different directions now."

While saying that, ''but, isn't it because we have been looking in different directions right from the start'', Ryner thought.

Even when he was shouldering everything, suffering, and on the verge of tears, he was a fool who would not even confide in his best friend.

Even when he had already been looking in a different direction, he had hidden his weeping face, and had kept on smiling perhaps.

That's why this had happened.

That's why things had progressed to this unrecoverable state.

However, he could more or less understand his thought process.

"...... he...... Sion probably wants to use the shortest amount of time to eradicate fighting in the world. Choosing the path with the least number of sacrifices, and advancing along that path. But I'm a little different. I can't distinguish between many lives and few lives, I think. Whether it is sacrificing you to save hundreds of thousands of lives, or sacrificing Sion to save millions of lives, I can't forgive something as stupid as that. At the very least, I don't want that. If you die, I'll cry, if Sion dies, I'll cry. But I hate crying."


Toale then smiled wryly.

"You're so willful."

"...... perhaps. But, that's probably what's different between me and him."

"Ryner-san, because you're too willful right?"

Ryner smiled,

"That's right."

He said.

"But, he should have the same kind of thinking as me. At any rate, he's the type of person who hates fighting, a person who hates crying, but yet, since there was no one who could save that rotten country, he became king even though he didn't really want to you know? So there's no way a gentle person like him, could kill you, or the people of Nelpha without batting an eyelid, just because this is something necessary, he isn't the kind of person who can decide this so easily with a smiling face, you know?"


Well, the truth was that he wasn't the kind of person who can come to such decisions easily. Otherwise, Ryner would not no longer be alive by now.

An '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer is an accursed creature who would end up killing others. Then, in order to save many other lives, he should have killed the Ryner, who's in danger of going berserk anytime, right away, in order to avoid such a calamity.

But yet, he didn't kill him.

Holding a knife while yelling how he would kill him, but yet, in the end, he didn't kill Ryner.

"He's really...... a fool. He's always carrying everything by himself and weeping by himself. But still, he started moving forward...... because he had no choice. But, I want to stop him. And I want to look for another way with him. I want to tell him that he's not alone, and doesn't need to shoulder everything by himself. But, I'm no longer by his side. My voice can no longer reach him. That's why I'm aiming higher. I want to reach a place where my loud voice can reach him. For that purpose, I......"

At that juncture, while looking intently at Ryner, Toale began,

"For that purpose, you've come to save me."

Ryner nodded.


"...... both of you are my friends. I've already said this earlier, but I hate to see my friends cry or die."

"...... I see. But I heard that Sion-san wants to kill you...... and you still want to save Sion-san in spite of that?"

But, to that question,

"Don't make me repeat myself please."

Ryner replied promptly.

Toale then smiled.

"......even when you are faced with that, you hate to see your friend cry...... and because I'm a friend, you will risk your life to protect me? That's quite reassuring huh."

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if you keep annoying me by making me say those lines again and again, I won't be your friend anymore."

On hearing that, ''haha'', Toale laughed out loud. Following that,

"Then, during the first time we met......"


"That was purely a coincidence. I didn't know about your identity then, and even if I did, it didn't matter. However, that's not the case with Roland. They see your popularity as a threat. You were asleep then so you didn't know this, but a year ago, when we were putting up at your house, Roland had sent an assassin, but got driven off by us. Well, during then, I didn't know that he was an assassin from Roland as well......"

At that moment, Ryner recalled the time when the assassin came to kill Toale.

He remembered the unpleasant guy called Miran Froaude, who had eyes cold like the devil, and wielded a Heroes' Relic.

The first time he fought him was in the backyard of Toale's house.

He never would have thought that Froaude was the subordinate of Sion.

Was that also.

Was that assassination attempt also carried out on the orders of Sion? If that's true, then right from the start, he was already looking in a different direction from Sion.

"............"

Well, even if he worried about it now, there was nothing he could do about it, so he brushed those thoughts aside.


Meanwhile, Toale had an expression of surprise on his face at hearing that.

"I didn't hear about it."

"We didn't tell you."

"You should have told me."

"Even if I had told you, it wouldn't amount to anything."

"Eh? No, that's true but...... but doesn't that mean my life got saved twice by you guys?"

But, Ryner waved his hand to brush that aside.

"You gave us food, a place to sleep, and on top of that let us into the library, we are even."

"Erm no, that can't make us even right."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

"Then, trust me this time. That will make us even."

"But, aren't you doing this to save me......"

However, Ryner shook his head.


"That's not it. I'm also asking you to lend me a hand to save Sion."

Upon saying that, Ryner held his hand out to Toale.

And said.

"Can you lend me a hand?"

He looked intently at Toale with a serious expression on his face.

Then, ''wasn't this how Sion held his hand out to me?'', Ryner thought in the corner of his mind.

''Let's go together'', Ryner thought back to the time when Sion had held his hand out to him.

That really saved him. Having been engulfed in loneliness and thinking that he was better off dead, that one line really saved him.

But it was different now.

He was no longer the one being saved, but the one who will try to save, he thought.

Of course, he didn't think that he could do it as well as Sion.

"............"


That's why Ryner held his hand out to Toale. Moreover, he didn't know whether he could be saved. No, to have taken this path, he didn't know whether he could save Toale, and after that Sion.

But, he could no longer bear seeing others get hurt and not do anything about it.

He had to move forward.

Whatever the result might be, he shall shoulder all that and move forward, Ryner thought.

Just like what Sion did.

''Just like how he has saved the me who has been running away all this while.''

That's why Ryner stretched his hand straight out to Toale.

Toale then looked at that hand. He looked intently at it with a troubled face.

It was difficult to make a determined decision. He was carrying tens of thousands of lives on his back. If he made a mistake, there was a possibility that all those lives would be lost.

He was probably fearful of that.

He was fearful of carrying all that.

A weight that was as heavy as the one as Sion, who was enduring everything like an idiot and screaming in anguish.


That was why Toale looked at Ryner's hand silently for a while.

But in the end,

"...... jeez, you got me. Coming at me straight in that manner with my troops surrounding the tent, doesn't that make me feel embarrassed?"

While saying that, he took Ryner's hand. And then,

"I understand. I shall trust you. You won't be falsifying your identity again, right?"

He smiled upon saying that.

To which Ryner smiled as well,

"No, I'm still fake this time you know? The truth is the hardworking me you're seeing now is a fake, the real me really wants to dump everything and take an afternoon nap."

On hearing that, Toale said,

"I know that, you know? I also want to dump everything and take a nice afternoon nap."

"You said it."

"Yes. But, we can't run away from troublesome things...... and what should our future plans be?"

On hearing that question, Ryner released Toale's hand. He scratched his head and started thinking again.


Originally, Ryner's plan was like this.

To look for valuable, capable people to protect the commoners with the soldiers.

In the meantime, Ryner will bring along Toale to subdue Starnel.

If however, Roland breaks its agreement and attacks while Ryner and Toale are not around, then the plan will change.

The Nelpha troops will carry the flags of Roland and attack Runa, then pretend to lose and run away.

This act should create a powerful threat to Roland.

At any rate, if things go badly, the alliance relationship between Runa and Roland could sour terribly.

Of course, since Runa and Roland are allies, there was a possibility that Runa has already been alerted to this plan of Ryner's, but that would not pose a problem.

The problem was how other countries would view the troops carrying Roland's flags getting beaten off by Runa.

Say for an example, what will happen if that is known to Cassla?

No, even if not other countries.


What will happen if this news reach the troops led by Starnel?

What if the soldiers of Runa were misled into thinking that their ally, Roland, was fearful of them?

The rumor would spread easily.

It's even better if it's a bad rumor.

And if that kind of rumor were to spread, the image of a mighty Roland that Sion was trying to paint would crumble. In this way, the image of nobody being able to resist against Roland who held an absolute amount of overbearing power, would easily crumble.

The other countries in the south would form an alliance and there was a possibility that Roland would no longer be able to advance northwards easily.

That's why the plan should work easily.

Since Sion is a gentle person who will choose the path with the lowest number of sacrifices.

That's why, just by doing the things they ought to do, even without attacking Runa, the plan should succeed.

Ryner was then about to explain the plan to Toale.

It's fine.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 203.jpg|thumb]]

He was about to explain it to him and tell him it's okay to follow him.

But, at that moment.

Before Ryner could explain the plan to Toale.

"............"

Abruptly, everything started going crazy.

Suddenly, the entrance to the tent opened.

"Hn?"

Ryner turned his gaze there.

Standing there, was the face of a familiar man.

Golden hair tied up behind him, a calm face.

That was the man who Ferris took hostage when Ryner attacked Claugh a few days ago.

His name was Shuss Shirazz, if he remembered correctly.

An excellent vice-commander of Claugh.

Ryner looked at Shuss with tinge of surprise,


"Oh, they sent a messenger at a surprisingly early time. Have you already told Sion my suggestion?"

On hearing that, Shuss nodded. Then,

"...... we did."

As he said that, for some reason, his face looked dark and a little pained.

On seeing that, Ryner asked with a puzzled look.

"...... so, what did he say? You've come here to give a reply because he accepted right? At any rate, he should not have any a choice other than to accept this plan......"

But, cutting his words off, Shuss said.

"No. The reply has not come yet."

"Huh? There's no reply?"

"Yes."

"Then, what did you come here for? If there's no reply, there's no meaning in you coming here right?"

On hearing Ryner's words, Shuss made an even more pained expression,

"...... the truth is that I came here not on His Majesty's orders, but to pass a message to you from Field Marshal Claugh Klom."


"From red-hair?"

"Yes."

On hearing that, Ryner face became increasingly more puzzled.

As if he had entirely no clue.

He had never expected that in this situation, it was not a reply from Sion, but a message from Claugh. That's why he could not guess what kind of message it would be.

But.

He knew that it would not be something good. He knew that immediately just by looking at Shuss's face.

Looking at the dark expression on Shuss's face, Ryner asked.

"So, what is it? What did that muscle idiot red-hair want to tell me? Did he say I'm annoying and that he wanted to kill me?"

Following that, in a grave voice unmatching of that light tone of Ryner, Shuss said.

"No. Field Marshal, his Honor, told you to...... 'Run away'......"


Run away.

Ryner cocked his head at those words.

"Huh? Run away? What is the meaning of that? Why do I have to run away? We are the ones threatening Roland right? Right now, you shouldn't be able to take on both Runa and Nelpha right. In order to prevent that, Sion definitely has to accept my idea......"

However, Shuss cut him off there,

"...... Roland has already started invading Runa Empire."

He said.

Ryner's eyes widened at that,

"...... what."

He could only utter.

But, Shuss continued.

"His Majesty made no reply to your message. He ignored it totally. And, Roland has already passed the southern borders of Runa, and advancing northwards at an overwhelming speed. The commander is Marshal Bayuuz White and, Lieutenant General Miran Froaude. Without accepting Runa's surrender, they are now massacring people. And we have also received our orders. Until we have killed both Starnel Nelphi and Toale Nelphi, do not relax on your attacks. Show them Roland's might --- it said."


On hearing that.

On hearing that, Ryner.

"............"

Was at a loss for words.

He then desperately turned over what Shuss had said in his head. Unable to breathe, his face pale, he thought desperately.

Shuss had said.

''"His Majesty made no reply to your message."''

Shuuss had said that.

But, he thought otherwise.

The reply had already come.

Sion had already made his stand on Ryner's plan.

''I'll not accede to your wise plan. Roland shall, without borrowing your power, challenge the world with its might, speed, fearsomeness, and massiveness.''


''In order to do that, I don't care how much sacrifices there will be. Even if it amounts to hundreds of thousands, or even millions of lives.''

The balance Sion was using has become a gigantic one.

On realizing that, Ryner uttered,

"............ damn."

He spat.

He had made another mistake.

He had made another mistake in his calculations.

Because of that, large numbers of people will die.

''Because of my stupidity, foolishness, and my lack of consideration, many people will die.''

''Because my resolve has yet reached the level of Sion's, large numbers of people will die once again.''

Upon thinking that,

"...... damn damn damn."

He wanted to cry.

He wanted to run away.


He wanted to run away to a faraway place right now.

But there was no place to run to. He was already shouldering large numbers of lives.

Even if he was slapped with sudden despair, and wanted to scream in anguish.

"............"

He could only move forward like what Sion did.

He could only move forward like him.

Since the gears were spinning.

Since they were spinning crazily, intensely.

That's why Ryner.

"............"

Looked up.

He glared at Shuss, and with a low, cracked voice,

"...... Roland already has the power to crush both Nelpha and Runa at the same time?"

He asked.

However, that was a foolish question.

The results had been proven.


Runa had already declared their surrender, but Roland did not accept it and continued to raze them.

And that performance was probably creating a dramatic effect. As a result of having razed and crushed two countries, Nelpha and Runa, with overwhelming might, Roland has created an image of itself to other countries as a fearsome country that will not accept any kind of surrender once it starts waging war.

It would be able to make other countries tremble in fear with that image.

So the next time when it moves again, others will proclaim a surrender without even putting up a resistance, allowing Roland to proceed unhindered.

For that purpose.

"............"

For that purpose, there was meaning to the massacre this time.

This was the best choice to minimize the number of sacrifices in the future.

In order to take the path of least sacrifices, Sion had again taken the lives of large numbers of people.

In order to take the shortest path, Sion had again chosen the lives of large numbers of people.

The one who had yet the resolve.

The one who had yet to make his resolve,


"...... is me."

Ryner said groaningly with a face that was on the verge of crying.

But, he had really never thought that Roland would be able to acquire such overwhelming power to be able take on both Nelpha and Runa at the same time. It was beyond his expectations.

"...... damn. That's also my calculation mistake."

Ryner muttered.

Even when he had been spending that same time with Sion, he had never noticed it.

He had never once noticed the depth of the darkness he bore.

He regretted it.

Even when the regrets did not help him, he regretted.

Ryner said.

"...... I understand now what Sion is doing. So, Claugh is asking me to run away?"

Shuss nodded.

"In two more days, we'll start advancing our troops again. The next time we meet on the battlefield, we intend to kill all of you. But for just two days...... we'll stop at our current location. In the meantime......"


Ryner continued from there.

"...... in the meantime, you want us to run away? In other words, this time, Claugh is unsatisfied with Sion's order?"

But, Shuss said.

"No, he didn't say that. Field Marshal, His Honor, will definitely not go against the orders of His Majesty."

Even if he said that, Claugh would not be setting off immediately, and would be delaying things for two days. On top of that, he even told Ryner about the current situation, where Sion had started attacking Runa.

If this is not going against his orders, then what else is?

But Ryner instead said,

"I see."

Shuss nodded again.

"That's right. And my mission ends here. The next time we meet will be......"


"On the battlefield?"

"Yes. The next time I will be killing you. I won't be so easily defeated like the last time, so brace yourself."

Upon saying that, Shuss turned on his heel. With that, he started exiting the tent.

To his back,

"...... tell Claugh thanks for his help."

On hearing that, Shuss merely waved lightly and left the tent.

Looking after his departing figure,

"............"

Ryner took a deep breath and breathed out. As if he were letting go of the built up despair in his body, he breathed out with all his strength.

And once again, he looked at the Toale beside him.

Toale was making a complicated face. Looking at that face,

"I'm sorry Toale. The plan's all messed up."

"I've heard."

"So, with regards to what's next......"


Upon saying that, a tired smile surfaced on Toale's lips,

"I shall show myself to Roland, and get executed publicly......?"

But Ryner shook his head.

"That's useless. Roland is not even willing to accept the surrender of Runa, we don't know how far they will go with the massacring until they are satisfied...... well, at the very least, the soldiers who followed you will be killed."

Toale then smiled sadly.

"Uwah, that is a little...... too much for me. It's all because of my fault to have led these soldiers......"

"No, that's not it. If you hadn't stopped these soldiers, they would have already been killed by Claugh. You have saved their lives."

"It's just for a few days though...... but, then, what should we do?"

On hearing those words, Ryner kept quiet again.

As he pondered, he looked up at the roof part of the tent. The sunlight that was passing through the tent top was red.

The sun was already setting.

Night was falling.


When night comes, they won't be able to move.

However, there was not much time left.

Roland's troops were pressing in from the south, as well as from Runa's side.

If they don't run, they'll get killed.

Everyone'll get killed.

Realizing that.

"............"

Realizing that, Ryner called out,

"Major Selues."

The entrance to the tent opened. Selues entered.

"What is it?"

Ryner said to the solemn face of his.

"My plan has failed. Roland's troops will be attacking from Runa's side. We need to escape now. So mobilize the troops. We're running."

Selues then stared at him,


"What about the commoners?"

"Scatter them, to the west. We shall go north, straight through the Autonomous Holy City of Cassla. Roland's forces will probably come after us."

"I see. So we are the decoy for the commoners to get away. That's a great way to die."

On hearing his words, Ryner's face contorted.

"...... sorry."

However, on the solemn face of Selues, a thin smile surfaced for the first time.

"No, you made the right choice. I can trust you a little more with this."

Upon saying that, he turned around. Then,

"The situation has changed! We need to change locations again!"

While yelling, he went outside.

After ascertaining that, Ryner turned towards Toale.

"Then, let's go, Toale. There's already no more time left. Let's get going quickly. Since you are the one being targeted, you should be moving right at the front."


However, for some reason, Toale smiled sadly,

"....... no, I can't do that. I shall stay back."

As he said that, Ryner's face contorted again.

"Huh? Why? What are you going to do here?"

Toale then said,

"...... I shall remain here and buy some time by negotiating with Roland......"

However, before he could finish, Ryner said,

"Idiot!"

He yelled.

"Use your head Toale! If you were to remain here, most of the troops who have followed you will also remain here right. What will then happen to them? Do you want everyone to die with you? You're leaving. Take the soldiers and flee to Cassla."

To which Toale made an unsettled face,

"Will Cassla take in the soldiers of Nelpha?"

However, Ryner promptly replied,

"I don't know. But, other than that, there's no other way. At any rate, if you stay here, everyone will get killed. We have no choice but to try. Now that we're going to do it...... now that we're going to do it, I'll...... definitely not let you die. Even though we were talking about decoys earlier there's no need to die. Before Roland catches up to us, we'll pass through Cassla. You'll live and get away. Everyone will get away and laugh in the end. So don't foolishly talk about dying again. Get it?"


In response to that strong tone of Ryner, Toale looked intently at him and said,

"....... got it."

And nodded. Then, with a somewhat delighted smile,

"And thanks for coming here to help me...... Ryner."

He said.

Not Ryner-san, he dropped the honorifics and called him Ryner.

On hearing that, with a somewhat embarrassed and vexed face, Ryner began,

"Aah jeez, don't worry about stuff like that. Now, go to where Major Selues is. If you take command, the soldiers will probably move faster. Get a thousand troops to remove their military uniforms to protect the commoners and disperse them. The remaining soldiers shall head north......"

But, at that moment before he could finish ---


Instantly.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

Screams rang out from their surroundings.

Following that, a thunderous roaring noise which made their heads spin sounded.

In response to that.

"............"

In response to that, Ryner's eyes widened in shock.

"No way......"

He murmured.

But, once again.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllppp."

Screams rang out.

Following by another thunderous roar, again and again.

Ryner then said again,

"...... no way, how could this......."


He murmured dumbfoundedly.

This shouldn't be happening.

So quickly.

There was no way the enemies could have reached them so quickly.

But, as before, thunderous roars reverberated.

Flickering lights that dazzled even the eyes of those in the tent.

Following that, another thunderous roar.

Ryner knew about all that.

It was a large-scale magic used by Roland.

"...... what the hell is happening!?"

Ryner yelled as he rushed out of the tent.

At the instant he exited the tent.

The night sky, the dark night sky was lit up.

Before Ryner's eyes, tens of people.

"............"

Were reduced to ashes in an instant.


Screams were heard from men, women, children, and the elderly who were roasted from the high temperatures caused by magic.

Screams rang out.

And then they got roasted.

The people who were roasted by the intense fire died.

"...... uwah...... damn, shit......"

Ryner trembled as he saw that. He couldn't move.

However, from the hell-like scene, Kiefer came dashing over.

"Ryner! Roland's troops are approaching from the borders at Runa's side......"

She was also on the verge of tears. In her arms was a four, five year old girl who was injured.

Looking at that.

Looking at Kiefer's teary face,

Ryner was brought back to his senses. Looking intently at her,

"...... I got it. Let's run away immediately. Selues! Protect everyone and make for the north! Move the troops! Get them to counter Roland's large-scale magic attack!"

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 223.jpg|thumb]]

At that voice of Ryner, Selues gave out orders and the soldiers started moving.

Following that, Toale came out of the tent as well and he told him.

"Toale, you go lead the people and escape."

"But."

"No buts. If you're not there, no one will move. Don't just stand there and get moving! I'll do something about the rear somehow, you just focus on getting everyone out of here!"

On hearing that, Toale wanted to say something again, but he relented, nodded once, and ran off.

Ryner looked at his departing figure, then said to the unsettled Kiefer beside him,

"Kiefer."

"Yes."

"Take Iris, Arua, and Kuku with you and follow Toale."

She then made an anguished face. She made a face as if wanting to say that she wants to fight with him here. But instead, her face contorted painfully and she said,

"...... got it."


She then carried the girl in a hugging fashion, and said,

"I'll do my best in supporting Toale to help him get into Cassla. But, Ryner also......"

However, at that juncture, he stopped paying attention to her words. He didn't have the luxury of time to listen to that anymore.

If he tarried further, the next large-scale magic attack would come. If that were to happen, tens of people, hundreds of people would die again.

He needed to defend against that.

Ryner looked in the direction of where the magic came from.

He looked in that direction and widened his eyes.

Following that, red pentacle shapes surfaced on the center of his black pupils and glowed.

Cursed eyes known as '''Alpha Stigma'''.

With those eyes of his, he tried to locate the faraway large-scale magic spell formation.

But, he couldn't see it.


He couldn't see the construct of the magic.

Was it because they had yet to start creating the large-scale magic, or was it because the troops were charging straight towards here without deploying the large-scale magic?

"Damn, if I can't see it, I can't come up with the counter spell......"

But at that moment.

"I say, Ryner!?"

His face got punched heavily from the side.

"Uoh?"

Ryner uttered.

Following that, he turned towards the one who punched him.

The same tearful Kiefer was standing there.

"Erm, eh? Why did you punch me?"

To his question, she said with an angry face.

"Because you are not listening to what I'm saying!"

"Erm, what you're saying?"


"Yeah!"

"B-but, this is not the time......"

But, she cut him off,

"It's precisely because of that, that I'm telling some seriously important stuff right! So listen up properly!"

She said menacingly.

On hearing that,

"...... erm, ah ~, alright. I'm sorry......."

''Uhm'', Kiefer then nodded at Ryner's apology.

"It's great that you understand."

"Er, erm, so Kiefer, what do you want to tell me?"

Kiefer looked once to the sky from which the large-scale magic was invoked, and then looked back at Ryner.

Then, with a serious-looking face,

"Since there isn't much time, I'm going to say all the important stuff that Ryner needs to know in one breath, ok?"


She said.

Ryner nodded in response.

She then exhaled softly, following that, she took a deep breath.

"...... here goes. Ryner. If say, you are unable to stop Roland's forces here and Nelpha's people and soldiers get massacred, it'd not be your fault. So don't go throwing away your life to save them, get it? I think from hereon, you'll be someone who will save a lot more lives. That's why you can't afford to die here. If you were to die easily here, then you're merely a brainless fool. A fool who won't be able to save Sion. But if you're not a fool, and really want to save a lot more lives...... it's forbidden for you to die here. Get it?"

On hearing those words, Ryner became flustered,

"Erm, but......"

"Buts are also forbidden. If you die, I'll commit suicide as well. I'll definitely do it you know?"

"Eeeeeeeeeh, hey, Kiefe......"

But, with a serious-looking face that was really on the verge of crying, she continued.

"I'm serious ok? I don't want to live in a world without you. So if you end up being unable to stop Roland's forces, run away. Get it?"


On hearing those words.

"............"

While Ryner was yet unable to reply, Kiefer started again,

"I'm asking you whether you get it or not!!"

She yelled loudly.

He trembled a little,

"......I-I, got it."

"Alright! Then go!"

"...... erm."

"Hurry up! If not, I'm really going to cry!!"

While shouting, Kiefer had in fact started crying. In response to that, Ryner frantically turned his face away,

"Erm, er ~, sorry."

"Uh-huh."

"Then, I'm off."


"Right...... you must definitely not die."

Kiefer said from behind.

Ryner then nodded,

"Kiefer, don't die as well."

"Uhn. Then...... see ya."

"Aah. See ya."

Upon saying that, Ryner started running.

Firstly, back to the tent. Ferris was already awake.

"What's happening?"

"Roland is attacking."

On hearing those words, her face became a little dazed and she said,

"...... horh. So, what are you planning to do?"

"Go receive them for a bit while the others escape. Wanna join me?"

A thin smile floated on her face. She then drew the sword at her waist.

"...... well, if I'm not around, you will be trembling in fear like a weak worm, pee in your pants and die. Jeez! You're already an adult and still pee in your pants, aren't you ashamed of yourself!"


"Hey, what are you talking about?"

Another smile appeared,

"I'm lending you a hand so that you don't pee in your pants."

After saying that, she swung her sword, and sliced apart the tent flaps.

Then, beyond the sliced portion. Far beyond that.

"............"

Ryner could see a light construct forming up.

It was a large scale lightning attack magic, '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

There were three of them.

"...... three, huh."

Too little. Ryner thought.

If Roland's main forces were closing in, there will be ten times more '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

In other words, right now, the ones that were attacking them were a smaller vanguard.

A force to hold them here while the main forces arrive.


So that none of them could escape.

"............"

In other words, they were attacking in order to massacre all the soldiers and commoners, without letting any one of them escape.

"...... damn. You're going to this extent huh, Sion."

Ryner groaned while he looked intently at the forming '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

If these three '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting) were completed, hundreds of people would be killed again.

However, they had only just started to form up. And Ryner knew how to shut down that magic. No. Even if, say, he didn't know, with his special pair of eyes he would be able to discover the way to shut it down.

A smile surfaced on Ryner.

"...... well, but, at this level, it's still possible to barely counteract them."

Upon saying that, he looked around him. And as expected, he found a group of Nelpha soldiers who were about to make a large scale magical attack,

"Hey you guys, that won't do. More importantly, don't you have any water-based magic?"


At that question, a soldier answered.

"Water, you say? We do...... but the power......"

But, cutting him off, Ryner said.

"We don't need power. We just need something simplified. Focus on the speed. The next coming attack would be lightning magic, you guys just render that ineffective......"

At that moment, from beside him, Ferris broke into a run.

Towards the enemy.

In the direction where the Roland soldiers appeared to be.

After looking at her back, Ryner once again turned to the soldiers and said.

"...... you guys just stop their large scale magical attack once, in the meantime, we'll keep them in check, can you do it?"

But the soldiers appeared to be flustered,

"B-But, how did you know that the enemies are launching a lightning magical attack on us......"

But Ryner cut him off,

"I'm an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer. I can tell what kind of magic the other side is using and where they will be coming from."


He said.

On hearing that.

On hearing his words.

A look of fear appeared on the soldiers' faces. And they peered into the eyes of Ryner.

At the red pentacles floating above the center of his black eyes ---

Following that, their faces became increasingly contorted with fear.

The killer eyes.

The massacring cursed eyes.

Once those crazy eyes go berserk, a scene of carnage and despair will ensue.

That's why everyone hated those cursed eyes.

Hated the people who possess those eyes.

Hated Ryner.

That's why he ran away.

Since he didn't want to be looked upon in that manner again.

Since he didn't want to be looked upon by those fearful, loathing, demeaning eyes again.


"............"

But, at that moment, the soldier said.

Looking at him, looking at him with fearful eyes,

"...... I, I see...... t-that's really reassuring under such circumstances......"

Said the soldier in a trembling voice, to which Ryner said,

"...... isn't it?"

And he smiled.

Following that, he started giving instructions.

"So listen to me, and defend against their magic. Defending is enough. We'll do the attacking."

"Understood. So, which way......"

With that, Ryner pointed in two different directions with both his hands.

"One from this direction. And another one from this direction. And also one from there. They'll be invoking three rounds. From the current constructing speed, you have probably another five minutes. So, how long do you need?"


That soldier then turned around.

And another soldier behind said,

"For the simplified version, in two minutes."

"Then get to it now."

"Yes."

As the soldier acknowledged, the soldiers and commoners who were heading north had started to move.

"Oh, finally, the preparations to escape are done huh."

Ryner turned towards the crowd who were starting to move.

''Aaarrrggghhh, sloooowwwww'', Ryner wanted to holler at the moving crowd.

But it couldn't be helped.

There were both children and elderly. They were not trained soldiers.

Even if the vanguard sent out by Roland were to retreat, the main forces would probably catch up in no time.

However, even so, they couldn't give up. Even if it was only for a little while, they needed to escape northwards.


That's why.

"............"

That's why he fought.

At the battlefield.

Not only that, at last, he had to fight the soldiers of his own country.

His finger danced in the air, and started carving out glowing words. And then.

"I OFFER THE CONTRACTED WORDS, LETTING THE SLUMBERING MALICIOUS SPIRIT DWELL WITHIN."

He chanted.

His body sparkled and his movement speed increased......

But, at that moment.

"Ryner-sensei!"

A voice sounded from behind him. It was the voice of Arua.

Ryner frowned and turned around.

"What are you doing! Hurry up and get out of here!"

But, Arua said,


"I......"

"I can't bring you along! This is not a situation where you can be useful! Go protect Kuku, Kiefer, and Iris!"

After saying that, he was about to ignore Arua and run off, but,

"No! I won't be a burden to Sensei! I've come here to bring you these."

On hearing those words,

"Huh?"

Ryner turned around.

Arua handed him a bunch of cloth-like objects that he was hugging against his chest,

"...... if you are going to fight Roland soldiers, won't it be easier to get close to them if you bring these along?"

He said.

Ryner took them. And opened them up.

They were the Roland flags which he had gotten Iris to prepare for him earlier.


Ryner then said,

"Ohhh, aren't you a smart one!"

Arua then smiled happily.

"Was I useful?"

"Very! As expected of my disciple!"

On hearing those words, Arua blushed and smiled, ''ehhehe'' like a kid.

"Well then, go back, and protect Kuku, Kiefer and Iris."

Arua then made a slightly worried face,

"What about Sensei......"

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll be right back. Kiefer said that she'll get mad at me if I die, so I'll come back alive."

"...... is that a promise?"

"Yeah. It's a promise. Ok, I'm off."

"Alright."

"See you."

After saying that, Ryner started running.


He went in the opposite direction of the waves of people. Before long, he left the crowd. And on the other side.

On the side of the open field, was Ferris riding a horse.

While riding on a horse, with her left hand, she was holding onto the reins of another horse running alongside her.

Ryner tried to catch up to her with everything he got, and gradually, gradually, the tiredness from the acceleration started seeping in,

"Ah, hey, Ferris! I can't do this! It's tiring to chase you! Could you stop for a little while?"

But,

"........."

Ferris ignored him.

"Heeeeeeeyyyy, you can hear me right! I'm telling you to stop!"

And at last, she turned around. And gleefully, ''pahn pahn'', she clapped her hands,

"Mr Ogre, I'm here ♪, the sound of my hands......"

"Shuutttt uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp!!"

Yelled Ryner as he accelerated even further. He ran at his full speed where he felt as if his legs were rupturing, and as the horse got closer, he kicked the ground.


With that, he got onto the back of the horse.

''Zeh zeh'', he groaned as he gripped the reins. Getting meaninglessly tired, his entire body was covered in sweat in an instant.

Looking at that, Ferris said,

"Ooh, you can do it if you try."

"Shut up. And, don't make me waste my energy like that......"

"Hm. But there's no time right? Before the enemy launches their next magical attack, we have to......"

"No, it'll be fine. The Nelpha soldiers will do something about that. Even though it'll indeed be terrible if they managed to invoke it next time......"

But, at that moment, Ferris faced the front and squinted her eyes. Ryner followed her sight.

He could tell that they were nearing the enemy squads. If the horses were to run at full speed, at this rate, they would probably be able to charge right in the enemy formation in three to four minutes.

Ferris said.

"Before the next magical attack, we can charge into the enemy it seems. But the problem is the enemy numbers. Do you think we can render them ineffective with just the two of us?"


On hearing those words, Ryner folded his arms.

"Uhn ~, I wonder ~"

The large scale magic, '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning) that was about to be invoked would need at least thirty casters.

In order to bring the greatest amount of power smoothly, they would need a hundred people.

In other words, for the enemy to invoke the three rounds of '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning), they would need at least ninety mage soldiers and at most three hundred of them.

But normally, with respect to the practice of Roland, the large scale magic squads are protected by four times more troops than the casters. Once the casters start to invoke the large scale magic, they will not be able to move for five minutes, and during that time, they will be completely defenseless, so in order to protect them, a substantial number of troops are needed.

In other words, on the other side of this open field, the number of Roland troops would number at least more than five hundred.

In the worst case, there could be a thousand people.

Of course, it was not a number that could be handled by just two people.

"Strategy?"

On hearing Ferris's words, Ryner nodded.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 243.jpg|thumb]]

"I've got one."

"What should we do?"

"...... I'll tamper with the large scale magic on their side."

"Horh. So in other words...... we have to bust right into the enemy, and you'll forcibly change the magic formations made by the enemy?"

"Yes."

"While being completely surrounded by a ton of enemies, I shall hold them off while you change their magic formations right?"

"Yes."

"...... hm. I see. And, there's something I want to ask."

"What?"

"...... can you call that moronic strategy a strategy?"

Ryner smiled wryly at that question.

"...... yeah you can't call that a strategy at all. We might die. Then again, shall I think of another plan...... I'd rather just risk my own life, but to get you caught up in it......"

But Ferris said to that,


"But, there's no time to come up with another strategy right?"

To which Ryner nodded.

"While coming up with one, others will die."

"Then, we have no choice but to do it."

"...... yeah. Sorry."

"No need for apologies. In the worst case, I'll just abandon you and escape."

On hearing those words of hers,

"It'll be great if you can do that."

Said Ryner, but, ''even though she said that, she won't just abandon me and escape, how troublesome'', he thought.

It was just as Kiefer had said.

There was no reason for Ryner to die here.

He could not succeed in his strategy all by himself. He would definitely need Ferris's cooperation.

However, if things come to a point where they can't do anything, Ferris will definitely.

"............"

''She will definitely not abandon me and escape.''


That's the type of person she is.

In other words, if Ryner were to die, Ferris would also die.

That would be terrible.

He didn't want that.

In other words, this time,

"...... I have to do my best......"

He moaned out.

He was exasperated at the fact that even though he had already been working hard up till here, but, why did he have to work even harder?

However, if he doesn't work even harder, he won't be able to protect the things that are important to him.

And they include Ferris, Kiefer, Iris, Kuku, Arua, Toale, and also Sion.

So, even while feeling exasperated,

"............"

He looked ahead.

They were nearly upon the enemy.


As to the enemy numbers ---

"...... ah ~, that's around three thousand."

"Uhm."

"A few thousand more than what I've thought."

"A calculation error."

"Yeah. With the two of us, we can take on about twenty to thirty of them......"

She nodded. And for some reason, she looked delighted,

"...... in the past, we also charged into a swarm of troops before. This time round, let's do the same."

On hearing those words, a smile surfaced on him.

"Yeah ~, that incident huh."

And he recalled.

That was an incident which had taken place in Nelpha.

He had just met Ferris not long ago then.

It was an incident which had taken place when they were just starting to search for the Heroes' Relics, and had just entered Nelpha from Roland.

The Nelpha troops had captured Milk, and they had gone to save her.


However, the enemy numbered fifty then. And it was tough even with just fifty of them. Rather, they were risking their lives there.

But the enemy numbered three thousand this time.

"...... somehow, I feel like running."

"The sacred Ryner wants to call out to Mama while he pees in his pants huh?"

Ferris said lightly as usual, but Ryner nodded readily.

"Yeah, I'm about to. If the strategy fails, and if you were to die, I will definitely be unable to take it, and pee from my eyes. So......"

At that moment, he looked at her.

"So Ferris. If things become really bad, get away."

She then looked at him as well,

"...... uhm. You too......"

"Uhn."

"Then, let's go."

Upon saying that, Ferris sped up her horse even further.

At the same time, Roland completed its large scale magic attack.


It was '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning).

And they fired it towards the Nelpha soldiers.

As they did so, a large scale magic for counteracting that was invoked from Nelpha.

Different from individual magic, one by one, three bouts of lightning that was powerful enough to blind the eyes were fired, but, they were received by a wall formed by large amounts of water erected by the Nelpha soldiers and rendered ineffective.

A buzz then started among the Roland soldiers. As Ryner expected, the enemy's attention was drawn to that wall of water. Nobody noticed their presence.

Looking at that,

"Let's go."

Upon saying that, Ryner spread the Roland flags. With that, he jumped off the horse, and charged into the Roland forces.

At that moment.

"W-What's happening?"

A person noticed him. And his face turned to one of surprise.

Ryner then showed the flag,

"I'm an ally. I carry an order from Field Marshal Claugh Klom from the south."


The soldier then started frantically,

"His Grace, Field Marshal Klom?"

"Yeah, that's right. It's an emergency. Who's the one commanding this force?"

As Ryner asked that, he tensed up a little.

''It'll be bad if it's him'', he thought.

That monster who was entirely covered in black, and a user of a Hero's Relic.

''It'll be bad if it's Miran Froaude'', he thought.

According to Shuss, currently, the ones attacking Runa were Lieutenant General Miran Froaude and, the former military man from the Kingdom of Estabul, Marshal Bayuuz White.

The one called White might be worse. While Ryner had never really met him before, he had heard from Sion that his ability is the real deal.

But the soldier said,

"The commander is Captain Terohm. He's right at the center."

Upon saying that, he pointed to behind him.

Ryner then,

"...... hm."


Sighed out softly.

It's not White nor Froaude. The two of them were probably with the main body.

With that, the situation was very much easier.

Ryner did not look in the direction where the soldier pointed. It was not like he had any business with the commander.

The ones whom he had business with were.

"............"

He looked at the left, right, center of the forces where new large scale magic were starting to get deployed.

The next spell they were invoking was once again '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs). The magic that was first used to burn the soldiers and commoners of Nelpha.

He would tamper with them.

Ryner pointed to the closest '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs) that was in the process of getting invoked to the right. Ferris then nodded.

At that moment, a number of soldiers started,

"Hey, don't you find it strange? Why aren't they wearing any military uniforms......"

However, without waiting for them to finish, the two of them started running.


Pushing through the soldiers, they dashed towards the '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

In the midst of that.

One of the soldiers looked at them,

"...... don't tell me they are enemies? Hey, report this to Captain Terohm......"

As the man was speaking, Ferris struck him down.

Seeing that, a number of soldiers said,

"Hey, did you see that!"

"It's the enemy!"

"The enemy has come!?"

While yelling that.

Ryner invoked his magic.

Drawing the magic inscription in the air at a high speed,

"WHAT I SEEK IS SILENCE >>> ANTE"

He murmured.

Instantly.

The sounds around them were gone.


With Ryner at the center, the sounds in the surrounding area were gone. A blanket of silence fell on them.

This is a simple magic that stops the vibration of the air and stops sounds from getting transmitted, however, when people are in a completely soundless environment, their hearts will become unsettled. Especially in the case of noisy battlefields.

Previously, when he used this magic against Nelpha soldiers, it caused a great panic among them. However, this time round, the reactions should be a little different.

The reason was because ---

"............."

The reason was because this was Roland's magic.

At that moment, sounds returned.

Immediately.

"What!? What's the meaning of this!? Someone extinguished the sounds!?"

"Who was the one who used Ante!"

A commotion started among the soldiers.

Gazing at that, Ryner started drawing another magic inscription. And then,

"WHAT I SEEK IS WATER MIST >>> MISUMI"


Instantly.

A large amount of water became a raging stream and rained upon the soldiers,

"I-It's the eneeeeeeeeemmmmyyyy!"

"No, wait! This is Roland's magic! It's a traitor! There's a traitor!"

This time round, a panic ensued.

And that's not the kind of panic caused by the desperate searching of the enemy. It was the kind of panic caused by the possibility of having everyone around oneself as an enemy.

And by that time, Ryner and Ferris had finally reached the invocation location of '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

Ferris drew her sword and started mowing down the mage soldiers who were casting '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

And as Ryner reached what was behind them,

"Now, here I go ~, ohrhya."

With a tremendous force, he started tampering with the '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

And around that time, the surrounding soldiers started realizing who the enemies were.

"Stop those two!"

With that yelling, a single person started drawing a magic inscription while facing them.


"I won't allow it."

Ferris beat him down with her sword.

Following that, a number of others drew their swords and came attacking her, but in an instant, they were sent sprawling onto the floor.

On top of that, a number of other soldiers drew their swords and came attacking Ryner,

"Damn."

Ferris said as she came back to him and somehow sent them flying.

But the enemy waves did not stop. A number of soldiers started drawing glowing magic inscriptions simultaneously.

Ferris frowned,

"Ryner!"

"Huh?"

"How long are you going to take?"

"Three minutes."

"Make it one."

"Impossible."


"Then, just hurry up and get on with it!"

While saying that, she jumped out again. After striking down one, two, three of the soldiers who had started inscribing magic circles, she returned to Ryner's side.

At the same time, the soldiers completed their magic.

Three bouts of '''Kurenai'''.

One '''Kuuri'''.

The streaking light of '''Kuuri''' that was fired off first was sliced apart by Ferris.

Following that, she snatched the Roland flags away from Ryner, knocked off some of the flaming shells from '''Kurenai''', and repelled the rest with her sword ---

Then, in the nick of time, she jumped towards the last remaining flaming shell flying towards Ryner and......

"...... gah."

She knocked it off with her bare hand.

Ferris's left arm got scorched and hung loosely. Unable to move.

"............"

"Ferris......"


Ryner uttered but,

"Don't worry about me, just finish what you need to do!"

She yelled angrily and jumped out again.

She then further went on to kick the face of a man who was about to start drawing a magic inscription, and swung her sword with just her right hand.

However, bit by bit, she was no longer able to defend against the enemy's attacks.

And Ferris's body became,

"............"

Covered in blood.

"...... damn, damn, what am I doing...... faster, I need to finish this faster......"

While saying that, Ryner hastened his hand.

He couldn't go help her. He wouldn't be able to do much by helping her.

That's why he stopped looking at her.

The last time his eyes were on her, she was cut by a sword from behind. She couldn't dodge that. Blood was spurting. Her cries of anguish could be heard.

But, even so, Ryner did not go help her. He merely,


"...... please...... please, don't die, Ferris!"

Yelled as he focused on the magic inscriptions before him.

And continued tampering with its composition. With an abnormal fast speed, he changed the structure of the complex puzzle that was constructed by many people.

A little bit more.

"I just have a little bit more, so Ferris! Keep on going!"

At the same time he shouted that, he completed it. In the center of that large scale magic's giant inscription, which could not have been drawn by a single person, on the platform, a billow of black smoke formed, and the smoke spread to the surroundings in just a moment.

Then, it penetrates into the magic inscriptions of the other '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs) that were concurrently in the process of getting invoked, and altered their structure.

What was invoked was a little curse. A curse that stopped the activity of the spirits in this area.

With this, for the next fifteen minutes, it would not be possible to use any magic near these magic inscriptions.

And this was not the magic of Roland. Rather, it was not a magic of any country. This was a special magic that Ryner had researched for the past few years, that's why, once again, unable to comprehend what was happening, panic descended upon the Roland soldiers.


At any rate, they could not use magic.

On the battlefield, if they could not use magic, they would not be able to pursue their enemies.

In the next fifteen minutes.

The Nelpha soldiers would have an overwhelming advantage.

Since Ryner had invoked that magic,

"...... I'm done! Now, let's get out of here, Ferris!"

He turned around to look for her.

However.

"............"

Covered entirely with blood, Ferris was on her knees.

Her entire body was full of wounds. Blood flowing. Even on her face. Even on her abnormally well-featured, beautiful face, there were wounds.

She looked at him.

She looked at him with a troubled face.

Then.

"...... I'm sorry, Ryner. I'm dy......"


At that moment, from beside her, a sword was about to swing down. As if to behead her, a sword was about to swing down.

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==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>
 
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| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol3|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Afterword|Afterword]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 3

2011-12-07T17:14:01Z

Error: /* The Burden I Shoulder */

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==The Burden I Shoulder==


The horse galloped.

At full speed.

"My butt huuurrrtttttsssssss!"

While yelling, Ryner rode, he rode, for four days, he rode.

Beside him, Ferris, who had also been galloping for the past four days without sleeping, went,

".................................. mumyu ~"

"Hey, don't sleep while ridingggggggggg!"

Ryner yelled at the Ferris who seemed about to slip off her horse.

On hearing that, she opened her eyes suddenly, looked up, and wiped off the little drool from her mouth,

"Hm? What? It's morning?"

"No, it's evening though. Wait, that's not the problem, don't sleep on the horse! It's dangerous."


"I wasn't sleeping."

"I think you were sleeping with half of your body about to fall off."

"I was practicing body-bend riding."

"You're lying!"

"Yeah. A big lie!"

"And you're admitting to it so quickly!"

"Of course. I'm sleepy. And since I'm at my limits, I'm going to nap a little. Let me know when we reach."

"No, I was telling you not to sleep duh."

Ignoring Ryner's holler, she closed her eyes, and with that, she seemed about to slip off the horse again.

"That's why I was saying, don't sleeepppppppppppppppppp!"

Ignoring him, she fell off the horse, and in a splendid manner, she spun a few times in the air and landed on the ground. On top of that, with a soft plod, ''good night'', she said and entered the world of dreams.

Following that, the horse which Ferris had been riding on suddenly became energetic due to the lightened load, and whizzed off.


"Jeez, that fella's such a botherrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

While yelling, he whipped his horse. With that, he caught up to the horse which Ferris had discarded, and grabbed hold of its reins. And pulled. He stopped the horse, turned it around, and returned to the place where Ferris was sleeping.

Then.

"Hey."

"............"

"Hey, we don't really have time to tarry around. We're already one day late from the appointed day that we're supposed to link up with Kiefer."

"............"

"Hey, we only need to ride for another half a day before we reach our destination, so c'mon? Hey? Ferris. Please."

Without looking at him, she said,

"...... shut up. I'm sleepy. I'm sluggish. Bothersome. Go by yourself."

"Hey, are you me! I'm also sleepy to the point of dying, but, if we don't get our act together, Toale's life will be in danger. So let's do our best for a little bit more, ok?"


On hearing that, Ferris finally got up. She looked up at him with a pained expression,

"But Ryner. For the past four days, I haven't eaten a dango you know? As a person who is a hundred million, two thousand, eight hundred, and ninety-two percent made up of dango, do you think I can continue without any dango?"

At that question, Ryner, with a tired face,

"Wait, so how many percent does your entire body constitute?"

He asked back squarely,

"Who cares about that, just listen to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

She became really angry.

Ryner smiled wryly and said.

"...... erm, no, well, I know that it's been hard on you to not have eaten any dango for four days, but right now, it's an emergency so bear with it."

"I can't bear with it."

"No, but......"

"I can't bear <nowiki>-----------------------</nowiki> it! By the way, there's a nice dango shop nearby."


Upon saying that, she suddenly got up energetically, which was unthinkable for a person who was tired from going without sleep for four whole days.

Looking at that, Ryner exclaimed,

"Huuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh!? Eh? Eh? What's this? Is this that? All that ranting about being sleepy and falling off the horse was an act?"

Ferris promptly replied,

"Of course!"

"Don't 'of course' me!"

"Whatever you think about that is not the main issue here!"

Ferris said vehemently.

"............ hahh."

Ryner sighed out.

Even without that, he was already drained. Having fought with that red-haired monster, getting them horses, and riding crazily without sleep.


Riding crazily without sleep on the horses which he had sneaked out of a noble's stables along the way.

He already felt like dying. Not just from the lack of sleep, but more from the pain in his butt.

Indeed, it seems like they would need some rest soon, but......

So as to speak, after working so hard till this point, isn't it ok for him to take about two hundred years' worth of afternoon naps right? Isn't it ok for him to just disappear somewhere and take a long afternoon nap right? A temptation like this started to grow in him, but, Ryner stomped it out and said.

"...... b-but you know Ferris. At the appointed place, Iris will be waiting for us with Wynitt dango......"

But Ferris said.

"Nelpha dango and Roland dango are different things altogether."

Her tone became stronger than before,

"...... you're right I guess. Then, erm...... let's take a short break......"

Ryner gave in.

''Let's take a short break'', Ryner relaxed.


Instantly.

"Woah."

As his strength left him, he almost fell off his horse. Ferris supported him with a hand.

Then.

"See. You're also tired."

"Well...... it's obvious that I'll be tired after riding for four whole days......"

But, he had never thought that he would be so tired. He didn't realize it since he had been keeping his body tensed up all this while, but his body had become abnormally heavy. He immediately understood how it came to be so. It was a consequence of the Estabul magic which he had used to accelerate his movements during his fight with Claugh. That magic, in exchange for granting a period of increased bodily reflexes and ability, will cause the user to feel its weariness later. On top of that, this time round, in order to do something about that red-haired monster, he had seriously overused his body. It was probably the burdens from that which had come to assail him.

However, even those words alone were not enough to convey how heavy his body currently was. Right now, his entire body was enveloped with a level of fatigue that could make him pass out.

Seeing that, Ferris said.


She looked up at him, and somehow, with a slightly angry face, she averted her eyes and said.

"Jeez...... you've overdone it this time. I understand how you feel, but even so, there's a limit to what one person can do. Don't push yourself too much."

In other words.

"............"

It seems to be that.

It seems like all of Ferris's acting, and her willful behavior of wanting to go to a dango shop, were all for the purpose of saying this.

''Aah ~'', Ryner thought.

He stroked his disheveled bed-hair,

"Aah ~...... erm, sorry."

"Umu."

"Well then, let's go to that dango shop and rest up in the village."

Ferris then said,

"Idiot. There's no dango shop."

"Eh?"


"That's why you're a real idiot."

Upon saying that, for some reason, her face blushed, and in order to mask that, she made an angry face.

Looking intently at that.

"............"

Looking intently at her face,

"...... aah, I see."

Ryner smiled with a troubled look.

Ferris then jumped onto the horse, the horse that Ryner was now riding. With that, she took the reins away from his hand,

"Alright. If your overly stupid brain has understood, it's time to move. We don't have much time. Once we reach there, there will be work waiting for you again. That's why, the idiot can just sleep. I'll wake you when we reach there."

Upon saying that, she started to kick into the horse.

Ryner then frantically said,

"Eh, but Ferris, you haven't slept a wink as well......"


But at that moment,

"Don't worry about that, just sleep, idiot."

Upon saying that, she made a chopping stance with her hand and started sending it into the back of Ryner's neck,

"Eh, no wait, that's bad......"

"Shut up."

"Gyafu."

Instantly.

Ryner lost consciousness.

Darkness spread.

Deep darkness spread.

In that deep darkness.

Ryner was visited by dreams which had missed him for quite some time.

Strangely, they were cheerful dreams.

Sion appeared, and with a face full of mischief,


"Alright Ryner ~. Nap time's over. It's time to get working."

He said.

For some reason, Ferris, who was munching on dango beside him, drew her sword for no good reason,

"Die, you pervertttttttttttt."

She shouted and came beating him.

That was the scenery that was repeating again and again.

With Sion, and Ferris, the three of them.

A dream in which the three of them were making merry in that small office.

There was nothing to worry about there.

There were no lives nor troubles from others to shoulder.

Only a bunch of fools laughing happily.

And he thought.

It'd be nice if such days can go on forever, he thought.

No, he had believed that it would be so.

Such days would go on, even when he was complaining about how unpleasant or bothersome things were, as long as he worked hard, the world would be alright, he had thought.


That's why he was laughing like that.

He had never thought that it would end.

Laughing like an idiot.

Even when he was made to work throughout the night. Even when he was bashed up by her sword.

Ryner had always been laughing happily.

"............"

And he felt a little blessed.

Even though up till now, he had only been laden with tiresome things.

But, after seeing that dream, he felt like doing his best for a little longer and looking forward.

Since in his dream, he had been laughing like an idiot with them.

He had been laughing like an idiot from the bottom of his heart.

But, the dream came to an end.

Suddenly, it ended, he realized.

No, perhaps he had realized that right from the start of the dream.

That dream.


"............"

Sadly, that dream was nowhere close to reality.

"............"

But, he wished, for a little bit.

Each time he saw that dream, he'd wish.

Ryner would wish that, if only this bothersome reality could be the dream instead when he open his eyes, and that he could wake up to that noisy office, he would be willing to pay any price.

If he were to open his eyes right now.

If he were to awake from his dream.

And the nightmare would have ended and he could wake up to that noisy office again.

He would not make the same mistake again.

He would not leave Sion to his solitude again.

In order to laugh together.

In order to move forward together, this time round, without feeling bothersome, he would do his best, he thought.


And so, Ryner opened his eyes.

Wishing that he could wake up to that office.

"............"

He opened his eyes......

<center>♦</center>

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"............"

When he opened his eyes, they had already reached their destination.

On the land that was very near to the borders between Nelpha and Runa.


There, were gathered tens of thousands of people.

Ryner opened his eyes and straightened his body,

"...... hn? You've awakened?"

From behind him, Ferris, who had been doing the riding, said.

Ryner turned around,

"...... eh? Ah, yeah. I had a good sleep. Thanks, Ferris."

"Umu. I also had a good sleep."

"Hey, what would have happened if you have slept as well."

Upon making that jab, with a slightly tired face,

"Fufufu."

She laughed.

From her face, it was clear that she hadn't really slept at all. Quite unbecoming of her, there were dark circles beneath her eyes. She was clearly very tired. Ryner then began,

"This time, it's your turn to sleep. Leave the rest to......"

But, before he could finish,

"............"


She rested her head on the back of Ryner, and slept.

Ryner smiled, and without letting her body fall off, he supported her with his left hand and once again started the horse galloping.

However, with the throngs of people gathered, they couldn't move very fast.

"............"

He then looked around him.

He looked at the faces of the people gathered here.

Clearly, the people here did not just comprise of soldiers.

Originally, Kiefer was supposed to guide the ten thousand soldiers, who were thrown away as sacrificial pawns by Starnel and later saved by Toale, to this place.

"What on earth is this?"

Ryner said with a troubled face.

Clearly, the commoners who were present here greatly outnumbered the soldiers.

Women, children, as well as the elderly.

A throng of people who couldn't contribute to the fighting strength.

Well, he could probably make a guess as to why they were here.


"...... Toale, that guy sure is popular."

While muttering that, he moved the horse forward.

The people all looked up in a dumbfounded manner at the riders on the advancing horse, at Ryner and the peerless golden hair beauty behind him.

He then asked a question to someone who was clad in military uniform among the people.

"...... ah ~, erm, you are one of the soldiers following Toale right? I have some business with Toale, so do you mind leading us to him?"

On hearing that, the soldier looked up. And he glared at Ryner.

A man who had a piercing gaze. With long light brown hair tied up at the back, and perhaps, due to his unshaven face, he looked to be in his mid-twenties.

He looked up at them and squinted his eyes.

"...... are you Ryner Lute?"

Ryner was surprised at hearing his own name.

"Oh? To know my name, am I perhaps famous around here?"

On hearing that, the man's face contorted,


"I'm Kazaal Selues. A Major. I was given command of ten thousand troops from Prince Starnel and ordered to fend off Roland's forces, but I went against that and am now following Toale-sama."

On hearing those words, Ryner looked again more carefully at this man called Kazaal Selues.

He was of medium build and medium height. A well-trained body with no opening. He's probably quite strong. Well, of course, he can't be compared to that abnormal killing intent from that red-haired muscled idiot though.

However, just from his appearance, he could tell that this fella has some ability. To elaborate on that, to have become a Major in his twenties, this fella must have achieved a number of accomplishments on the battlefield.

That was the reason why Starnel had assigned ten thousand troops to him, and abandoned them.

He had probably thought that this fella would be able to fend off the Roland forces for a while and buy him more time to escape.

Considering that.

A smile surfaced on Ryner.

"...... I'm grateful to Starnel's idiocy."

On hearing that, Selues looked at him with a look of surprise,


"What did you say?"

"No, I was just giving thanks to Starnel's idiocy for throwing away someone as capable as you without even batting an eyelid. Thanks to the foolishness of Starnel, the plan I came up with might just go well. By the way, are you popular among your subordinates?"

He asked.

"............"

Selues did not answer. However, even without answering, it was clear.

Ryner looked around him once more.

The soldiers around him all had brightly lit faces. There was not the slightest drop in morale.

After getting abandoned by Starnel, and on top of that having Roland's soldiers on their heels, their current brightly lit faces could not just be attributed to Toale's popularity alone.

Ryner's grin broadened increasingly.

"Unexpectedly, things may just move ahead even without us doing anything."

Toale is popular with the commoners. If both Starnel and Toale were to claim their names to the throne, most of the people would probably follow Toale.

However, this Selues appeared to be very popular with the soldiers.


With this, if Starnel was to continue with his oppression, he would probably end up destroying himself.

If Toale were to rise up, supported by Selues at his side, there was a possibility that the rest of the power-wielding nobles, soldiers, and people would follow him.

If that were to happen.

"............"

Starnel's life would probably be no more. Even without Ryner, Toale, or Roland doing anything.

Thanks to his own foolishness, Starnel would be killed by Imperial Nelpha.

If that were to happen, then there would be no need for Ryner to take the trouble to capture Starnel.

However, the real problem will start from there.

After Starnel's death.

After Toale becomes king.

At that time, Roland will probably be asking for Toale's life.

The current Roland will definitely not allow Toale to live.


That's why in order for Toale to live, there are two choices.

First.

Escape to outside of the country.

Second.

Lead Nelpha's soldiers to fight Roland.

"............"

But the latter was out of the question.

Right now, there was no longer any country in the southern part of the continent with enough power to fight the military might of Roland.

Ryner was very well aware of that.

For the past one year, he had always hung around Sion's side.

Working hard together in that office to strengthen Roland.

And in just one year, Roland was totally transformed to something different from before.

Roland was reborn.

Even though Ryner was not directly involved in the military affairs, he could still imagine roughly how much power the current Roland wielded.


To the Nelpha right now, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg.

Well, however, if they were to ally with Runa Empire to resist Roland, then it would be a different story.

"............"

Even for Roland, it would be difficult to face two countries as its opponents, he thought.

However, Runa was an ally of Roland.

As such, Nelpha no longer had any chance of winning. There was no other way other than to surrender.

In other words, for the short term, there was no way but for Toale to first capture Starnel, become the king, and issue a surrender, and before Roland catches him, escape out of the country.

As he unfolded the various development scenarios in his head,

"Aah, this is bothersome."

Upon groaning, Selues nodded.

"Yeah. It's extremely bothersome. That's why there's not much time left. According to Kiefer Knolles, you are supposed to have arrived yesterday. What in the world were you doing?"

Ryner's face turned serious at that and he looked at Selues.

"Sorry we're late. Even though we were already rushing all the way here, it was my calculation mistake. But, I'm not going to make another mistake hereon. I'll save this country, and save Toale's life. So can you lead us to Toale?"


Selues then grabbed hold of the reins of Ryner's horse and led them.

"Here."

"Right."

Once again, the horse started off slowly.

Ahead of where Selues was leading them, was a small tent. Outside of that tent, was a familiar group, made up of a golden hair girl, a black hair boy and his childhood girl friend, playing.

Iris, Arua, and Kuku.

At that moment, Iris noticed Ryner's group.

"Ah ~! Wild Beast-kun ~!"

She shouted.

Arua then turned towards here as well,

"Ryner-sensei!"

Following that, the tent opened, and out came Kiefer, with her hand waving.

Ryner then waved back at her, and lastly......


A man around the same age of Ryner came out of the tent. With brown hair and a kind face. However, compared to the time he met him a year ago, the face was more drawn. It was filled with more fatigue.

Just from that, he could see what he had been through for the past few weeks.

Ryner smiled at Toale.

And in response to that.

"............"

Toale returned with a wry, troubled smile.

Ryner then turned around.

"Hey, Ferris."

"............"

"Ferris, wake up. We have reached. There should be a bed somewhere, go sleep there."

On hearing that, without opening her eyes,

"Hah ~, then, carry me there."

"Walk on your own."

"Carry me there like a princess."


"Huuuuhhhhhhhh? Huuhhhhhh? You, with so many people looking......"

But, upon saying that, she grabbed hold of Ryner's neck. And while strangling him,

"You're so annoying. If you dare wake me again...... I'll kill you, get it?"

As she said that, her fingers seemed to be really crushing Ryner's neck,

"Hey, I get itttttttt! Whether is it like a princess or groom, I'll carry you so don't kill me."

"Um. Then, please carry on. I'll be going back to sleep."

"......................... jeez."

Ryner sighed out loudly, and following that, he dismounted the horse. After that, he brought down Ferris, who had descended into deep sleep.

Then, in her desired princess cradle fashion, he carried the bothersome princess,

"A princesssssssssssssss!"

Iris made a jab as she clung to Ferris's chest.

The weight of the two people on Ryner's hip. His hip seemed about to sprain. He really felt like killing the two troublesome sisters.


But.

"...... uhwu, I have to bear with it until I get her to a bed. Do your best, Ryner. I'll be able to relax when she sleeps......"

He encouraged himself, and started walking.

Following that, Kiefer came to him.

"............"

While staring at him, she smiled kindly.

But, somehow, it was different from the smile just now. She was looking intently at him with a somewhat, transfixed, biting gaze, and softly,

"...... princess cradle."

"Eh? What?"

"Nothing."

"But you know, these two people are really heavy...... hey, Kiefer, can you help me?"

Ryner asked, to which Kiefer said,


"Nope."

"Eh?"

"No way."

"Erm......"

But, at that moment, she grinned,

"Just kidding ~. It was a joke, a joke. I'll help you. The past few days have been tough on you guys right? You're tired right?"

While saying that, she supported Ryner's arms, and pushed upwards. With that, his burden lessened.

"Oh, that really helps."

"That's great."

"Thanks."

"Yeah!"

Kiefer acknowledged happily.

Following that, Ryner once again looked in front of him, at Toale.

For some reason, with a seemingly bad mood, he was looking at him --- rather, at Kiefer.


"Hn? What's wrong, Toale?"

On hearing Ryner's words, his face turned to one of surprise,

"Eh? Umm...... ah ~, no, nothing. Long time no see, Ryner-san."

"Long time no see."

Upon saying that, Ryner wanted to wave his hands, but realizing that both his arms were encumbered, he merely nodded his head at him.

Toale then rushed up to him.

"Do you need help?"

"Yeah, can you help me with the top one."

Toale nodded, and lifted up Iris, who had been clinging to Ferris's chest.

Iris's face then lit up,

"Wah! It's high, are you bringing me higher!? Iris loves that!"

On hearing that, Toale lifted Iris up and down. Following that, he looked at Ryner,

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 183.jpg|thumb]]

"Well Ryner-san, I would have never expected to reunite with you under such circumstances."

Ryner nodded as well. He smiled wryly at the tight-fitting, seemingly unsuitable military uniform that Toale was wearing.

"Yeah. I've never thought so either. So to speak, it became something real bothersome."

Following that, Toale opened the entrance to the tent. Inside was a simple bed, and he pointed to it,

"Over there."

"Yeah."

Ryner nodded as he carried Ferris there. He put Ferris down on the bed, and hugging the pillow, she slept comfortably.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Ryner then said smilingly.

Following that, once again, Kiefer looked at him with a slightly angry face.

Ryner cocked his head to the side.

"So, what's wrong?"


"N-o-t-h-i-n-g."

"Hey, those words sounded rather thorny."

"No they don't."

"Yes they do."

"I said no, they don't"

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Well ok...... forget it then."

"No way."

"Eeeehhh?"

"Humph."

Kiefer turned her face away from him and went out of the tent.

With an incomprehensible look on his face,

"...... what the hell was that?"

Ryner asked Toale.

On hearing that, for some reason, he also made an unpleasant face,


"Please don't ask me."

"Toale, why are you angry as well?"

"I'm not angry."

"Really?"

"Yes. More importantly......"

Upon saying that, he looked at Ryner.

And smiled.

"Really, long time no see. Ryner-san, I'm really happy to hear that you are coming here to help me. ''I'm coming here to save you. The reason is because we're friends. Ok?'', those words, frankly speaking, made me want to cry."

He said, to which Ryner smiled.

"Was that a little too mushy?"

"Nope. It was a great thing to me, who was depressed from getting cornered in all directions."

"Is that so. That's great then."

Ryner nodded, pulled up a nearby chair and sat down.

Toale then said,


"Should I brew some tea like what we did in the past?"

"Ah ~, the tea you brewed was really good. But, forget it now. There's really not much time left. Erm, so the situation we are now in......"

"I have already heard everything from Kiefer-san. As to where did you come from, and why are you here now......"

Upon saying that, Toale looked at Ryner with a pair of somewhat reproachful eyes,

"...... jeez, Ryner-san, you really had me with all those lies. You are a person from Roland right. And on top of that, the best friend of that hero king, Sion Astal. And to top if off, a year ago, you introduced that Sion-san as your cousin and ate in my house......"

On hearing that, Ryner nodded with a somewhat apologetic face.

That's right, that's how it was.

Ryner had met Toale and withheld his true identity then.

During that time, as a spy from Roland, he had to hide his identity while searching for the Heroes' Relics together with Ferris.


They had then visited Imperial Nelpha, Runa Empire, and Iyet Republic before returning back to Roland again.

On top of that, Toale had met Sion.

At that time, Sion was on a formal visit, calling on the grandfather of Toale, the previous king of Imperial Nelpha, Gread Nelphi, and had asked Ryner to become his bodyguard.

And so, Sion then went to the place where Ryner was at, which was Toale's house, and they had dined together on the same table.

"............"

During that time, he couldn't possibly have imagined that the relationship between Sion and Toale would have become such a bothersome thing.

Ryner nodded, and said.

"...... yeah. When we met you, Sion was masquerading as my cousin."

Toale then smiled vexedly.

"That fine young man is the hero king huh...... a powerful enemy indeed."

"Well, yeah. He's really a workaholic...... it will be a troublesome thing to surpass him."

"But we're going to surpass him right?"


"If not, you will be dead."

"Yeah. But, can I trust you? Ryner-san, you are the best friend of Sion-san right? I am a little doubtful that you will betray him and truly come here to help me. Perhaps, this is just Sion-san's ploy......"

However, Ryner shook his head immediately,

"No way."

He denied it outright.

But still,

"Even if you say that, I don't have enough information to make an assessment though. Now, with the lives of tens of thousands of people on my shoulder, will I be able to see this through correctly......?"

Said Toale.

Ryner then looked intently at Toale,

"Are you pressuring me to explain everything to you?"

Toale nodded.

"Yes, that's right. Even if it's me, I can't move too carelessly while carrying the lives of so many others."


"Well, you're right though. So, what do you want to know?"

"The first thing I want to ask is about the time when you first made contact with me. Was all that an act? Did you send that hoodlum to put up an act in order to get to me, who has royal blood flowing inside my veins?"

Said Toale.

When he said that.

Ryner felt a number of extraordinary killing intent from the surroundings outside of the tent. The tent was probably surrounded by soldiers.

"...... woah, Toale-chan I say, you're pretty cautious."

Ryner said in a light manner.

Following that, Ferris's eyes opened in response to that killing intent,

"...... hey Ryner."

But immediately, Ryner said,

"Go sleep, Ferris. There's no problem. I just need to explain things a little."

"But."

"I said it's fine. You're tired right? Just sleep. In the first place, with this level of opponents, I can take care of them myself. In the worst case, I'll take Toale hostage."


Ferris then replied,

"...... well, you have a point."

"That's right."

"Got it. But, if something......"

"I said it's fine. You should know that Toale and I are good buddies right? So, don't worry and sleep."

After Ryner said that, Ferris nodded and went back to sleep.

After ascertaining that, Ryner looked at Toale. With a troubled face. Then,

"Withdraw your troops. I told you I'm your ally right?"

However, without taking his eyes off him, Toale said,

"...... but you're the best friend of Sion."

''Best friend'' --- Toale had said.

Ryner made a sad face on hearing that,

"Yeah."


And he nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. But, for Sion's sake as well, I won't let him kill you."

"For Sion's sake, you say?"

"Yeah. His way of thinking is already different from mine. We're looking in different directions now."

While saying that, ''but, isn't it because we have been looking in different directions right from the start'', Ryner thought.

Even when he was shouldering everything, suffering, and on the verge of tears, he was a fool who would not even confide in his best friend.

Even when he had already been looking in a different direction, he had hidden his weeping face, and had kept on smiling perhaps.

That's why this had happened.

That's why things had progressed to this unrecoverable state.

However, he could more or less understand his thought process.

"...... he...... Sion probably wants to use the shortest amount of time to eradicate fighting in the world. Choosing the path with the least number of sacrifices, and advancing along that path. But I'm a little different. I can't distinguish between many lives and few lives, I think. Whether it is sacrificing you to save hundreds of thousands of lives, or sacrificing Sion to save millions of lives, I can't forgive something as stupid as that. At the very least, I don't want that. If you die, I'll cry, if Sion dies, I'll cry. But I hate crying."


Toale then smiled wryly.

"You're so willful."

"...... perhaps. But, that's probably what's different between me and him."

"Ryner-san, because you're too willful right?"

Ryner smiled,

"That's right."

He said.

"But, he should have the same kind of thinking as me. At any rate, he's the type of person who hates fighting, a person who hates crying, but yet, since there was no one who could save that rotten country, he became king even though he didn't really want to you know? So there's no way a gentle person like him, could kill you, or the people of Nelpha without batting an eyelid, just because this is something necessary, he isn't the kind of person who can decide this so easily with a smiling face, you know?"


Well, the truth was that he wasn't the kind of person who can come to such decisions easily. Otherwise, Ryner would not no longer be alive by now.

An '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer is an accursed creature who would end up killing others. Then, in order to save many other lives, he should have killed the Ryner, who's in danger of going berserk anytime, right away, in order to avoid such a calamity.

But yet, he didn't kill him.

Holding a knife while yelling how he would kill him, but yet, in the end, he didn't kill Ryner.

"He's really...... a fool. He's always carrying everything by himself and weeping by himself. But still, he started moving forward...... because he had no choice. But, I want to stop him. And I want to look for another way with him. I want to tell him that he's not alone, and doesn't need to shoulder everything by himself. But, I'm no longer by his side. My voice can no longer reach him. That's why I'm aiming higher. I want to reach a place where my loud voice can reach him. For that purpose, I......"

At that juncture, while looking intently at Ryner, Toale began,

"For that purpose, you've come to save me."

Ryner nodded.


"...... both of you are my friends. I've already said this earlier, but I hate to see my friends cry or die."

"...... I see. But I heard that Sion-san wants to kill you...... and you still want to save Sion-san in spite of that?"

But, to that question,

"Don't make me repeat myself please."

Ryner replied promptly.

Toale then smiled.

"......even when you are faced with that, you hate to see your friend cry...... and because I'm a friend, you will risk your life to protect me? That's quite reassuring huh."

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if you keep annoying me by making me say those lines again and again, I won't be your friend anymore."

On hearing that, ''haha'', Toale laughed out loud. Following that,

"Then, during the first time we met......"


"That was purely a coincidence. I didn't know about your identity then, and even if I did, it didn't matter. However, that's not the case with Roland. They see your popularity as a threat. You were asleep then so you didn't know this, but a year ago, when we were putting up at your house, Roland had sent an assassin, but got driven off by us. Well, during then, I didn't know that he was an assassin from Roland as well......"

At that moment, Ryner recalled the time when the assassin came to kill Toale.

He remembered the unpleasant guy called Miran Froaude, who had eyes cold like the devil, and wielded a Heroes' Relic.

The first time he fought him was in the backyard of Toale's house.

He never would have thought that Froaude was the subordinate of Sion.

Was that also.

Was that assassination attempt also carried out on the orders of Sion? If that's true, then right from the start, he was already looking in a different direction from Sion.

"............"

Well, even if he worried about it now, there was nothing he could do about it, so he brushed those thoughts aside.


Meanwhile, Toale had an expression of surprise on his face at hearing that.

"I didn't hear about it."

"We didn't tell you."

"You should have told me."

"Even if I had told you, it wouldn't amount to anything."

"Eh? No, that's true but...... but doesn't that mean my life got saved twice by you guys?"

But, Ryner waved his hand to brush that aside.

"You gave us food, a place to sleep, and on top of that let us into the library, we are even."

"Erm no, that can't make us even right."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

"Then, trust me this time. That will make us even."

"But, aren't you doing this to save me......"

However, Ryner shook his head.


"That's not it. I'm also asking you to lend me a hand to save Sion."

Upon saying that, Ryner held his hand out to Toale.

And said.

"Can you lend me a hand?"

He looked intently at Toale with a serious expression on his face.

Then, ''wasn't this how Sion held his hand out to me?'', Ryner thought in the corner of his mind.

''Let's go together'', Ryner thought back to the time when Sion had held his hand out to him.

That really saved him. Having enshrouded in solitary and had thought about he was better off being dead , that one line really saved him.

But it was different now.

He was longer the one being saved, but the one who will try to save, he thought.

Of course, he didn't think that he could do it as well as Sion.

"............"


That's why Ryner held his hand out to Toale. Moreover, he didn't know whether he could be saved. No, to have taken this path, he didn't know whether he could save Toale, and after that Sion.

But, he could no longer bear seeing others get hurt and not do anything about it.

He had to move forward.

Whatever the result might be, he shall shoulder all that and move forward, Ryner thought.

Just like what Sion did.

''Just like how he has saved the me who has been running away all this while.''

That's why Ryner stretched his hand straight out to Toale.

Toale then looked at that hand. He looked intently at it with a troubled face.

It was difficult to make a determined decision. He was carrying tens of thousands of lives on his back. If he made a mistake, there was a possibility that all those lives would be lost.

He was probably fearful of that.

He was fearful of carrying all that.

A weight that was as heavy as the one as Sion, who was enduring everything like an idiot and screaming in anguish.


That was why Toale looked at Ryner's hand silently for a while.

But in the end,

"...... jeez, you got me. Coming on me straight in that manner with my troops surrounding the tent, doesn't that make me feel embarrassed?"

While saying that, he took Ryner's hand. And then,

"I understand. I shall trust you. You won't be falsifying your identity again right."

He smiled upon saying that.

To which Ryner smiled as well,

"No, I'm still fake this time you know? The truth is the hardworking me you're seeing now is a fake, the real me really wants to dump everything and take an afternoon nap."

On hearing that, Toale said,

"I know that you know? I also want to dump everything and take a nice afternoon nap."

"You said it."

"Yes. But, we can't run away from troublesome things...... and what should our future plans be?"

On hearing that question, Ryner released Toale's hand. He scratched his head and started thinking again.


Originally, Ryner's plan was like this.

To look for valuable, capable people to protect the commoners with the soldiers.

In the meantime, Ryner will bring along Toale to subdue Starnel.

If however, Roland breaks its agreement and attack while Ryner and Toale are not around, then the plan will change.

The Nelpha troops will carry the flags of Roland and attack Runa, then pretend to lose and run away.

This act should create a powerful threat to Roland.

At any rate, if things go badly, the alliance relationship between Runa and Roland could sour terribly.

Of course, since Runa and Roland are allies, there was a possibility that Runa has already been alerted to this plan of Ryner's, but that would not pose a problem.

The problem was how other countries would view the troops carrying Roland's flags getting beaten off by Runa.

Say for an example, what will happen if that is known to Cassla?

No, even if not other countries.


What will happen if this news reach the troops led by Starnel?

What if the soldiers of Runa were misled into thinking that their ally, Roland, was fearful of them?

The rumor would spread easily.

It's even better if it's a bad rumor.

And if that kind of rumor were to spread, the image of a mighty Roland that Sion was trying to paint would crumble. In this way, the image of nobody being able to resist against Roland who held an absolute amount of overbearing power, would easily crumble.

The other countries in the south would form an alliance and there was a possibility that Roland would no longer be able to advance northwards easily.

That's why the plan should work easily.

Since Sion is a gentle person who will choose the path with the lowest number of sacrifices.

That's why, just by doing the things they ought to do, even without attacking Runa, the plan should succeed.

Ryner was then about to explain the plan to Toale.

It's fine.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 203.jpg|thumb]]

He was about to explain it to him and tell him it's okay to follow him.

But, at that moment.

Before Ryner could explain the plan to Toale.

"............"

Abruptly, everything started going crazy.

Suddenly, the entrance to the tent opened.

"Hn?"

Ryner turned his gaze there.

Standing there, was the face of a familiar man.

Golden hair tied up behind him, a calm face.

That was the man who Ferris took hostage when Ryner attacked Claugh a few days ago.

His name was Shuss Shirazz, if he remembered correctly.

An excellent vice-commander of Claugh.

Ryner looked at Shuss with tinge of surprise,


"Oh, they sent a messenger at a surprisingly early time. Have you already told Sion my suggestion?"

On hearing that, Shuss nodded. Then,

"...... we did."

As he said that, for some reason, his face looked dark and a little pained.

On seeing that, Ryner asked with a puzzled look.

"...... so, what did he say? You've come here to give a reply because he accepted right? At any rate, he should not have any a choice other than to accept this plan......"

But, cutting his words off, Shuss said.

"No. The reply has not come yet."

"Huh? There's no reply?"

"Yes."

"Then, what did you come here for? If there's no reply, there's no meaning in you coming here right?"

On hearing Ryner's words, Shuss made an even more pained expression,

"...... the truth is that I came here not on His Majesty's orders, but to pass a message to you from Field Marshal Claugh Klom."


"From red-hair?"

"Yes."

On hearing that, Ryner face became increasingly more puzzled.

As if he had entirely no clue.

He had never expected that in this situation, it was not a reply from Sion, but a message from Claugh. That's why he could not guess what kind of message it would be.

But.

He knew that it would not be something good. He knew that immediately just by looking at Shuss's face.

Looking at the dark expression on Shuss's face, Ryner asked.

"So, what is it? What did that muscle idiot red-hair want to tell me? Did he say I'm annoying and that he wanted to kill me?"

Following that, in a grave voice unmatching of that light tone of Ryner, Shuss said.

"No. Field Marshal, his Honor, told you to...... 'Run away'......"


Run away.

Ryner cocked his head at those words.

"Huh? Run away? What is the meaning of that? Why do I have to run away? We are the ones threatening Roland right? Right now, you shouldn't be able to take on both Runa and Nelpha right. In order to prevent that, Sion definitely has to accept my idea......"

However, Shuss cut him off there,

"...... Roland has already started invading Runa Empire."

He said.

Ryner's eyes widened at that,

"...... what."

He could only utter.

But, Shuss continued.

"His Majesty made no reply to your message. He ignored it totally. And, Roland has already passed the southern borders of Runa, and advancing northwards at an overwhelming speed. The commander is Marshal Bayuuz White and, Lieutenant General Miran Froaude. Without accepting Runa's surrender, they are now massacring people. And we have also received our orders. Until we have killed both Starnel Nelphi and Toale Nelphi, do not relax on your attacks. Show them Roland's might --- it said."


On hearing that.

On hearing that, Ryner.

"............"

Was at a loss for words.

He then desperately turned over what Shuss had said in his head. Unable to breathe, his face pale, he thought desperately.

Shuss had said.

''"His Majesty made no reply to your message."''

Shuuss had said that.

But, he thought otherwise.

The reply had already come.

Sion had already made his stand on Ryner's plan.

''I'll not accede to your wise plan. Roland shall, without borrowing your power, challenge the world with its might, speed, fearsomeness, and massiveness.''


''In order to do that, I don't care how much sacrifices there will be. Even if it amounts to hundreds of thousands, or even millions of lives.''

The balance Sion was using has become a gigantic one.

On realizing that, Ryner uttered,

"............ damn."

He spat.

He had made another mistake.

He had made another mistake in his calculations.

Because of that, large numbers of people will die.

''Because of my stupidity, foolishness, and my lack of consideration, many people will die.''

''Because my resolve has yet reached the level of Sion's, large numbers of people will die once again.''

Upon thinking that,

"...... damn damn damn."

He wanted to cry.

He wanted to run away.


He wanted to run away to a faraway place right now.

But there was no place to run to. He was already shouldering large numbers of lives.

Even if he was slapped with sudden despair, and wanted to scream in anguish.

"............"

He could only move forward like what Sion did.

He could only move forward like him.

Since the gears were spinning.

Since they were spinning crazily, intensely.

That's why Ryner.

"............"

Looked up.

He glared at Shuss, and with a low, cracked voice,

"...... Roland already has the power to crush both Nelpha and Runa at the same time?"

He asked.

However, that was a foolish question.

The results had been proven.


Runa had already declared their surrender, but Roland did not accept it and continued to raze them.

And that performance was probably creating a dramatic effect. As a result of having razed and crushed two countries, Nelpha and Runa, with overwhelming might, Roland has created an image of itself to other countries as a fearsome country that will not accept any kind of surrender once it starts waging war.

It would be able to make other countries tremble in fear with that image.

So the next time when it moves again, others will proclaim a surrender without even putting up a resistance, allowing Roland to proceed unhindered.

For that purpose.

"............"

For that purpose, there was meaning to the massacre this time.

This was the best choice to minimize the number of sacrifices in the future.

In order to take the path of least sacrifices, Sion had again taken the lives of large numbers of people.

In order to take the shortest path, Sion had again chosen the lives of large numbers of people.

The one who had yet the resolve.

The one who had yet to make his resolve,


"...... is me."

Ryner said groaningly with a face that was on the verge of crying.

But, he had really never thought that Roland would be able to acquire such overwhelming power to be able take on both Nelpha and Runa at the same time. It was beyond his expectations.

"...... damn. That's also my calculation mistake."

Ryner muttered.

Even when he had been spending that same time with Sion, he had never noticed it.

He had never once noticed the depth of the darkness he bore.

He regretted it.

Even when the regrets did not help him, he regretted.

Ryner said.

"...... I understand now what Sion is doing. So, Claugh is asking me to run away?"

Shuss nodded.

"In two more days, we'll start advancing our troops again. The next time we meet on the battlefield, we intend to kill all of you. But for just two days...... we'll stop at our current location. In the meantime......"


Ryner continued from there.

"...... in the meantime, you want us to run away? In other words, this time, Claugh is unsatisfied with Sion's order?"

But, Shuss said.

"No, he didn't say that. Field Marshal, His Honor, will definitely not go against the orders of His Majesty."

Even if he said that, Claugh would not be setting off immediately, and would be delaying things for two days. On top of that, he even told Ryner about the current situation, where Sion had started attacking Runa.

If this is not going against his orders, then what else is?

But Ryner instead said,

"I see."

Shuss nodded again.

"That's right. And my mission ends here. The next time we meet will be......"


"On the battlefield?"

"Yes. The next time I will be killing you. I won't be so easily defeated like the last time, so brace yourself."

Upon saying that, Shuss turned on his heel. With that, he started exiting the tent.

To his back,

"...... tell Claugh thanks for his help."

On hearing that, Shuss merely waved lightly and left the tent.

Looking after his departing figure,

"............"

Ryner took a deep breath and breathed out. As if he were letting go of the built up despair in his body, he breathed out with all his strength.

And once again, he looked at the Toale beside him.

Toale was making a complicated face. Looking at that face,

"I'm sorry Toale. The plan's all messed up."

"I've heard."

"So, with regards to what's next......"


Upon saying that, a tired smile surfaced on Toale's lips,

"I shall show myself to Roland, and get executed publicly......?"

But Ryner shook his head.

"That's useless. Roland is not even willing to accept the surrender of Runa, we don't know how far they will go with the massacring until they are satisfied...... well, at the very least, the soldiers who followed you will be killed."

Toale then smiled sadly.

"Uwah, that is a little...... too much for me. It's all because of my fault to have led these soldiers......"

"No, that's not it. If you hadn't stopped these soldiers, they would have already been killed by Claugh. You have saved their lives."

"It's just for a few days though...... but, then, what should we do?"

On hearing those words, Ryner kept quiet again.

As he pondered, he looked up at the roof part of the tent. The sunlight that was passing through the tent top was red.

The sun was already setting.

Night was falling.


When night comes, they won't be able to move.

However, there was not much time left.

Roland's troops were pressing in from the south, as well as from Runa's side.

If they don't run, they'll get killed.

Everyone'll get killed.

Realizing that.

"............"

Realizing that, Ryner called out,

"Major Selues."

The entrance to the tent opened. Selues entered.

"What is it?"

Ryner said to the solemn face of his.

"My plan has failed. Roland's troops will be attacking from Runa's side. We need to escape now. So mobilize the troops. We're running."

Selues then stared at him,


"What about the commoners?"

"Scatter them, to the west. We shall go north, straight through the Autonomous Holy City of Cassla. Roland's forces will probably come after us."

"I see. So we are the decoy for the commoners to get away. That's a great way to die."

On hearing his words, Ryner's face contorted.

"...... sorry."

However, on the solemn face of Selues, a thin smile surfaced for the first time.

"No, you made the right choice. I can trust you a little more with this."

Upon saying that, he turned around. Then,

"The situation has changed! We need to change locations again!"

While yelling, he went outside.

After ascertaining that, Ryner turned towards Toale.

"Then, let's go, Toale. There's already no more time left. Let's get going quickly. Since you are the one being targeted, you should be moving right at the front."


However, for some reason, Toale smiled sadly,

"....... no, I can't do that. I shall stay back."

As he said that, Ryner's face contorted again.

"Huh? Why? What are you going to do here?"

Toale then said,

"...... I shall remain here and buy some time by negotiating with Roland......"

However, before he could finish, Ryner said,

"Idiot!"

He yelled.

"Use your head Toale! If you were to remain here, most of the troops who have followed you will also remain here right. What will then happen to them? Do you want everyone to die with you? You're leaving. Take the soldiers and flee to Cassla."

To which Toale made an unsettled face,

"Will Cassla take in the soldiers of Nelpha?"

However, Ryner promptly replied,

"I don't know. But, other than that, there's no other way. At any rate, if you stay here, everyone will get killed. We have no choice but to try. Now that we're going to do it...... now that we're going to do it, I'll...... definitely not let you die. Even though we were talking about decoys earlier, but there's no need to die. Before Roland catches up to us, we'll pass through Cassla. You'll live and get away. Everyone will get away and laugh in the end. So don't foolishly talk about dying again. Get it?"


In response to that strong tone of Ryner, Toale looked intently at him and said,

"....... got it."

And nodded. Then, with a somewhat delighted smile,

"And thanks for coming here to help me...... Ryner."

He said.

Not Ryner-san, he dropped the honorifics and called him Ryner.

On hearing that, with a somewhat embarrassed and vexed face, Ryner began,

"Aah jeez, don't worry about stuff like that. Now, go to where Major Selues is. If you take command, the soldiers will probably move faster. Get a thousand troops to remove their military uniforms to protect the commoners and disperse them. The remaining soldiers shall head north......"

But, at that moment before he could finish ---


Instantly.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

Screams rang out from their surroundings.

Following that, a thunderous roaring noise which made their heads spin sounded.

In response to that.

"............"

In response to that, Ryner's eyes widened in shock.

"No way......"

He murmured.

But, once again.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllppp."

Screams rang out.

Following by another thunderous roar, again and again.

Ryner then said again,

"...... no way, how could this......."


He murmured dumbfoundedly.

This shouldn't be happening.

So quickly.

There was no way the enemies could have reached them so quickly.

But, as before, thunderous roars reverberated.

Flickering lights that dazzled even the eyes of those in the tent.

Following that, another thunderous roar.

Ryner knew about all that.

It was a large-scale magic used by Roland.

"...... what the hell is happening!?"

Ryner yelled as he rushed out of the tent.

At the instant he exited the tent.

The night sky, the dark night sky was lit up.

Before Ryner's eyes, tens of people.

"............"

Were reduced to ashes in an instant.


Screams were heard from men, women, children, and the elderly who were roasted from the high temperatures caused by magic.

Screams rang out.

And then they got roasted.

The people who were roasted by the intense fire died.

"...... uwah...... damn, shit......"

Ryner trembled as he saw that. He couldn't move.

However, from the hell-like scene, Kiefer came dashing over.

"Ryner! Roland's troops are approaching from the borders at Runa's side......"

She was also on the verge of tears. In her arms was a four, five year old girl who was injured.

Looking at that.

Looking at Kiefer's teary face,

Ryner was brought back to his senses. Looking intently at her,

"...... I got it. Let's run away immediately. Selues! Protect everyone and make for the north! Move the troops! Get them to counter Roland's large-scale magic attack!"

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 223.jpg|thumb]]

At that voice of Ryner, Selues gave out orders and the soldiers started moving.

Following that, Toale came out of the tent as well and he told him.

"Toale, you go lead the people and escape."

"But."

"No buts. If you're not there, no one will move. Don't just stand there and get moving! I'll do something about the rear somehow, you just focus on getting everyone out of here!"

On hearing that, Toale wanted to say something again, but he relented, nodded once, and ran off.

Ryner looked at his departing figure, then said to the unsettled Kiefer beside him,

"Kiefer."

"Yes."

"Take Iris, Arua, and Kuku with you and follow Toale."

She then made an anguished face. She made a face as if wanting to say that she wants to fight with him here. But instead, her face contorted painfully and she said,

"...... got it."


She then carried the girl in a hugging fashion, and said,

"I'll do my best in supporting Toale to help him get into Cassla. But, Ryner also......"

However, at that juncture, he stopped paying attention to her words. He didn't have the luxury of time to listen to that anymore.

If he tarried further, the next large-scale magic attack would come. If that were to happen, tens of people, hundreds of people would die again.

He needed to defend against that.

Ryner looked in the direction of where the magic came from.

He looked in that direction and widened his eyes.

Following that, red pentacle shapes surfaced on the center of his black pupils and glowed.

Cursed eyes known as '''Alpha Stigma'''.

With those eyes of his, he tried to locate the faraway large-scale magic spell formation.

But, he couldn't see it.


He couldn't see the construct of the magic.

Was it because they had yet to start creating the large-scale magic, or was it because the troops were charging straight towards here without deploying the large-scale magic?

"Damn, if I can't see it, I can't come up with the counter spell......"

But at that moment.

"I say, Ryner!?"

His face got punched heavily from the side.

"Uoh?"

Ryner uttered.

Following that, he turned towards the one who punched him.

The same tearful Kiefer was standing there.

"Erm, eh? Why did you punch me?"

To his question, she said with an angry face.

"Because you are not listening to what I'm saying!"

"Erm, what you're saying?"


"Yeah!"

"B-but, this is not the time......"

But, she cut him off,

"It's precisely because of that, that I'm telling some seriously important stuff right! So listen up properly!"

She said menacingly.

On hearing that,

"...... erm, ah ~, alright. I'm sorry......."

''Uhm'', Kiefer then nodded at Ryner's apology.

"It's great that you understand."

"Er, erm, so Kiefer, what do you want to tell me?"

Kiefer looked once to the sky from which the large-scale magic was invoked, and then looked back at Ryner.

Then, with a serious-looking face,

"Since there isn't much time, I'm going to say all the important stuff that Ryner needs to know in one breath, ok?"


She said.

Ryner nodded in response.

She then exhaled softly, following that, she took a deep breath.

"...... here goes. Ryner. If say, you are unable to stop Roland's forces here and Nelpha's people and soldiers get massacred, it'd not be your fault. So don't go throwing away your life to save them, get it? I think from hereon, you'll be someone who will save a lot more lives. That's why you can't afford to die here. If you were to die easily here, then you're merely a brainless fool. A fool who won't be able to save Sion. But if you're not a fool, and really want to save a lot more lives...... it's forbidden for you to die here. Get it?"

On hearing those words, Ryner became flustered,

"Erm, but......"

"Buts are also forbidden. If you die, I'll commit suicide as well. I'll definitely do it you know?"

"Eeeeeeeeeh, hey, Kiefe......"

But, with a serious-looking face that was really on the verge of crying, she continued.

"I'm serious ok? I don't want to live in a world without you. So if you end up being unable to stop Roland's forces, run away. Get it?"


On hearing those words.

"............"

While Ryner was yet unable to reply, Kiefer started again,

"I'm asking you whether you get it or not!!"

She yelled loudly.

He trembled a little,

"......I-I, got it."

"Alright! Then go!"

"...... erm."

"Hurry up! If not, I'm really going to cry!!"

While shouting, Kiefer had in fact started crying. In response to that, Ryner frantically turned his face away,

"Erm, er ~, sorry."

"Uh-huh."

"Then, I'm off."


"Right...... you must definitely not die."

Kiefer said from behind.

Ryner then nodded,

"Kiefer, don't die as well."

"Uhn. Then...... see ya."

"Aah. See ya."

Upon saying that, Ryner started running.

Firstly, back to the tent. Ferris was already awake.

"What's happening?"

"Roland is attacking."

On hearing those words, her face became a little dazed and she said,

"...... horh. So, what are you planning to do?"

"Go receive them for a bit while the others escape. Wanna join me?"

A thin smile floated on her face. She then drew the sword at her waist.

"...... well, if I'm not around, you will be trembling in fear like a weak worm, pee in your pants and die. Jeez! You're already an adult and still pee in your pants, aren't you ashamed of yourself!"


"Hey, what are you talking about?"

Another smile appeared,

"I'm lending you a hand so that you don't pee in your pants."

After saying that, she swung her sword, and sliced apart the tent flaps.

Then, beyond the sliced portion. Far beyond that.

"............"

Ryner could see a light construct forming up.

It was a large scale lightning attack magic, '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

There were three of them.

"...... three, huh."

Too little. Ryner thought.

If Roland's main forces were closing in, there will be ten times more '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

In other words, right now, the ones that were attacking them were a smaller vanguard.

A force to hold them here while the main forces arrive.


So that none of them could escape.

"............"

In other words, they were attacking in order to massacre all the soldiers and commoners, without letting any one of them escape.

"...... damn. You're going to this extent huh, Sion."

Ryner groaned while he looked intently at the forming '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

If these three '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting) were completed, hundreds of people would be killed again.

However, they had only just started to form up. And Ryner knew how to shut down that magic. No, even if say, he didn't know, with his special pair of eyes, he would be able to discover the way to shut it down.

A smile surfaced on Ryner.

"...... well, but, at this level, it's still possible to barely counteract them."

Upon saying that, he looked around him. And as expected, he found a group Nelpha soldiers who were about to make a large scale magical attack,

"Hey you guys, that won't do. More importantly, don't you have any water-based magic?"


At that question, a soldier answered.

"Water, you say? We do...... but the power......"

But, cutting him off, Ryner said.

"We don't need power. We just need something simplified. Focus on the speed. The next coming attack would be lightning magic, you guys just render that ineffective......"

At that moment, from beside him, Ferris broke into a run.

Towards the enemy.

In the direction where the Roland soldiers appeared to be.

After looking at her back, Ryner once again turned to the soldiers and said.

"...... you guys just stop their large scale magical attack once, in the meantime, we'll keep them in check, can you do it?"

But the soldiers appeared to be flustered,

"B-But, how did you know that the enemies are launching a lightning magical attack on us......"

But Ryner cut him off,

"I'm an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer. I can tell what kind of magic the other side is using and where they will be coming from."


He said.

On hearing that.

On hearing his words.

A look of fear appeared on the soldiers' faces. And they peered into the eyes of Ryner.

At the red pentacles floating above the center of his black eyes ---

Following that, their faces became increasingly contorted with fear.

The killer eyes.

The massacring cursed eyes.

Once those crazy eyes go berserk, a scene of carnage and despair will ensue.

That's why everyone hated those cursed eyes.

Hated the people who possess those eyes.

Hated Ryner.

That's why he ran away.

Since he didn't want to be looked upon in that manner again.

Since he didn't want to be looked upon by those fearful, loathing, demeaning eyes again.


"............"

But, at that moment, the soldier said.

Looking at him, looking at him with fearful eyes,

"...... I, I see...... t-that's really reassuring under such circumstances......"

Said the soldier in a trembling voice, to which Ryner said,

"...... isn't it?"

And he smiled.

Following that, he started giving instructions.

"So listen to me, and defend against their magic. Defending is enough. We'll do the attacking."

"Understood. So, which way......"

With that, Ryner pointed in two different directions with both his hands.

"One from this direction. And another one from this direction. And also one from there. They'll be invoking three rounds. From the current constructing speed, you have probably another five minutes. So, how long do you need?"


That soldier then turned around.

And another soldier behind said,

"For the simplified version, in two minutes."

"Then get to it now."

"Yes."

As the soldier acknowledged, the soldiers and commoners who were heading north had started to move.

"Oh, finally, the preparations to escape are done huh."

Ryner turned towards the crowd who were starting to move.

''Aaarrrggghhh, sloooowwwww'', Ryner wanted to holler at the moving crowd.

But it couldn't be helped.

There were both children and elderly. They were not trained soldiers.

Even if the vanguard sent out by Roland were to retreat, the main forces would probably catch up in no time.

However, even so, they couldn't give up. Even if it was only for a little while, they needed to escape northwards.


That's why.

"............"

That's why he fought.

At the battlefield.

Not only that, at last, he had to fight the soldiers of his own country.

His finger danced in the air, and started carving out glowing words. And then.

"I OFFER THE CONTRACTED WORDS, LETTING THE SLUMBERING MALICIOUS SPIRIT DWELL WITHIN."

He chanted.

His body sparkled and his movement speed increased......

But, at that moment.

"Ryner-sensei!"

A voice sounded from behind him. It was the voice of Arua.

Ryner frowned and turned around.

"What are you doing! Hurry up and get out of here!"

But, Arua said,


"I......"

"I can't bring you along! This is not a situation where you can be useful! Go protect Kuku, Kiefer, and Iris!"

After saying that, he was about to ignore Arua and run off, but,

"No! I won't be a burden to Sensei! I've come here to bring you these."

On hearing those words,

"Huh?"

Ryner turned around.

Arua handed him a bunch of cloth-like objects that he was hugging against his chest,

"...... if you are going to fight Roland soldiers, won't it be easier to get close to them if you bring these along?"

He said.

Ryner took them. And opened them up.

They were the Roland flags which he had gotten Iris to prepare for him earlier.


Ryner then said,

"Ohhh, aren't you a smart one!"

Arua then smiled happily.

"Was I useful?"

"Very! As expected of my disciple!"

On hearing those words, Arua blushed and smiled, ''ehhehe'' like a kid.

"Well then, go back, and protect Kuku, Kiefer and Iris."

Arua then made a slightly worried face,

"What about Sensei......"

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll be right back. Kiefer said that she'll get mad at me if I die, so I'll come back alive."

"...... is that a promise?"

"Yeah. It's a promise. Ok, I'm off."

"Alright."

"See you."

After saying that, Ryner started running.


He went in the opposite direction of the waves of people. Before long, he left the crowd. And on the other side.

On the side of the open field, was Ferris riding a horse.

While riding on a horse, with her left hand, she was holding onto the reins of another horse running alongside her.

Ryner tried to catch up to her with everything he got, and gradually, gradually, the tiredness from the acceleration started seeping in,

"Ah, hey, Ferris! I can't do this! It's tiring to chase you! Could you stop for a little while?"

But,

"........."

Ferris ignored him.

"Heeeeeeeyyyy, you can hear me right! I'm telling you to stop!"

And at last, she turned around. And gleefully, ''pahn pahn'', she clapped her hands,

"Mr Ogre, I'm here ♪, the sound of my hands......"

"Shuutttt uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp!!"

Yelled Ryner as he accelerated even further. He ran at his full speed where he felt as if his legs were rupturing, and as the horse got closer, he kicked the ground.


With that, he got onto the back of the horse.

''Zeh zeh'', he groaned as he gripped the reins. Getting meaninglessly tired, his entire body was covered in sweat in an instant.

Looking at that, Ferris said,

"Ooh, you can do it if you try."

"Shut up. And, don't make me waste my energy like that......"

"Hm. But there's no time right? Before the enemy launches their next magical attack, we have to......"

"No, it'll be fine. The Nelpha soldiers will do something about that. Even though it'll indeed be terrible if they managed to invoke it next time......"

But, at that moment, Ferris faced the front and squinted her eyes. Ryner followed her sight.

He could tell that they were nearing the enemy squads. If the horses were to run at full speed, at this rate, they would probably be able to charge right in the enemy formation in three to four minutes.

Ferris said.

"Before the next magical attack, we can charge into the enemy it seems. But the problem is the enemy numbers. Do you think we can render them ineffective with just the two of us?"


On hearing those words, Ryner folded his arms.

"Uhn ~, I wonder ~"

The large scale magic, '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning) that was about to be invoked would need at least thirty casters.

In order to bring the greatest amount of power smoothly, they would need a hundred people.

In other words, for the enemy to invoke the three rounds of '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning), they would need at least ninety mage soldiers and at most three hundred of them.

But normally, with respect to the practice of Roland, the large scale magic squads are protected by four times more troops than the casters. Once the casters start to invoke the large scale magic, they will not be able to move for five minutes, and during that time, they will be completely defenseless, so in order to protect them, a substantial number of troops are needed.

In other words, on the other side of this open field, the number of Roland troops would number at least more than five hundred.

In the worst case, there could be a thousand people.

Of course, it was not a number that could be handled by just two people.

"Strategy?"

On hearing Ferris's words, Ryner nodded.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 243.jpg|thumb]]

"I've got one."

"What should we do?"

"...... I'll tamper with the large scale magic on their side."

"Horh. So in other words...... we have to bust right into the enemy, and you'll forcibly change the magic formations made by the enemy?"

"Yes."

"While being completely surrounded by a ton of enemies, I shall hold them off while you change their magic formations right?"

"Yes."

"...... hm. I see. And, there's something I want to ask."

"What?"

"...... can you call that moronic strategy a strategy?"

Ryner smiled wryly at that question.

"...... yeah you can't call that a strategy at all. We might die. Then again, shall I think of another plan...... I'd rather just risk my own life, but to get you caught up in it......"

But Ferris said to that,


"But, there's no time to come up with another strategy right?"

To which Ryner nodded.

"While coming up with one, others will die."

"Then, we have no choice but to do it."

"...... yeah. Sorry."

"No need for apologies. In the worst case, I'll just abandon you and escape."

On hearing those words of hers,

"It'll be great if you can do that."

Said Ryner, but, ''even though she said that, she won't just abandon me and escape, how troublesome'', he thought.

It was just as Kiefer had said.

There was no reason for Ryner to die here.

He could not succeed in his strategy all by himself. He would definitely need Ferris's cooperation.

However, if things come to a point where they can't do anything, Ferris will definitely.

"............"

''She will definitely not abandon me and escape.''


That's the type of person she is.

In other words, if Ryner were to die, Ferris would also die.

That would be terrible.

He didn't want that.

In other words, this time,

"...... I have to do my best......"

He moaned out.

He was exasperated at the fact that even though he had already been working hard up till here, but, why did he have to work even harder?

However, if he doesn't work even harder, he won't be able to protect the things that are important to him.

And they include Ferris, Kiefer, Iris, Kuku, Arua, Toale, and also Sion.

So, even while feeling exasperated,

"............"

He looked ahead.

They were nearly upon the enemy.


As to the enemy numbers ---

"...... ah ~, that's around three thousand."

"Uhm."

"A few thousand more than what I've thought."

"A calculation error."

"Yeah. With the two of us, we can take on about twenty to thirty of them......"

She nodded. And for some reason, she looked delighted,

"...... in the past, we also charged into a swarm of troops before. This time round, let's do the same."

On hearing those words, a smile surfaced on him.

"Yeah ~, that incident huh."

And he recalled.

That was an incident which had taken place in Nelpha.

He had just met Ferris not long ago then.

It was an incident which had taken place when they were just starting to search for the Heroes' Relics, and had just entered Nelpha from Roland.

The Nelpha troops had captured Milk, and they had gone to save her.


However, the enemy numbered fifty then. And it was tough even with just fifty of them. Rather, they were risking their lives there.

But the enemy numbered three thousand this time.

"...... somehow, I feel like running."

"The sacred Ryner wants to call out to Mama while he pees in his pants huh?"

Ferris said lightly as usual, but Ryner nodded readily.

"Yeah, I'm about to. If the strategy fails, and if you were to die, I will definitely be unable to take it, and pee from my eyes. So......"

At that moment, he looked at her.

"So Ferris. If things become really bad, get away."

She then looked at him as well,

"...... uhm. You too......"

"Uhn."

"Then, let's go."

Upon saying that, Ferris sped up her horse even further.

At the same time, Roland completed its large scale magic attack.


It was '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning).

And they fired it towards the Nelpha soldiers.

As they did so, a large scale magic for counteracting that was invoked from Nelpha.

Different from individual magic, one by one, three bouts of lightning that was powerful enough to blind the eyes were fired, but, they were received by a wall formed by large amounts of water erected by the Nelpha soldiers and rendered ineffective.

A buzz then started among the Roland soldiers. As Ryner expected, the enemy's attention was drawn to that wall of water. Nobody noticed their presence.

Looking at that,

"Let's go."

Upon saying that, Ryner spread the Roland flags. With that, he jumped off the horse, and charged into the Roland forces.

At that moment.

"W-What's happening?"

A person noticed him. And his face turned to one of surprise.

Ryner then showed the flag,

"I'm an ally. I carry an order from Field Marshal Claugh Klom from the south."


The soldier then started frantically,

"His Grace, Field Marshal Klom?"

"Yeah, that's right. It's an emergency. Who's the one commanding this force?"

As Ryner asked that, he tensed up a little.

''It'll be bad if it's him'', he thought.

That monster who was entirely covered in black, and a user of a Hero's Relic.

''It'll be bad if it's Miran Froaude'', he thought.

According to Shuss, currently, the ones attacking Runa were Lieutenant General Miran Froaude and, the former military man from the Kingdom of Estabul, Marshal Bayuuz White.

The one called White might be worse. While Ryner had never really met him before, he had heard from Sion that his ability is the real deal.

But the soldier said,

"The commander is Captain Terohm. He's right at the center."

Upon saying that, he pointed to behind him.

Ryner then,

"...... hm."


Sighed out softly.

It's not White nor Froaude. The two of them were probably with the main body.

With that, the situation was very much easier.

Ryner did not look in the direction where the soldier pointed. It was not like he had any business with the commander.

The ones whom he had business with were.

"............"

He looked at the left, right, center of the forces where new large scale magic were starting to get deployed.

The next spell they were invoking was once again '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs). The magic that was first used to burn the soldiers and commoners of Nelpha.

He would tamper with them.

Ryner pointed to the closest '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs) that was in the process of getting invoked to the right. Ferris then nodded.

At that moment, a number of soldiers started,

"Hey, don't you find it strange? Why aren't they wearing any military uniforms......"

However, without waiting for them to finish, the two of them started running.


Pushing through the soldiers, they dashed towards the '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

In the midst of that.

One of the soldiers looked at them,

"...... don't tell me they are enemies? Hey, report this to Captain Terohm......"

As the man was speaking, Ferris struck him down.

Seeing that, a number of soldiers said,

"Hey, did you see that!"

"It's the enemy!"

"The enemy has come!?"

While yelling that.

Ryner invoked his magic.

Drawing the magic inscription in the air at a high speed,

"WHAT I SEEK IS SILENCE >>> ANTE"

He murmured.

Instantly.

The sounds around them were gone.


With Ryner at the center, the sounds in the surrounding area were gone. A blanket of silence fell on them.

This is a simple magic that stops the vibration of the air and stops sounds from getting transmitted, however, when people are in a completely soundless environment, their hearts will become unsettled. Especially in the case of noisy battlefields.

Previously, when he used this magic against Nelpha soldiers, it caused a great panic among them. However, this time round, the reactions should be a little different.

The reason was because ---

"............."

The reason was because this was Roland's magic.

At that moment, sounds returned.

Immediately.

"What!? What's the meaning of this!? Someone extinguished the sounds!?"

"Who was the one who used Ante!"

A commotion started among the soldiers.

Gazing at that, Ryner started drawing another magic inscription. And then,

"WHAT I SEEK IS WATER MIST >>> MISUMI"


Instantly.

A large amount of water became a raging stream and rained upon the soldiers,

"I-It's the eneeeeeeeeemmmmyyyy!"

"No, wait! This is Roland's magic! It's a traitor! There's a traitor!"

This time round, a panic ensued.

And that's not the kind of panic caused by the desperate searching of the enemy. It was the kind of panic caused by the possibility of having everyone around oneself as an enemy.

And by that time, Ryner and Ferris had finally reached the invocation location of '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

Ferris drew her sword and started mowing down the mage soldiers who were casting '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

And as Ryner reached what was behind them,

"Now, here I go ~, ohrhya."

With a tremendous force, he started tampering with the '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs).

And around that time, the surrounding soldiers started realizing who the enemies were.

"Stop those two!"

With that yelling, a single person started drawing a magic inscription while facing them.


"I won't allow it."

Ferris beat him down with her sword.

Following that, a number of others drew their swords and came attacking her, but in an instant, they were sent sprawling onto the floor.

On top of that, a number of other soldiers drew their swords and came attacking Ryner,

"Damn."

Ferris said as she came back to him and somehow sent them flying.

But the enemy waves did not stop. A number of soldiers started drawing glowing magic inscriptions simultaneously.

Ferris frowned,

"Ryner!"

"Huh?"

"How long are you going to take?"

"Three minutes."

"Make it one."

"Impossible."


"Then, just hurry up and get on with it!"

While saying that, she jumped out again. After striking down one, two, three of the soldiers who had started inscribing magic circles, she returned to Ryner's side.

At the same time, the soldiers completed their magic.

Three bouts of '''Kurenai'''.

One '''Kuuri'''.

The streaking light of '''Kuuri''' that was fired off first was sliced apart by Ferris.

Following that, she snatched the Roland flags away from Ryner, knocked off some of the flaming shells from '''Kurenai''', and repelled the rest with her sword ---

Then, in the nick of time, she jumped towards the last remaining flaming shell flying towards Ryner and......

"...... gah."

She knocked it off with her bare hand.

Ferris's left arm got scorched and hung loosely. Unable to move.

"............"

"Ferris......"


Ryner uttered but,

"Don't worry about me, just finish what you need to do!"

She yelled angrily and jumped out again.

She then further went on to kick the face of a man who was about to start drawing a magic inscription, and swung her sword with just her right hand.

However, bit by bit, she was no longer able to defend against the enemy's attacks.

And Ferris's body became,

"............"

Covered in blood.

"...... damn, damn, what am I doing...... faster, I need to finish this faster......"

While saying that, Ryner hastened his hand.

He couldn't go help her. He wouldn't be able to do much by helping her.

That's why he stopped looking at her.

The last time his eyes were on her, she was cut by a sword from behind. She couldn't dodge that. Blood was spurting. Her cries of anguish could be heard.

But, even so, Ryner did not go help her. He merely,


"...... please...... please, don't die, Ferris!"

Yelled as he focused on the magic inscriptions before him.

And continued tampering with its composition. With an abnormal fast speed, he changed the structure of the complex puzzle that was constructed by many people.

A little bit more.

"I just have a little bit more, so Ferris! Keep on going!"

At the same time he shouted that, he completed it. In the center of that large scale magic's giant inscription, which could not have been drawn by a single person, on the platform, a billow of black smoke formed, and the smoke spread to the surroundings in just a moment.

Then, it penetrates into the magic inscriptions of the other '''Iigisu''' (Flaming Crimson Fangs) that were concurrently in the process of getting invoked, and altered their structure.

What was invoked was a little curse. A curse that stopped the activity of the spirits in this area.

With this, for the next fifteen minutes, it would not be possible to use any magic near these magic inscriptions.

And this was not the magic of Roland. Rather, it was not a magic of any country. This was a special magic that Ryner had researched for the past few years, that's why, once again, unable to comprehend what was happening, panic descended upon the Roland soldiers.


At any rate, they could not use magic.

On the battlefield, if they could not use magic, they would not be able to pursue their enemies.

In the next fifteen minutes.

The Nelpha soldiers would have an overwhelming advantage.

Since Ryner had invoked that magic,

"...... I'm done! Now, let's get out of here, Ferris!"

He turned around to look for her.

However.

"............"

Covered entirely with blood, Ferris was on her knees.

Her entire body was full of wounds. Blood flowing. Even on her face. Even on her abnormally well-featured, beautiful face, there were wounds.

She looked at him.

She looked at him with a troubled face.

Then.

"...... I'm sorry, Ryner. I'm dy......"


At that moment, from beside her, a sword was about to swing down. As if to behead her, a sword was about to swing down.

{{Incomplete|percentage=70}}

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==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>
 
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| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Afterword|Afterword]]
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Talk:IS:Volume1 Chapter3

2011-12-06T13:53:08Z

Error: Translation notes and references

== Translation notes and references ==

So I notice there is this "(Note: He's hinting at the famous actor Takakura Ken. "I don't really talk a lot." is a phrase he's famous for, and he's known for being rather quiet)" in the middle of the chapter. Maybe create such a section and move it to the end?
[[User:Error|Error]] 07:53, 6 December 2011 (CST)

Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 3

2011-12-06T13:37:17Z

Error:

{{Incomplete|percentage=60}}

==The Burden I Shoulder==


The horse galloped.

At full speed.

"My butt huuurrrtttttsssssss!"

While yelling, Ryner rode, he rode, for four days, he rode.

Beside him, Ferris, who had also been galloping for the past four days without sleeping, went,

".................................. mumyu ~"

"Hey, don't sleep while ridingggggggggg!"

Ryner yelled at the Ferris who seemed about to slip off her horse.

On hearing that, she opened her eyes suddenly, looked up, and wiped off the little drool from her mouth,

"Hm? What? It's morning?"

"No, it's evening though. Wait, that's not the problem, don't sleep on the horse! It's dangerous."


"I wasn't sleeping."

"I think you were sleeping with half of your body about to fall off."

"I was practicing body-bend riding."

"You're lying!"

"Yeah. A big lie!"

"And you're admitting to it so quickly!"

"Of course. I'm sleepy. And since I'm at my limits, I'm going to nap a little. Let me know when we reach."

"No, I was telling you not to sleep duh."

Ignoring Ryner's holler, she closed her eyes, and with that, she seemed about to slip off the horse again.

"That's why I was saying, don't sleeepppppppppppppppppp!"

Ignoring him, she fell off the horse, and in a splendid manner, she spun a few times in the air and landed on the ground. On top of that, with a soft plod, ''good night'', she said and entered the world of dreams.

Following that, the horse which Ferris had been riding on suddenly became energetic due to the lightened load, and whizzed off.


"Jeez, that fella's such a botherrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

While yelling, he whipped his horse. With that, he caught up to the horse which Ferris had discarded, and grabbed hold of its reins. And pulled. He stopped the horse, turned it around, and returned to the place where Ferris was sleeping.

Then.

"Hey."

"............"

"Hey, we don't really have time to tarry around. We're already one day late from the appointed day that we're supposed to link up with Kiefer."

"............"

"Hey, we only need to ride for another half a day before we reach our destination, so c'mon? Hey? Ferris. Please."

Without looking at him, she said,

"...... shut up. I'm sleepy. I'm sluggish. Bothersome. Go by yourself."

"Hey, are you me! I'm also sleepy to the point of dying, but, if we don't get our act together, Toale's life will be in danger. So let's do our best for a little bit more, ok?"


On hearing that, Ferris finally got up. She looked up at him with a pained expression,

"But Ryner. For the past four days, I haven't eaten a dango you know? As a person who is a hundred million, two thousand, eight hundred, and ninety-two percent made up of dango, do you think I can continue without any dango?"

At that question, Ryner, with a tired face,

"Wait, so how many percent does your entire body constitute?"

He asked back squarely,

"Who cares about that, just listen to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

She became really angry.

Ryner smiled wryly and said.

"...... erm, no, well, I know that it's been hard on you to not have eaten any dango for four days, but right now, it's an emergency so bear with it."

"I can't bear with it."

"No, but......"

"I can't bear <nowiki>-----------------------</nowiki> it! By the way, there's a nice dango shop nearby."


Upon saying that, she suddenly got up energetically, which was unthinkable for a person who was tired from going without sleep for four whole days.

Looking at that, Ryner exclaimed,

"Huuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh!? Eh? Eh? What's this? Is this that? All that ranting about being sleepy and falling off the horse was an act?"

Ferris promptly replied,

"Of course!"

"Don't 'of course' me!"

"Whatever you think about that is not the main issue here!"

Ferris said vehemently.

"............ hahh."

Ryner sighed out.

Even without that, he was already drained. Having fought with that red-haired monster, getting them horses, and riding crazily without sleep.


Riding crazily without sleep on the horses which he had sneaked out of a noble's stables along the way.

He already felt like dying. Not just from the lack of sleep, but more from the pain in his butt.

Indeed, it seems like they would need some rest soon, but......

So as to speak, after working so hard till this point, isn't it ok for him to take about two hundred years' worth of afternoon naps right? Isn't it ok for him to just disappear somewhere and take a long afternoon nap right? A temptation like this started to grow in him, but, Ryner stomped it out and said.

"...... b-but you know Ferris. At the appointed place, Iris will be waiting for us with Wynitt dango......"

But Ferris said.

"Nelpha dango and Roland dango are different things altogether."

Her tone became stronger than before,

"...... you're right I guess. Then, erm...... let's take a short break......"

Ryner gave in.

''Let's take a short break'', Ryner relaxed.


Instantly.

"Woah."

As his strength left him, he almost fell off his horse. Ferris supported him with a hand.

Then.

"See. You're also tired."

"Well...... it's obvious that I'll be tired after riding for four whole days......"

But, he had never thought that he would be so tired. He didn't realize it since he had been keeping his body tensed up all this while, but his body had become abnormally heavy. He immediately understood how it came to be so. It was a consequence of the Estabul magic which he had used to accelerate his movements during his fight with Claugh. That magic, in exchange for granting a period of increased bodily reflexes and ability, will cause the user to feel its weariness later. On top of that, this time round, in order to do something about that red-haired monster, he had seriously overused his body. It was probably the burdens from that which had come to assail him.

However, even those words alone were not enough to convey how heavy his body currently was. Right now, his entire body was enveloped with a level of fatigue that could make him pass out.

Seeing that, Ferris said.


She looked up at him, and somehow, with a slightly angry face, she averted her eyes and said.

"Jeez...... you've overdone it this time. I understand how you feel, but even so, there's a limit to what one person can do. Don't push yourself too much."

In other words.

"............"

It seems to be that.

It seems like all of Ferris's acting, and her willful behavior of wanting to go to a dango shop, were all for the purpose of saying this.

''Aah ~'', Ryner thought.

He stroked his disheveled bed-hair,

"Aah ~...... erm, sorry."

"Umu."

"Well then, let's go to that dango shop and rest up in the village."

Ferris then said,

"Idiot. There's no dango shop."

"Eh?"


"That's why you're a real idiot."

Upon saying that, for some reason, her face blushed, and in order to mask that, she made an angry face.

Looking intently at that.

"............"

Looking intently at her face,

"...... aah, I see."

Ryner smiled with a troubled look.

Ferris then jumped onto the horse, the horse that Ryner was now riding. With that, she took the reins away from his hand,

"Alright. If your overly stupid brain has understood, it's time to move. We don't have much time. Once we reach there, there will be work waiting for you again. That's why, the idiot can just sleep. I'll wake you when we reach there."

Upon saying that, she started to kick into the horse.

Ryner then frantically said,

"Eh, but Ferris, you haven't slept a wink as well......"


But at that moment,

"Don't worry about that, just sleep, idiot."

Upon saying that, she made a chopping stance with her hand and started sending it into the back of Ryner's neck,

"Eh, no wait, that's bad......"

"Shut up."

"Gyafu."

Instantly.

Ryner lost consciousness.

Darkness spread.

Deep darkness spread.

In that deep darkness.

Ryner was visited by dreams which had missed him for quite some time.

Strangely, they were cheerful dreams.

Sion appeared, and with a face full of mischief,


"Alright Ryner ~. Nap time's over. It's time to get working."

He said.

For some reason, Ferris, who was munching on dango beside him, drew her sword for no good reason,

"Die, you pervertttttttttttt."

She shouted and came beating him.

That was the scenery that was repeating again and again.

With Sion, and Ferris, the three of them.

A dream in which the three of them were making merry in that small office.

There was nothing to worry about there.

There were no lives nor troubles from others to shoulder.

Only a bunch of fools laughing happily.

And he thought.

It'd be nice if such days can go on forever, he thought.

No, he had believed that it would be so.

Such days would go on, even when he was complaining about how unpleasant or bothersome things were, as long as he worked hard, the world would be alright, he had thought.


That's why he was laughing like that.

He had never thought that it would end.

Laughing like an idiot.

Even when he was made to work throughout the night. Even when he was bashed up by her sword.

Ryner had always been laughing happily.

"............"

And he felt a little blessed.

Even though up till now, he had only been laden with tiresome things.

But, after seeing that dream, he felt like doing his best for a little longer and looking forward.

Since in his dream, he had been laughing like an idiot with them.

He had been laughing like an idiot from the bottom of his heart.

But, the dream came to an end.

Suddenly, it ended, he realized.

No, perhaps he had realized that right from the start of the dream.

That dream.


"............"

Sadly, that dream was nowhere close to reality.

"............"

But, he wished, for a little bit.

Each time he saw that dream, he'd wish.

Ryner would wish that, if only this bothersome reality could be the dream instead when he open his eyes, and that he could wake up to that noisy office, he would be willing to pay any price.

If he were to open his eyes right now.

If he were to awake from his dream.

And the nightmare would have ended and he could wake up to that noisy office again.

He would not make the same mistake again.

He would not leave Sion to his solitude again.

In order to laugh together.

In order to move forward together, this time round, without feeling bothersome, he would do his best, he thought.


And so, Ryner opened his eyes.

Wishing that he could wake up to that office.

"............"

He opened his eyes......

<center>♦</center>

<center>♦</center>

<center>♦</center>

"............"

When he opened his eyes, they had already reached their destination.

On the land that was very near to the borders between Nelpha and Runa.


There, were gathered tens of thousands of people.

Ryner opened his eyes and straightened his body,

"...... hn? You've awakened?"

From behind him, Ferris, who had been doing the riding, said.

Ryner turned around,

"...... eh? Ah, yeah. I had a good sleep. Thanks, Ferris."

"Umu. I also had a good sleep."

"Hey, what would have happened if you have slept as well."

Upon making that jab, with a slightly tired face,

"Fufufu."

She laughed.

From her face, it was clear that she hadn't really slept at all. Quite unbecoming of her, there were dark circles beneath her eyes. She was clearly very tired. Ryner then began,

"This time, it's your turn to sleep. Leave the rest to......"

But, before he could finish,

"............"


She rested her head on the back of Ryner, and slept.

Ryner smiled, and without letting her body fall off, he supported her with his left hand and once again started the horse galloping.

However, with the throngs of people gathered, they couldn't move very fast.

"............"

He then looked around him.

He looked at the faces of the people gathered here.

Clearly, the people here did not just comprise of soldiers.

Originally, Kiefer was supposed to guide the ten thousand soldiers, who were thrown away as sacrificial pawns by Starnel and later saved by Toale, to this place.

"What on earth is this?"

Ryner said with a troubled face.

Clearly, the commoners who were present here greatly outnumbered the soldiers.

Women, children, as well as the elderly.

A throng of people who couldn't contribute to the fighting strength.

Well, he could probably make a guess as to why they were here.


"...... Toale, that guy sure is popular."

While muttering that, he moved the horse forward.

The people all looked up in a dumbfounded manner at the riders on the advancing horse, at Ryner and the peerless golden hair beauty behind him.

He then asked a question to someone who was clad in military uniform among the people.

"...... ah ~, erm, you are one of the soldiers following Toale right? I have some business with Toale, so do you mind leading us to him?"

On hearing that, the soldier looked up. And he glared at Ryner.

A man who had a piercing gaze. With long light brown hair tied up at the back, and perhaps, due to his unshaven face, he looked to be in his mid-twenties.

He looked up at them and squinted his eyes.

"...... are you Ryner Lute?"

Ryner was surprised at hearing his own name.

"Oh? To know my name, am I perhaps famous around here?"

On hearing that, the man's face contorted,


"I'm Kazaal Selues. A Major. I was given command of ten thousand troops from Prince Starnel and ordered to fend off Roland's forces, but I went against that and am now following Toale-sama."

On hearing those words, Ryner looked again more carefully at this man called Kazaal Selues.

He was of medium build and medium height. A well-trained body with no opening. He's probably quite strong. Well, of course, he can't be compared to that abnormal killing intent from that red-haired muscled idiot though.

However, just from his appearance, he could tell that this fella has some ability. To elaborate on that, to have become a Major in his twenties, this fella must have achieved a number of accomplishments on the battlefield.

That was the reason why Starnel had assigned ten thousand troops to him, and abandoned them.

He had probably thought that this fella would be able to fend off the Roland forces for a while and buy him more time to escape.

Considering that.

A smile surfaced on Ryner.

"...... I'm grateful to Starnel's idiocy."

On hearing that, Selues looked at him with a look of surprise,


"What did you say?"

"No, I was just giving thanks to Starnel's idiocy for throwing away someone as capable as you without even batting an eyelid. Thanks to the foolishness of Starnel, the plan I came up with might just go well. By the way, are you popular among your subordinates?"

He asked.

"............"

Selues did not answer. However, even without answering, it was clear.

Ryner looked around him once more.

The soldiers around him all had brightly lit faces. There was not the slightest drop in morale.

After getting abandoned by Starnel, and on top of that having Roland's soldiers on their heels, their current brightly lit faces could not just be attributed to Toale's popularity alone.

Ryner's grin broadened increasingly.

"Unexpectedly, things may just move ahead even without us doing anything."

Toale is popular with the commoners. If both Starnel and Toale were to claim their names to the throne, most of the people would probably follow Toale.

However, this Selues appeared to be very popular with the soldiers.


With this, if Starnel was to continue with his oppression, he would probably end up destroying himself.

If Toale were to rise up, supported by Selues at his side, there was a possibility that the rest of the power-wielding nobles, soldiers, and people would follow him.

If that were to happen.

"............"

Starnel's life would probably be no more. Even without Ryner, Toale, or Roland doing anything.

Thanks to his own foolishness, Starnel would be killed by Imperial Nelpha.

If that were to happen, then there would be no need for Ryner to take the trouble to capture Starnel.

However, the real problem will start from there.

After Starnel's death.

After Toale becomes king.

At that time, Roland will probably be asking for Toale's life.

The current Roland will definitely not allow Toale to live.


That's why in order for Toale to live, there are two choices.

First.

Escape to outside of the country.

Second.

Lead Nelpha's soldiers to fight Roland.

"............"

But the latter was out of the question.

Right now, there was no longer any country in the southern part of the continent with enough power to fight the military might of Roland.

Ryner was very well aware of that.

For the past one year, he had always hung around Sion's side.

Working hard together in that office to strengthen Roland.

And in just one year, Roland was totally transformed to something different from before.

Roland was reborn.

Even though Ryner was not directly involved in the military affairs, he could still imagine roughly how much power the current Roland wielded.


To the Nelpha right now, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg.

Well, however, if they were to ally with Runa Empire to resist Roland, then it would be a different story.

"............"

Even for Roland, it would be difficult to face two countries as its opponents, he thought.

However, Runa was an ally of Roland.

As such, Nelpha no longer had any chance of winning. There was no other way other than to surrender.

In other words, for the short term, there was no way but for Toale to first capture Starnel, become the king, and issue a surrender, and before Roland catches him, escape out of the country.

As he unfolded the various development scenarios in his head,

"Aah, this is bothersome."

Upon groaning, Selues nodded.

"Yeah. It's extremely bothersome. That's why there's not much time left. According to Kiefer Knolles, you are supposed to have arrived yesterday. What in the world were you doing?"

Ryner's face turned serious at that and he looked at Selues.

"Sorry we're late. Even though we were already rushing all the way here, it was my calculation mistake. But, I'm not going to make another mistake hereon. I'll save this country, and save Toale's life. So can you lead us to Toale?"


Selues then grabbed hold of the reins of Ryner's horse and led them.

"Here."

"Right."

Once again, the horse started off slowly.

Ahead of where Selues was leading them, was a small tent. Outside of that tent, was a familiar group, made up of a golden hair girl, a black hair boy and his childhood girl friend, playing.

Iris, Arua, and Kuku.

At that moment, Iris noticed Ryner's group.

"Ah ~! Wild Beast-kun ~!"

She shouted.

Arua then turned towards here as well,

"Ryner-sensei!"

Following that, the tent opened, and out came Kiefer, with her hand waving.

Ryner then waved back at her, and lastly......


A man around the same age of Ryner came out of the tent. With brown hair and a kind face. However, compared to the time he met him a year ago, the face was more drawn. It was filled with more fatigue.

Just from that, he could see what he had been through for the past few weeks.

Ryner smiled at Toale.

And in response to that.

"............"

Toale returned with a wry, troubled smile.

Ryner then turned around.

"Hey, Ferris."

"............"

"Ferris, wake up. We have reached. There should be a bed somewhere, go sleep there."

On hearing that, without opening her eyes,

"Hah ~, then, carry me there."

"Walk on your own."

"Carry me there like a princess."


"Huuuuhhhhhhhh? Huuhhhhhh? You, with so many people looking......"

But, upon saying that, she grabbed hold of Ryner's neck. And while strangling him,

"You're so annoying. If you dare wake me again...... I'll kill you, get it?"

As she said that, her fingers seemed to be really crushing Ryner's neck,

"Hey, I get itttttttt! Whether is it like a princess or groom, I'll carry you so don't kill me."

"Um. Then, please carry on. I'll be going back to sleep."

"......................... jeez."

Ryner sighed out loudly, and following that, he dismounted the horse. After that, he brought down Ferris, who had descended into deep sleep.

Then, in her desired princess cradle fashion, he carried the bothersome princess,

"A princesssssssssssssss!"

Iris made a jab as she clung to Ferris's chest.

The weight of the two people on Ryner's hip. His hip seemed about to sprain. He really felt like killing the two troublesome sisters.


But.

"...... uhwu, I have to bear with it until I get her to a bed. Do your best, Ryner. I'll be able to relax when she sleeps......"

He encouraged himself, and started walking.

Following that, Kiefer came to him.

"............"

While staring at him, she smiled kindly.

But, somehow, it was different from the smile just now. She was looking intently at him with a somewhat, transfixed, biting gaze, and softly,

"...... princess cradle."

"Eh? What?"

"Nothing."

"But you know, these two people are really heavy...... hey, Kiefer, can you help me?"

Ryner asked, to which Kiefer said,


"Nope."

"Eh?"

"No way."

"Erm......"

But, at that moment, she grinned,

"Just kidding ~. It was a joke, a joke. I'll help you. The past few days have been tough on you guys right? You're tired right?"

While saying that, she supported Ryner's arms, and pushed upwards. With that, his burden lessened.

"Oh, that really helps."

"That's great."

"Thanks."

"Yeah!"

Kiefer acknowledged happily.

Following that, Ryner once again looked in front of him, at Toale.

For some reason, with a seemingly bad mood, he was looking at him --- rather, at Kiefer.


"Hn? What's wrong, Toale?"

On hearing Ryner's words, his face turned to one of surprise,

"Eh? Umm...... ah ~, no, nothing. Long time no see, Ryner-san."

"Long time no see."

Upon saying that, Ryner wanted to wave his hands, but realizing that both his arms were encumbered, he merely nodded his head at him.

Toale then rushed up to him.

"Do you need help?"

"Yeah, can you help me with the top one."

Toale nodded, and lifted up Iris, who had been clinging to Ferris's chest.

Iris's face then lit up,

"Wah! It's high, are you bringing me higher!? Iris loves that!"

On hearing that, Toale lifted Iris up and down. Following that, he looked at Ryner,

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 183.jpg|thumb]]

"Well Ryner-san, I would have never expected to reunite with you under such circumstances."

Ryner nodded as well. He smiled wryly at the tight-fitting, seemingly unsuitable military uniform that Toale was wearing.

"Yeah. I've never thought so either. So to speak, it became something real bothersome."

Following that, Toale opened the entrance to the tent. Inside was a simple bed, and he pointed to it,

"Over there."

"Yeah."

Ryner nodded as he carried Ferris there. He put Ferris down on the bed, and hugging the pillow, she slept comfortably.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Ryner then said smilingly.

Following that, once again, Kiefer looked at him with a slightly angry face.

Ryner cocked his head to the side.

"So, what's wrong?"


"N-o-t-h-i-n-g."

"Hey, those words sounded rather thorny."

"No they don't."

"Yes they do."

"I said no, they don't"

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Well ok...... forget it then."

"No way."

"Eeeehhh?"

"Humph."

Kiefer turned her face away from him and went out of the tent.

With an incomprehensible look on his face,

"...... what the hell was that?"

Ryner asked Toale.

On hearing that, for some reason, he also made an unpleasant face,


"Please don't ask me."

"Toale, why are you angry as well?"

"I'm not angry."

"Really?"

"Yes. More importantly......"

Upon saying that, he looked at Ryner.

And smiled.

"Really, long time no see. Ryner-san, I'm really happy to hear that you are coming here to help me. ''I'm coming here to save you. The reason is because we're friends. Ok?'', those words, frankly speaking, made me want to cry."

He said, to which Ryner smiled.

"Was that a little too mushy?"

"Nope. It was a great thing to me, who was depressed from getting cornered in all directions."

"Is that so. That's great then."

Ryner nodded, pulled up a nearby chair and sat down.

Toale then said,


"Should I brew some tea like what we did in the past?"

"Ah ~, the tea you brewed was really good. But, forget it now. There's really not much time left. Erm, so the situation we are now in......"

"I have already heard everything from Kiefer-san. As to where did you come from, and why are you here now......"

Upon saying that, Toale looked at Ryner with a pair of somewhat reproachful eyes,

"...... jeez, Ryner-san, you really had me with all those lies. You are a person from Roland right. And on top of that, the best friend of that hero king, Sion Astal. And to top if off, a year ago, you introduced that Sion-san as your cousin and ate in my house......"

On hearing that, Ryner nodded with a somewhat apologetic face.

That's right, that's how it was.

Ryner had met Toale and withheld his true identity then.

During that time, as a spy from Roland, he had to hide his identity while searching for the Heroes' Relics together with Ferris.


They had then visited Imperial Nelpha, Runa Empire, and Iyet Republic before returning back to Roland again.

On top of that, Toale had met Sion.

At that time, Sion was on a formal visit, calling on the grandfather of Toale, the previous king of Imperial Nelpha, Gread Nelphi, and had asked Ryner to become his bodyguard.

And so, Sion then went to the place where Ryner was at, which was Toale's house, and they had dined together on the same table.

"............"

During that time, he couldn't possibly have imagined that the relationship between Sion and Toale would have become such a bothersome thing.

Ryner nodded, and said.

"...... yeah. When we met you, Sion was masquerading as my cousin."

Toale then smiled vexedly.

"That fine young man is the hero king huh...... a powerful enemy indeed."

"Well, yeah. He's really a workaholic...... it will be a troublesome thing to surpass him."

"But we're going to surpass him right?"


"If not, you will be dead."

"Yeah. But, can I trust you? Ryner-san, you are the best friend of Sion-san right? I am a little doubtful that you will betray him and truly come here to help me. Perhaps, this is just Sion-san's ploy......"

However, Ryner shook his head immediately,

"No way."

He denied it outright.

But still,

"Even if you say that, I don't have enough information to make an assessment though. Now, with the lives of tens of thousands of people on my shoulder, will I be able to see this through correctly......?"

Said Toale.

Ryner then looked intently at Toale,

"Are you pressuring me to explain everything to you?"

Toale nodded.

"Yes, that's right. Even if it's me, I can't move too carelessly while carrying the lives of so many others."


"Well, you're right though. So, what do you want to know?"

"The first thing I want to ask is about the time when you first made contact with me. Was all that an act? Did you send that hoodlum to put up an act in order to get to me, who has royal blood flowing inside my veins?"

Said Toale.

When he said that.

Ryner felt a number of extraordinary killing intent from the surroundings outside of the tent. The tent was probably surrounded by soldiers.

"...... woah, Toale-chan I say, you're pretty cautious."

Ryner said in a light manner.

Following that, Ferris's eyes opened in response to that killing intent,

"...... hey Ryner."

But immediately, Ryner said,

"Go sleep, Ferris. There's no problem. I just need to explain things a little."

"But."

"I said it's fine. You're tired right? Just sleep. In the first place, with this level of opponents, I can take care of them myself. In the worst case, I'll take Toale hostage."


Ferris then replied,

"...... well, you have a point."

"That's right."

"Got it. But, if something......"

"I said it's fine. You should know that Toale and I are good buddies right? So, don't worry and sleep."

After Ryner said that, Ferris nodded and went back to sleep.

After ascertaining that, Ryner looked at Toale. With a troubled face. Then,

"Withdraw your troops. I told you I'm your ally right?"

However, without taking his eyes off him, Toale said,

"...... but you're the best friend of Sion."

''Best friend'' --- Toale had said.

Ryner made a sad face on hearing that,

"Yeah."


And he nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. But, for Sion's sake as well, I won't let him kill you."

"For Sion's sake, you say?"

"Yeah. His way of thinking is already different from mine. We're looking in different directions now."

While saying that, ''but, isn't it because we have been looking in different directions right from the start'', Ryner thought.

Even when he was shouldering everything, suffering, and on the verge of tears, he was a fool who would not even confide in his best friend.

Even when he had already been looking in a different direction, he had hidden his weeping face, and had kept on smiling perhaps.

That's why this had happened.

That's why things had progressed to this unrecoverable state.

However, he could more or less understand his thought process.

"...... he...... Sion probably wants to use the shortest amount of time to eradicate fighting in the world. Choosing the path with the least number of sacrifices, and advancing along that path. But I'm a little different. I can't distinguish between many lives and few lives, I think. Whether it is sacrificing you to save hundreds of thousands of lives, or sacrificing Sion to save millions of lives, I can't forgive something as stupid as that. At the very least, I don't want that. If you die, I'll cry, if Sion dies, I'll cry. But I hate crying."


Toale then smiled wryly.

"You're so willful."

"...... perhaps. But, that's probably what's different between me and him."

"Ryner-san, because you're too willful right?"

Ryner smiled,

"That's right."

He said.

"But, he should have the same kind of thinking as me. At any rate, he's the type of person who hates fighting, a person who hates crying, but yet, since there was no one who could save that rotten country, he became king even though he didn't really want to you know? So there's no way a gentle person like him, could kill you, or the people of Nelpha without batting an eyelid, just because this is something necessary, he isn't the kind of person who can decide this so easily with a smiling face, you know?"


Well, the truth was that he wasn't the kind of person who can come to such decisions easily. Otherwise, Ryner would not no longer be alive by now.

An '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer is an accursed creature who would end up killing others. Then, in order to save many other lives, he should have killed the Ryner, who's in danger of going berserk anytime, right away, in order to avoid such a calamity.

But yet, he didn't kill him.

Holding a knife while yelling how he would kill him, but yet, in the end, he didn't kill Ryner.

"He's really...... a fool. He's always carrying everything by himself and weeping by himself. But still, he started moving forward...... because he had no choice. But, I want to stop him. And I want to look for another way with him. I want to tell him that he's not alone, and doesn't need to shoulder everything by himself. But, I'm no longer by his side. My voice can no longer reach him. That's why I'm aiming higher. I want to reach a place where my loud voice can reach him. For that purpose, I......"

At that juncture, while looking intently at Ryner, Toale began,

"For that purpose, you've come to save me."

Ryner nodded.


"...... both of you are my friends. I've already said this earlier, but I hate to see my friends cry or die."

"...... I see. But I heard that Sion-san wants to kill you...... and you still want to save Sion-san in spite of that?"

But, to that question,

"Don't make me repeat myself please."

Ryner replied promptly.

Toale then smiled.

"......even when you are faced with that, you hate to see your friend cry...... and because I'm a friend, you will risk your life to protect me? That's quite reassuring huh."

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if you keep annoying me by making me say those lines again and again, I won't be your friend anymore."

On hearing that, ''haha'', Toale laughed out loud. Following that,

"Then, during the first time we met......"


"That was purely a coincidence. I didn't know about your identity then, and even if I did, it didn't matter. However, that's not the case with Roland. They see your popularity as a threat. You were asleep then so you didn't know this, but a year ago, when we were putting up at your house, Roland had sent an assassin, but got driven off by us. Well, during then, I didn't know that he was an assassin from Roland as well......"

At that moment, Ryner recalled the time when the assassin came to kill Toale.

He remembered the unpleasant guy called Miran Froaude, who had eyes cold like the devil, and wielded a Heroes' Relic.

The first time he fought him was in the backyard of Toale's house.

He never would have thought that Froaude was the subordinate of Sion.

Was that also.

Was that assassination attempt also carried out on the orders of Sion? If that's true, then right from the start, he was already looking in a different direction from Sion.

"............"

Well, even if he worried about it now, there was nothing he could do about it, so he brushed those thoughts aside.


Meanwhile, Toale had an expression of surprise on his face at hearing that.

"I didn't hear about it."

"We didn't tell you."

"You should have told me."

"Even if I had told you, it wouldn't amount to anything."

"Eh? No, that's true but...... but doesn't that mean my life got saved twice by you guys?"

But, Ryner waved his hand to brush that aside.

"You gave us food, a place to sleep, and on top of that let us into the library, we are even."

"Erm no, that can't make us even right."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

"Then, trust me this time. That will make us even."

"But, aren't you doing this to save me......"

However, Ryner shook his head.


"That's not it. I'm also asking you to lend me a hand to save Sion."

Upon saying that, Ryner held his hand out to Toale.

And said.

"Can you lend me a hand?"

He looked intently at Toale with a serious expression on his face.

Then, ''wasn't this how Sion held his hand out to me?'', Ryner thought in the corner of his mind.

''Let's go together'', Ryner thought back to the time when Sion had held his hand out to him.

That really saved him. Having enshrouded in solitary and had thought about he was better off being dead , that one line really saved him.

But it was different now.

He was longer the one being saved, but the one who will try to save, he thought.

Of course, he didn't think that he could do it as well as Sion.

"............"


That's why Ryner held his hand out to Toale. Moreover, he didn't know whether he could be saved. No, to have taken this path, he didn't know whether he could save Toale, and after that Sion.

But, he could no longer bear seeing others get hurt and not do anything about it.

He had to move forward.

Whatever the result might be, he shall shoulder all that and move forward, Ryner thought.

Just like what Sion did.

''Just like how he has saved the me who has been running away all this while.''

That's why Ryner stretched his hand straight out to Toale.

Toale then looked at that hand. He looked intently at it with a troubled face.

It was difficult to make a determined decision. He was carrying tens of thousands of lives on his back. If he made a mistake, there was a possibility that all those lives would be lost.

He was probably fearful of that.

He was fearful of carrying all that.

A weight that was as heavy as the one as Sion, who was enduring everything like an idiot and screaming in anguish.


That was why Toale looked at Ryner's hand silently for a while.

But in the end,

"...... jeez, you got me. Coming on me straight in that manner with my troops surrounding the tent, doesn't that make me feel embarrassed?"

While saying that, he took Ryner's hand. And then,

"I understand. I shall trust you. You won't be falsifying your identity again right."

He smiled upon saying that.

To which Ryner smiled as well,

"No, I'm still fake this time you know? The truth is the hardworking me you're seeing now is a fake, the real me really wants to dump everything and take an afternoon nap."

On hearing that, Toale said,

"I know that you know? I also want to dump everything and take a nice afternoon nap."

"You said it."

"Yes. But, we can't run away from troublesome things...... and what should our future plans be?"

On hearing that question, Ryner released Toale's hand. He scratched his head and started thinking again.


Originally, Ryner's plan was like this.

To look for valuable, capable people to protect the commoners with the soldiers.

In the meantime, Ryner will bring along Toale to subdue Starnel.

If however, Roland breaks its agreement and attack while Ryner and Toale are not around, then the plan will change.

The Nelpha troops will carry the flags of Roland and attack Runa, then pretend to lose and run away.

This act should create a powerful threat to Roland.

At any rate, if things go badly, the alliance relationship between Runa and Roland could sour terribly.

Of course, since Runa and Roland are allies, there was a possibility that Runa has already been alerted to this plan of Ryner's, but that would not pose a problem.

The problem was how other countries would view the troops carrying Roland's flags getting beaten off by Runa.

Say for an example, what will happen if that is known to Cassla?

No, even if not other countries.


What will happen if this news reach the troops led by Starnel?

What if the soldiers of Runa were misled into thinking that their ally, Roland, was fearful of them?

The rumor would spread easily.

It's even better if it's a bad rumor.

And if that kind of rumor were to spread, the image of a mighty Roland that Sion was trying to paint would crumble. In this way, the image of nobody being able to resist against Roland who held an absolute amount of overbearing power, would easily crumble.

The other countries in the south would form an alliance and there was a possibility that Roland would no longer be able to advance northwards easily.

That's why the plan should work easily.

Since Sion is a gentle person who will choose the path with the lowest number of sacrifices.

That's why, just by doing the things they ought to do, even without attacking Runa, the plan should succeed.

Ryner was then about to explain the plan to Toale.

It's fine.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 203.jpg|thumb]]

He was about to explain it to him and tell him it's okay to follow him.

But, at that moment.

Before Ryner could explain the plan to Toale.

"............"

Abruptly, everything started going crazy.

Suddenly, the entrance to the tent opened.

"Hn?"

Ryner turned his gaze there.

Standing there, was the face of a familiar man.

Golden hair tied up behind him, a calm face.

That was the man who Ferris took hostage when Ryner attacked Claugh a few days ago.

His name was Shuss Shirazz, if he remembered correctly.

An excellent vice-commander of Claugh.

Ryner looked at Shuss with tinge of surprise,


"Oh, they sent a messenger at a surprisingly early time. Have you already told Sion my suggestion?"

On hearing that, Shuss nodded. Then,

"...... we did."

As he said that, for some reason, his face looked dark and a little pained.

On seeing that, Ryner asked with a puzzled look.

"...... so, what did he say? You've come here to give a reply because he accepted right? At any rate, he should not have any a choice other than to accept this plan......"

But, cutting his words off, Shuss said.

"No. The reply has not come yet."

"Huh? There's no reply?"

"Yes."

"Then, what did you come here for? If there's no reply, there's no meaning in you coming here right?"

On hearing Ryner's words, Shuss made an even more pained expression,

"...... the truth is that I came here not on His Majesty's orders, but to pass a message to you from Field Marshal Claugh Klom."


"From red-hair?"

"Yes."

On hearing that, Ryner face became increasingly more puzzled.

As if he had entirely no clue.

He had never expected that in this situation, it was not a reply from Sion, but a message from Claugh. That's why he could not guess what kind of message it would be.

But.

He knew that it would not be something good. He knew that immediately just by looking at Shuss's face.

Looking at the dark expression on Shuss's face, Ryner asked.

"So, what is it? What did that muscle idiot red-hair want to tell me? Did he say I'm annoying and that he wanted to kill me?"

Following that, in a grave voice unmatching of that light tone of Ryner, Shuss said.

"No. Field Marshal, his Honor, told you to...... 'Run away'......"


Run away.

Ryner cocked his head at those words.

"Huh? Run away? What is the meaning of that? Why do I have to run away? We are the ones threatening Roland right? Right now, you shouldn't be able to take on both Runa and Nelpha right. In order to prevent that, Sion definitely has to accept my idea......"

However, Shuss cut him off there,

"...... Roland has already started invading Runa Empire."

He said.

Ryner's eyes widened at that,

"...... what."

He could only utter.

But, Shuss continued.

"His Majesty made no reply to your message. He ignored it totally. And, Roland has already passed the southern borders of Runa, and advancing northwards at an overwhelming speed. The commander is Marshal Bayuuz White and, Lieutenant General Miran Froaude. Without accepting Runa's surrender, they are now massacring people. And we have also received our orders. Until we have killed both Starnel Nelphi and Toale Nelphi, do not relax on your attacks. Show them Roland's might --- it said."


On hearing that.

On hearing that, Ryner.

"............"

Was at a loss for words.

He then desperately turned over what Shuss had said in his head. Unable to breathe, his face pale, he thought desperately.

Shuss had said.

''"His Majesty made no reply to your message."''

Shuuss had said that.

But, he thought otherwise.

The reply had already come.

Sion had already made his stand on Ryner's plan.

''I'll not accede to your wise plan. Roland shall, without borrowing your power, challenge the world with its might, speed, fearsomeness, and massiveness.''


''In order to do that, I don't care how much sacrifices there will be. Even if it amounts to hundreds of thousands, or even millions of lives.''

The balance Sion was using has become a gigantic one.

On realizing that, Ryner uttered,

"............ damn."

He spat.

He had made another mistake.

He had made another mistake in his calculations.

Because of that, large numbers of people will die.

''Because of my stupidity, foolishness, and my lack of consideration, many people will die.''

''Because my resolve has yet reached the level of Sion's, large numbers of people will die once again.''

Upon thinking that,

"...... damn damn damn."

He wanted to cry.

He wanted to run away.


He wanted to run away to a faraway place right now.

But there was no place to run to. He was already shouldering large numbers of lives.

Even if he was slapped with sudden despair, and wanted to scream in anguish.

"............"

He could only move forward like what Sion did.

He could only move forward like him.

Since the gears were spinning.

Since they were spinning crazily, intensely.

That's why Ryner.

"............"

Looked up.

He glared at Shuss, and with a low, cracked voice,

"...... Roland already has the power to crush both Nelpha and Runa at the same time?"

He asked.

However, that was a foolish question.

The results had been proven.


Runa had already declared their surrender, but Roland did not accept it and continued to raze them.

And that performance was probably creating a dramatic effect. As a result of having razed and crushed two countries, Nelpha and Runa, with overwhelming might, Roland has created an image of itself to other countries as a fearsome country that will not accept any kind of surrender once it starts waging war.

It would be able to make other countries tremble in fear with that image.

So the next time when it moves again, others will proclaim a surrender without even putting up a resistance, allowing Roland to proceed unhindered.

For that purpose.

"............"

For that purpose, there was meaning to the massacre this time.

This was the best choice to minimize the number of sacrifices in the future.

In order to take the path of least sacrifices, Sion had again taken the lives of large numbers of people.

In order to take the shortest path, Sion had again chosen the lives of large numbers of people.

The one who had yet the resolve.

The one who had yet to make his resolve,


"...... is me."

Ryner said groaningly with a face that was on the verge of crying.

But, he had really never thought that Roland would be able to acquire such overwhelming power to be able take on both Nelpha and Runa at the same time. It was beyond his expectations.

"...... damn. That's also my calculation mistake."

Ryner muttered.

Even when he had been spending that same time with Sion, he had never noticed it.

He had never once noticed the depth of the darkness he bore.

He regretted it.

Even when the regrets did not help him, he regretted.

Ryner said.

"...... I understand now what Sion is doing. So, Claugh is asking me to run away?"

Shuss nodded.

"In two more days, we'll start advancing our troops again. The next time we meet on the battlefield, we intend to kill all of you. But for just two days...... we'll stop at our current location. In the meantime......"


Ryner continued from there.

"...... in the meantime, you want us to run away? In other words, this time, Claugh is unsatisfied with Sion's order?"

But, Shuss said.

"No, he didn't say that. Field Marshal, His Honor, will definitely not go against the orders of His Majesty."

Even if he said that, Claugh would not be setting off immediately, and would be delaying things for two days. On top of that, he even told Ryner about the current situation, where Sion had started attacking Runa.

If this is not going against his orders, then what else is?

But Ryner instead said,

"I see."

Shuss nodded again.

"That's right. And my mission ends here. The next time we meet will be......"


"On the battlefield?"

"Yes. The next time I will be killing you. I won't be so easily defeated like the last time, so brace yourself."

Upon saying that, Shuss turned on his heel. With that, he started exiting the tent.

To his back,

"...... tell Claugh thanks for his help."

On hearing that, Shuss merely waved lightly and left the tent.

Looking after his departing figure,

"............"

Ryner took a deep breath and breathed out. As if he were letting go of the built up despair in his body, he breathed out with all his strength.

And once again, he looked at the Toale beside him.

Toale was making a complicated face. Looking at that face,

"I'm sorry Toale. The plan's all messed up."

"I've heard."

"So, with regards to what's next......"


Upon saying that, a tired smile surfaced on Toale's lips,

"I shall show myself to Roland, and get executed publicly......?"

But Ryner shook his head.

"That's useless. Roland is not even willing to accept the surrender of Runa, we don't know how far they will go with the massacring until they are satisfied...... well, at the very least, the soldiers who followed you will be killed."

Toale then smiled sadly.

"Uwah, that is a little...... too much for me. It's all because of my fault to have led these soldiers......"

"No, that's not it. If you hadn't stopped these soldiers, they would have already been killed by Claugh. You have saved their lives."

"It's just for a few days though...... but, then, what should we do?"

On hearing those words, Ryner kept quiet again.

As he pondered, he looked up at the roof part of the tent. The sunlight that was passing through the tent top was red.

The sun was already setting.

Night was falling.


When night comes, they won't be able to move.

However, there was not much time left.

Roland's troops were pressing in from the south, as well as from Runa's side.

If they don't run, they'll get killed.

Everyone'll get killed.

Realizing that.

"............"

Realizing that, Ryner called out,

"Major Selues."

The entrance to the tent opened. Selues entered.

"What is it?"

Ryner said to the solemn face of his.

"My plan has failed. Roland's troops will be attacking from Runa's side. We need to escape now. So mobilize the troops. We're running."

Selues then stared at him,


"What about the commoners?"

"Scatter them, to the west. We shall go north, straight through the Autonomous Holy City of Cassla. Roland's forces will probably come after us."

"I see. So we are the decoy for the commoners to get away. That's a great way to die."

On hearing his words, Ryner's face contorted.

"...... sorry."

However, on the solemn face of Selues, a thin smile surfaced for the first time.

"No, you made the right choice. I can trust you a little more with this."

Upon saying that, he turned around. Then,

"The situation has changed! We need to change locations again!"

While yelling, he went outside.

After ascertaining that, Ryner turned towards Toale.

"Then, let's go, Toale. There's already no more time left. Let's get going quickly. Since you are the one being targeted, you should be moving right at the front."


However, for some reason, Toale smiled sadly,

"....... no, I can't do that. I shall stay back."

As he said that, Ryner's face contorted again.

"Huh? Why? What are you going to do here?"

Toale then said,

"...... I shall remain here and buy some time by negotiating with Roland......"

However, before he could finish, Ryner said,

"Idiot!"

He yelled.

"Use your head Toale! If you were to remain here, most of the troops who have followed you will also remain here right. What will then happen to them? Do you want everyone to die with you? You're leaving. Take the soldiers and flee to Cassla."

To which Toale made an unsettled face,

"Will Cassla take in the soldiers of Nelpha?"

However, Ryner promptly replied,

"I don't know. But, other than that, there's no other way. At any rate, if you stay here, everyone will get killed. We have no choice but to try. Now that we're going to do it...... now that we're going to do it, I'll...... definitely not let you die. Even though we were talking about decoys earlier, but there's no need to die. Before Roland catches up to us, we'll pass through Cassla. You'll live and get away. Everyone will get away and laugh in the end. So don't foolishly talk about dying again. Get it?"


In response to that strong tone of Ryner, Toale looked intently at him and said,

"....... got it."

And nodded. Then, with a somewhat delighted smile,

"And thanks for coming here to help me...... Ryner."

He said.

Not Ryner-san, he dropped the honorifics and called him Ryner.

On hearing that, with a somewhat embarrassed and vexed face, Ryner began,

"Aah jeez, don't worry about stuff like that. Now, go to where Major Selues is. If you take command, the soldiers will probably move faster. Get a thousand troops to remove their military uniforms to protect the commoners and disperse them. The remaining soldiers shall head north......"

But, at that moment before he could finish ---


Instantly.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

Screams rang out from their surroundings.

Following that, a thunderous roaring noise which made their heads spin sounded.

In response to that.

"............"

In response to that, Ryner's eyes widened in shock.

"No way......"

He murmured.

But, once again.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllppp."

Screams rang out.

Following by another thunderous roar, again and again.

Ryner then said again,

"...... no way, how could this......."


He murmured dumbfoundedly.

This shouldn't be happening.

So quickly.

There was no way the enemies could have reached them so quickly.

But, as before, thunderous roars reverberated.

Flickering lights that dazzled even the eyes of those in the tent.

Following that, another thunderous roar.

Ryner knew about all that.

It was a large-scale magic used by Roland.

"...... what the hell is happening!?"

Ryner yelled as he rushed out of the tent.

At the instant he exited the tent.

The night sky, the dark night sky was lit up.

Before Ryner's eyes, tens of people.

"............"

Were reduced to ashes in an instant.


Screams were heard from men, women, children, and the elderly who were roasted from the high temperatures caused by magic.

Screams rang out.

And then they got roasted.

The people who were roasted by the intense fire died.

"...... uwah...... damn, shit......"

Ryner trembled as he saw that. He couldn't move.

However, from the hell-like scene, Kiefer came dashing over.

"Ryner! Roland's troops are approaching from the borders at Runa's side......"

She was also on the verge of tears. In her arms was a four, five year old girl who was injured.

Looking at that.

Looking at Kiefer's teary face,

Ryner was brought back to his senses. Looking intently at her,

"...... I got it. Let's run away immediately. Selues! Protect everyone and make for the north! Move the troops! Get them to counter Roland's large-scale magic attack!"

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 223.jpg|thumb]]

At that voice of Ryner, Selues gave out orders and the soldiers started moving.

Following that, Toale came out of the tent as well and he told him.

"Toale, you go lead the people and escape."

"But."

"No buts. If you're not there, no one will move. Don't just stand there and get moving! I'll do something about the rear somehow, you just focus on getting everyone out of here!"

On hearing that, Toale wanted to say something again, but he relented, nodded once, and ran off.

Ryner looked at his departing figure, then said to the unsettled Kiefer beside him,

"Kiefer."

"Yes."

"Take Iris, Arua, and Kuku with you and follow Toale."

She then made an anguished face. She made a face as if wanting to say that she wants to fight with him here. But instead, her face contorted painfully and she said,

"...... got it."


She then carried the girl in a hugging fashion, and said,

"I'll do my best in supporting Toale to help him get into Cassla. But, Ryner also......"

However, at that juncture, he stopped paying attention to her words. He didn't have the luxury of time to listen to that anymore.

If he tarried further, the next large-scale magic attack would come. If that were to happen, tens of people, hundreds of people would die again.

He needed to defend against that.

Ryner looked in the direction of where the magic came from.

He looked in that direction and widened his eyes.

Following that, red pentacle shapes surfaced on the center of his black pupils and glowed.

Cursed eyes known as '''Alpha Stigma'''.

With those eyes of his, he tried to locate the faraway large-scale magic spell formation.

But, he couldn't see it.


He couldn't see the construct of the magic.

Was it because they had yet to start creating the large-scale magic, or was it because the troops were charging straight towards here without deploying the large-scale magic?

"Damn, if I can't see it, I can't come up with the counter spell......"

But at that moment.

"I say, Ryner!?"

His face got punched heavily from the side.

"Uoh?"

Ryner uttered.

Following that, he turned towards the one who punched him.

The same tearful Kiefer was standing there.

"Erm, eh? Why did you punch me?"

To his question, she said with an angry face.

"Because you are not listening to what I'm saying!"

"Erm, what you're saying?"


"Yeah!"

"B-but, this is not the time......"

But, she cut him off,

"It's precisely because of that, that I'm telling some seriously important stuff right! So listen up properly!"

She said menacingly.

On hearing that,

"...... erm, ah ~, alright. I'm sorry......."

''Uhm'', Kiefer then nodded at Ryner's apology.

"It's great that you understand."

"Er, erm, so Kiefer, what do you want to tell me?"

Kiefer looked once to the sky from which the large-scale magic was invoked, and then looked back at Ryner.

Then, with a serious-looking face,

"Since there isn't much time, I'm going to say all the important stuff that Ryner needs to know in one breath, ok?"


She said.

Ryner nodded in response.

She then exhaled softly, following that, she took a deep breath.

"...... here goes. Ryner. If say, you are unable to stop Roland's forces here and Nelpha's people and soldiers get massacred, it'd not be your fault. So don't go throwing away your life to save them, get it? I think from hereon, you'll be someone who will save a lot more lives. That's why you can't afford to die here. If you were to die easily here, then you're merely a brainless fool. A fool who won't be able to save Sion. But if you're not a fool, and really want to save a lot more lives...... it's forbidden for you to die here. Get it?"

On hearing those words, Ryner became flustered,

"Erm, but......"

"Buts are also forbidden. If you die, I'll commit suicide as well. I'll definitely do it you know?"

"Eeeeeeeeeh, hey, Kiefe......"

But, with a serious-looking face that was really on the verge of crying, she continued.

"I'm serious ok? I don't want to live in a world without you. So if you end up being unable to stop Roland's forces, run away. Get it?"


On hearing those words.

"............"

While Ryner was yet unable to reply, Kiefer started again,

"I'm asking you whether you get it or not!!"

She yelled loudly.

He trembled a little,

"......I-I, got it."

"Alright! Then go!"

"...... erm."

"Hurry up! If not, I'm really going to cry!!"

While shouting, Kiefer had in fact started crying. In response to that, Ryner frantically turned his face away,

"Erm, er ~, sorry."

"Uh-huh."

"Then, I'm off."


"Right...... you must definitely not die."

Kiefer said from behind.

Ryner then nodded,

"Kiefer, don't die as well."

"Uhn. Then...... see ya."

"Aah. See ya."

Upon saying that, Ryner started running.

Firstly, back to the tent. Ferris was already awake.

"What's happening?"

"Roland is attacking."

On hearing those words, her face became a little dazed and she said,

"...... horh. So, what are you planning to do?"

"Go receive them for a bit while the others escape. Wanna join me?"

A thin smile floated on her face. She then drew the sword at her waist.

"...... well, if I'm not around, you will be trembling in fear like a weak worm, pee in your pants and die. Jeez! You're already an adult and still pee in your pants, aren't you ashamed of yourself!"


"Hey, what are you talking about?"

Another smile appeared,

"I'm lending you a hand so that you don't pee in your pants."

After saying that, she swung her sword, and sliced apart the tent flaps.

Then, beyond the sliced portion. Far beyond that.

"............"

Ryner could see a light construct forming up.

It was a large scale lightning attack magic, '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

There were three of them.

"...... three, huh."

Too little. Ryner thought.

If Roland's main forces were closing in, there will be ten times more '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

In other words, right now, the ones that were attacking them were a smaller vanguard.

A force to hold them here while the main forces arrive.


So that none of them could escape.

"............"

In other words, they were attacking in order to massacre all the soldiers and commoners, without letting any one of them escape.

"...... damn. You're going to this extent huh, Sion."

Ryner groaned while he looked intently at the forming '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting).

If these three '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lighting) were completed, hundreds of people would be killed again.

However, they had only just started to form up. And Ryner knew how to shut down that magic. No, even if said he didn't know, with his special pair of eyes, he would be able to discover the way to shut it down.

A smile surfaced on Ryner.

"...... well, but, at this level, it's still possible to barely counteract them."

Upon saying that, he looked around him. And as expected, he found a group Nelpha soldiers who were about to make a large scale magical attack,

"Hey you guys, that won't do. More importantly, don't you have any water-based magic?"


At that question, a soldier answered.

"Water, you say? We do...... but the power......"

But, cutting him off, Ryner said.

"We don't need power. We just need something simplified. Focus on the speed. The next coming attack would be lightning magic, you guys just render that ineffective......"

At that moment, from beside him, Ferris broke into a run.

Towards the enemy.

In the direction where the Roland soldiers appeared to be.

After looking at her back, Ryner once again turned to the soldiers and said.

"...... you guys just stop their large scale magical attack once, in the meantime, we'll keep them in check, can you do it?"

But the soldiers appeared to be flustered,

"B-But, how did you know that the enemies are launching a lightning magical attack on us......"

But Ryner cut him off,

"I'm an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer. I can tell what kind of magic the other side is using and where they will be coming from."


He said.

On hearing that.

On hearing his words.

A look of fear appeared on the soldiers' faces. And they peered into the eyes of Ryner.

At the red pentacles floating above the center of his black eyes ---

Following that, their faces became increasingly contorted with fear.

The killer eyes.

The massacring cursed eyes.

Once those crazy eyes go berserk, a scene of carnage and despair will ensue.

That's why everyone hated those cursed eyes.

Hated the people who possess those eyes.

Hated Ryner.

That's why he ran away.

Since he didn't want to be looked upon in that manner again.

Since he didn't want to be looked upon by those fearful, loathing, demeaning eyes again.


"............"

But, at that moment, the soldier said.

Looking at him, looking at him with fearful eyes,

"...... I, I see...... t-that's really reassuring under such circumstances......"

Said the soldier in a trembling voice, to which Ryner said,

"...... isn't it?"

And he smiled.

Following that, he started giving instructions.

"So listen to me, and defend against their magic. Defending is enough. We'll do the attacking."

"Understood. So, which way......"

With that, Ryner pointed in two different directions with both his hands.

"One from this direction. And another one from this direction. And also one from there. They'll be invoking three rounds. From the current constructing speed, you have probably another five minutes. So, how long do you need?"


That soldier then turned around.

And another soldier behind said,

"For the simplified version, in two minutes."

"Then get to it now."

"Yes."

As the soldier acknowledged, the soldiers and commoners who were heading north had started to move.

"Oh, finally, the preparations to escape are done huh."

Ryner turned towards the crowd who were starting to move.

''Aaarrrggghhh, sloooowwwww'', Ryner wanted to holler at the moving crowd.

But it couldn't be helped.

There were both children and elderly. They were not trained soldiers.

Even if the vanguard sent out by Roland were to retreat, the main forces would probably catch up in no time.

However, even so, they couldn't give up. Even if it was only for a little while, they needed to escape northwards.


That's why.

"............"

That's why he fought.

At the battlefield.

Not only that, at last, he had to fight the soldiers of his own country.

His finger danced in the air, and started carving out glowing words. And then.

"I OFFER THE CONTRACTED WORDS, LETTING THE SLUMBERING MALICIOUS SPIRIT DWELL WITHIN."

He chanted.

His body sparkled and his movement speed increased......

But, at that moment.

"Ryner-sensei!"

A voice sounded from behind him. It was the voice of Arua.

Ryner frowned and turned around.

"What are you doing! Hurry up and get out of here!"

But, Arua said,


"I......"

"I can't bring you along! This is not a situation where you can be useful! Go protect Kuku, Kiefer, and Iris!"

After saying that, he was about to ignore Arua and run off, but,

"No! I won't be a burden to Sensei! I've come here to bring you these."

On hearing those words,

"Huh?"

Ryner turned around.

Arua handed him a bunch of cloth-like objects that he was hugging against his chest,

"...... if you are going to fight Roland soldiers, won't it be easier to get close to them if you bring these along?"

He said.

Ryner took them. And opened them up.

They were the Roland flags which he had gotten Iris to prepare for him earlier.


Ryner then said,

"Ohhh, aren't you a smart one!"

Arua then smiled happily.

"Was I useful?"

"Very! As expected of my disciple!"

On hearing those words, Arua blushed and smiled, ''ehhehe'' like a kid.

"Well then, go back, and protect Kuku, Kiefer and Iris."

Arua then made a slightly worried face,

"What about Sensei......"

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll be right back. Kiefer said that she'll get mad at me if I die, so I'll come back alive."

"...... is that a promise?"

"Yeah. It's a promise. Ok, I'm off."

"Alright."

"See you."

After saying that, Ryner started running.


He went in the opposite direction of the waves of people. Before long, he left the crowd. And on the other side.

On the side of the open field, was Ferris riding a horse.

While riding on a horse, with her left hand, she was holding onto the reins of another horse running alongside her.

Ryner tried to catch up to her with everything he got, and gradually, gradually, the tiredness from the acceleration started seeping in,

"Ah, hey, Ferris! I can't do this! It's tiring to chase you! Could you stop for a little while?"

But,

"........."

Ferris ignored him.

"Heeeeeeeyyyy, you can hear me right! I'm telling you to stop!"

And at last, she turned around. And gleefully, ''pahn pahn'', she clapped her hands,

"Mr Ogre, I'm here ♪, the sound of my hands......"

"Shuutttt uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp!!"

Yelled Ryner as he accelerated even further. He ran at his full speed where he felt as if his legs were rupturing, and as the horse got closer, he kicked the ground.


With that, he got onto the back of the horse.

''Zeh zeh'', he groaned as he gripped the reins. Getting meaninglessly tired, his entire body was covered in sweat in an instant.

Looking at that, Ferris said,

"Ooh, you can do it if you try."

"Shut up. And, don't make me waste my energy like that......"

"Hm. But there's no time right? Before the enemy launches their next magical attack, we have to......"

"No, it'll be fine. The Nelpha soldiers will do something about that. Even though it'll indeed be terrible if they managed to invoke it next time......"

But, at that moment, Ferris faced the front and squinted her eyes. Ryner followed her sight.

He could tell that they were nearing the enemy squads. If the horses were to run at full speed, at this rate, they would probably be able to charge right in the enemy formation in three to four minutes.

Ferris said.

"Before the next magical attack, we can charge into the enemy it seems. But the problem is the enemy numbers. Do you think we can render them ineffective with just the two of us?"


On hearing those words, Ryner folded his arms.

"Uhn ~, I wonder ~"

The large scale magic, '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning) that was about to be invoked would need at least thirty casters.

In order to bring the greatest amount of power smoothly, they would need a hundred people.

In other words, for the enemy to invoke the three rounds of '''Raguru''' (Lightning Falling Lightning), they would need at least ninety mage soldiers and at most three hundred of them.

But normally, with respect to the practice of Roland, the large scale magic squads are protected by four times more troops than the casters. Once the casters start to invoke the large scale magic, they will not be able to move for five minutes, and during that time, they will be completely defenseless, so in order to protect them, a substantial number of troops are needed.

In other words, on the other side of this open field, the number of Roland troops would number at least more than five hundred.

In the worst case, there could be a thousand people.

Of course, it was not a number that could be handled by just two people.

"Strategy?"

On hearing Ferris's words, Ryner nodded.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 243.jpg|thumb]]

"I've got one."

"What should we do?"

"...... I'll tamper with the large scale magic on their side."

"Horh. So in other words...... we have to bust right into the enemy, and you'll forcibly change the magic formations made by the enemy?"

"Yes."

"While being completely surrounded by a ton of enemies, I shall hold them off while you change their magic formations right?"

"Yes."

"...... hm. I see. And, there's something I want to ask."

"What?"

"...... can you call that moronic strategy a strategy?"

Ryner smiled wryly at that question.

"...... yeah you can't call that a strategy at all. We might die. Then again, shall I think of another plan...... I'd rather just risk my own life, but to get you caught up in it......"

But Ferris said to that,


"But, there's no time to come up with another strategy right?"

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==Translator's Notes and References==
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| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol3|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Afterword|Afterword]]
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Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 3

2011-11-27T01:08:49Z

Error: tense, name

{{Incomplete|percentage=50}}

==The Burden I Shoulder==


The horse galloped.

At full speed.

"My butt huuurrrtttttsssssss!"

While yelling, Ryner rode, he rode, for four days, he rode.

Beside him, Ferris, who had also been galloping for the past four days without sleeping, went,

".................................. mumyu ~"

"Hey, don't sleep while ridingggggggggg!"

Ryner yelled at the Ferris who seemed about to slip off her horse.

On hearing that, she opened her eyes suddenly, looked up, and wiped off the little drool from her mouth,

"Hm? What? It's morning?"

"No, it's evening though. Wait, that's not the problem, don't sleep on the horse! It's dangerous."


"I wasn't sleeping."

"I think you were sleeping with half of your body about to fall off."

"I was practicing body-bend riding."

"You're lying!"

"Yeah. A big lie!"

"And you're admitting to it so quickly!"

"Of course. I'm sleepy. And since I'm at my limits, I'm going to nap a little. Let me know when we reach."

"No, I was telling you not to sleep duh."

Ignoring Ryner's holler, she closed her eyes, and with that, she seemed about to slip off the horse again.

"That's why I was saying, don't sleeepppppppppppppppppp!"

Ignoring him, she fell off the horse, and in a splendid manner, she spun a few times in the air and landed on the ground. On top of that, with a soft plod, ''good night'', she said and entered the world of dreams.

Following that, the horse which Ferris had been riding on suddenly became energetic due to the lightened load, and whizzed off.


"Jeez, that fella's such a botherrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

While yelling, he whipped his horse. With that, he caught up to the horse which Ferris had discarded, and grabbed hold of its reins. And pulled. He stopped the horse, turned it around, and returned to the place where Ferris was sleeping.

Then.

"Hey."

"............"

"Hey, we don't really have time to tarry around. We're already one day late from the appointed day that we're supposed to link up with Kiefer."

"............"

"Hey, we only need to ride for another half a day before we reach our destination, so c'mon? Hey? Ferris. Please."

Without looking at him, she said,

"...... shut up. I'm sleepy. I'm sluggish. Bothersome. Go by yourself."

"Hey, are you me! I'm also sleepy to the point of dying, but, if we don't get our act together, Toale's life will be in danger. So let's do our best for a little bit more, ok?"


On hearing that, Ferris finally got up. She looked up at him with a pained expression,

"But Ryner. For the past four days, I haven't eaten a dango you know? As a person who is a hundred million, two thousand, eight hundred, and ninety-two percent made up of dango, do you think I can continue without any dango?"

At that question, Ryner, with a tired face,

"Wait, so how many percent does your entire body constitute?"

He asked back squarely,

"Who cares about that, just listen to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

She became really angry.

Ryner smiled wryly and said.

"...... erm, no, well, I know that it's been hard on you to not have eaten any dango for four days, but right now, it's an emergency so bear with it."

"I can't bear with it."

"No, but......"

"I can't bear <nowiki>-----------------------</nowiki> it! By the way, there's a nice dango shop nearby."


Upon saying that, she suddenly got up energetically, which was unthinkable for a person who was tired from going without sleep for four whole days.

Looking at that, Ryner exclaimed,

"Huuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh!? Eh? Eh? What's this? Is this that? All that ranting about being sleepy and falling off the horse was an act?"

Ferris promptly replied,

"Of course!"

"Don't 'of course' me!"

"Whatever you think about that is not the main issue here!"

Ferris said vehemently.

"............ hahh."

Ryner sighed out.

Even without that, he was already drained. Having fought with that red-haired monster, getting them horses, and riding crazily without sleep.


Riding crazily without sleep on the horses which he had sneaked out of a noble's stables along the way.

He already felt like dying. Not just from the lack of sleep, but more from the pain in his butt.

Indeed, it seems like they would need some rest soon, but......

So as to speak, after working so hard till this point, isn't it ok for him to take about two hundred years' worth of afternoon naps right? Isn't it ok for him to just disappear somewhere and take a long afternoon nap right? A temptation like this started to grow in him, but, Ryner stomped it out and said.

"...... b-but you know Ferris. At the appointed place, Iris will be waiting for us with Wynitt dango......"

But Ferris said.

"Nelpha dango and Roland dango are different things altogether."

Her tone became stronger than before,

"...... you're right I guess. Then, erm...... let's take a short break......"

Ryner gave in.

''Let's take a short break'', Ryner relaxed.


Instantly.

"Woah."

As his strength left him, he almost fell off his horse. Ferris supported him with a hand.

Then.

"See. You're also tired."

"Well...... it's obvious that I'll be tired after riding for four whole days......"

But, he had never thought that he would be so tired. He didn't realize it since he had been keeping his body tensed up all this while, but his body had become abnormally heavy. He immediately understood how it came to be so. It was a consequence of the Estabul magic which he had used to accelerate his movements during his fight with Claugh. That magic, in exchange for granting a period of increased bodily reflexes and ability, will cause the user to feel its weariness later. On top of that, this time round, in order to do something about that red-haired monster, he had seriously overused his body. It was probably the burdens from that which had come to assail him.

However, even those words alone were not enough to convey how heavy his body currently was. Right now, his entire body was enveloped with a level of fatigue that could make him pass out.

Seeing that, Ferris said.


She looked up at him, and somehow, with a slightly angry face, she averted her eyes and said.

"Jeez...... you've overdone it this time. I understand how you feel, but even so, there's a limit to what one person can do. Don't push yourself too much."

In other words.

"............"

It seems to be that.

It seems like all of Ferris's acting, and her willful behavior of wanting to go to a dango shop, were all for the purpose of saying this.

''Aah ~'', Ryner thought.

He stroked his disheveled bed-hair,

"Aah ~...... erm, sorry."

"Umu."

"Well then, let's go to that dango shop and rest up in the village."

Ferris then said,

"Idiot. There's no dango shop."

"Eh?"


"That's why you're a real idiot."

Upon saying that, for some reason, her face blushed, and in order to mask that, she made an angry face.

Looking intently at that.

"............"

Looking intently at her face,

"...... aah, I see."

Ryner smiled with a troubled look.

Ferris then jumped onto the horse, the horse that Ryner was now riding. With that, she took the reins away from his hand,

"Alright. If your overly stupid brain has understood, it's time to move. We don't have much time. Once we reach there, there will be work waiting for you again. That's why, the idiot can just sleep. I'll wake you when we reach there."

Upon saying that, she started to kick into the horse.

Ryner then frantically said,

"Eh, but Ferris, you haven't slept a wink as well......"


But at that moment,

"Don't worry about that, just sleep, idiot."

Upon saying that, she made a chopping stance with her hand and started sending it into the back of Ryner's neck,

"Eh, no wait, that's bad......"

"Shut up."

"Gyafu."

Instantly.

Ryner lost consciousness.

Darkness spread.

Deep darkness spread.

In that deep darkness.

Ryner was visited by dreams which had missed him for quite some time.

Strangely, they were cheerful dreams.

Sion appeared, and with a face full of mischief,


"Alright Ryner ~. Nap time's over. It's time to get working."

He said.

For some reason, Ferris, who was munching on dango beside him, drew her sword for no good reason,

"Die, you pervertttttttttttt."

She shouted and came beating him.

That was the scenery that was repeating again and again.

With Sion, and Ferris, the three of them.

A dream in which the three of them were making merry in that small office.

There was nothing to worry about there.

There were no lives nor troubles from others to shoulder.

Only a bunch of fools laughing happily.

And he thought.

It'd be nice if such days can go on forever, he thought.

No, he had believed that it would be so.

Such days would go on, even when he was complaining about how unpleasant or bothersome things were, as long as he worked hard, the world would be alright, he had thought.


That's why he was laughing like that.

He had never thought that it would end.

Laughing like an idiot.

Even when he was made to work throughout the night. Even when he was bashed up by her sword.

Ryner had always been laughing happily.

"............"

And he felt a little blessed.

Even though up till now, he had only been laden with tiresome things.

But, after seeing that dream, he felt like doing his best for a little longer and looking forward.

Since in his dream, he had been laughing like an idiot with them.

He had been laughing like an idiot from the bottom of his heart.

But, the dream came to an end.

Suddenly, it ended, he realized.

No, perhaps he had realized that right from the start of the dream.

That dream.


"............"

Sadly, that dream was nowhere close to reality.

"............"

But, he wished, for a little bit.

Each time he saw that dream, he'd wish.

Ryner would wish that, if only this bothersome reality could be the dream instead when he open his eyes, and that he could wake up to that noisy office, he would be willing to pay any price.

If he were to open his eyes right now.

If he were to awake from his dream.

And the nightmare would have ended and he could wake up to that noisy office again.

He would not make the same mistake again.

He would not leave Sion to his solitude again.

In order to laugh together.

In order to move forward together, this time round, without feeling bothersome, he would do his best, he thought.


And so, Ryner opened his eyes.

Wishing that he could wake up to that office.

"............"

He opened his eyes......

<center>♦</center>

<center>♦</center>

<center>♦</center>

"............"

When he opened his eyes, they had already reached their destination.

On the land that was very near to the borders between Nelpha and Runa.


There, were gathered tens of thousands of people.

Ryner opened his eyes and straightened his body,

"...... hn? You've awakened?"

From behind him, Ferris, who had been doing the riding, said.

Ryner turned around,

"...... eh? Ah, yeah. I had a good sleep. Thanks, Ferris."

"Umu. I also had a good sleep."

"Hey, what would have happened if you have slept as well."

Upon making that jab, with a slightly tired face,

"Fufufu."

She laughed.

From her face, it was clear that she hadn't really slept at all. Quite unbecoming of her, there were dark circles beneath her eyes. She was clearly very tired. Ryner then began,

"This time, it's your turn to sleep. Leave the rest to......"

But, before he could finish,

"............"


She rested her head on the back of Ryner, and slept.

Ryner smiled, and without letting her body fall off, he supported her with his left hand and once again started the horse galloping.

However, with the throngs of people gathered, they couldn't move very fast.

"............"

He then looked around him.

He looked at the faces of the people gathered here.

Clearly, the people here did not just comprise of soldiers.

Originally, Kiefer was supposed to guide the ten thousand soldiers, who were thrown away as sacrificial pawns by Starnel and later saved by Toale, to this place.

"What on earth is this?"

Ryner said with a troubled face.

Clearly, the commoners who were present here greatly outnumbered the soldiers.

Women, children, as well as the elderly.

A throng of people who couldn't contribute to the fighting strength.

Well, he could probably make a guess as to why they were here.


"...... Toale, that guy sure is popular."

While muttering that, he moved the horse forward.

The people all looked up in a dumbfounded manner at the riders on the advancing horse, at Ryner and the peerless golden hair beauty behind him.

He then asked a question to someone who was clad in military uniform among the people.

"...... ah ~, erm, you are one of the soldiers following Toale right? I have some business with Toale, so do you mind leading us to him?"

On hearing that, the soldier looked up. And he glared at Ryner.

A man who had a piercing gaze. With long light brown hair tied up at the back, and perhaps, due to his unshaven face, he looked to be in his mid-twenties.

He looked up at them and squinted his eyes.

"...... are you Ryner Lute?"

Ryner was surprised at hearing his own name.

"Oh? To know my name, am I perhaps famous around here?"

On hearing that, the man's face contorted,


"I'm Kazaal Selues. A Major. I was given command of ten thousand troops from Prince Starnel and ordered to fend off Roland's forces, but I went against that and am now following Toale-sama."

On hearing those words, Ryner looked again more carefully at this man called Kazaal Selues.

He was of medium build and medium height. A well-trained body with no opening. He's probably quite strong. Well, of course, he can't be compared to that abnormal killing intent from that red-haired muscled idiot though.

However, just from his appearance, he could tell that this fella has some ability. To elaborate on that, to have become a Major in his twenties, this fella must have achieved a number of accomplishments on the battlefield.

That was the reason why Starnel had assigned ten thousand troops to him, and abandoned them.

He had probably thought that this fella would be able to fend off the Roland forces for a while and buy him more time to escape.

Considering that.

A smile surfaced on Ryner.

"...... I'm grateful to Starnel's idiocy."

On hearing that, Selues looked at him with a look of surprise,


"What did you say?"

"No, I was just giving thanks to Starnel's idiocy for throwing away someone as capable as you without even batting an eyelid. Thanks to the foolishness of Starnel, the plan I came up with might just go well. By the way, are you popular among your subordinates?"

He asked.

"............"

Selues did not answer. However, even without answering, it was clear.

Ryner looked around him once more.

The soldiers around him all had brightly lit faces. There was not the slightest drop in morale.

After getting abandoned by Starnel, and on top of that having Roland's soldiers on their heels, their current brightly lit faces could not just be attributed to Toale's popularity alone.

Ryner's grin broadened increasingly.

"Unexpectedly, things may just move ahead even without us doing anything."

Toale is popular with the commoners. If both Starnel and Toale were to claim their names to the throne, most of the people would probably follow Toale.

However, this Selues appeared to be very popular with the soldiers.


With this, if Starnel was to continue with his oppression, he would probably end up destroying himself.

If Toale were to rise up, supported by Selues at his side, there was a possibility that the rest of the power-wielding nobles, soldiers, and people would follow him.

If that were to happen.

"............"

Starnel's life would probably be no more. Even without Ryner, Toale, or Roland doing anything.

Thanks to his own foolishness, Starnel would be killed by Imperial Nelpha.

If that were to happen, then there would be no need for Ryner to take the trouble to capture Starnel.

However, the real problem will start from there.

After Starnel's death.

After Toale becomes king.

At that time, Roland will probably be asking for Toale's life.

The current Roland will definitely not allow Toale to live.


That's why in order for Toale to live, there are two choices.

First.

Escape to outside of the country.

Second.

Lead Nelpha's soldiers to fight Roland.

"............"

But the latter was out of the question.

Right now, there was no longer any country in the southern part of the continent with enough power to fight the military might of Roland.

Ryner was very well aware of that.

For the past one year, he had always hung around Sion's side.

Working hard together in that office to strengthen Roland.

And in just one year, Roland was totally transformed to something different from before.

Roland was reborn.

Even though Ryner was not directly involved in the military affairs, he could still imagine roughly how much power the current Roland wielded.


To the Nelpha right now, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg.

Well, however, if they were to ally with Runa Empire to resist Roland, then it would be a different story.

"............"

Even for Roland, it would be difficult to face two countries as its opponents, he thought.

However, Runa was an ally of Roland.

As such, Nelpha no longer had any chance of winning. There was no other way other than to surrender.

In other words, for the short term, there was no way but for Toale to first capture Starnel, become the king, and issue a surrender, and before Roland catches him, escape out of the country.

As he unfolded the various development scenarios in his head,

"Aah, this is bothersome."

Upon groaning, Selues nodded.

"Yeah. It's extremely bothersome. That's why there's not much time left. According to Kiefer Knolles, you are supposed to have arrived yesterday. What in the world were you doing?"

Ryner's face turned serious at that and he looked at Selues.

"Sorry we're late. Even though we were already rushing all the way here, it was my calculation mistake. But, I'm not going to make another mistake hereon. I'll save this country, and save Toale's life. So can you lead us to Toale?"


Selues then grabbed hold of the reins of Ryner's horse and led them.

"Here."

"Right."

Once again, the horse started off slowly.

Ahead of where Selues was leading them, was a small tent. Outside of that tent, was a familiar group, made up of a golden hair girl, a black hair boy and his childhood girl friend, playing.

Iris, Arua, and Kuku.

At that moment, Iris noticed Ryner's group.

"Ah ~! Wild Beast-kun ~!"

She shouted.

Arua then turned towards here as well,

"Ryner-sensei!"

Following that, the tent opened, and out came Kiefer, with her hand waving.

Ryner then waved back at her, and lastly......


A man around the same age of Ryner came out of the tent. With brown hair and a kind face. However, compared to the time he met him a year ago, the face was more drawn. It was filled with more fatigue.

Just from that, he could see what he had been through for the past few weeks.

Ryner smiled at Toale.

And in response to that.

"............"

Toale returned with a wry, troubled smile.

Ryner then turned around.

"Hey, Ferris."

"............"

"Ferris, wake up. We have reached. There should be a bed somewhere, go sleep there."

On hearing that, without opening her eyes,

"Hah ~, then, carry me there."

"Walk on your own."

"Carry me there like a princess."


"Huuuuhhhhhhhh? Huuhhhhhh? You, with so many people looking......"

But, upon saying that, she grabbed hold of Ryner's neck. And while strangling him,

"You're so annoying. If you dare wake me again...... I'll kill you, get it?"

As she said that, her fingers seemed to be really crushing Ryner's neck,

"Hey, I get itttttttt! Whether is it like a princess or groom, I'll carry you so don't kill me."

"Um. Then, please carry on. I'll be going back to sleep."

"......................... jeez."

Ryner sighed out loudly, and following that, he dismounted the horse. After that, he brought down Ferris, who had descended into deep sleep.

Then, in her desired princess cradle fashion, he carried the bothersome princess,

"A princesssssssssssssss!"

Iris made a jab as she clung to Ferris's chest.

The weight of the two people on Ryner's hip. His hip seemed about to sprain. He really felt like killing the two troublesome sisters.


But.

"...... uhwu, I have to bear with it until I get her to a bed. Do your best, Ryner. I'll be able to relax when she sleeps......"

He encouraged himself, and started walking.

Following that, Kiefer came to him.

"............"

While staring at him, she smiled kindly.

But, somehow, it was different from the smile just now. She was looking intently at him with a somewhat, transfixed, biting gaze, and softly,

"...... princess cradle."

"Eh? What?"

"Nothing."

"But you know, these two people are really heavy...... hey, Kiefer, can you help me?"

Ryner asked, to which Kiefer said,


"Nope."

"Eh?"

"No way."

"Erm......"

But, at that moment, she grinned,

"Just kidding ~. It was a joke, a joke. I'll help you. The past few days have been tough on you guys right? You're tired right?"

While saying that, she supported Ryner's arms, and pushed upwards. With that, his burden lessened.

"Oh, that really helps."

"That's great."

"Thanks."

"Yeah!"

Kiefer acknowledged happily.

Following that, Ryner once again looked in front of him, at Toale.

For some reason, with a seemingly bad mood, he was looking at him --- rather, at Kiefer.


"Hn? What's wrong, Toale?"

On hearing Ryner's words, his face turned to one of surprise,

"Eh? Umm...... ah ~, no, nothing. Long time no see, Ryner-san."

"Long time no see."

Upon saying that, Ryner wanted to wave his hands, but realizing that both his arms were encumbered, he merely nodded his head at him.

Toale then rushed up to him.

"Do you need help?"

"Yeah, can you help me with the top one."

Toale nodded, and lifted up Iris, who had been clinging to Ferris's chest.

Iris's face then lit up,

"Wah! It's high, are you bringing me higher!? Iris loves that!"

On hearing that, Toale lifted Iris up and down. Following that, he looked at Ryner,

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 183.jpg|thumb]]

"Well Ryner-san, I would have never expected to reunite with you under such circumstances."

Ryner nodded as well. He smiled wryly at the tight-fitting, seemingly unsuitable military uniform that Toale was wearing.

"Yeah. I've never thought so either. So to speak, it became something real bothersome."

Following that, Toale opened the entrance to the tent. Inside was a simple bed, and he pointed to it,

"Over there."

"Yeah."

Ryner nodded as he carried Ferris there. He put Ferris down on the bed, and hugging the pillow, she slept comfortably.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Ryner then said smilingly.

Following that, once again, Kiefer looked at him with a slightly angry face.

Ryner cocked his head to the side.

"So, what's wrong?"


"N-o-t-h-i-n-g."

"Hey, those words sounded rather thorny."

"No they don't."

"Yes they do."

"I said no, they don't"

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Well ok...... forget it then."

"No way."

"Eeeehhh?"

"Humph."

Kiefer turned her face away from him and went out of the tent.

With an incomprehensible look on his face,

"...... what the hell was that?"

Ryner asked Toale.

On hearing that, for some reason, he also made an unpleasant face,


"Please don't ask me."

"Toale, why are you angry as well?"

"I'm not angry."

"Really?"

"Yes. More importantly......"

Upon saying that, he looked at Ryner.

And smiled.

"Really, long time no see. Ryner-san, I'm really happy to hear that you are coming here to help me. ''I'm coming here to save you. The reason is because we're friends. Ok?'', those words, frankly speaking, made me want to cry."

He said, to which Ryner smiled.

"Was that a little too mushy?"

"Nope. It was a great thing to me, who was depressed from getting cornered in all directions."

"Is that so. That's great then."

Ryner nodded, pulled up a nearby chair and sat down.

Toale then said,


"Should I brew some tea like what we did in the past?"

"Ah ~, the tea you brewed was really good. But, forget it now. There's really not much time left. Erm, so the situation we are now in......"

"I have already heard everything from Kiefer-san. As to where did you come from, and why are you here now......"

Upon saying that, Toale looked at Ryner with a pair of somewhat reproachful eyes,

"...... jeez, Ryner-san, you really had me with all those lies. You are a person from Roland right. And on top of that, the best friend of that hero king, Sion Astal. And to top if off, a year ago, you introduced that Sion-san as your cousin and ate in my house......"

On hearing that, Ryner nodded with a somewhat apologetic face.

That's right, that's how it was.

Ryner had met Toale and withheld his true identity then.

During that time, as a spy from Roland, he had to hide his identity while searching for the Heroes' Relics together with Ferris.


They had then visited Imperial Nelpha, Runa Empire, and Iyet Republic before returning back to Roland again.

On top of that, Toale had met Sion.

At that time, Sion was on a formal visit, calling on the grandfather of Toale, the previous king of Imperial Nelpha, Gread Nelphi, and had asked Ryner to become his bodyguard.

And so, Sion then went to the place where Ryner was at, which was Toale's house, and they had dined together on the same table.

"............"

During that time, he couldn't possibly have imagined that the relationship between Sion and Toale would have become such a bothersome thing.

Ryner nodded, and said.

"...... yeah. When we met you, Sion was masquerading as my cousin."

Toale then smiled vexedly.

"That fine young man is the hero king huh...... a powerful enemy indeed."

"Well, yeah. He's really a workaholic...... it will be a troublesome thing to surpass him."

"But we're going to surpass him right?"


"If not, you will be dead."

"Yeah. But, can I trust you? Ryner-san, you are the best friend of Sion-san right? I am a little doubtful that you will betray him and truly come here to help me. Perhaps, this is just Sion-san's ploy......"

However, Ryner shook his head immediately,

"No way."

He denied it outright.

But still,

"Even if you say that, I don't have enough information to make an assessment though. Now, with the lives of tens of thousands of people on my shoulder, will I be able to see this through correctly......?"

Said Toale.

Ryner then looked intently at Toale,

"Are you pressuring me to explain everything to you?"

Toale nodded.

"Yes, that's right. Even if it's me, I can't move too carelessly while carrying the lives of so many others."


"Well, you're right though. So, what do you want to know?"

"The first thing I want to ask is about the time when you first made contact with me. Was all that an act? Did you send that hoodlum to put up an act in order to get to me, who has royal blood flowing inside my veins?"

Said Toale.

When he said that.

Ryner felt a number of extraordinary killing intent from the surroundings outside of the tent. The tent was probably surrounded by soldiers.

"...... woah, Toale-chan I say, you're pretty cautious."

Ryner said in a light manner.

Following that, Ferris's eyes opened in response to that killing intent,

"...... hey Ryner."

But immediately, Ryner said,

"Go sleep, Ferris. There's no problem. I just need to explain things a little."

"But."

"I said it's fine. You're tired right? Just sleep. In the first place, with this level of opponents, I can take care of them myself. In the worst case, I'll take Toale hostage."


Ferris then replied,

"...... well, you have a point."

"That's right."

"Got it. But, if something......"

"I said it's fine. You should know that Toale and I are good buddies right? So, don't worry and sleep."

After Ryner said that, Ferris nodded and went back to sleep.

After ascertaining that, Ryner looked at Toale. With a troubled face. Then,

"Withdraw your troops. I told you I'm your ally right?"

However, without taking his eyes off him, Toale said,

"...... but you're the best friend of Sion."

''Best friend'' --- Toale had said.

Ryner made a sad face on hearing that,

"Yeah."


And he nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. But, for Sion's sake as well, I won't let him kill you."

"For Sion's sake, you say?"

"Yeah. His way of thinking is already different from mine. We're looking in different directions now."

While saying that, ''but, isn't it because we have been looking in different directions right from the start'', Ryner thought.

Even when he was shouldering everything, suffering, and on the verge of tears, he was a fool who would not even confide in his best friend.

Even when he had already been looking in a different direction, he had hidden his weeping face, and had kept on smiling perhaps.

That's why this had happened.

That's why things had progressed to this unrecoverable state.

However, he could more or less understand his thought process.

"...... he...... Sion probably wants to use the shortest amount of time to eradicate fighting in the world. Choosing the path with the least number of sacrifices, and advancing along that path. But I'm a little different. I can't distinguish between many lives and few lives, I think. Whether it is sacrificing you to save hundreds of thousands of lives, or sacrificing Sion to save millions of lives, I can't forgive something as stupid as that. At the very least, I don't want that. If you die, I'll cry, if Sion dies, I'll cry. But I hate crying."


Toale then smiled wryly.

"You're so willful."

"...... perhaps. But, that's probably what's different between me and him."

"Ryner-san, because you're too willful right?"

Ryner smiled,

"That's right."

He said.

"But, he should have the same kind of thinking as me. At any rate, he's the type of person who hates fighting, a person who hates crying, but yet, since there was no one who could save that rotten country, he became king even though he didn't really want to you know? So there's no way a gentle person like him, could kill you, or the people of Nelpha without batting an eyelid, just because this is something necessary, he isn't the kind of person who can decide this so easily with a smiling face, you know?"


Well, the truth was that he wasn't the kind of person who can come to such decisions easily. Otherwise, Ryner would not no longer be alive by now.

An '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer is an accursed creature who would end up killing others. Then, in order to save many other lives, he should have killed the Ryner, who's in danger of going berserk anytime, right away, in order to avoid such a calamity.

But yet, he didn't kill him.

Holding a knife while yelling how he would kill him, but yet, in the end, he didn't kill Ryner.

"He's really...... a fool. He's always carrying everything by himself and weeping by himself. But still, he started moving forward...... because he had no choice. But, I want to stop him. And I want to look for another way with him. I want to tell him that he's not alone, and doesn't need to shoulder everything by himself. But, I'm no longer by his side. My voice can no longer reach him. That's why I'm aiming higher. I want to reach a place where my loud voice can reach him. For that purpose, I......"

At that juncture, while looking intently at Ryner, Toale began,

"For that purpose, you've come to save me."

Ryner nodded.


"...... both of you are my friends. I've already said this earlier, but I hate to see my friends cry or die."

"...... I see. But I heard that Sion-san wants to kill you...... and you still want to save Sion-san in spite of that?"

But, to that question,

"Don't make me repeat myself please."

Ryner replied promptly.

Toale then smiled.

"......even when you are faced with that, you hate to see your friend cry...... and because I'm a friend, you will risk your life to protect me? That's quite reassuring huh."

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if you keep annoying me by making me say those lines again and again, I won't be your friend anymore."

On hearing that, ''haha'', Toale laughed out loud. Following that,

"Then, during the first time we met......"


"That was purely a coincidence. I didn't know about your identity then, and even if I did, it didn't matter. However, that's not the case with Roland. They see your popularity as a threat. You were asleep then so you didn't know this, but a year ago, when we were putting up at your house, Roland had sent an assassin, but got driven off by us. Well, during then, I didn't know that he was an assassin from Roland as well......"

At that moment, Ryner recalled the time when the assassin came to kill Toale.

He remembered the unpleasant guy called Miran Froaude, who had eyes cold like the devil, and wielded a Heroes' Relic.

The first time he fought him was in the backyard of Toale's house.

He never would have thought that Froaude was the subordinate of Sion.

Was that also.

Was that assassination attempt also carried out on the orders of Sion? If that's true, then right from the start, he was already looking in a different direction from Sion.

"............"

Well, even if he worried about it now, there was nothing he could do about it, so he brushed those thoughts aside.


Meanwhile, Toale had an expression of surprise on his face at hearing that.

"I didn't hear about it."

"We didn't tell you."

"You should have told me."

"Even if I had told you, it wouldn't amount to anything."

"Eh? No, that's true but...... but doesn't that mean my life got saved twice by you guys?"

But, Ryner waved his hand to brush that aside.

"You gave us food, a place to sleep, and on top of that let us into the library, we are even."

"Erm no, that can't make us even right."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

"Then, trust me this time. That will make us even."

"But, aren't you doing this to save me......"

However, Ryner shook his head.


"That's not it. I'm also asking you to lend me a hand to save Sion."

Upon saying that, Ryner held his hand out to Toale.

And said.

"Can you lend me a hand?"

He looked intently at Toale with a serious expression on his face.

Then, ''wasn't this how Sion held his hand out to me?'', Ryner thought in the corner of his mind.

''Let's go together'', Ryner thought back to the time when Sion had held his hand out to him.

That really saved him. Having enshrouded in solitary and had thought about he was better off being dead , that one line really saved him.

But it was different now.

He was longer the one being saved, but the one who will try to save, he thought.

Of course, he didn't think that he could do it as well as Sion.

"............"


That's why Ryner held his hand out to Toale. Moreover, he didn't know whether he could be saved. No, to have taken this path, he didn't know whether he could save Toale, and after that Sion.

But, he could no longer bear seeing others get hurt and not do anything about it.

He had to move forward.

Whatever the result might be, he shall shoulder all that and move forward, Ryner thought.

Just like what Sion did.

''Just like how he has saved the me who has been running away all this while.''

That's why Ryner stretched his hand straight out to Toale.

Toale then looked at that hand. He looked intently at it with a troubled face.

It was difficult to make a determined decision. He was carrying tens of thousands of lives on his back. If he made a mistake, there was a possibility that all those lives would be lost.

He was probably fearful of that.

He was fearful of carrying all that.

A weight that was as heavy as the one as Sion, who was enduring everything like an idiot and screaming in anguish.


That was why Toale looked at Ryner's hand silently for a while.

But in the end,

"...... jeez, you got me. Coming on me straight in that manner with my troops surrounding the tent, doesn't that make me feel embarrassed?"

While saying that, he took Ryner's hand. And then,

"I understand. I shall trust you. You won't be falsifying your identity again right."

He smiled upon saying that.

To which Ryner smiled as well,

"No, I'm still fake this time you know? The truth is the hardworking me you're seeing now is a fake, the real me really wants to dump everything and take an afternoon nap."

On hearing that, Toale said,

"I know that you know? I also want to dump everything and take a nice afternoon nap."

"You said it."

"Yes. But, we can't run away from troublesome things...... and what should our future plans be?"

On hearing that question, Ryner released Toale's hand. He scratched his head and started thinking again.


Originally, Ryner's plan was like this.

To look for valuable, capable people to protect the commoners with the soldiers.

In the meantime, Ryner will bring along Toale to subdue Starnel.

If however, Roland breaks its agreement and attack while Ryner and Toale are not around, then the plan will change.

The Nelpha troops will carry the flags of Roland and attack Runa, then pretend to lose and run away.

This act should create a powerful threat to Roland.

At any rate, if things go badly, the alliance relationship between Runa and Roland could sour terribly.

Of course, since Runa and Roland are allies, there was a possibility that Runa has already been alerted to this plan of Ryner's, but that would not pose a problem.

The problem was how other countries would view the troops carrying Roland's flags getting beaten off by Runa.

Say for an example, what will happen if that is known to Cassla?

No, even if not other countries.


What will happen if this news reach the troops led by Starnel?

What if the soldiers of Runa were misled into thinking that their ally, Roland, was fearful of them?

The rumor would spread easily.

It's even better if it's a bad rumor.

And if that kind of rumor were to spread, the image of a mighty Roland that Sion was trying to paint would crumble. In this way, the image of nobody being able to resist against Roland who held an absolute amount of overbearing power, would easily crumble.

The other countries in the south would form an alliance and there was a possibility that Roland would no longer be able to advance northwards easily.

That's why the plan should work easily.

Since Sion is a gentle person who will choose the path with the lowest number of sacrifices.

That's why, just by doing the things they ought to do, even without attacking Runa, the plan should succeed.

Ryner was then about to explain the plan to Toale.

It's fine.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 203.jpg|thumb]]

He was about to explain it to him and tell him it's okay to follow him.

But, at that moment.

Before Ryner could explain the plan to Toale.

"............"

Abruptly, everything started going crazy.

Suddenly, the entrance to the tent opened.

"Hn?"

Ryner turned his gaze there.

Standing there, was the face of a familiar man.

Golden hair tied up behind him, a calm face.

That was the man who Ferris took hostage when Ryner attacked Claugh a few days ago.

His name was Shuss Shirazz, if he remembered correctly.

An excellent vice-commander of Claugh.

Ryner looked at Shuss with tinge of surprise,


"Oh, they sent a messenger at a surprisingly early time. Have you already told Sion my suggestion?"

On hearing that, Shuss nodded. Then,

"...... we did."

As he said that, for some reason, his face looked dark and a little pained.

On seeing that, Ryner asked with a puzzled look.

"...... so, what did he say? You've come here to give a reply because he accepted right? At any rate, he should not have any a choice other than to accept this plan......"

But, cutting his words off, Shuss said.

"No. The reply has not come yet."

"Huh? There's no reply?"

"Yes."

"Then, what did you come here for? If there's no reply, there's no meaning in you coming here right?"

On hearing Ryner's words, Shuss made an even more pained expression,

"...... the truth is that I came here not on His Majesty's orders, but to pass a message to you from Field Marshal Claugh Klom."


"From red-hair?"

"Yes."

On hearing that, Ryner face became increasingly more puzzled.

As if he had entirely no clue.

He had never expected that in this situation, it was not a reply from Sion, but a message from Claugh. That's why he could not guess what kind of message it would be.

But.

He knew that it would not be something good. He knew that immediately just by looking at Shuss's face.

Looking at the dark expression on Shuss's face, Ryner asked.

"So, what is it? What did that muscle idiot red-hair want to tell me? Did he say I'm annoying and that he wanted to kill me?"

Following that, in a grave voice unmatching of that light tone of Ryner, Shuss said.

"No. Field Marshal, his Honor, told you to...... 'Run away'......"


Run away.

Ryner cocked his head at those words.

"Huh? Run away? What is the meaning of that? Why do I have to run away? We are the ones threatening Roland right? Right now, you shouldn't be able to take on both Runa and Nelpha right. In order to prevent that, Sion definitely has to accept my idea......"

However, Shuss cut him off there,

"...... Roland has already started invading Runa Empire."

He said.

Ryner's eyes widened at that,

"...... what."

He could only utter.

But, Shuss continued.

"His Majesty made no reply to your message. He ignored it totally. And, Roland has already passed the southern borders of Runa, and advancing northwards at an overwhelming speed. The commander is Marshal Bayuuz White and, Lieutenant General Miran Froaude. Without accepting Runa's surrender, they are now massacring people. And we have also received our orders. Until we have killed both Starnel Nelphi and Toale Nelphi, do not relax on your attacks. Show them Roland's might --- it said."


On hearing that.

On hearing that, Ryner.

"............"

Was at a loss for words.

He then desperately turned over what Shuss had said in his head. Unable to breathe, his face pale, he thought desperately.

Shuss had said.

''"His Majesty made no reply to your message."''

Shuuss had said that.

But, he thought otherwise.

The reply had already come.

Sion had already made his stand on Ryner's plan.

''I'll not accede to your wise plan. Roland shall, without borrowing your power, challenge the world with its might, speed, fearsomeness, and massiveness.''


''In order to do that, I don't care how much sacrifices there will be. Even if it amounts to hundreds of thousands, or even millions of lives.''

The balance Sion was using has become a gigantic one.

On realizing that, Ryner uttered,

"............ damn."

He spat.

He had made another mistake.

He had made another mistake in his calculations.

Because of that, large numbers of people will die.

''Because of my stupidity, foolishness, and my lack of consideration, many people will die.''

''Because my resolve has yet reached the level of Sion's, large numbers of people will die once again.''

Upon thinking that,

"...... damn damn damn."

He wanted to cry.

He wanted to run away.


He wanted to run away to a faraway place right now.

But there was no place to run to. He was already shouldering large numbers of lives.

Even if he was slapped with sudden despair, and wanted to scream in anguish.

"............"

He could only move forward like what Sion did.

He could only move forward like him.

Since the gears were spinning.

Since they were spinning crazily, intensely.

That's why Ryner.

"............"

Looked up.

He glared at Shuss, and with a low, cracked voice,

"...... Roland already has the power to crush both Nelpha and Runa at the same time?"

He asked.

However, that was a foolish question.

The results had been proven.


Runa had already declared their surrender, but Roland did not accept it and continued to raze them.

And that performance was probably creating a dramatic effect. As a result of having razed and crushed two countries, Nelpha and Runa, with overwhelming might, Roland has created an image of itself to other countries as a fearsome country that will not accept any kind of surrender once it starts waging war.

It would be able to make other countries tremble in fear with that image.

So the next time when it moves again, others will proclaim a surrender without even putting up a resistance, allowing Roland to proceed unhindered.

For that purpose.

"............"

For that purpose, there was meaning to the massacre this time.

This was the best choice to minimize the number of sacrifices in the future.

In order to take the path of least sacrifices, Sion had again taken the lives of large numbers of people.

In order to take the shortest path, Sion had again chosen the lives of large numbers of people.

The one who had yet the resolve.

The one who had yet to make his resolve,


"...... is me."

Ryner said groaningly with a face that was on the verge of crying.

But, he had really never thought that Roland would be able to acquire such overwhelming power to be able take on both Nelpha and Runa at the same time. It was beyond his expectations.

"...... damn. That's also my calculation mistake."

Ryner muttered.

Even when he had been spending that same time with Sion, he had never noticed it.

He had never once noticed the depth of the darkness he bore.

He regretted it.

Even when the regrets did not help him, he regretted.

Ryner said.

"...... I understand now what Sion is doing. So, Claugh is asking me to run away?"

Shuss nodded.

"In two more days, we'll start advancing our troops again. The next time we meet on the battlefield, we intend to kill all of you. But for just two days...... we'll stop at our current location. In the meantime......"


Ryner continued from there.

"...... in the meantime, you want us to run away? In other words, this time, Claugh is unsatisfied with Sion's order?"

But, Shuss said.

"No, he didn't say that. Field Marshal, His Honor, will definitely not go against the orders of His Majesty."

Even if he said that, Claugh would not be setting off immediately, and would be delaying things for two days. On top of that, he even told Ryner about the current situation, where Sion had started attacking Runa.

If this is not going against his orders, then what else is?

But Ryner instead said,

"I see."

Shuss nodded again.

"That's right. And my mission ends here. The next time we meet will be......"


"On the battlefield?"

"Yes. The next time I will be killing you. I won't be so easily defeated like the last time, so brace yourself."

Upon saying that, Shuss turned on his heel. With that, he started exiting the tent.

To his back,

"...... tell Claugh thanks for his help."

On hearing that, Shuss merely waved lightly and left the tent.

Looking after his departing figure,

"............"

Ryner took a deep breath and breathed out. As if he were letting go of the built up despair in his body, he breathed out with all his strength.

And once again, he looked at the Toale beside him.

Toale was making a complicated face. Looking at that face,

"I'm sorry Toale. The plan's all messed up."

"I've heard."

"So, with regards to what's next......"


Upon saying that, a tired smile surfaced on Toale's lips,

"I shall show myself to Roland, and get executed publicly......?"

But Ryner shook his head.

"That's useless. Roland is not even willing to accept the surrender of Runa, we don't know how far they will go with the massacring until they are satisfied...... well, at the very least, the soldiers who followed you will be killed."

Toale then smiled sadly.

"Uwah, that is a little...... too much for me. It's all because of my fault to have led these soldiers......"

"No, that's not it. If you hadn't stopped these soldiers, they would have already been killed by Claugh. You have saved their lives."

"It's just for a few days though...... but, then, what should we do?"

On hearing those words, Ryner kept quiet again.

As he pondered, he looked up at the roof part of the tent. The sunlight that was passing through the tent top was red.

The sun was already setting.

Night was falling.


When night comes, they won't be able to move.

However, there was not much time left.

Roland's troops were pressing in from the south, as well as from Runa's side.

If they don't run, they'll get killed.

Everyone'll get killed.

Realizing that.

"............"

Realizing that, Ryner called out,

"Major Selues."

The entrance to the tent opened. Selues entered.

"What is it?"

Ryner said to the solemn face of his.

"My plan has failed. Roland's troops will be attacking from Runa's side. We need to escape now. So mobilize the troops. We're running."

Selues then stared at him,


"What about the commoners?"

"Scatter them, to the west. We shall go north, straight through the Autonomous Holy City of Cassla. Roland's forces will probably come after us."

"I see. So we are the decoy for the commoners to get away. That's a great way to die."

On hearing his words, Ryner's face contorted.

"...... sorry."

However, on the solemn face of Selues, a thin smile surfaced for the first time.

"No, you made the right choice. I can trust you a little more with this."

Upon saying that, he turned around. Then,

"The situation has changed! We need to change locations again!"

While yelling, he went outside.

After ascertaining that, Ryner turned towards Toale.

"Then, let's go, Toale. There's already no more time left. Let's get going quickly. Since you are the one getting targeted, you should be moving right at the front."


However, for some reason, Toale smiled sadly,

"....... no, I can't do that. I shall stay back."

As he said that, Ryner's face contorted again.

"Huh? Why? What are you going to do here?"

Toale then said,

"...... I shall remain here and buy some time by negotiating with Roland......"

However, before he could finish, Ryner said,

"Idiot!"

He yelled.

"Use your head Toale! If you were to remain here, most of the troops who have followed you will also remain here right. What will then happen to them? Do you want everyone to die with you? You're leaving. Take the soldiers and flee to Cassla."

To which Toale made an unsettled face,

"Will Cassla take in the soldiers of Nelpha?"

However, Ryner promptly replied,

"I don't know. But, other than that, there's no other way. At any rate, if you stay here, everyone will get killed. We have no choice but to try. Now that we're going to do it...... now that we're going to do it, I'll...... definitely not let you die. Even though we were talking about decoys earlier, but there's no need to die. Before Roland catches up to us, we'll pass through Cassla. You'll live and get away. Everyone will get away and laugh in the end. So don't foolishly talk about dying again. Get it?"


In response to that strong tone of Ryner, Toale looked intently at him and said,

"....... got it."

And nodded. Then, with a somewhat delighted smile,

"And thanks for coming here to help me...... Ryner."

He said.

Not Ryner-san, he dropped the honorifics and called him Ryner.

On hearing that, with a somewhat embarrassed and vexed face, Ryner began,

"Aah jeez, don't worry about stuff like that. Now, go to where Major Selues is. If you take command, the soldiers will probably move faster. Get a thousand troops to remove their military uniforms to protect the commoners and disperse them. The remaining soldiers shall head north......"

But, at that moment before he could finish ---


Instantly.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

Screams rang out from their surroundings.

Following that, a thunderous roaring noise which made their heads spin sounded.

In response to that.

"............"

In response to that, Ryner's eyes widened in shock.

"No way......"

He murmured.

But, once again.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllppp."

Screams rang out.

Following by another thunderous roar, again and again.

Ryner then said again,

"...... no way, how could this......."


He murmured dumbfoundedly.

This shouldn't be happening.

So quickly.

There was no way the enemies could have reached them so quickly.

But, as before, thunderous roars reverberated.

Flickering lights that dazzled even the eyes of those in the tent.

Following that, another thunderous roar.

Ryner knew about all that.

It was a large-scale magic used by Roland.

"...... what the hell is happening!?"

Ryner yelled as he rushed out of the tent.

At the instant he exited the tent.

The night sky, the dark night sky was lit up.

Before Ryner's eyes, tens of people.

"............"

Were reduced to ashes in an instant.


Screams were heard from men, women, children, and the elderly who were roasted from the high temperatures caused by magic.

Screams rang out.

And then they got roasted.

The people who were roasted by the intense fire died.

"...... uwah...... damn, shit......"

Ryner trembled as he saw that. He couldn't move.

However, from the hell-like scene, Kiefer came dashing over.

"Ryner! Roland's troops are approaching from the borders at Runa's side......"

She was also on the verge of tears. In her arms was a four, five year old girl who was injured.

Looking at that.

Looking at Kiefer's teary face,

Ryner was brought back to his senses. Looking intently at her,

"...... I got it. Let's run away immediately. Selues! Protect everyone and make for the north! Move the troops! Get them to counter Roland's large-scale magic attack!"

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 223.jpg|thumb]]

At that voice of Ryner, Selues gave out orders and the soldiers started moving.

Following that, Toale came out of the tent as well and he told him.

"Toale, you go lead the people and escape."

"But."

"No buts. If you're not there, no one will move. Don't just stand there and get moving! I'll do something about the rear somehow, you just focus on getting everyone out of here!"

On hearing that, Toale wanted to say something again, but he relented, nodded once, and ran off.

Ryner looked at his departing figure, then said to the unsettled Kiefer beside him,

"Kiefer."

"Yes."

"Take Iris, Arua, and Kuku with you and follow along Toale."

She then made a anguished face. She made a face as if wanting to say that she wants to fight with him here. But instead, her face contorted painfully and she said,

"...... got it."


She then carried the girl in a hugging fashion, and said,

"I'll do my best in supporting Toale to help him get into Cassla. But, Ryner also......"

However, at that juncture, he stopped paying attention to her words. He didn't have the luxury of time to listen to that anymore.

If he tarried further, the next large-scale magic attack would come. If that were to happen, tens of people, hundreds of people would die again.

He needed to defend against that.

Ryner looked in the direction of where the magic came from.

He looked in that direction and widened his eyes.

Following that, red pentacle shapes surfaced on the center of his black pupils and glowed.

Cursed eyes known as '''Alpha Stigma'''.

With those eyes of his, he tried to locate the faraway large-scale magic spell formation.

But, he couldn't see it.


He couldn't see the construct of the magic.

Was it because they had yet to start creating the large-scale magic, or was it because the troops were charging straight towards here without deploying the large-scale magic?

"Damn, if I can't see it, I can't come up with the counter spell......"

But at that moment.

"I say, Ryner!?"

His face got punched heavily from the side.

"Uoh?"

Ryner uttered.

Following that, he turned towards the one who punched him.

The same tearful Kiefer was standing there.

"Erm, eh? Why did you punch me?"

To his question, she said with an angry face.

"Because you are not listening to what I'm saying!"

"Erm, what you're saying?"


"Yeah!"

"B-but, this is not the time......"

But, she cut him off,

"It's precisely because of that, that I'm telling some seriously important stuff right! So listen up properly!"

She said menacingly.

On hearing that,

"...... erm, ah ~, alright. I'm sorry......."

''Uhm'', Kiefer then nodded at Ryner's apology.

"It's great that you understand."

"Er, erm, so Kiefer, what do you want to tell me?"

Kiefer looked once to the sky from which the large-scale magic was invoked, and then looked back at Ryner.

Then, with a serious-looking face,

"Since there isn't much time, I'm going to say all the important stuff that Ryner needs to know in one breath, ok?"


She said.

Ryner nodded in response.

She then exhaled softly, following that, she took a deep breath.

"...... here goes. Ryner. If say, you are unable to stop Roland's forces here and Nelpha's people and soldiers get massacred, it'd not be your fault. So don't go throwing away your life to save them, get it? I think from hereon, you'll be someone who will save a lot more lives. That's why you can't afford to die here. If you were to die easily here, then you're merely a brainless fool. A fool who won't be able to save Sion. But if you're not a fool, and really want to save a lot more lives...... it's forbidden for you to die here. Get it?"

On hearing those words, Ryner became flustered,

"Erm, but......"

"Buts are also forbidden. If you die, I'll commit suicide as well. I'll definitely do it you know?"

"Eeeeeeeeeh, hey, Kiefe......"

But, with a serious-looking face that was really on the verge of crying, she continued.

"I'm serious ok? I don't want to live in a world without you. So if you end up being unable to stop Roland's forces, run away. Get it?"


On hearing those words.

"............"

While Ryner was yet unable to reply, Kiefer started again,

"I'm asking you whether you get it or not!!"

She yelled loudly.

He trembled a little,

"......I-I, got it."

"Alright! Then go!"

"...... erm."

"Hurry up! If not, I'm really going to cry!!"

While shouting, Kiefer had in fact started crying. In response to that, Ryner frantically turned his face away,

"Erm, er ~, sorry."

"Uh-huh."

"Then, I'm off."



{{Incomplete|percentage=50}}

<noinclude>
 
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==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>
 
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| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol3|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Afterword|Afterword]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 1

2011-11-19T13:06:23Z

Error: undid a somewhat arbitrary edit on my part

== Chapter 1 - Towards North-Northeast ==


Die!!

If just saying that one word will cause someone to die, then no matter how many lives one has, it will never be enough.

That’s why, at the instant when,

“...... die!!”

Was shouted at Ryner Lute,

“Hn ah~?”

He groaned as he scowled.

With messy black hair, and lazy black eyes,

However, his habitually sluggish, tall, lean, slouched figure, was entirely tensed up.

The reason was because, right now,

“...... oiy oiy spare me that would you ~”


He was attacked by a monster.

And with his lazy eyes, he looked at the monster in front of him.

“............”

Looking at the red haired "muscled brain" who shouted ‘die’ at him.

Currently, the person before Ryner was a man who had fiery red hair, and sharp gleaming eyes.

Ryner knew his name.

Field Marshal Claugh Klom.

The monster sent by Roland Empire’s Hero King, Sion Astal, to destroy Imperial Nelpha.

Claugh Klom.

The death god of the battlefield --- Claugh Klom.

That name was notoriously famous.

A man who once appears on a battlefield, will paint the ground red as the blood falls like rain and cause his enemies to scream in fear.

Everyone is afraid of his name.


Everyone will shake in fear at this name.

That was the name of Claugh Klom, who can completely change the scenery of a battlefield.

And Ryner, in response to that,

“............”

''How idiotic can this be.''

He made a comeback at himself with his inner voice.

''No matter how strong Claugh is, how can just the appearance of one man turn the tide of a battle? It can’t as simple as that'', he thought.

That’s why he made light of that, thinking that eighty percent of the rumors were exaggerations, and came here as a result.

With Ryner alone, he thought he could render one or two or three Claughs helpless and capture them.

On top of that, Ryner already had a grasp of Claugh’s strength, for he had sparred lightly with him once before.

At that time, Claugh’s movements were really terrific. He was strong and fast. Furthermore, contrary to he being a muscle brain, he was quick-witted and deploy his magic at a high speed.


If you don't consider him as a monster, then who can you call a monster?

That was how strong Ryner, a former member of the convert ops group called '''The Greatest Magician of Roland''', thought of and ascertained of Claugh.

But, but still.

“............”

Ryner thought he could win.

''I’m probably a little stronger than Claugh Klom'', he thought.

That’s why he came here.

In order to capture Claugh, he came to the campsite erected by Roland army who came to invade Imperial Nelpha.

And then he attacked Claugh.

He attacked the Claugh who was standing carelessly on top of the hill a small distance away from the campsite.

And Ryner would easily defeat and capture Claugh Klom with an overwhelming strength......

“............”

That should have been the case however.

Claugh pulled out the knife.


As he did so, with an incredible speed and accuracy, he aimed at the center of Ryner’s chest.

“Woah.”

Ryner groaned. If he tried to dodge, he wouldn’t make it.

That’s he knocked it away with his hand.

But, at that moment, Claugh was already moving. A move for killing Ryner.

Every bit of his movement was very much faster than the moves they had exchanged previously.

On seeing that.

“............”

''Shit, I was tricked'', Ryner scowled.

The sparring that happened previously was in preparation for this instant.

A year ago.

Meaninglessly, Claugh had come to spar with Ryner. He came to attack Ryner, whom he disliked.

After having fought for about two, three rounds, and deploying their magic then --- Ryner had thought.


Claugh was indeed strong, but nothing like what the rumors had said, Ryner had thought.

But that was what he was made to think.

With a fed-up face, he glared at Claugh.

“What a swindler.”

On hearing that, Claugh grinned.

“You are the one to blame for being deceived.”

On hearing that, ''That’s quite right'', Ryner thought.

In a battlefield, the one who’s deceived and killed has only himself to blame.

That was the first thing that Ryner had learned when he was undergoing battle training at the Germer Kleisrole Training Institute.

Every battle starts with deception and ends with deception.

''"Now, how will you deceive me in order to stay alive?"''

That was Germer Kleisrole had said.

''"Now, how will you deceive the world in order to stay alive?"''

That was what Ryner’s master had said.

While remembering those words,


“...... seems like I’ll be the one deceived and killed, Germer.”

He muttered softly.

Claugh said,

“Die.”

His right hand moved in his direction.

That arm was covered in a pitch-black color.

Pitch-black scribblings and patterns crawled around the surface of his arm.

So what in the world was that, just by looking, Ryner understood.

A '''forbidden curse'''. An abnormally unthinkable sinister forbidden curse was implanted into that arm.

However, that was not a matter that could be considered sane.

This was just knowledge Ryner knew about though, in the experiments where the '''forbidden curse''' was placed into human bodies, ten thousand out of ten thousand people experimented on died --- it was the kind of experiment in which the odds of success were insanely low.

But yet, this fella had it implanted into his arm.

Despite the strength he possessed, in order to seek a new power, he further went on to implant the curse into his arm.


And Ryner understood what in the world the curse might be.

He closed and opened his eyes again.

With vermillion pentacles floating above his black pupils, he saw through the entirety of the curse attached to Claugh’s arm.

On that arm of Claugh.

“............”

Blue-black dragons cursing the world were sealed in it.

The eight cursed dragons that release blue flames.

Looking at that,

“............”

As Ryner was looking at that,

“...... isn’t there something wrong with your head?”

He muttered without thinking.

That was how abnormal the curse that was sealed in Claugh’s arm was.

On releasing the curse, the dragons will fly from Claugh’s arm all at once.


And then attack the enemy.

Anyone who’s bitten will be engulfed by the curse in an instant, and have his life force seeped away.

However, he won’t die immediately. Despite having his life force seeped away, he won’t die. Without dying, he will become a puppet of the person who has afflicted him with the curse, and live for ten hours.

After ten hours have passed, the curse will run its course and disintegrate his body, killing him.

“............”

On seeing that effect alone, Ryner understood how convenient the curse was. A magic that can kill and make the victim his puppet.

If it’s used on the battlefield, it will be an extraordinary  powerful and convenient magic.

However, it’s not practical.

The '''forbidden curse''' that’s sealed is not something that can be used.

Why is that so?

The reason is simple.

This magic has too many flaws.

First, the burden on the user is too heavy. During its use, the user’s body will have to go through an excruciating amount of pain. The intensity of pain is so great that it’s impossible for one to retain his consciousness --- no, if it doesn’t go well, it won’t be strange even if he dies from shock.


But yet, why was Claugh, who was about to activate his curse, able to retain his consciousness? This was something Ryner could not understand. 

On top of that, on activating the magic, even though all eight dragons can be released, only at most three of them can be controlled.

The remaining five will attack their surroundings indiscriminately.

In other words, if there were comrades around, it can’t be used. No, in that case, there was a chance that the remaining dragons will attack their user.

And if he’s bitten, death will surely come pay a visit.

“............”

No matter how he looked at the Claugh who was about to activate his curse before him, he could only see that it was a foolishly flawed magic.

Such a magic should not have been usable.

“............”

But Claugh released that magic which should not have been usable.

“Kidding right.”


As Ryner groaned, Claugh’s arm was clad in blue black fire and the eight dragons came forth.

And then three out of those looked around their surroundings, after ascertaining that there was no target, they went after Claugh’s shoulder, waist, and foot, devouring them.

A sure-death curse.

The most terrible curse.

A curse of despair.

And Claugh should have readily died --- from his own curse that was invading him.

“............”

But that red hair muscle brain seemed completely fine and a smile floated on his face. And he ignored two other dragons which further went on to bite at his neck.

Looking at that, Ryner,

“...... are you immune to the curse?”

“............”

But Claugh did not answer. Only a smile of delight floated on his face. Embedded with killing intent, his piercing eyes looked towards here .


And then Claugh said.

“Now, the preparations have been made. Let’s kill each other seriously, shall we? '''Greatest Magician of Roland'''-kun.”

In a flash.

Two dragons were released from Claugh’s arm.

“Woah.”

Ryner uttered as he dodged.

One came from his right.

The other came from above.

Their movements were not that fast. It was possible to dodge.

But, on top of that,

“...... what I seek is iridescent destruction......”

On hearing Claugh’s voice,

“Seriously!?”

Ryner shouted as he looked towards Claugh. Claugh was drawing out a magical inscription with his left hand. The magic being deployed was '''Kuuri'''.


Firing spears of light, among Roland’s magic, it was one with the most destructive power.

It was of a high difficulty level, and not usable by one without a good mind.

''To say it clearly, if a muscle brain, who can already move fast and has great strength, could use such a spell, he will be way too powerful!'' As he wanted to make a comeback, he turned to the Claugh who was wielding both a powerful magic and a '''forbidden curse''' at the same time,

“Isn’t this too unfair!”

Ryner hollered.

But a smile floated on Claugh’s face again,

“Who in the world was the one who said that you have to play fair?”

At that moment, Claugh had completed his '''Kuuri'''.

But, on seeing that, Ryner frantically drew his magic inscription in the air,

“What I seek is iridescent destruction...”

He chanted the same magic as Claugh.

And then.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 027.jpg|thumb]]

"'''Kuuri'''"

Their magic were activated at the same time.

Light started to gather at the center of both their magic inscriptions. And then, for the sake of killing the enemy, the multi-colored beams that were conjured were fired, and clashed with each other.

Instantly.

A strong eye-dazzling light was dispersed into their surroundings, but, in such a dangerous situation, if he were to shut his eyes from the blinding light even for an instant, he would be killed. So he squinted his eyes to ascertain his surroundings, and with all his might, he retreated backwards.

Towards the forest which Ryner was hiding earlier from Claugh who was on top of the hill.

But,

“I won’t let you escape.”

He heard the voice of Claugh --- the monster called the death god of the battlefield.

While he was pursued by a monster with a power which he never encountered before,

“Ahh noww, this is terriblyyyyyyyyy bothersomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

Ryner withdrew into the forest.

The forest of the deep night.


Today’s weather was fine, and though the moonlight lit up the surroundings, it did not reach the inside of the forest.

Despite the fact that it should have been advantageous to escaping.

Just a casual glance towards his back yielded a sight of flaming blue-black dragons coming from behind, right after Ryner,

“Shit!?”

He rolled onto the ground and dodged them. Immediately after that, he stood up, kicked the tree to his left, and jumped. He further went on to grab hold of a branch of a tree in front of him, then used it as a foothold, and went further up.

Up.

Up.

And then he turned his head around.

As he turned his head around in order to ascertain where his enemy was on the ground,

“Slow.”

Immediately, just right behind him, Claugh’s left fist came flying towards Ryner,

“How the heck can you be so fast!”

Ryner moaned as he pushed the fist aside.


Following that, he avoided the oncoming dragons and sent a kick towards Claugh’s face, but it was dodged.

At the same time, Ryner grabbed hold of another tree branch near him, and pulled himself towards a different tree, and then jumped.

Of course, Claugh was following right behind him, but Ryner could no longer turn his head around as that would surely get him chomped up by the dragons behind him.

Flying from tree to tree, and while doing that, Ryner drew a glowing magical inscription in the air.

And he completed it.

He chanted.

“WHAT I SEEK IS BURNING FIELDS >>> KURENAI”

Instantly, exploding flames burst out from the Ryner’s magical construct and sprung in the direction behind him, and then coming from behind him,

“WHAT I SEEK IS WATER MIST >>> MISUMI”

He heard the incantation of a magic that would bring forth an exploding jet of water.

As the flames and water clashed, the hissing sound of water turning into steam could be heard, but yet, Ryner did not look back.


But, ''Ahhhh, dang, he got me, what kind of monster is this!'' He complained silently.

“............”

''Dang, he really got me.''

The plan was to quickly defeat Claugh, restrain him, and use him as a hostage for many things.

''But yet, what’s this?''

''What the hell is this?''

Ryner gave a quick glance towards the monster that was chasing him from behind.

He looked at the form of Claugh, who was sending his cursed dragons towards him while in pursuit.

“............”

And then he started to believe somewhat. He started to believe somewhat in the rumor of him being able to turn the tide of a battle all by himself as he appears on a battlefield.

This really is a monster.

Using the '''forbidden curse''', with a higher level of physical ability than Ryner, and on top of that, he readily deployed a counter magic to neutralize Ryner’s '''Kurenai'''.

That was some kind of an impossible strength.


It was a strength that would make one want to get away in a flash.

“............”

But, he couldn’t run away.

No matter what it took, it was necessary for Ryner to make this fella a hostage.

It was necessary to make this monster whom god may even fear a hostage.

It was for the sake of stopping the most terrible war that was going on in these lands.

Capturing Claugh was absolutely necessary for the sake of stopping this war started by his best friend, the Hero King of the largest country in the southern part of the continent, Roland Empire, Sion Astal.

“............”

Ryner once again gave a quick glance behind him, looking intently at the red haired monster who was closing in . And then.

“...... it seems like it’s completely impossible to restrain him......”

Ryner said with a exasperated voice.

He was way too naive. To have thought of restraining this fella all by himself, he was so naive that he wanted to beat himself up.

If he was seriously wanting to kill him, this could end up in a draw, he thought. But if he were to end up killing him, then it would become meaningless.


It was necessary to keep this red haired monster who was known as Sion’s right hand man, alive, restrain him, and on top of that, threaten him, and make him a hostage.

And once again,

“Ugh ~ super bothersome.”

Ryner groaned as he said.

“So as to speak, I really hate this kind of bothersome stuff.”

He lamented.

“In the first place ~, getting chased by this monster, working hard in order to stop the war, creating world peace, to say this clearly, I'm not the least interested at all, let some other hero-wannabe take on such bothersome stuff......”

At that moment, from behind him, the blue black dragons again come biting,

“Woah, that’s really dangerous, no, someone save me please, I seriously hope this will stop! I really hate working hard like this!”

He yelled, and from behind him, Claugh said.

“Then, get on with it and die.”


“You are right. If I just die, I can relax and struggle no more, isn’t it.”

“I’ll lend you my hand.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I shall accept your kind offer, will you kill me ~”

Even as he said that, Ryner’s feet kept moving. While jumping from tree to tree, he drew glowing words in the air.

That was a magic which he had previously stolen from the mage knight battalion of the Kingdom of Estabul. Looking back, this was something from a long time ago. It was during the time when he and Sion were still students and fighting the mage knight battalion of the Kingdom of Estabul; a magic he copied when he was in danger of getting killed.

He’s using that magic now.

“I OFFER THE CONTRACTED WORDS, LETTING THE SLUMBERING MALICIOUS SPIRIT DWELL WITHIN”

Instantly.

Ryner’s body appeared to shimmer. At the same time, his speed increased.

The magic he chanted was one that released  the limiter in his mind, and allowed his physical abilities to increase dramatically.

And then a smile floated on his face,


“Alright. Preparations done. With this, it’s time to fight a little with the monster......”

In the midst of saying that.

He once again heard the voice of Claugh from behind him.

The voice of Claugh chanting.

But, in response to those words, Ryner,

“............”

His eyes widened and he turned his head around in shock.

As he did that, Claugh’s spell was completed.

The glowing words that appeared from his left hand were the same as those drawn out by Ryner seconds ago.

The same construct.

The same magic.

But that was something impossible.

Because it was Estabul’s magic.

It was a pretty high level magic, which only pretty excellent magic scholars, after studying the basics and architectural constructs of Estabul’s magic, could acquire after three or four years.

A normal soldier couldn’t possibly use it.


No, even if the soldier is a capable one, he shouldn’t be able to use it.

And besides, it was not even two years since Estabul had been absorbed by Roland. Even if both sides were to exchange and share magical knowledge they possess, many years should have been needed before a soldier could use it.

Of course, it was a different story for people like Ryner who could copy magic with their special eyes, but he had never heard that Claugh was an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer.

''Then, how was it done?''

''How did this fella accomplish it?''

“You...... how in the world did you manage to learn Estabul’s magic?”

On hearing Ryner’s question, Claugh shrugged his shoulders readily,

“...... hard work?”

“Huhh? It’s not something you can achieve by hard work alone, isn’t it?”

“It might be so for a normal person. But it seems like I’m a genius, you know?”

“Uweh ~, a person who calls himself a genius has to be an ordinary person...”

However, Claugh was undoubtedly a genius.

It was something he had already recognized.


Even when Ryner was active in Roland’s covert ops group, he had never quite seen any monster like that.

On top of that, those geniuses who were not spoiled and actually put in hard work simply didn’t exist.

Ryner,

“This could be bad.”

As he groaned, Claugh laughed ‘haha’. As he laughed, he chanted.

Estabul’s magic.

“I OFFER THE CONTRACTED WORDS, LETTING THE SLUMBERING MALICIOUS SPIRIT DWELL WITHIN”

As he did that, the magic really activated.

The magic which should not have been usable by a Roland soldier was activated.

Claugh’s body started shimmering faintly, and in one breath, his movement speed increased.

He closed the gap.

Those movements of his were even faster than the magically sped-up Ryner.

Ryner was already at a loss.

Ryner was at a loss of what to do with such a monster all by himself.


And Claugh delightfully,

“What’s this. Just running away, isn’t that boring? Or is this all you’ve got? Perhaps, this Estabul magic was your trump card? If that’s the case......”

At that moment, he further went on to increase his speed. He kicked a tree with all his strength, closed in the gap between him and Ryner, side by side with him, he looked at him and said.

“...... can I finally kill you now?”

Ryner looked at Claugh’s face,

“You can’t.”

He replied.

“Alright. Then I shall kill you.”

“Didn’t I say that you can’t!”

“Haha. You’re noisy.”

As he said that, Claugh swung his right arm. Three blue-black flaming dragons were about to attack Ryner.

On seeing that, Ryner,


“Ahh ~”

He said.

''Ahh'', he said it with a really exasperated voice.

''Ahh, I can’t take this anymore''.

“...... if I don’t fight seriously, I’ll really get killed......”

He said.

His opponent was fighting seriously with an intent to kill. It’s time for him to get serious and do the same as well.

His original plan to defeat his opponent and restrain him had to be changed.

No, well, he had another plan that could have settled things without fighting, but it seemed like it wouldn’t come through in time.

If, there’s a one in million chance that Claugh is insanely strong --- no, he is in fact strong --- and Ryner could no longer cope with it; there was in fact another plan for such a situation, but,

“...... if I wait for that, I might be killed. Then.”

At that moment, Ryner's eyes changed into a sharp piercing gaze.

Following that, in his head, a battle plan against Claugh started unfolding.


There were three parts to it.

First, sidestep his opponent’s attack.

Second, trick him.

Third, kill him.

“...... shall I get started?”

At that moment, Ryner stepped onto a large branch, and turned and changed the direction he was facing.

In response to that, Claugh also stopped in his tracks on the large branch. And then,

“Orh, at last, you’re getting serious?”

As he said that, he made a guarded face, having realized that Ryner’s aura had changed.

On seeing that, ''this fella is really a tough nut to crack'', Ryner thought as he scowled again.

If he were to let his guard down, it would be possible for Ryner to take advantage of an opening without killing him.

However, there was entirely none at all.

Even though from appearances, he seemed to be  enjoying the fight from his broad grin, he was certainly not fooling around.

That’s why, with a sad and tired looking face, Ryner said.

“Geez, I really don’t want to kill you, you know.”

On hearing that, as expected while looking as if he was enjoying himself, Claugh,


“An interesting joke.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Furthermore, you won’t be able to kill me.”

“Perhaps. But, you won’t know till I try.”

“I know.”

“Really, I wonder?”

“Yeah.”

“I see...... well, it’d be a bother, but let’s get on with it.”

“Hurry up and get on with it.”

“Yeah.”

After he nodded, Ryner, for once, drew out all his strength. And he turned off the switch. That was the switch in his head. He released the inhibition in which he would unconsciously take it easy on his opponent. Following that, he gradually lowered his stance. While drawing soft breaths, he gathered power into his body.

And then,

“Here goes.”


At the same time he spoke.

He released all the built-up energy in his body.

In a breath, he lunged at Claugh.

Even though Claugh set two of his dragons on him, he readily dodged. While dodging, he drew out magical inscriptions in mid-air.

A complex construct. As he quickly drew out an elaborate magical construct, Claugh reacted.

The magic that Ryner drew out was the same as before. The flame magic which Claugh had counteracted with '''Misumi''' previously, '''Kurenai'''.

He chanted that once again.

With a relaxed expression, Claugh began,

“That’s the same one as before.”

He said, and then started chanting '''Misumi'''.

But that was a fake.

Rather, the '''Kurenai''' Ryner had cast earlier was a fake.

Earlier, Ryner had intentionally activated '''Kurenai''' at a slow pace. His real magical construction ability was at a speed so fast that there was no way Claugh would have time to finish chanting a counter-spell.


But, earlier, he had chanted his magic slowly.

In order to make Claugh think that he was superior in his magical construction ability, and induce a mistake from him, he had chanted his magic slowly intentionally.

And Claugh had fallen into his trap.

On seeing Ryner’s '''Kurenai''', Claugh started chanting '''Misumi''' at a relaxed pace.

But he was too late.

He was entirely too late.

From here on, in the time before Claugh could finish constructing his '''Misumi''', he would already be done with '''Kurenai’s''' inscription, and on top of that, he would be able to thrust his hand into the magical inscription of '''Misumi''' that Claugh was drawing, and change the construct.

That’s why,

“It’s the end.”

As he said that, he immediately completed '''Kurenai''', and further went on to thrust his hand into Claugh’s magical inscription of '''Misumi'''.

On seeing that, at last, Claugh’s expression changed.

“Damn you.”


As he said that, he gave up on working on his magical construct, and started attacking Ryner instead, but he was too late.

The '''Kurenai''' behind Ryner had started activating.

Flames had gathered in the center of the magical inscription, and was aimed in Claugh’s direction,

“Shit.”

Claugh groaned. Following that, he extended a dragon from his right arm, which bit onto a tree some distance away from him, and subsequently, he was reeled towards it.

With that, he somehow managed to evade the flaming missiles, but that was the end.

Ryner had completed changing the '''Misumi''' drawn out by Claugh, forcibly changing it to '''Kuuri'''.

And aiming it towards Claugh,

“WHAT I SEEK IS IRIDESCENT DESTRUCTION >>>......”

As he was chanting the spell, and just as he was about to fire off '''Kuuri''', his hand stopped moving.

Following that, he slowly.

“............”

He slowly shifted his line of sight, and looked at the dragon shrouded in blue-black flames, which was about to bite into the back of his neck.


Before he knew it, a dragon, with an instant death curse embedded within its fangs, had encircled him from behind and was in position to bite into his neck.

If Claugh were to order it, in a flash, Ryner would be killed.

However, it was the same the other way round.

'''Kuuri''' was almost completed. What’s left was the incantation --- just one more line to utter, once the incantation was completed, Claugh would be impaled by '''Kuuri''' and die. At this kind of near distance, no matter how his body movements had been sped up, he wouldn’t be able to dodge.

It was one more step for the both of them.

Both of them were in a position to kill each other in just about a tenth of a second.

Ryner turned his eyes to face the Claugh who was hanging from his dragon clinging on to a tree some distance away.

“...... damn. After getting so serious, it’s a tie.”

“............”

But Claugh did not answer.

Ryner shrugged his shoulders,


“So, what’s next? If we end it in a tie like this, it’d be a little fruitless, I think.”

As he was staring at Ryner, Claugh said.

“I don’t think so. You are strong enough to make me think that it’s better to kill you here even if it’s a tie.”

“Ah-rah? Are those words of praise?”

“You can take it that way.”

“Then shall we call it a tie?”

“............”

Claugh glowered at him. And his killing intent further swelled up.

An intent to kill.

An intent to kill by sacrificing himself.

And there was no way the both of them could evade each other’s attacks.

It was the worst.

It was the worst kind of situation.

But still, even so,

“............”


A smile floated on Ryner’s face.

A relaxed smile. It was his usual languid, unmotivated smile.

On seeing that, Claugh raised his eyebrows in puzzlement.

“Why did you smile?”

But Ryner,

“No, I think in the end, it’s my win.”

“Huh? How so? Where did your chance of winning come......”

However.

At that point, Claugh stopped his words. And then Claugh’s sharp expression contorted.

Ryner looked at him and smiled.

“Ah, you’ve noticed?”

“............”

As expected, Claugh did not answer.

But, it didn’t matter anyhow.

Then Ryner turned his gaze to behind Claugh.

He was looking in the direction of the place where the original alternative plan of capturing Claugh, the plan that he was previously waiting for, had activated.


Behind the Claugh who was hanging from a tree.

Below him, a peerless beauty was looking up at them.

With long golden hair, and clear blue eyes. An extraordinary well featured face. Wearing a one-piece <ref name=”one_piece>'''One-piece:''' A one-piece, in Japanese, refers to a single piece dress. </ref> with a short skirt portion that was unsuitable for a battlefield. At the waist portion of that one-piece, she wore a long sword which those slender arms of hers do not seem capable of wielding, and as usual, in her right hand was a skewer of dango.

Ryner’s partner, Ferris Eris.

Ferris was looking up at them with an uninterested look.

“What? Didn’t you say ''Single-handedly, I’ll win effortlessly puppu ~'' in a high and mighty manner, and you’re still fighting like an idiot?”

She said.

On hearing that, Ryner smiled wryly,

“I never did say ''I’ll win effortlessly puppu~''.”

“Then it’s ''poppo'' -?”

“No, there’s not where the problem is...... this fella is a thousand times stronger than I thought, you know.”

“Isn’t it because you’re weak?”


“No, to fight such an opponent till this point, I would even praise myself for it.”

As he said that, Ryner looked at Claugh.

As always, he had a stern face. No, it was a face of someone desperately thinking about how to break out of this situation.

It was the face of a fellow who refuses to give up no matter how bad the situation was.

Seeing that, Ryner frowned and began,

“But, it’s useless, you see, Claugh? Your loss is set. No matter how strong you are, you won’t be a match for both me and Ferris, besides......”

At that moment, Ryner looked at Ferris again. No, he was looking at the trump card of his plan, which she had been dragging along with her left hand.

“............”

Trump card --- gripped at the nape of the neck and dragged along by Ferris, an unconscious, young, blond man.

This was another plan that Ryner had devised.

In the situation where he were to carry out negotiations with Claugh, in order to make him listen to his demands and on top of that have him accept them, it was necessary to have an advantageous leverage of such an extent.

What could he do to bring about this?


One.

Ryner to beat down Claugh and capture him. But there was a danger to that. If Claugh was stronger than he thought --- well, as a matter of fact, he’s really a thousand times stronger than he thought --- in reverse, Ryner might be killed instead, and on top of that, even if he could capture Claugh, there was also the possibility that he would not submit and say something like ''Kill me!'', and not listen to Ryner’s demands. Furthermore, fighting him with Ferris at the onset was also not an option. If they did that, then it’s possible that Claugh’s comrades would reinforce him and with a large army against them, they would have no chance of winning at all.

That’s why, so as to speak, Ryner had another plan prepared.

Ryner would attack Claugh alone, and draw him away from the camp, and in the meantime ---

“............”

At that moment, Ryner looked down at the man dragged by Ferris,

“Well, is that the guy?”

Ferris nodded.

“The vice officer of that red haired man. The name is Shuss Shirazz. ''If I’m to become a burden to Field Marshal Klom, I’ll kill myself'', as he was saying that, I knocked him out.”


Ferris said.

Ryner began delightedly,

“I see ~. You sure have an excellent subordinate, don’t you, Claugh-chan ~.”

As he said that, he looked at Claugh.

Without saying anything, he glared at Ryner.

But, Ryner appeared indifferent. He only had to move according to his plan.

He grabbed hold of the dragon which was about to bite into his neck.

“Well now, first, dismiss this dragon. Just killing me alone, and in exchange for that, losing the lives of the famous Claugh Klom-sama, and the capable vice officer Shuss Shirazz, that won’t make it too worthwhile right?”

He said.

On hearing that, while Claugh continued glaring at him,


“...... what do you want?”

He said in a low, menacing voice.

However, in response to those words, a smile surfaced on Ryner’s face.

All this while, he had been working hard at getting those words out from his opponent.

And there was only one thing he wished for.

''Can you give me some time?''

That was it.

Even for him, he was well aware of the current situation in Roland Empire.

The fact that Roland was currently invading Nelpha, and carrying out large scale massacres as a show to kill the other countries’ spirit of putting up a resistance.

After showing the massacre in Nelpha, it would strike a dent into the other countries’ will to resist, and Roland could get them to surrender without fighting.

That was a necessary path to a minimum loss of lives and the fastest way to end the war.

That was what Sion had seemingly considered.

Even though he hated wars, he hated people dying, and he hated causing grief to others, that was the path that Sion had seemingly considered, choosing to shoulder all the burden upon himself.


And Ryner also understood the need for such a war.

Even though he couldn’t accept it, but on this Menoris continent where the flames of war were spreading fiercely, he could understand how that was the only available choice.

That’s why ''would you give some time to Nelpha?'', that’s what Ryner had come to negotiate about.

What’s transpiring in Imperial Nelpha right now could be said to be the worst case scenario for both Nelpha and Roland.

Sion’s plan was probably to invade Nelpha with an overwhelming force and secure a swift surrender.

No, that really did happen.

The benevolent king of Nelpha, Gread Nelphi,

''"I shall offer my own head and the confinement of my son, Prince Starnel...... so in exchange, would you stop massacring Nelpha’s people?"''

That was the proposal he had intended to put forth to Roland.

However, just before that, the stupid son Prince Starnel, caring only about his own life, went berserk.

First, he killed his own father, Gread Nelphi, and slammed down the declaration of surrender.


On top of that, in order to buy time for his own escape, he sent forth ten thousand soldiers to clash with Roland’s forces, ordering them to repel Roland.

Furthermore, he commanded the remaining sixty eight thousand troops himself and started massacring and looting his own people.

That was a worst case scenario that was already beyond anyone’s expectations.

With this, until Roland had killed the unyielding stupid son, the war had to continue.

Destroying all the cities, killing all the soldiers, completely obliterating Nelpha, and the need to show all this to the entire world.

The reason was because, thanks to the stupid son who valued his life more than the country and people, Nelpha would never surrender.

However, in such a dreadful worst case scenario, it was not without a glimmer of hope.

That would be Toale Nelphi.

The son of that stupid prince Starnel and his commoner mistress, who one year ago, extended his hand to help Ryner and Ferris, who should have been strangers to him and had somewhat drifted to Nelpha while they were searching for relics, a kind, nice kid, that Toale, who of course was much more popular than the stupid prince Starnel among the populace, had stepped out to take command of the abandoned ten thousand troops and stopped them from advancing.


He stopped a pointless clash between Roland and Nelpha’s armies.

And Roland should be happy about that as well.

Since with the appearance of Toale, Roland’s original goal of minimizing the loss of lives and making Nelpha submit was once again possible.

And the wise Toale would definitely,

''"I will surrender, so could you let the ten thousand soldiers and people off?"''

He would request.

Of course, Roland would refuse. Since if Roland were to let them off, then it would not be able to make a display to the other countries.

That’s why Roland would tell Toale,

''"Go take the throne from the current king of Nelpha, from that stupid prince. After that, if you make a surrender to Roland, we will accept it. Of course, in order to make a show to the other countries, Toale Nelphi of royal lineage will be executed......"''


And Toale would definitely accept. If he’s able to save everyone with his life, Toale would accept.

However, regarding that demand, it would be a pretty unreasonable one.

The reason was because right now, Toale only had ten thousand soldiers with him.

On the other hand, Starnel was commanding a sixty eight thousand troop army.

Roughly seven times.

No matter one thought about it, not a single chance of winning could be seen.

On top of that, even if Toale were to win, what was going to come after that would be his execution.

And furthermore, Toale would accept that execution with a smiling face.

And there’s no way he could be saved, something at the level that would make one cry out ''what the hell’s that'',

That’s why.

“............”

''Could you please wait a while'', that’s the bargain Ryner wanted to strike.

With even less sacrifices.

In order to advance in the direction of a scenario with even less people getting hurt, Ryner had come to strike a deal with Claugh.


The time for Ryner to go capture Prince Starnel alone.

And the time for Toale to escape out of the country before the situation whereby the royalty of Nelpha gets killed arose.

In order to accomplish these two things, he needed the time.

Even though Ryner came here to ask for more time, there was no way he could say that he needed more time and expect it to be given to him.

That’s why Ryner said.

“For now, could you leave your troops here and return to Sion’s side?”

On hearing that.

Claugh, while glaring at Ryner,

“...... I see. You’re trying to buy time.”

He said.

With only one sentence from Ryner, Claugh could get roughly what Ryner was thinking about.

Furthermore, Claugh said.

“But, why are you supporting Nelpha? It has nothing to do with.......”

But, Ryner interrupted there,


“Toale is my friend. And, I can’t betray my friends...... well, it’s some ultra naive talk, can you agree to it?”

On hearing those words,

“............”

A slight smile floated on Claugh’s face. But it’s not a mocking smile.

“Are you agreeing to it?”

“............”

But, as expected, Claugh did not reply. And without replying to that question,

“However, what’s in it for me to cooperate with you in saving your friend? Are you going to abduct Starnel and bring him to me?”

“Yeah.”

Ryner nodded, and Claugh laughed.

“Ha. That’s an unnecessary thing. If it’s just that, we could do it as well. Supporting Toale Nelphi, killing Starnel, and executing Toale after that. The only difference our methods lies only in whether Toale is going to die or not. However, in order to make a demonstration to the other countries, we need to kill Toale. Roland is no longer a cowardly country that will let someone of royal lineage and who has commanded an army once live.”


“Is that Sion’s view?”

“That’s right. Sion’s different from you, he wouldn’t sacrifice the lives of others just for the sake of saving one life.”

“............”

That’s right, Ryner thought.

Claugh’s words.

The path that Sion was taking.

There was nothing more right than that.

But even if this was said to be right, it didn’t mean that everyone would follow along with it, Ryner thought.

Even if this was said to be right, it didn’t mean that everyone would achieve happiness, Ryner thought.

At the very least, if Toale were to die.

If he were to die, Ryner would be sad.

No, not just Ryner. Toale is a well-liked person. He is well-liked by the people of this country. To kill the Toale who is well-liked the people of this country was not really a good choice for the Roland that’s subjugating Nelpha from here on, Ryner thought.


Of course, it would be good for an instant. To overwhelm Nelpha with fear, and to overwhelm the neighbouring countries, and to further overwhelm their neighbouring countries, if it  were to sweep across everything with its might alone, then that choice might be the correct one, but was there really a need to move forward in such a hurry?

A little.

Wouldn’t it be a good thing to take things a little more slowly, and move forward along a path that could bring a smile to everyone.......

“...... that’s how the naive stupid me thinks though.”

He murmured as he was looking southwards, in the direction where Sion was, the direction of Roland.

And Claugh who could hardly hear him,

“Huh?”

He said, but Ryner appeared indifferent to that.

He turned to face Claugh again,

“Well, I’ve already known right at the start that you are going to reject my offer though.”

“Then, that’s the end of our talk. Let’s get on with the killing.”

“That’s why I was saying, if we do that, it’ll be unfavorable against you......”


But, a smile surfaced on Claugh’s face again,

“I have the confidence to evade your '''Kuuri'''. The one’s who’s gonna die is only you.”

He said something scary.

On hearing that, Ryner,

“...... even for me...... erm...... I also have the confidence to probably dodge your dragon barely, you know?”

“Right.”

“No, I’m serious. Anyway, even for you, it’ll be by a hair’s breadth to dodge '''Kuuri'''.”

“We’ll know for certain once we try it.”

“No no, that’s why I say, once we try it, we can’t take our actions back anymore. And besides, if we do that, what’s going to happen to Shuss? I’ll dodge the dragon. You’ll dodge '''Kuuri'''. But the hostage Shuss......”

But, while smiling, Claugh said.

“For a soft, naive person like you, can you kill a hostage, I wonder?”

On hearing those words.

A wry smile surfaced on Ryner’s face,

“...... ah-rah, you really hit where it hurts. But, to go against such a naive opponent, do you really need to fight so frenziedly? Do you really think such a naive guy will become a threat to you in the future?”

This time round, it was Claugh’s turn to smile wryly.

“...... no, I don’t think so.”

“Isn’t it? Then, why don’t you listen to me till the end? At any rate, the things we say will just be nonsense, unsophisticated stuff that can’t pose a threat to you, so if you’re willing to listen to me with a magnanimous heart, I’ll be really happy, I guess.”

On hearing those words.

Claugh appeared to consider those words for a moment. Seconds later, appearing to have reached a decision, he closed one eye and,

“Disppear, << Cursed Harp >>.”

He issued some kind of command, and the dragon that was poised to bite into Ryner’s neck disappeared.

On top of that, the dragons that were surrounding Claugh also disappeared and he dropped to the ground.

In response to that, Ryner,

“Ferris.”

He called out, but even before he had even done so, Ferris was already moving towards him, dragging Shuss alongside, but.


“Hey hey, leave Shuss here.”

Claugh called out from behind Ferris, stretching out his hand.

In response to that, Ferris,

“You’re hindering me.”

As she said that, she drew the sword at her waist at an unbelievable speed. And that was already at a speed which Ryner could not follow with his eyes.

The sword was drawn at a timing which should have been impossible to evade, but,

“Woah.”

Claugh uttered as he dodged it. And following that, he caught hold of Shuss’s head. And on top of that, he picked up a fallen branch from the ground and attempted to thrust it towards Ferris.

“Hm?”

Ferris turned her body, and sidestepped it. At that instant, Claugh straightened his stance. While hauling Shuss towards him, his right hand started drawing a glowing magical inscription.

And as Ferris was about to slice at that magical inscription with her sword.

At that moment, Ryner,


“That’s enough Ferris. Come back for now.”

He said.

Immediately, Ferris reacted and jumped a step backward. She further went on to kick the ground, then kicked a tree trunk, and landed on the branch next to the branch that Ryner was standing on.

For some reason, she had a dissatisfied look on her face,

“That red head...... he’s much stronger than the last time I fought him.”

“Hn? Even Ferris had a go with him before?”

“Yeah. It was three years ago. It was on Sion’s orders, I recall.”

“I see. So, did you win?”

“We didn’t manage to finish it.”

“Then, can you win now?”

''I wonder?'', Ferris tilted her head in such a manner in response, after which, a faint smile, which would have been indecipherable by other onlookers, floated on her face,

“But, together with you, he won’t be a match.”

She said.

Ryner nodded and smiled thinly.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 065.jpg|thumb]]

And then, he looked down at Claugh.

“Well then, are you ready to listen to what I have to say now? Even with Shuss returned to you, the situation hasn’t changed one bit. You won’t be a match for the both of us. Even if there are moves we can’t use because of our naivety, the situation won’t change. That’s why, there is no good reason for you to easily dismiss what I have to say...... so will you listen to me right till the end?”

“What if I refuse?”

“Then Ferris and I will make lots of holes in you and slowly, I shall say what I want to say right next to your ear.”

On hearing that, Claugh grimaced.

“How annoying.”

He said and Ryner smiled.

“Really? Are we really that annoying?”

“Uwah, these guys are really annoying...... that’s why I’ve told Sion this, ''don’t mix around with that dubious'' '''''Alpha Stigma''''' ''bearer''...... well, it seems like I don’t have a choice. So, speak. At any rate, I won’t be listening to your bullshit, but somehow, right now, since you guys have the upper hand, I’ll just stay still and ignore you for a while.”<ref name=”claugh_bullshit_sentence”>'''Claugh’s Deaf Ears:''' I kind of “un-translated” this sentence back to its original form. Reason is to match the dialogue that follows in page 67. What Claugh is saying here is that, “I’ll hear you out but I’m not listening”, (聞き流してやるぞ) → “I shall let your words fall on my deaf ears”, he’s implying that Ryner can say whatever he wants, but it’s pointless, which was my original translation, but that didn’t fit the next part of the dialogue. </ref>


“Alright, I did it. Well then, please hear me out.”

“Though even if I hear you out, things won’t go the way you want, and nothing will change.”

That was what Claugh said, but a smile floated on Ryner’s lips.

Since things were moving along according to his plans.

Ryner said.

“You know, Claugh. Sion is trying to show the might of Roland to the world right?”

On hearing that, Claugh scowled with an annoyed face,

“I told you I’m ignoring you, and didn’t say that I’ll answer your questions one by one.”

“You’re mean.”

“Whatever, just move on.”

Ryner shrugged his shoulders and continued.

“In other words, this invasion against Nelpha must succeed at all costs.”

“............”

“To achieve that perfectly. In order to make Nelpha and the other countries shake in complete fear of Roland’s might, and kill their spirit to resist Roland, it is necessary for Roland to overwhelm Nelpha.” 


“............”

“However, if say, in the midst of it, a rumor about Roland’s army losing somewhere spreads, what will you do?”

At that question, Claugh finally responded. With piercing eyes, he looked at Ryner,

“...... what on earth are you scheming? In this southern part of the continent, there’s no longer any country that has the power to go against Roland......”

But Ryner interrupted.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

He said.

And that was the truth.

Nelpha, and Roland’s ally Runa Empire, as well as the Cassla north of them, not one of these countries would probably have a fighting force that would be a match for Roland.

Roland was blessed with an excellent king. A king who would not rest, who would not slack, and on top of that possesses a brilliant mind, a king who would not make a mistake in his decisions.

That’s why he’s called the Hero King.

One who would definitely not stop moving forward, the saviour of the country, the one called Sion Astal.


As long as Sion remained as the king, the current Roland was probably peerless in power in the southern part of this continent.

But still, even so.

“...... even so, if Roland were asked whether it has enough energy to deal with both Nelpha and Runa together, what would be the answer, I wonder.”

“............”

“No, that’s not right. Perhaps it can really stand up to the both of them. The current Roland probably has that kind of power. But having the ability to deal with both countries at the same time and whether it’s necessary to deal with both countries at the same time are two separate matters, isn’t it? If you do that, there will be too many sacrifices. To become the supreme ruler of the south with the least sacrifices and in the fastest amount of time...... in other words, Sion’s plan may fall apart if he had to deal with both Nelpha and Runa at the same time. If possible, I’m sure Sion would like to absorb and integrate the might of Nelpha and Runa into Roland, am I right?”

On hearing all that, Claugh already more or less had an idea of what Ryner was planning, and he glared angrily at him,

“Damn you, are you going to instigate Runa to start a war with Roland?”


He said and in response to that, Ryner smiled. He smiled delightedly.

And then,

“No, I’m going for something more distasteful.”

He said.

Ryner was brewing a really bad-ass plan.

It was bad-ass to Roland.

No, even to Nelpha, to Runa, to everything, it was a bad-ass plan.

Ryner told him of that plan.

“Didn’t you guys lose track of the location of Toale and his ten thousand soldiers?”

On hearing that, Claugh glowered at him and said.

“So, it’s your damn doing?”

“You can say that.”

“What the hell are you trying to accomplish?”

“Well now, what is it indeed?”


“Hurry up and spit it out. Otherwise, I’ll kill you.”

“But the current you can’t kill us.”

On hearing that, Claugh’s red eyes were filled with a scarlet hatred, and Ryner could tell they were redder and deeper, but he appeared unconcerned.

Claugh was already dancing in his palm.

Ryner knew the location of Toale, a piece of information which Roland most wanted to get hold of.

For the matter to progress, Claugh would now have to listen to what Ryner had to say.

With a smile of satisfaction, Ryner continued.

“So, where on earth did the ten thousand soldiers disappear to?”

“............”

“The answer is at a location further east of the place where your scouts had thought where they should have been...... at a dangerous position just touching the borders of Runa, and they are still on the move in fact.”

On hearing those words, Claugh’s expression changed.

However, as expected, Ryner continued indifferently.

“And on top of that, for some reason, the ten thousand army led by Toale is carrying a Roland flag we’ve prepared...... now, what will that be for, I wonder?”


At that point, there was no longer a need to further explain it to Claugh.

Claugh had a dark look of despair and despondency on his face. That was how distasteful Ryner’s plan was.

In other words, this was what Ryner had been shooting for.

Toale would lead his ten thousand soldiers to attack Runa while carrying Roland’s flag.

Of course, Runa would mistakenly think that Roland, which had acquired power and had grown impudent, had broken their alliance and come to attack them.

Runa and Roland would then probably end up being plunged into a war. Even if not so, the fact was, in order to make an example of Nelpha to the world, Roland had carried out some unseemly acts against Nelpha.

Afraid of suffering the same fate as Nelpha, Runa would do its utmost to stand up to Roland.

And it’s probable that Runa would join forces with Nelpha and start to fight back against Roland.

They might even request aid from Cassla to their north.


''The tyrant Sion Astal has run amok, lend us your hand in defending against Roland'', such a development might unfold.

That would be the most extreme case that Roland needed to prepare itself against, that’s why it’s making an example of Nelpha now.

Imperial Nelpha, Runa Empire, and the Autonomous Holy City of Cassla, and the other counties in the southern part of the continent, in order not to have them gang up together, Roland had to make an example of Nelpha by crushing it.

But all that would come to naught.

All that would come to naught if Ryner and Toale were to attack Runa by masquerading as Roland’s forces.

To top it off.

“...... the army we’re leading, that is ten thousand soldiers masquerading as Roland’s forces, will run away in fear upon meeting Runa...... that’s the act we’re going to put on, you know? What will happen then, I wonder? The guys from Runa, as well as from Cassla, will start thinking, ''Hey, aren’t the Roland fags surprisingly weak? Is there a need to fear them?'', something like that......”

At that moment.

“Enough.”


Claugh said. And he continued looking at Ryner.

“...... I get your shitty plan. So, what is it that you want? In exchange for not carrying out that idiotic plan to spread this war in an idiotic way, what do you want from us?”

Once again, Ryner smiled.

With his plan moving on perfectly, he smiled.

“Hadn’t I said it right at the start? Won’t you give me a little time? Won’t you give me a little time to capture Starnel and hand him over to you, and furthermore, enough time for Toale to get out of the country, that is.”

On hearing those words,

“............”

Claugh was about to say something, but Ryner shook his head.

“Ah, but you don’t have the authority to decide, I already knew that...... for now, just go back to Sion, and tell him my proposal, that’s what I meant, so how does that sound?”

Continuing to look intently at Ryner, Claugh,

“...... so, during this time, you’re going to catch hold of Starnel?”


“Exactly.”

“Can you do it?”

“Well, please wait for me till I get it done.”

Once again, Claugh appeared to consider. He averted his eyes from Ryner and looked behind him at his camp and then,

“...... fine. I will go ask Sion. But as to how Sion will reply.”

But, that was interrupted by Ryner.

“Sion will agree to my plan. Since this is the path to the least number of sacrifices. That’s the kind of guy he is.”

He said.

He had come to understand Sion well after spending the past few years with him.

Sion would definitely jump at the proposal that Ryner had put forth in this current situation.

On the surface, Roland could not save Toale outright. Since this would show a weakness of Roland to the other countries.

However, if a third party --- for example, in this case, Ryner --- a person who had no affiliation with Roland were to save Toale, what would happen?


In that case, it would not show Roland as being soft. That’s why Ryner had the confidence that Sion would jump onto his proposal.

And Claugh should also understand that. Claugh’s expression relaxed slightly.

He turned to face Ryner.

“...... but from now on, you should know that you will be carrying the lives of a pretty large number of people on your shoulders right?”

He said to Ryner.

On hearing that, Ryner,

“............”

He smiled with a slightly weary look and shrugged his shoulders.

Since he had already known this a long time ago.

The lives of the ten thousand soldiers led by Toale.

The lives of the hundreds of thousands of people of Nelpha to be massacred by Roland in its campaign.

The almost seventy thousand lives of the troops led by Starnel.

The tens of thousands of victims on Roland’s side.


Sion could not save them.

Carrying everything upon himself alone, crying and hollering in anguish, and even so, Sion had to continue moving forward and could not save them.

That’s why, those lives exceeding hundreds of thousands rest on Ryner’s plan.

For the first time, the lives of other people rest heavily on Ryner’s shoulders.

In response to that,

“............”

He truly felt like running away.

It was frightening, heavy, and painful enough to make him feel like crying, he thought.

But, he could no longer.

“............”

He could no longer run away from it anymore.

He had always let Sion carry the heavy burdens, and he himself had been running away all this while, so he could no longer run away from it anymore.

He had to fight alongside him.

If the next time he met him, he would still want to call himself a friend, he could no longer afford not to fight; it would be inexcusable.


That’s why Ryner looked down at Claugh and said.

“...... I shall carry them properly, I think. Since I had been letting Sion carry them all this while, I shall carry them properly. That’s why, could you tell Sion about it. The words I’ve said earlier......”

“Huh? The words you’ve said earlier? What words? Regarding giving you more time?”

On hearing that, Ryner grimaced and,

“No...... ermm, that, it’s that, you know. The same reason for saving Toale that I was mentioning about, it’s the same for Sion...... tell him that for me.”

He said.

The same reason behind him saving Toale.

That was,

''"I can’t betray my friends."''

Those words.

Those stinking words that were embarrassing to the point that one could die if he hears them from the other party himself, but currently, it was necessary.


In order to make this plan succeed.

In order to stop the Sion who was running amok all by himself, shouldering everything upon himself.

That’s why, Claugh scowled.

“Why do I have to say such embarrassing words!”

“Ah, ah, they are really embarrassing huh?”

“Beyond embarrassing, gross!”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“But, still tell him that for me.”

“Don’t shit me!”

“Ehh, if you don’t do it, this plan won’t succeed, so c’mon, please ~”

On hearing those words, Claugh’s scowl increasingly deepened.

And then, from beside Ryner,

“Yeah. And one more thing, tell Sion to immediately send two thousand cases of dango skewers from Wynitt dango shop......”

“As if I can tell him that!”


Claugh shouted angrily, and then sighed in exasperation.

“Seriously, why is it that I can actually overlook all the annoying things that you guys put me through throughout our entire meeting...... I’m really shocked for a change.”

On hearing those words, Ryner and Ferris,

“Hahhahha.”

“Fuffuffu.”

“Duh, super annoy......”

Once again, Claugh sighed.

Following that, he picked the fallen Shuss up,

“Well, since the proposal you’ve put forth does have some benefits to our side, I’ll properly transmit it to Sion. So, in exchange for that, make sure you succeed, get it?”

Ryner nodded.

“Well, I’ll put my best foot forward --- please tell that to Sion Ahotaare.”

“...... Ahotaare, hm. Well, I’ll tell that to him. So, where do you want me to send you the reply? It’s not like it’s guaranteed that things will go according to your plan yet...... well then again, you did say you will be near the borders of Runa. Then, I’ll send it there.”


Ryner nodded.

“Thanks.”

“Ahh. Well, I’ll get going. You guys should disappear as well. If not, I’ll bring some men here with me later.”

“Ehhh ~, you still have energy to fight?”

As Ryner said that in a weary voice, a smile floated on Claugh’s face.

“Well, I wasn’t being serious earlier.”

“You’re joking again.”

“Well, whether it’s a joke or not, you’ll find out the next time we meet on the battlefield.”

After saying that, with Shuss slung over his shoulder, Claugh left.

After seeing his figure disappearing into the darkness of the forest, Ryner murmured softly,

“...... in the end, wherever I go, he would be an enemy......”

Following that, he turned to face the beauty beside him.

As usual, while munching away on her dango, she was looking in Ryner’s direction as if she was watching somebody else carrying out a conversation.

“Hn. Is it finished?”


“It’s finished.”

“Well well, did it go well?”

“Uh~n. I wonder. I can’t really say for sure until the outcome is clear...... But, it probably went forward in a good direction, I guess.”

As he said that, she nodded, but for some reason, she made a complicated expression,

“But don’t let your guard down, Ryner. At any rate, this plan was concocted by the number one blockhead of the blockhead industry, Ryner Blockhead. In the end, ''Aahh, as I thought, I’m a blockhead wah ~'', that kind of development........................”

But, for some reason, at that moment, she stopped and once again put her dango into her mouth and started munching,

“Aahh, as I thought, dango is delicious.”

“Duh, why did you stop in the middle?”

“I got sick of it in the middle.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“Yeah.”

As they were carrying out their meaningless talk, they started moving.


Towards north-northeast.

So as to speak, they had to move real quick. The reason was because, Ryner had yet to meet Toale.

In the conversation with Claugh earlier, it seemed like Ryner had already linked up with Toale, and it was Ryner who had given the order to the ten thousand soldiers to move close to the Runa border, however, the truth was that he had yet to meet Toale.

On top of that, Ryner had not yet told Toale of his plan.

Well, how Toale and his ten thousand soldiers had escaped detection from Claugh and Roland’s army was thanks to a capable comrade of Ryner.

Ryner’s comrade had went on ahead to persuade Toale to move his troops, but the actions to be taken from here on were not something that his comrade could talk Toale into single-handedly.

That’s why they had to hurry, and Ryner descended from the tree branch.

And then,

“...... Kiefer, will she be ok?”

He said, and following that, Ferris who also got down,

“That cutesy girl will probably do fine. She seems to be good with men.”


She said.

And Ryner started,

“Cutesy girl......”

“Huh? What?”

“No, nothing...... erm, ahh, well, nevermind......”

He took in a breath.

Currently, the comrades Ryner had brought along were Ferris, Kiefer, and Iris, and among the three of them, ''Ferris and Kiefer, well, to say they are not on good terms, or to say they are on good terms, that's kind offff''.

“...... I’m not going to think about it anymore......”

Ryner said in a tired voice, and Ferris turned to face him,

“What are you mumbling about?”

“Nothing nothing.”

“Are you hiding something from me!?”

“No, it’s not something that needs to be hidden......”

But, as usual, Ferris, without listening to Ryner,


“Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! A hentai, while hiding something perverted, is running about naked in the forestttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!”

She started yelling.

Ryner, with a weary face,

“...... I’ve always wonder about that, is it fun?”

On hearing that, she nodded in an exaggerated manner,

“Yup!”

In response to that, Ryner also nodded,

“I see...... if it’s fun, well, I’ll leave it at that.”

As he said that, their pace quickened.

Their destination was the border dividing Nelpha and Runa.

Heading towards Toale, the single man who had taken ten thousand soldiers under him, and to go give Kiefer a hand.
<noinclude>
 
----

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>
 
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|-
| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Interlude|Interlude]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol3|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 1

2011-11-19T05:50:26Z

Error: /* Chapter 1 - Towards North-Northeast */ tense, misspellings, punctuation, etc... from what I can see, doesn't change the meaning

== Chapter 1 - Towards North-Northeast ==


Die!!

If just saying that one word will cause someone to die, then no matter how many lives one has, it will never be enough.

That’s why, at the instant when,

“...... die!!”

Was shouted at Ryner Lute,

“Hn ah~?”

He groaned as he scowled.

With messy black hair, and lazy black eyes,

However, his habitually sluggish, tall, lean, slouched figure, was entirely tensed up.

The reason was because, right now,

“...... oiy oiy spare me that would you ~”


He was attacked by a monster.

And with his lazy eyes, he looked at the monster in front of him.

“............”

Looking at the red haired "muscled brain" who shouted ‘die’ at him.

Currently, the person before Ryner was a man who had fiery red hair, and sharp gleaming eyes.

Ryner knew his name.

Field Marshal Claugh Klom.

The monster sent by Roland Empire’s Hero King, Sion Astal, to destroy Imperial Nelpha.

Claugh Klom.

The death god of the battlefield --- Claugh Klom.

That name was notoriously famous.

A man who once appears on a battlefield, will paint the ground red as the blood falls like rain and cause his enemies to scream in fear.

Everyone is afraid of his name.


Everyone will shake in fear at this name.

That was the name of Claugh Klom, who can completely change the scenery of a battlefield.

And Ryner, in response to that,

“............”

''How idiotic can this be.''

He made a comeback at himself with his inner voice.

''No matter how strong Claugh is, how can just the appearance of one man turn the tide of a battle? It can’t as simple as that'', he thought.

That’s why he made light of that, thinking that eighty percent of the rumors were exaggerations, and came here as a result.

With Ryner alone, he thought he could render one or two or three Claughs helpless and capture them.

On top of that, Ryner already had a grasp of Claugh’s strength, for he had sparred lightly with him once before.

At that time, Claugh’s movements were really terrific. He was strong and fast. Furthermore, contrary to he being a muscle brain, he was quick-witted and deploy his magic at a high speed.


If you don't consider him as a monster, then who can you call a monster?

That was how strong Ryner, a former member of the convert ops group called '''The Greatest Magician of Roland''', thought of and ascertained of Claugh.

But, but still.

“............”

Ryner thought he could win.

''I’m probably a little stronger than Claugh Klom'', he thought.

That’s why he came here.

In order to capture Claugh, he came to the campsite erected by Roland army who came to invade Imperial Nelpha.

And then he attacked Claugh.

He attacked the Claugh who was standing carelessly on top of the hill a small distance away from the campsite.

And Ryner would easily defeat and capture Claugh Klom with an overwhelming strength......

“............”

That should have been the case however.

Claugh pulled out the knife.


As he did so, with an incredible speed and accuracy, he aimed at the center of Ryner’s chest.

“Woah.”

Ryner groaned. If he tried to dodge, he wouldn’t make it.

That’s he knocked it away with his hand.

But, at that moment, Claugh was already moving. A move for killing Ryner.

Every bit of his movement was very much faster than the moves they had exchanged previously.

On seeing that.

“............”

''Shit, I was tricked'', Ryner scowled.

The sparring that happened previously was in preparation for this instant.

A year ago.

Meaninglessly, Claugh had come to spar with Ryner. He came to attack Ryner, whom he disliked.

After having fought for about two, three rounds, and deploying their magic then --- Ryner had thought.


Claugh was indeed strong, but nothing like what the rumors had said, Ryner had thought.

But that was what he was made to think.

With a fed-up face, he glared at Claugh.

“What a swindler.”

On hearing that, Claugh grinned.

“You are the one to blame for being deceived.”

On hearing that, ''That’s quite right'', Ryner thought.

In a battlefield, the one who’s deceived and killed has only himself to blame.

That was the first thing that Ryner had learned when he was undergoing battle training at the Germer Kleisrole Training Institute.

Every battle starts with deception and ends with deception.

''"Now, how will you deceive me in order to stay alive?"''

That was Germer Kleisrole had said.

''"Now, how will you deceive the world in order to stay alive?"''

That was what Ryner’s master had said.

While remembering those words,


“...... seems like I’ll be the one deceived and killed, Germer.”

He muttered softly.

Claugh said,

“Die.”

His right hand moved in his direction.

That arm was covered in a pitch-black color.

Pitch-black scribblings and patterns crawled around the surface of his arm.

So what in the world was that, just by looking, Ryner understood.

A '''forbidden curse'''. An abnormally unthinkable sinister forbidden curse was implanted into that arm.

However, that was not a matter that could be considered sane.

This was just knowledge Ryner knew about though, in the experiments where the '''forbidden curse''' was placed into human bodies, ten thousand out of ten thousand people experimented on died --- it was the kind of experiment in which the odds of success were insanely low.

But yet, this fella had it implanted into his arm.

Despite the strength he possessed, in order to seek a new power, he further went on to implant the curse into his arm.


And Ryner understood what in the world the curse might be.

He closed and opened his eyes again.

With vermillion pentacles floating above his black pupils, he saw through the entirety of the curse attached to Claugh’s arm.

On that arm of Claugh.

“............”

Blue-black dragons cursing the world were sealed in it.

The eight cursed dragons that release blue flames.

Looking at that,

“............”

As Ryner was looking at that,

“...... isn’t there something wrong with your head?”

He muttered without thinking.

That was how abnormal the curse that was sealed in Claugh’s arm was.

On releasing the curse, the dragons will fly from Claugh’s arm all at once.


And then attack the enemy.

Anyone who’s bitten will be engulfed by the curse in an instant, and have his life force seeped away.

However, he won’t die immediately. Despite having his life force seeped away, he won’t die. Without dying, he will become a puppet of the person who has afflicted him with the curse, and live for ten hours.

After ten hours have passed, the curse will run its course and disintegrate his body, killing him.

“............”

On seeing that effect alone, Ryner understood how convenient the curse was. A magic that can kill and make the victim his puppet.

If it’s used on the battlefield, it will be an extraordinarily  powerful and convenient magic.

However, it’s not practical.

The '''forbidden curse''' that’s sealed is not something that can be used.

Why is that so?

The reason is simple.

This magic has too many flaws.

First, the burden on the user is too heavy. During its use, the user’s body will have to go through an excruciating amount of pain. The intensity of pain is so great that it’s impossible for one to retain his consciousness --- no, if it doesn’t go well, it won’t be strange even if he dies from shock.


But yet, why was Claugh, who was about to activate his curse, able to retain his consciousness? This was something Ryner could not understand. 

On top of that, on activating the magic, even though all eight dragons can be released, only at most three of them can be controlled.

The remaining five will attack their surroundings indiscriminately.

In other words, if there were comrades around, it can’t be used. No, in that case, there was a chance that the remaining dragons will attack their user.

And if he’s bitten, death will surely come pay a visit.

“............”

No matter how he looked at the Claugh who was about to activate his curse before him, he could only see that it was a foolishly flawed magic.

Such a magic should not have been usable.

“............”

But Claugh released that magic which should not have been usable.

“Kidding right.”


As Ryner groaned, Claugh’s arm was clad in blue black fire and the eight dragons came forth.

And then three out of those looked around their surroundings, after ascertaining that there was no target, they went after Claugh’s shoulder, waist, and foot, devouring them.

A sure-death curse.

The most terrible curse.

A curse of despair.

And Claugh should have readily died --- from his own curse that was invading him.

“............”

But that red hair muscle brain seemed completely fine and a smile floated on his face. And he ignored two other dragons which further went on to bite at his neck.

Looking at that, Ryner,

“...... are you immune to the curse?”

“............”

But Claugh did not answer. Only a smile of delight floated on his face. Embedded with killing intent, his piercing eyes looked towards here .


And then Claugh said.

“Now, the preparations have been made. Let’s kill each other seriously, shall we? '''Greatest Magician of Roland'''-kun.”

In a flash.

Two dragons were released from Claugh’s arm.

“Woah.”

Ryner uttered as he dodged.

One came from his right.

The other came from above.

Their movements were not that fast. It was possible to dodge.

But, on top of that,

“...... what I seek is iridescent destruction......”

On hearing Claugh’s voice,

“Seriously!?”

Ryner shouted as he looked towards Claugh. Claugh was drawing out a magical inscription with his left hand. The magic being deployed was '''Kuuri'''.


Firing spears of light, among Roland’s magic, it was one with the most destructive power.

It was of a high difficulty level, and not usable by one without a good mind.

''To say it clearly, if a muscle brain, who can already move fast and has great strength, could use such a spell, he will be way too powerful!'' As he wanted to make a comeback, he turned to the Claugh who was wielding both a powerful magic and a '''forbidden curse''' at the same time,

“Isn’t this too unfair!”

Ryner hollered.

But a smile floated on Claugh’s face again,

“Who in the world was the one who said that you have to play fair?”

At that moment, Claugh had completed his '''Kuuri'''.

But, on seeing that, Ryner frantically drew his magic inscription in the air,

“What I seek is iridescent destruction...”

He chanted the same magic as Claugh.

And then.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 027.jpg|thumb]]

"'''Kuuri'''"

Their magic were activated at the same time.

Light started to gather at the center of both their magic inscriptions. And then, for the sake of killing the enemy, the multi-colored beams that were conjured were fired, and clashed with each other.

Instantly.

A strong eye-dazzling light was dispersed into their surroundings, but, in such a dangerous situation, if he were to shut his eyes from the blinding light even for an instant, he would be killed. So he squinted his eyes to ascertain his surroundings, and with all his might, he retreated backwards.

Towards the forest which Ryner was hiding earlier from Claugh who was on top of the hill.

But,

“I won’t let you escape.”

He heard the voice of Claugh --- the monster called the death god of the battlefield.

While he was pursued by a monster with a power which he never encountered before,

“Ahh noww, this is terriblyyyyyyyyy bothersomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

Ryner withdrew into the forest.

The forest of the deep night.


Today’s weather was fine, and though the moonlight lit up the surroundings, it did not reach the inside of the forest.

Despite the fact that it should have been advantageous to escaping.

Just a casual glance towards his back yielded a sight of flaming blue-black dragons coming from behind, right after Ryner,

“Shit!?”

He rolled onto the ground and dodged them. Immediately after that, he stood up, kicked the tree to his left, and jumped. He further went on to grab hold of a branch of a tree in front of him, then used it as a foothold, and went further up.

Up.

Up.

And then he turned his head around.

As he turned his head around in order to ascertain where his enemy was on the ground,

“Slow.”

Immediately, just right behind him, Claugh’s left fist came flying towards Ryner,

“How the heck can you be so fast!”

Ryner moaned as he pushed the fist aside.


Following that, he avoided the oncoming dragons and sent a kick towards Claugh’s face, but it was dodged.

At the same time, Ryner grabbed hold of another tree branch near him, and pulled himself towards a different tree, and then jumped.

Of course, Claugh was following right behind him, but Ryner could no longer turn his head around as that would surely get him chomped up by the dragons behind him.

Flying from tree to tree, and while doing that, Ryner drew a glowing magical inscription in the air.

And he completed it.

He chanted.

“WHAT I SEEK IS BURNING FIELDS >>> KURENAI”

Instantly, exploding flames burst out from the Ryner’s magical construct and sprung in the direction behind him, and then coming from behind him,

“WHAT I SEEK IS WATER MIST >>> MISUMI”

He heard the incantation of a magic that would bring forth an exploding jet of water.

As the flames and water clashed, the hissing sound of water turning into steam could be heard, but yet, Ryner did not look back.


But, ''Ahhhh, dang, he got me, what kind of monster is this!'' He complained silently.

“............”

''Dang, he really got me.''

The plan was to quickly defeat Claugh, restrain him, and use him as a hostage for many things.

''But yet, what’s this?''

''What the hell is this?''

Ryner gave a quick glance towards the monster that was chasing him from behind.

He looked at the form of Claugh, who was sending his cursed dragons towards him while in pursuit.

“............”

And then he started to believe somewhat. He started to believe somewhat in the rumor of him being able to turn the tide of a battle all by himself as he appears on a battlefield.

This really is a monster.

Using the '''forbidden curse''', with a higher level of physical ability than Ryner, and on top of that, he readily deployed a counter magic to neutralize Ryner’s '''Kurenai'''.

That was some kind of an impossible strength.


It was a strength that would make one want to get away in a flash.

“............”

But, he couldn’t run away.

No matter what it took, it was necessary for Ryner to make this fella a hostage.

It was necessary to make this monster whom god may even fear a hostage.

It was for the sake of stopping the most terrible war that was going on in these lands.

Capturing Claugh was absolutely necessary for the sake of stopping this war started by his best friend, the Hero King of the largest country in the southern part of the continent, Roland Empire, Sion Astal.

“............”

Ryner once again gave a quick glance behind him, looking intently at the red haired monster who was closing in . And then.

“...... it seems like it’s completely impossible to restrain him......”

Ryner said with a exasperated voice.

He was way too naive. To have thought of restraining this fella all by himself, he was so naive that he wanted to beat himself up.

If he was seriously wanting to kill him, this could end up in a draw, he thought. But if he were to end up killing him, then it would become meaningless.


It was necessary to keep this red haired monster who was known as Sion’s right hand man, alive, restrain him, and on top of that, threaten him, and make him a hostage.

And once again,

“Ugh ~ super bothersome.”

Ryner groaned as he said.

“So as to speak, I really hate this kind of bothersome stuff.”

He lamented.

“In the first place ~, getting chased by this monster, working hard in order to stop the war, creating world peace, to say this clearly, I'm not the least interested at all, let some other hero-wannabe take on such bothersome stuff......”

At that moment, from behind him, the blue black dragons again come biting,

“Woah, that’s really dangerous, no, someone save me please, I seriously hope this will stop! I really hate working hard like this!”

He yelled, and from behind him, Claugh said.

“Then, get on with it and die.”


“You are right. If I just die, I can relax and struggle no more, isn’t it.”

“I’ll lend you my hand.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I shall accept your kind offer, will you kill me ~”

Even as he said that, Ryner’s feet kept moving. While jumping from tree to tree, he drew glowing words in the air.

That was a magic which he had previously stolen from the mage knight battalion of the Kingdom of Estabul. Looking back, this was something from a long time ago. It was during the time when he and Sion were still students and fighting the mage knight battalion of the Kingdom of Estabul; a magic he copied when he was in danger of getting killed.

He’s using that magic now.

“I OFFER THE CONTRACTED WORDS, LETTING THE SLUMBERING MALICIOUS SPIRIT DWELL WITHIN”

Instantly.

Ryner’s body appeared to shimmer. At the same time, his speed increased.

The magic he chanted was one that released  the limiter in his mind, and allowed his physical abilities to increase dramatically.

And then a smile floated on his face,


“Alright. Preparations done. With this, it’s time to fight a little with the monster......”

In the midst of saying that.

He once again heard the voice of Claugh from behind him.

The voice of Claugh chanting.

But, in response to those words, Ryner,

“............”

His eyes widened and he turned his head around in shock.

As he did that, Claugh’s spell was completed.

The glowing words that appeared from his left hand were the same as those drawn out by Ryner seconds ago.

The same construct.

The same magic.

But that was something impossible.

Because it was Estabul’s magic.

It was a pretty high level magic, which only pretty excellent magic scholars, after studying the basics and architectural constructs of Estabul’s magic, could acquire after three or four years.

A normal soldier couldn’t possibly use it.


No, even if the soldier is a capable one, he shouldn’t be able to use it.

And besides, it was not even two years since Estabul had been absorbed by Roland. Even if both sides were to exchange and share magical knowledge they possess, many years should have been needed before a soldier could use it.

Of course, it was a different story for people like Ryner who could copy magic with their special eyes, but he had never heard that Claugh was an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer.

''Then, how was it done?''

''How did this fella accomplish it?''

“You...... how in the world did you manage to learn Estabul’s magic?”

On hearing Ryner’s question, Claugh shrugged his shoulders readily,

“...... hard work?”

“Huhh? It’s not something you can achieve by hard work alone, isn’t it?”

“It might be so for a normal person. But it seems like I’m a genius, you know?”

“Uweh ~, a person who calls himself a genius has to be an ordinary person...”

However, Claugh was undoubtedly a genius.

It was something he had already recognized.


Even when Ryner was active in Roland’s covert ops group, he had never quite seen any monster like that.

On top of that, those geniuses who were not spoiled and actually put in hard work simply didn’t exist.

Ryner,

“This could be bad.”

As he groaned, Claugh laughed ‘haha’. As he laughed, he chanted.

Estabul’s magic.

“I OFFER THE CONTRACTED WORDS, LETTING THE SLUMBERING MALICIOUS SPIRIT DWELL WITHIN”

As he did that, the magic really activated.

The magic which should not have been usable by a Roland soldier was activated.

Claugh’s body started shimmering faintly, and in one breath, his movement speed increased.

He closed the gap.

Those movements of his were even faster than the magically sped-up Ryner.

Ryner was already at a loss.

Ryner was at a loss of what to do with such a monster all by himself.


And Claugh delightfully,

“What’s this. Just running away, isn’t that boring? Or is this all you’ve got? Perhaps, this Estabul magic was your trump card? If that’s the case......”

At that moment, he further went on to increase his speed. He kicked a tree with all his strength, closed in the gap between him and Ryner, side by side with him, he looked at him and said.

“...... can I finally kill you now?”

Ryner looked at Claugh’s face,

“You can’t.”

He replied.

“Alright. Then I shall kill you.”

“Didn’t I say that you can’t!”

“Haha. You’re noisy.”

As he said that, Claugh swung his right arm. Three blue-black flaming dragons were about to attack Ryner.

On seeing that, Ryner,


“Ahh ~”

He said.

''Ahh'', he said it with a really exasperated voice.

''Ahh, I can’t take this anymore''.

“...... if I don’t fight seriously, I’ll really get killed......”

He said.

His opponent was fighting seriously with an intent to kill. It’s time for him to get serious and do the same as well.

His original plan to defeat his opponent and restrain him had to be changed.

No, well, he had another plan that could have settled things without fighting, but it seemed like it wouldn’t come through in time.

If, there’s a one in million chance that Claugh is insanely strong --- no, he is in fact strong --- and Ryner could no longer cope with it; there was in fact another plan for such a situation, but,

“...... if I wait for that, I might be killed. Then.”

At that moment, Ryner's eyes changed into a sharp piercing gaze.

Following that, in his head, a battle plan against Claugh started unfolding.


There were three parts to it.

First, sidestep his opponent’s attack.

Second, trick him.

Third, kill him.

“...... shall I get started?”

At that moment, Ryner stepped onto a large branch, and turned and changed the direction he was facing.

In response to that, Claugh also stopped in his tracks on the large branch. And then,

“Orh, at last, you’re getting serious?”

As he said that, he made a guarded face, having realized that Ryner’s aura had changed.

On seeing that, ''this fella is really a tough nut to crack'', Ryner thought as he scowled again.

If he were to let his guard down, it would be possible for Ryner to take advantage of an opening without killing him.

However, there was entirely none at all.

Even though from appearances, he seemed to be  enjoying the fight from his broad grin, he was certainly not fooling around.

That’s why, with a sad and tired looking face, Ryner said.

“Geez, I really don’t want to kill you, you know.”

On hearing that, as expected while looking as if he was enjoying himself, Claugh,


“An interesting joke.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Furthermore, you won’t be able to kill me.”

“Perhaps. But, you won’t know till I try.”

“I know.”

“Really, I wonder?”

“Yeah.”

“I see...... well, it’d be a bother, but let’s get on with it.”

“Hurry up and get on with it.”

“Yeah.”

After he nodded, Ryner, for once, drew out all his strength. And he turned off the switch. That was the switch in his head. He released the inhibition in which he would unconsciously take it easy on his opponent. Following that, he gradually lowered his stance. While drawing soft breaths, he gathered power into his body.

And then,

“Here goes.”


At the same time he spoke.

He released all the built-up energy in his body.

In a breath, he lunged at Claugh.

Even though Claugh set two of his dragons on him, he readily dodged. While dodging, he drew out magical inscriptions in mid-air.

A complex construct. As he quickly drew out an elaborate magical construct, Claugh reacted.

The magic that Ryner drew out was the same as before. The flame magic which Claugh had counteracted with '''Misumi''' previously, '''Kurenai'''.

He chanted that once again.

With a relaxed expression, Claugh began,

“That’s the same one as before.”

He said, and then started chanting '''Misumi'''.

But that was a fake.

Rather, the '''Kurenai''' Ryner had cast earlier was a fake.

Earlier, Ryner had intentionally activated '''Kurenai''' at a slow pace. His real magical construction ability was at a speed so fast that there was no way Claugh would have time to finish chanting a counter-spell.


But, earlier, he had chanted his magic slowly.

In order to make Claugh think that he was superior in his magical construction ability, and induce a mistake from him, he had chanted his magic slowly intentionally.

And Claugh had fallen into his trap.

On seeing Ryner’s '''Kurenai''', Claugh started chanting '''Misumi''' at a relaxed pace.

But he was too late.

He was entirely too late.

From here on, in the time before Claugh could finish constructing his '''Misumi''', he would already be done with '''Kurenai’s''' inscription, and on top of that, he would be able to thrust his hand into the magical inscription of '''Misumi''' that Claugh was drawing, and change the construct.

That’s why,

“It’s the end.”

As he said that, he immediately completed '''Kurenai''', and further went on to thrust his hand into Claugh’s magical inscription of '''Misumi'''.

On seeing that, at last, Claugh’s expression changed.

“Damn you.”


As he said that, he gave up on working on his magical construct, and started attacking Ryner instead, but he was too late.

The '''Kurenai''' behind Ryner had started activating.

Flames had gathered in the center of the magical inscription, and was aimed in Claugh’s direction,

“Shit.”

Claugh groaned. Following that, he extended a dragon from his right arm, which bit onto a tree some distance away from him, and subsequently, he was reeled towards it.

With that, he somehow managed to evade the flaming missiles, but that was the end.

Ryner had completed changing the '''Misumi''' drawn out by Claugh, forcibly changing it to '''Kuuri'''.

And aiming it towards Claugh,

“WHAT I SEEK IS IRIDESCENT DESTRUCTION >>>......”

As he was chanting the spell, and just as he was about to fire off '''Kuuri''', his hand stopped moving.

Following that, he slowly.

“............”

He slowly shifted his line of sight, and looked at the dragon shrouded in blue-black flames, which was about to bite into the back of his neck.


Before he knew it, a dragon, with an instant death curse embedded within its fangs, had encircled him from behind and was in position to bite into his neck.

If Claugh were to order it, in a flash, Ryner would be killed.

However, it was the same the other way round.

'''Kuuri''' was almost completed. What’s left was the incantation --- just one more line to utter, once the incantation was completed, Claugh would be impaled by '''Kuuri''' and die. At this kind of near distance, no matter how his body movements had been sped up, he wouldn’t be able to dodge.

It was one more step for the both of them.

Both of them were in a position to kill each other in just about a tenth of a second.

Ryner turned his eyes to face the Claugh who was hanging from his dragon clinging on to a tree some distance away.

“...... damn. After getting so serious, it’s a tie.”

“............”

But Claugh did not answer.

Ryner shrugged his shoulders,


“So, what’s next? If we end it in a tie like this, it’d be a little fruitless, I think.”

As he was staring at Ryner, Claugh said.

“I don’t think so. You are strong enough to make me think that it’s better to kill you here even if it’s a tie.”

“Ah-rah? Are those words of praise?”

“You can take it that way.”

“Then shall we call it a tie?”

“............”

Claugh glowered at him. And his killing intent further swelled up.

An intent to kill.

An intent to kill by sacrificing himself.

And there was no way the both of them could evade each other’s attacks.

It was the worst.

It was the worst kind of situation.

But still, even so,

“............”


A smile floated on Ryner’s face.

A relaxed smile. It was his usual languid, unmotivated smile.

On seeing that, Claugh raised his eyebrows in puzzlement.

“Why did you smile?”

But Ryner,

“No, I think in the end, it’s my win.”

“Huh? How so? Where did your chance of winning come......”

However.

At that point, Claugh stopped his words. And then Claugh’s sharp expression contorted.

Ryner looked at him and smiled.

“Ah, you’ve noticed?”

“............”

As expected, Claugh did not answer.

But, it didn’t matter anyhow.

Then Ryner turned his gaze to behind Claugh.

He was looking in the direction of the place where the original alternative plan of capturing Claugh, the plan that he was previously waiting for, had activated.


Behind the Claugh who was hanging from a tree.

Below him, a peerless beauty was looking up at them.

With long golden hair, and clear blue eyes. An extraordinary well featured face. Wearing a one-piece <ref name=”one_piece>'''One-piece:''' A one-piece, in Japanese, refers to a single piece dress. </ref> with a short skirt portion that was unsuitable for a battlefield. At the waist portion of that one-piece, she wore a long sword which those slender arms of hers do not seem capable of wielding, and as usual, in her right hand was a skewer of dango.

Ryner’s partner, Ferris Eris.

Ferris was looking up at them with an uninterested look.

“What? Didn’t you say ''Single-handedly, I’ll win effortlessly puppu ~'' in a high and mighty manner, and you’re still fighting like an idiot?”

She said.

On hearing that, Ryner smiled wryly,

“I never did say ''I’ll win effortlessly puppu~''.”

“Then it’s ''poppo'' -?”

“No, there’s not where the problem is...... this fella is a thousand times stronger than I thought, you know.”

“Isn’t it because you’re weak?”


“No, to fight such an opponent till this point, I would even praise myself for it.”

As he said that, Ryner looked at Claugh.

As always, he had a stern face. No, it was a face of someone desperately thinking about how to break out of this situation.

It was the face of a fellow who refuses to give up no matter how bad the situation was.

Seeing that, Ryner frowned and began,

“But, it’s useless, you see, Claugh? Your loss is set. No matter how strong you are, you won’t be a match for both me and Ferris, besides......”

At that moment, Ryner looked at Ferris again. No, he was looking at the trump card of his plan, which she had been dragging along with her left hand.

“............”

Trump card --- gripped at the nape of the neck and dragged along by Ferris, an unconscious, young, blond man.

This was another plan that Ryner had devised.

In the situation where he were to carry out negotiations with Claugh, in order to make him listen to his demands and on top of that have him accept them, it was necessary to have an advantageous leverage of such an extent.

What could he do to bring about this?


One.

Ryner to beat down Claugh and capture him. But there was a danger to that. If Claugh was stronger than he thought --- well, as a matter of fact, he’s really a thousand times stronger than he thought --- in reverse, Ryner might be killed instead, and on top of that, even if he could capture Claugh, there was also the possibility that he would not submit and say something like ''Kill me!'', and not listen to Ryner’s demands. Furthermore, fighting him with Ferris at the onset was also not an option. If they did that, then it’s possible that Claugh’s comrades would reinforce him and with a large army against them, they would have no chance of winning at all.

That’s why, so as to speak, Ryner had another plan prepared.

Ryner would attack Claugh alone, and draw him away from the camp, and in the meantime ---

“............”

At that moment, Ryner looked down at the man dragged by Ferris,

“Well, is that the guy?”

Ferris nodded.

“The vice officer of that red haired man. The name is Shuss Shirazz. ''If I’m to become a burden to Field Marshal Klom, I’ll kill myself'', as he was saying that, I knocked him out.”


Ferris said.

Ryner began delightedly,

“I see ~. You sure have an excellent subordinate, don’t you, Claugh-chan ~.”

As he said that, he looked at Claugh.

Without saying anything, he glared at Ryner.

But, Ryner appeared indifferent. He only had to move according to his plan.

He grabbed hold of the dragon which was about to bite into his neck.

“Well now, first, dismiss this dragon. Just killing me alone, and in exchange for that, losing the lives of the famous Claugh Klom-sama, and the capable vice officer Shuss Shirazz, that won’t make it too worthwhile right?”

He said.

On hearing that, while Claugh continued glaring at him,


“...... what do you want?”

He said in a low, menacing voice.

However, in response to those words, a smile surfaced on Ryner’s face.

All this while, he had been working hard at getting those words out from his opponent.

And there was only one thing he wished for.

''Can you give me some time?''

That was it.

Even for him, he was well aware of the current situation in Roland Empire.

The fact that Roland was currently invading Nelpha, and carrying out large scale massacres as a show to kill the other countries’ spirit of putting up a resistance.

After showing the massacre in Nelpha, it would strike a dent into the other countries’ will to resist, and Roland could get them to surrender without fighting.

That was a necessary path to a minimum loss of lives and the fastest way to end the war.

That was what Sion had seemingly considered.

Even though he hated wars, he hated people dying, and he hated causing grief to others, that was the path that Sion had seemingly considered, choosing to shoulder all the burden upon himself.


And Ryner also understood the need for such a war.

Even though he couldn’t accept it, but on this Menoris continent where the flames of war were spreading fiercely, he could understand how that was the only available choice.

That’s why ''would you give some time to Nelpha?'', that’s what Ryner had come to negotiate about.

What’s transpiring in Imperial Nelpha right now could be said to be the worst case scenario for both Nelpha and Roland.

Sion’s plan was probably to invade Nelpha with an overwhelming force and secure a swift surrender.

No, that really did happen.

The benevolent king of Nelpha, Gread Nelphi,

''"I shall offer my own head and the confinement of my son, Prince Starnel...... so in exchange, would you stop massacring Nelpha’s people?"''

That was the proposal he had intended to put forth to Roland.

However, just before that, the stupid son Prince Starnel, caring only about his own life, went berserk.

First, he killed his own father, Gread Nelphi, and slammed down the declaration of surrender.


On top of that, in order to buy time for his own escape, he sent forth ten thousand soldiers to clash with Roland’s forces, ordering them to repel Roland.

Furthermore, he commanded the remaining sixty eight thousand troops himself and started massacring and looting his own people.

That was a worst case scenario that was already beyond anyone’s expectations.

With this, until Roland had killed the unyielding stupid son, the war had to continue.

Destroying all the cities, killing all the soldiers, completely obliterating Nelpha, and the need to show all this to the entire world.

The reason was because, thanks to the stupid son who valued his life more than the country and people, Nelpha would never surrender.

However, in such a dreadful worst case scenario, it was not without a glimmer of hope.

That would be Toale Nelphi.

The son of that stupid prince Starnel and his commoner mistress, who one year ago, extended his hand to help Ryner and Ferris, who should have been strangers to him and had somewhat drifted to Nelpha while they were searching for relics, a kind, nice kid, that Toale, who of course was much more popular than the stupid prince Starnel among the populace, had stepped out to take command of the abandoned ten thousand troops and stopped them from advancing.


He stopped a pointless clash between Roland and Nelpha’s armies.

And Roland should be happy about that as well.

Since with the appearance of Toale, Roland’s original goal of minimizing the loss of lives and making Nelpha submit was once again possible.

And the wise Toale would definitely,

''"I will surrender, so could you let the ten thousand soldiers and people off?"''

He would request.

Of course, Roland would refuse. Since if Roland were to let them off, then it would not be able to make a display to the other countries.

That’s why Roland would tell Toale,

''"Go take the throne from the current king of Nelpha, from that stupid prince. After that, if you make a surrender to Roland, we will accept it. Of course, in order to make a show to the other countries, Toale Nelphi of royal lineage will be executed......"''


And Toale would definitely accept. If he’s able to save everyone with his life, Toale would accept.

However, regarding that demand, it would be a pretty unreasonable one.

The reason was because right now, Toale only had ten thousand soldiers with him.

On the other hand, Starnel was commanding a sixty eight thousand troop army.

Roughly seven times.

No matter one thought about it, not a single chance of winning could be seen.

On top of that, even if Toale were to win, what was going to come after that would be his execution.

And furthermore, Toale would accept that execution with a smiling face.

And there’s no way he could be saved, something at the level that would make one cry out ''what the hell’s that'',

That’s why.

“............”

''Could you please wait a while'', that’s the bargain Ryner wanted to strike.

With even less sacrifices.

In order to advance in the direction of a scenario with even less people getting hurt, Ryner had come to strike a deal with Claugh.


The time for Ryner to go capture Prince Starnel alone.

And the time for Toale to escape out of the country before the situation whereby the royalty of Nelpha gets killed arose.

In order to accomplish these two things, he needed the time.

Even though Ryner came here to ask for more time, there was no way he could say that he needed more time and expect it to be given to him.

That’s why Ryner said.

“For now, could you leave your troops here and return to Sion’s side?”

On hearing that.

Claugh, while glaring at Ryner,

“...... I see. You’re trying to buy time.”

He said.

With only one sentence from Ryner, Claugh could get roughly what Ryner was thinking about.

Furthermore, Claugh said.

“But, why are you supporting Nelpha? It has nothing to do with.......”

But, Ryner interrupted there,


“Toale is my friend. And, I can’t betray my friends...... well, it’s some ultra naive talk, can you agree to it?”

On hearing those words,

“............”

A slight smile floated on Claugh’s face. But it’s not a mocking smile.

“Are you agreeing to it?”

“............”

But, as expected, Claugh did not reply. And without replying to that question,

“However, what’s in it for me to cooperate with you in saving your friend? Are you going to abduct Starnel and bring him to me?”

“Yeah.”

Ryner nodded, and Claugh laughed.

“Ha. That’s an unnecessary thing. If it’s just that, we could do it as well. Supporting Toale Nelphi, killing Starnel, and executing Toale after that. The only difference our methods lies only in whether Toale is going to die or not. However, in order to make a demonstration to the other countries, we need to kill Toale. Roland is no longer a cowardly country that will let someone of royal lineage and who has commanded an army once live.”


“Is that Sion’s view?”

“That’s right. Sion’s different from you, he wouldn’t sacrifice the lives of others just for the sake of saving one life.”

“............”

That’s right, Ryner thought.

Claugh’s words.

The path that Sion was taking.

There was nothing more right than that.

But even if this was said to be right, it didn’t mean that everyone would follow along with it, Ryner thought.

Even if this was said to be right, it didn’t mean that everyone would achieve happiness, Ryner thought.

At the very least, if Toale were to die.

If he were to die, Ryner would be sad.

No, not just Ryner. Toale is a well-liked person. He is well-liked by the people of this country. To kill the Toale who is well-liked the people of this country was not really a good choice for the Roland that’s subjugating Nelpha from here on, Ryner thought.


Of course, it would be good for an instant. To overwhelm Nelpha with fear, and to overwhelm the neighbouring countries, and to further overwhelm their neighbouring countries, if it  were to sweep across everything with its might alone, then that choice might be the correct one, but was there really a need to move forward in such a hurry?

A little.

Wouldn’t it be a good thing to take things a little more slowly, and move forward along a path that could bring a smile to everyone.......

“...... that’s how the naive stupid me thinks though.”

He murmured as he was looking southwards, in the direction where Sion was, the direction of Roland.

And Claugh who could hardly hear him,

“Huh?”

He said, but Ryner appeared indifferent to that.

He turned to face Claugh again,

“Well, I’ve already known right at the start that you are going to reject my offer though.”

“Then, that’s the end of our talk. Let’s get on with the killing.”

“That’s why I was saying, if we do that, it’ll be unfavorable against you......”


But, a smile surfaced on Claugh’s face again,

“I have the confidence to evade your '''Kuuri'''. The one’s who’s gonna die is only you.”

He said something scary.

On hearing that, Ryner,

“...... even for me...... erm...... I also have the confidence to probably dodge your dragon barely, you know?”

“Right.”

“No, I’m serious. Anyway, even for you, it’ll be by a hair’s breadth to dodge '''Kuuri'''.”

“We’ll know for certain once we try it.”

“No no, that’s why I say, once we try it, we can’t take our actions back anymore. And besides, if we do that, what’s going to happen to Shuss? I’ll dodge the dragon. You’ll dodge '''Kuuri'''. But the hostage Shuss......”

But, while smiling, Claugh said.

“For a soft, naive person like you, can you kill a hostage, I wonder?”

On hearing those words.

A wry smile surfaced on Ryner’s face,

“...... ah-rah, you really hit where it hurts. But, to go against such a naive opponent, do you really need to fight so frenziedly? Do you really think such a naive guy will become a threat to you in the future?”

This time round, it was Claugh’s turn to smile wryly.

“...... no, I don’t think so.”

“Isn’t it? Then, why don’t you listen to me till the end? At any rate, the things we say will just be nonsense, unsophisticated stuff that can’t pose a threat to you, so if you’re willing to listen to me with a magnanimous heart, I’ll be really happy, I guess.”

On hearing those words.

Claugh appeared to consider those words for a moment. Seconds later, appearing to have reached a decision, he closed one eye and,

“Disppear, << Cursed Harp >>.”

He issued some kind of command, and the dragon that was poised to bite into Ryner’s neck disappeared.

On top of that, the dragons that were surrounding Claugh also disappeared and he dropped to the ground.

In response to that, Ryner,

“Ferris.”

He called out, but even before he had even done so, Ferris was already moving towards him, dragging Shuss alongside, but.


“Hey hey, leave Shuss here.”

Claugh called out from behind Ferris, stretching out his hand.

In response to that, Ferris,

“You’re hindering me.”

As she said that, she drew the sword at her waist at an unbelievable speed. And that was already at a speed which Ryner could not follow with his eyes.

The sword was drawn at a timing which should have been impossible to evade, but,

“Woah.”

Claugh uttered as he dodged it. And following that, he caught hold of Shuss’s head. And on top of that, he picked up a fallen branch from the ground and attempted to thrust it towards Ferris.

“Hm?”

Ferris turned her body, and sidestepped it. At that instant, Claugh straightened his stance. While hauling Shuss towards him, his right hand started drawing a glowing magical inscription.

And as Ferris was about to slice at that magical inscription with her sword.

At that moment, Ryner,


“That’s enough Ferris. Come back for now.”

He said.

Immediately, Ferris reacted and jumped a step backward. She further went on to kick the ground, then kicked a tree trunk, and landed on the branch next to the branch that Ryner was standing on.

For some reason, she had a dissatisfied look on her face,

“That red head...... he’s much stronger than the last time I fought him.”

“Hn? Even Ferris had a go with him before?”

“Yeah. It was three years ago. It was on Sion’s orders, I recall.”

“I see. So, did you win?”

“We didn’t manage to finish it.”

“Then, can you win now?”

''I wonder?'', Ferris tilted her head in such a manner in response, after which, a faint smile, which would have been indecipherable by other onlookers, floated on her face,

“But, together with you, he won’t be a match.”

She said.

Ryner nodded and smiled thinly.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 065.jpg|thumb]]

And then, he looked down at Claugh.

“Well then, are you ready to listen to what I have to say now? Even with Shuss returned to you, the situation hasn’t changed one bit. You won’t be a match for the both of us. Even if there are moves we can’t use because of our naivety, the situation won’t change. That’s why, there is no good reason for you to easily dismiss what I have to say...... so will you listen to me right till the end?”

“What if I refuse?”

“Then Ferris and I will make lots of holes in you and slowly, I shall say what I want to say right next to your ear.”

On hearing that, Claugh grimaced.

“How annoying.”

He said and Ryner smiled.

“Really? Are we really that annoying?”

“Uwah, these guys are really annoying...... that’s why I’ve told Sion this, ''don’t mix around with that dubious'' '''''Alpha Stigma''''' ''bearer''...... well, it seems like I don’t have a choice. So, speak. At any rate, I won’t be listening to your bullshit, but somehow, right now, since you guys have the upper hand, I’ll just stay still and ignore you for a while.”<ref name=”claugh_bullshit_sentence”>'''Claugh’s Deaf Ears:''' I kind of “un-translated” this sentence back to its original form. Reason is to match the dialogue that follows in page 67. What Claugh is saying here is that, “I’ll hear you out but I’m not listening”, (聞き流してやるぞ) → “I shall let your words fall on my deaf ears”, he’s implying that Ryner can say whatever he wants, but it’s pointless, which was my original translation, but that didn’t fit the next part of the dialogue. </ref>


“Alright, I did it. Well then, please hear me out.”

“Though even if I hear you out, things won’t go the way you want, and nothing will change.”

That was what Claugh said, but a smile floated on Ryner’s lips.

Since things were moving along according to his plans.

Ryner said.

“You know, Claugh. Sion is trying to show the might of Roland to the world right?”

On hearing that, Claugh scowled with an annoyed face,

“I told you I’m ignoring you, and didn’t say that I’ll answer your questions one by one.”

“You’re mean.”

“Whatever, just move on.”

Ryner shrugged his shoulders and continued.

“In other words, this invasion against Nelpha must succeed at all costs.”

“............”

“To achieve that perfectly. In order to make Nelpha and the other countries shake in complete fear of Roland’s might, and kill their spirit to resist Roland, it is necessary for Roland to overwhelm Nelpha.” 


“............”

“However, if say, in the midst of it, a rumor about Roland’s army losing somewhere spreads, what will you do?”

At that question, Claugh finally responded. With piercing eyes, he looked at Ryner,

“...... what on earth are you scheming? In this southern part of the continent, there’s no longer any country that has the power to go against Roland......”

But Ryner interrupted.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

He said.

And that was the truth.

Nelpha, and Roland’s ally Runa Empire, as well as the Cassla north of them, not one of these countries would probably have a fighting force that would be a match for Roland.

Roland was blessed with an excellent king. A king who would not rest, who would not slack, and on top of that possesses a brilliant mind, a king who would not make a mistake in his decisions.

That’s why he’s called the Hero King.

One who would definitely not stop moving forward, the saviour of the country, the one called Sion Astal.


As long as Sion remained as the king, the current Roland was probably peerless in power in the southern part of this continent.

But still, even so.

“...... even so, if Roland were asked whether it has enough energy to deal with both Nelpha and Runa together, what would be the answer, I wonder.”

“............”

“No, that’s not right. Perhaps it can really stand up to the both of them. The current Roland probably has that kind of power. But having the ability to deal with both countries at the same time and whether it’s necessary to deal with both countries at the same time are two separate matters, isn’t it? If you do that, there will be too many sacrifices. To become the supreme ruler of the south with the least sacrifices and in the fastest amount of time...... in other words, Sion’s plan may fall apart if he had to deal with both Nelpha and Runa at the same time. If possible, I’m sure Sion would like to absorb and integrate the might of Nelpha and Runa into Roland, am I right?”

On hearing all that, Claugh already more or less had an idea of what Ryner was planning, and he glared angrily at him,

“Damn you, are you going to instigate Runa to start a war with Roland?”


He said and in response to that, Ryner smiled. He smiled delightedly.

And then,

“No, I’m going for something more distasteful.”

He said.

Ryner was brewing a really bad-ass plan.

It was bad-ass to Roland.

No, even to Nelpha, to Runa, to everything, it was a bad-ass plan.

Ryner told him of that plan.

“Didn’t you guys lose track of the location of Toale and his ten thousand soldiers?”

On hearing that, Claugh glowered at him and said.

“So, it’s your damn doing?”

“You can say that.”

“What the hell are you trying to accomplish?”

“Well now, what is it indeed?”


“Hurry up and spit it out. Otherwise, I’ll kill you.”

“But the current you can’t kill us.”

On hearing that, Claugh’s red eyes were filled with a scarlet hatred, and Ryner could tell they were redder and deeper, but he appeared unconcerned.

Claugh was already dancing in his palm.

Ryner knew the location of Toale, a piece of information which Roland most wanted to get hold of.

For the matter to progress, Claugh would now have to listen to what Ryner had to say.

With a smile of satisfaction, Ryner continued.

“So, where on earth did the ten thousand soldiers disappear to?”

“............”

“The answer is at a location further east of the place where your scouts had thought where they should have been...... at a dangerous position just touching the borders of Runa, and they are still on the move in fact.”

On hearing those words, Claugh’s expression changed.

However, as expected, Ryner continued indifferently.

“And on top of that, for some reason, the ten thousand army led by Toale is carrying a Roland flag we’ve prepared...... now, what will that be for, I wonder?”


At that point, there was no longer a need to further explain it to Claugh.

Claugh had a dark look of despair and despondency on his face. That was how distasteful Ryner’s plan was.

In other words, this was what Ryner had been shooting for.

Toale would lead his ten thousand soldiers to attack Runa while carrying Roland’s flag.

Of course, Runa would mistakenly think that Roland, which had acquired power and had grown impudent, had broken their alliance and come to attack them.

Runa and Roland would then probably end up being plunged into a war. Even if not so, the fact was, in order to make an example of Nelpha to the world, Roland had carried out some unseemly acts against Nelpha.

Afraid of suffering the same fate as Nelpha, Runa would do its utmost to stand up to Roland.

And it’s probable that Runa would join forces with Nelpha and start to fight back against Roland.

They might even request aid from Cassla to their north.


''The tyrant Sion Astal has run amok, lend us your hand in defending against Roland'', such a development might unfold.

That would be the most extreme case that Roland needed to prepare itself against, that’s why it’s making an example of Nelpha now.

Imperial Nelpha, Runa Empire, and the Autonomous Holy City of Cassla, and the other counties in the southern part of the continent, in order not to have them gang up together, Roland had to make an example of Nelpha by crushing it.

But all that would come to naught.

All that would come to naught if Ryner and Toale were to attack Runa by masquerading as Roland’s forces.

To top it off.

“...... the army we’re leading, that is ten thousand soldiers masquerading as Roland’s forces, will run away in fear upon meeting Runa...... that’s the act we’re going to put on, you know? What will happen then, I wonder? The guys from Runa, as well as from Cassla, will start thinking, ''Hey, aren’t the Roland fags surprisingly weak? Is there a need to fear them?'', something like that......”

At that moment.

“Enough.”


Claugh said. And he continued looking at Ryner.

“...... I get your shitty plan. So, what is it that you want? In exchange for not carrying out that idiotic plan to spread this war in an idiotic way, what do you want from us?”

Once again, Ryner smiled.

With his plan moving on perfectly, he smiled.

“Hadn’t I said it right at the start? Won’t you give me a little time? Won’t you give me a little time to capture Starnel and hand him over to you, and furthermore, enough time for Toale to get out of the country, that is.”

On hearing those words,

“............”

Claugh was about to say something, but Ryner shook his head.

“Ah, but you don’t have the authority to decide, I already knew that...... for now, just go back to Sion, and tell him my proposal, that’s what I meant, so how does that sound?”

Continuing to look intently at Ryner, Claugh,

“...... so, during this time, you’re going to catch hold of Starnel?”


“Exactly.”

“Can you do it?”

“Well, please wait for me till I get it done.”

Once again, Claugh appeared to consider. He averted his eyes from Ryner and looked behind him at his camp and then,

“...... fine. I will go ask Sion. But as to how Sion will reply.”

But, that was interrupted by Ryner.

“Sion will agree to my plan. Since this is the path to the least number of sacrifices. That’s the kind of guy he is.”

He said.

He had come to understand Sion well after spending the past few years with him.

Sion would definitely jump at the proposal that Ryner had put forth in this current situation.

On the surface, Roland could not save Toale outright. Since this would show a weakness of Roland to the other countries.

However, if a third party --- for example, in this case, Ryner --- a person who had no affiliation with Roland were to save Toale, what would happen?


In that case, it would not show Roland as being soft. That’s why Ryner had the confidence that Sion would jump onto his proposal.

And Claugh should also understand that. Claugh’s expression relaxed slightly.

He turned to face Ryner.

“...... but from now on, you should know that you will be carrying the lives of a pretty large number of people on your shoulders right?”

He said to Ryner.

On hearing that, Ryner,

“............”

He smiled with a slightly weary look and shrugged his shoulders.

Since he had already known this a long time ago.

The lives of the ten thousand soldiers led by Toale.

The lives of the hundreds of thousands of people of Nelpha to be massacred by Roland in its campaign.

The almost seventy thousand lives of the troops led by Starnel.

The tens of thousands of victims on Roland’s side.


Sion could not save them.

Carrying everything upon himself alone, crying and hollering in anguish, and even so, Sion had to continue moving forward and could not save them.

That’s why, those lives exceeding hundreds of thousands rest on Ryner’s plan.

For the first time, the lives of other people rest heavily on Ryner’s shoulders.

In response to that,

“............”

He truly felt like running away.

It was frightening, heavy, and painful enough to make him feel like crying, he thought.

But, he could no longer.

“............”

He could no longer run away from it anymore.

He had always let Sion carry the heavy burdens, and he himself had been running away all this while, so he could no longer run away from it anymore.

He had to fight alongside him.

If the next time he met him, he would still want to call himself a friend, he could no longer afford not to fight; it would be inexcusable.


That’s why Ryner looked down at Claugh and said.

“...... I shall carry them properly, I think. Since I had been letting Sion carry them all this while, I shall carry them properly. That’s why, could you tell Sion about it. The words I’ve said earlier......”

“Huh? The words you’ve said earlier? What words? Regarding giving you more time?”

On hearing that, Ryner grimaced and,

“No...... ermm, that, it’s that, you know. The same reason for saving Toale that I was mentioning about, it’s the same for Sion...... tell him that for me.”

He said.

The same reason behind him saving Toale.

That was,

''"I can’t betray my friends."''

Those words.

Those stinking words that were embarrassing to the point that one could die if he hears them from the other party himself, but currently, it was necessary.


In order to make this plan succeed.

In order to stop the Sion who was running amok all by himself, shouldering everything upon himself.

That’s why, Claugh scowled.

“Why do I have to say such embarrassing words!”

“Ah, ah, they are really embarrassing huh?”

“Beyond embarrassing, gross!”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“But, still tell him that for me.”

“Don’t shit me!”

“Ehh, if you don’t do it, this plan won’t succeed, so c’mon, please ~”

On hearing those words, Claugh’s scowl increasingly deepened.

And then, from beside Ryner,

“Yeah. And one more thing, tell Sion to immediately send two thousand cases of dango skewers from Wynitt dango shop......”

“As if I can tell him that!”


Claugh shouted angrily, and then sighed in exasperation.

“Seriously, why is it that I can actually overlook all the annoying things that you guys put me through throughout our entire meeting...... I’m really shocked for a change.”

On hearing those words, Ryner and Ferris,

“Hahhahha.”

“Fuffuffu.”

“Duh, super annoy......”

Once again, Claugh sighed.

Following that, he picked the fallen Shuss up,

“Well, since the proposal you’ve put forth does have some benefits to our side, I’ll properly transmit it to Sion. So, in exchange for that, make sure you succeed, get it?”

Ryner nodded.

“Well, I’ll put my best foot forward --- please tell that to Sion Ahotaare.”

“...... Ahotaare, hm. Well, I’ll tell that to him. So, where do you want me to send you the reply? It’s not like it’s guaranteed that things will go according to your plan yet...... well then again, you did say you will be near the borders of Runa. Then, I’ll send it there.”


Ryner nodded.

“Thanks.”

“Ahh. Well, I’ll get going. You guys should disappear as well. If not, I’ll bring some men here with me later.”

“Ehhh ~, you still have energy to fight?”

As Ryner said that in a weary voice, a smile floated on Claugh’s face.

“Well, I wasn’t being serious earlier.”

“You’re joking again.”

“Well, whether it’s a joke or not, you’ll find out the next time we meet on the battlefield.”

After saying that, with Shuss slung over his shoulder, Claugh left.

After seeing his figure disappearing into the darkness of the forest, Ryner murmured softly,

“...... in the end, wherever I go, he would be an enemy......”

Following that, he turned to face the beauty beside him.

As usual, while munching away on her dango, she was looking in Ryner’s direction as if she was watching somebody else carrying out a conversation.

“Hn. Is it finished?”


“It’s finished.”

“Well well, did it go well?”

“Uh~n. I wonder. I can’t really say for sure until the outcome is clear...... But, it probably went forward in a good direction, I guess.”

As he said that, she nodded, but for some reason, she made a complicated expression,

“But don’t let your guard down, Ryner. At any rate, this plan was concocted by the number one blockhead of the blockhead industry, Ryner Blockhead. In the end, ''Aahh, as I thought, I’m a blockhead wah ~'', that kind of development........................”

But, for some reason, at that moment, she stopped and once again put her dango into her mouth and started munching,

“Aahh, as I thought, dango is delicious.”

“Duh, why did you stop in the middle?”

“I got sick of it in the middle.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“Yeah.”

As they were carrying out their meaningless talk, they started moving.


Towards north-northeast.

So as to speak, they had to move real quick. The reason was because, Ryner had yet to meet Toale.

In the conversation with Claugh earlier, it seemed like Ryner had already linked up with Toale, and it was Ryner who had given the order to the ten thousand soldiers to move close to the Runa border, however, the truth was that he had yet to meet Toale.

On top of that, Ryner had not yet told Toale of his plan.

Well, how Toale and his ten thousand soldiers had escaped detection from Claugh and Roland’s army was thanks to a capable comrade of Ryner.

Ryner’s comrade had went on ahead to persuade Toale to move his troops, but the actions to be taken from here on were not something that his comrade could talk Toale into single-handedly.

That’s why they had to hurry, and Ryner descended from the tree branch.

And then,

“...... Kiefer, will she be ok?”

He said, and following that, Ferris who also got down,

“That cutesy girl will probably do fine. She seems to be good with men.”


She said.

And Ryner started,

“Cutesy girl......”

“Huh? What?”

“No, nothing...... erm, ahh, well, nevermind......”

He took in a breath.

Currently, the comrades Ryner had brought along were Ferris, Kiefer, and Iris, and among the three of them, ''Ferris and Kiefer, well, to say they are not on good terms, or to say they are on good terms, that's kind offff''.

“...... I’m not going to think about it anymore......”

Ryner said in a tired voice, and Ferris turned to face him,

“What are you mumbling about?”

“Nothing nothing.”

“Are you hiding something from me!?”

“No, it’s not something that needs to be hidden......”

But, as usual, Ferris, without listening to Ryner,


“Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! A hentai, while hiding something perverted, is running about naked in the forestttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!”

She started yelling.

Ryner, with a weary face,

“...... I’ve always wonder about that, is it fun?”

On hearing that, she nodded in an exaggerated manner,

“Yup!”

In response to that, Ryner also nodded,

“I see...... if it’s fun, well, I’ll leave it at that.”

As he said that, their pace quickened.

Their destination was the border dividing Nelpha and Runa.

Heading towards Toale, the single man who had taken ten thousand soldiers under him, and to go give Kiefer a hand.
<noinclude>
 
----

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>
 
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|-
| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Interlude|Interlude]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol3|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 3

2011-11-19T03:29:06Z

Error:

{{Incomplete|percentage=40}}

==The Burden I Shoulder==


The horse galloped.

At full speed.

"My butt huuurrrtttttsssssss!"

While yelling, Ryner rode, he rode, for four days, he rode.

Beside him, Ferris, who had also been galloping for the past four days without sleeping, went,

".................................. mumyu ~"

"Hey, don't sleep while ridingggggggggg!"

Ryner yelled at the Ferris who seemed about to slip off her horse.

On hearing that, she opened her eyes suddenly, looked up, and wiped off the little drool from her mouth,

"Hm? What? It's morning?"

"No, it's evening though. Wait, that's not the problem, don't sleep on the horse! It's dangerous."


"I wasn't sleeping."

"I think you were sleeping with half of your body about to fall off."

"I was practicing body-bend riding."

"You're lying!"

"Yeah. A big lie!"

"And you're admitting to it so quickly!"

"Of course. I'm sleepy. And since I'm at my limits, I'm going to nap a little. Let me know when we reach."

"No, I was telling you not to sleep duh."

Ignoring Ryner's holler, she closed her eyes, and with that, she seemed about to slip off the horse again.

"That's why I was saying, don't sleeepppppppppppppppppp!"

Ignoring him, she fell off the horse, and in a splendid manner, she spun a few times in the air and landed on the ground. On top of that, with a soft plod, ''good night'', she said and entered the world of dreams.

Following that, the horse which Ferris had been riding on suddenly became energetic due to the lightened load, and whizzed off.


"Jeez, that fella's such a botherrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

While yelling, he whipped his horse. With that, he caught up to the horse which Ferris had discarded, and grabbed hold of its reins. And pulled. He stopped the horse, turned it around, and returned to the place where Ferris was sleeping.

Then.

"Hey."

"............"

"Hey, we don't really have time to tarry around. We're already one day late from the appointed day that we're supposed to link up with Kiefer."

"............"

"Hey, we only need to ride for another half a day before we reach our destination, so c'mon? Hey? Ferris. Please."

Without looking at him, she said,

"...... shut up. I'm sleepy. I'm sluggish. Bothersome. Go by yourself."

"Hey, are you me! I'm also sleepy to the point of dying, but, if we don't get our act together, Toale's life will be in danger. So let's do our best for a little bit more, ok?"


On hearing that, Ferris finally got up. She looked up at him with a pained expression,

"But Ryner. For the past four days, I haven't eaten a dango you know? As a person who is a hundred million, two thousand, eight hundred, and ninety-two percent made up of dango, do you think I can continue without any dango?"

At that question, Ryner, with a tired face,

"Wait, so how many percent does your entire body constitute?"

He asked back squarely,

"Who cares about that, just listen to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

She became really angry.

Ryner smiled wryly and said.

"...... erm, no, well, I know that it's been hard on you to not have eaten any dango for four days, but right now, it's an emergency so bear with it."

"I can't bear with it."

"No, but......"

"I can't bear <nowiki>-----------------------</nowiki> it! By the way, there's a nice dango shop nearby."


Upon saying that, she suddenly got up energetically, which was unthinkable for a person who was tired from going without sleep for four whole days.

Looking at that, Ryner exclaimed,

"Huuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh!? Eh? Eh? What's this? Is this that? All that ranting about being sleepy and falling off the horse was an act?"

Ferris promptly replied,

"Of course!"

"Don't 'of course' me!"

"Whatever you think about that is not the main issue here!"

Ferris said vehemently.

"............ hahh."

Ryner sighed out.

Even without that, he was already drained. Having fought with that red-haired monster, getting them horses, and riding crazily without sleep.


Riding crazily without sleep on the horses which he had sneaked out of a noble's stables along the way.

He already felt like dying. Not just from the lack of sleep, but more from the pain in his butt.

Indeed, it seems like they would need some rest soon, but......

So as to speak, after working so hard till this point, isn't it ok for him to take about two hundred years' worth of afternoon naps right? Isn't it ok for him to just disappear somewhere and take a long afternoon nap right? A temptation like this started to grow in him, but, Ryner stomped it out and said.

"...... b-but you know Ferris. At the appointed place, Iris will be waiting for us with Wynitt dango......"

But Ferris said.

"Nelpha dango and Roland dango are different things altogether."

Her tone became stronger than before,

"...... you're right I guess. Then, erm...... let's take a short break......"

Ryner gave in.

''Let's take a short break'', Ryner relaxed.


Instantly.

"Woah."

As his strength left him, he almost fell off his horse. Ferris supported him with a hand.

Then.

"See. You're also tired."

"Well...... it's obvious that I'll be tired after riding for four whole days......"

But, he had never thought that he would be so tired. He didn't realize it since he had been keeping his body tensed up all this while, but his body had become abnormally heavy. He immediately understood how it came to be so. It was a consequence of the Estabul magic which he had used to accelerate his movements during his fight with Claugh. That magic, in exchange for granting a period of increased bodily reflexes and ability, will cause the user to feel its weariness later. On top of that, this time round, in order to do something about that red-haired monster, he had seriously overused his body. It was probably the burdens from that which had come to assail him.

However, even those words alone were not enough to convey how heavy his body currently was. Right now, his entire body was enveloped with a level of fatigue that could make him pass out.

Seeing that, Ferris said.


She looked up at him, and somehow, with a slightly angry face, she averted her eyes and said.

"Jeez...... you've overdone it this time. I understand how you feel, but even so, there's a limit to what one person can do. Don't push yourself too much."

In other words.

"............"

It seems to be that.

It seems like all of Ferris's acting, and her willful behavior of wanting to go to a dango shop, were all for the purpose of saying this.

''Aah ~'', Ryner thought.

He stroked his disheveled bed-hair,

"Aah ~...... erm, sorry."

"Umu."

"Well then, let's go to that dango shop and rest up in the village."

Ferris then said,

"Idiot. There's no dango shop."

"Eh?"


"That's why you're a real idiot."

Upon saying that, for some reason, her face blushed, and in order to mask that, she made an angry face.

Looking intently at that.

"............"

Looking intently at her face,

"...... aah, I see."

Ryner smiled with a troubled look.

Ferris then jumped onto the horse, the horse that Ryner was now riding. With that, she took the reins away from his hand,

"Alright. If your overly stupid brain has understood, it's time to move. We don't have much time. Once we reach there, there will be work waiting for you again. That's why, the idiot can just sleep. I'll wake you when we reach there."

Upon saying that, she started to kick into the horse.

Ryner then frantically said,

"Eh, but Ferris, you haven't slept a wink as well......"


But at that moment,

"Don't worry about that, just sleep, idiot."

Upon saying that, she made a chopping stance with her hand and started sending it into the back of Ryner's neck,

"Eh, no wait, that's bad......"

"Shut up."

"Gyafu."

Instantly.

Ryner lost consciousness.

Darkness spread.

Deep darkness spread.

In that deep darkness.

Ryner was visited by dreams which had missed him for quite some time.

Strangely, they were cheerful dreams.

Sion appeared, and with a face full of mischief,


"Alright Ryner ~. Nap time's over. It's time to get working."

He said.

For some reason, Ferris, who was munching on dango beside him, drew her sword for no good reason,

"Die, you pervertttttttttttt."

She shouted and came beating him.

That was the scenery that was repeating again and again.

With Sion, and Ferris, the three of them.

A dream in which the three of them were making merry in that small office.

There was nothing to worry about there.

There were no lives nor troubles from others to shoulder.

Only a bunch of fools laughing happily.

And he thought.

It'd be nice if such days can go on forever, he thought.

No, he had believed that it would be so.

Such days would go on, even when he was complaining about how unpleasant or bothersome things were, as long as he worked hard, the world would be alright, he had thought.


That's why he was laughing like that.

He had never thought that it would end.

Laughing like an idiot.

Even when he was made to work throughout the night. Even when he was bashed up by her sword.

Ryner had always been laughing happily.

"............"

And he felt a little blessed.

Even though up till now, he had only been laden with tiresome things.

But, after seeing that dream, he felt like doing his best for a little longer and looking forward.

Since in his dream, he had been laughing like an idiot with them.

He had been laughing like an idiot from the bottom of his heart.

But, the dream came to an end.

Suddenly, it ended, he realized.

No, perhaps he had realized that right from the start of the dream.

That dream.


"............"

Sadly, that dream was nowhere close to reality.

"............"

But, he wished, for a little bit.

Each time he saw that dream, he'd wish.

Ryner would wish that, if only this bothersome reality could be the dream instead when he open his eyes, and that he could wake up to that noisy office, he would be willing to pay any price.

If he were to open his eyes right now.

If he were to awake from his dream.

And the nightmare would have ended and he could wake up to that noisy office again.

He would not make the same mistake again.

He would not leave Sion to his solitude again.

In order to laugh together.

In order to move forward together, this time round, without feeling bothersome, he would do his best, he thought.


And so, Ryner opened his eyes.

Wishing that he could wake up to that office.

"............"

He opened his eyes......

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"............"

When he opened his eyes, they had already reached their destination.

On the land that was very near to the borders between Nelpha and Runa.


There, were gathered tens of thousands of people.

Ryner opened his eyes and straightened his body,

"...... hn? You've awakened?"

From behind him, Ferris, who had been doing the riding, said.

Ryner turned around,

"...... eh? Ah, yeah. I had a good sleep. Thanks, Ferris."

"Umu. I also had a good sleep."

"Hey, what would have happened if you have slept as well."

Upon making that jab, with a slightly tired face,

"Fufufu."

She laughed.

From her face, it was clear that she hadn't really slept at all. Quite unbecoming of her, there were dark circles beneath her eyes. She was clearly very tired. Ryner then began,

"This time, it's your turn to sleep. Leave the rest to......"

But, before he could finish,

"............"


She rested her head on the back of Ryner, and slept.

Ryner smiled, and without letting her body fall off, he supported her with his left hand and once again started the horse galloping.

However, with the throngs of people gathered, they couldn't move very fast.

"............"

He then looked around him.

He looked at the faces of the people gathered here.

Clearly, the people here did not just comprise of soldiers.

Originally, Kiefer was supposed to guide the ten thousand soldiers, who were thrown away as sacrificial pawns by Starnel and later saved by Toale, to this place.

"What on earth is this?"

Ryner said with a troubled face.

Clearly, the commoners who were present here greatly outnumbered the soldiers.

Women, children, as well as the elderly.

A throng of people who couldn't contribute to the fighting strength.

Well, he could probably make a guess as to why they were here.


"...... Toale, that guy sure is popular."

While muttering that, he moved the horse forward.

The people all looked up in a dumbfounded manner at the riders on the advancing horse, at Ryner and the peerless golden hair beauty behind him.

He then asked a question to someone who was clad in military uniform among the people.

"...... ah ~, erm, you are one of the soldiers following Toale right? I have some business with Toale, so do you mind leading us to him?"

On hearing that, the soldier looked up. And he glared at Ryner.

A man who had a piercing gaze. With long light brown hair tied up at the back, and perhaps, due to his unshaven face, he looked to be in his mid-twenties.

He looked up at them and squinted his eyes.

"...... are you Ryner Lute?"

Ryner was surprised at hearing his own name.

"Oh? To know my name, am I perhaps famous around here?"

On hearing that, the man's face contorted,


"I'm Kazaal Selues. A Major. I was given command of ten thousand troops from Prince Starnel and ordered to fend off Roland's forces, but I went against that and am now following Toale-sama."

On hearing those words, Ryner looked again more carefully at this man called Kazaal Selues.

He was of medium build and medium height. A well-trained body with no opening. He's probably quite strong. Well, of course, he can't be compared to that abnormal killing intent from that red-haired muscled idiot though.

However, just from his appearance, he could tell that this fella has some ability. To elaborate on that, to have become a Major in his twenties, this fella must have achieved a number of accomplishments on the battlefield.

That was the reason why Starnel had assigned ten thousand troops to him, and abandoned them.

He had probably thought that this fella would be able to fend off the Roland forces for a while and buy him more time to escape.

Considering that.

A smile surfaced on Ryner.

"...... I'm grateful to Starnel's idiocy."

On hearing that, Selues looked at him with a look of surprise,


"What did you say?"

"No, I was just giving thanks to Starnel's idiocy for throwing away someone as capable as you without even batting an eyelid. Thanks to the foolishness of Starnel, the plan I came up with might just go well. By the way, are you popular among your subordinates?"

He asked.

"............"

Selues did not answer. However, even without answering, it was clear.

Ryner looked around him once more.

The soldiers around him all had brightly lit faces. There was not the slightest drop in morale.

After getting abandoned by Starnel, and on top of that having Roland's soldiers on their heels, their current brightly lit faces could not just be attributed to Toale's popularity alone.

Ryner's grin broadened increasingly.

"Unexpectedly, things may just move ahead even without us doing anything."

Toale is popular with the commoners. If both Starnel and Toale were to claim their names to the throne, most of the people would probably follow Toale.

However, this Selues appeared to be very popular with the soldiers.


With this, if Starnel was to continue with his oppression, he would probably end up destroying himself.

If Toale were to rise up, supported by Selues at his side, there was a possibility that the rest of the power-wielding nobles, soldiers, and people would follow him.

If that were to happen.

"............"

Starnel's life would probably be no more. Even without Ryner, Toale, or Roland doing anything.

Thanks to his own foolishness, Starnel would be killed by Imperial Nelpha.

If that were to happen, then there would be no need for Ryner to take the trouble to capture Starnel.

However, the real problem will start from there.

After Starnel's death.

After Toale becomes king.

At that time, Roland will probably be asking for Toale's life.

The current Roland will definitely not allow Toale to live.


That's why in order for Toale to live, there are two choices.

First.

Escape to outside of the country.

Second.

Lead Nelpha's soldiers to fight Roland.

"............"

But the latter was out of the question.

Right now, there was no longer any country in the southern part of the continent with enough power to fight the military might of Roland.

Ryner was very well aware of that.

For the past one year, he had always hung around Sion's side.

Working hard together in that office to strengthen Roland.

And in just one year, Roland was totally transformed to something different from before.

Roland was reborn.

Even though Ryner was not directly involved in the military affairs, he could still imagine roughly how much power the current Roland wielded.


To the Nelpha right now, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg.

Well, however, if they were to ally with Runa Empire to resist Roland, then it would be a different story.

"............"

Even for Roland, it would be difficult to face two countries as its opponents, he thought.

However, Runa was an ally of Roland.

As such, Nelpha no longer had any chance of winning. There was no other way other than to surrender.

In other words, for the short term, there was no way but for Toale to first capture Starnel, become the king, and issue a surrender, and before Roland catches him, escape out of the country.

As he unfolded the various development scenarios in his head,

"Aah, this is bothersome."

Upon groaning, Selues nodded.

"Yeah. It's extremely bothersome. That's why there's not much time left. According to Kiefer Knolles, you are supposed to have arrived yesterday. What in the world were you doing?"

Ryner's face turned serious at that and he looked at Selues.

"Sorry we're late. Even though we were already rushing all the way here, it was my calculation mistake. But, I'm not going to make another mistake hereon. I'll save this country, and save Toale's life. So can you lead us to Toale?"


Selues then grabbed hold of the reins of Ryner's horse and led them.

"Here."

"Right."

Once again, the horse started off slowly.

Ahead of where Selues was leading them, was a small tent. Outside of that tent, was a familiar group, made up of a golden hair girl, a black hair boy and his childhood girl friend, playing.

Iris, Arua, and Kuku.

At that moment, Iris noticed Ryner's group.

"Ah ~! Wild Beast-kun ~!"

She shouted.

Arua then turned towards here as well,

"Ryner-sensei!"

Following that, the tent opened, and out came Kiefer, with her hand waving.

Ryner then waved back at her, and lastly......


A man around the same age of Ryner came out of the tent. With brown hair and a kind face. However, compared to the time he met him a year ago, the face was more drawn. It was filled with more fatigue.

Just from that, he could see what he had been through for the past few weeks.

Ryner smiled at Toale.

And in response to that.

"............"

Toale returned with a wry, troubled smile.

Ryner then turned around.

"Hey, Ferris."

"............"

"Ferris, wake up. We have reached. There should be a bed somewhere, go sleep there."

On hearing that, without opening her eyes,

"Hah ~, then, carry me there."

"Walk on your own."

"Carry me there like a princess."


"Huuuuhhhhhhhh? Huuhhhhhh? You, with so many people looking......"

But, upon saying that, she grabbed hold of Ryner's neck. And while strangling him,

"You're so annoying. If you dare wake me again...... I'll kill you, get it?"

As she said that, her fingers seemed to be really crushing Ryner's neck,

"Hey, I get itttttttt! Whether is it like a princess or groom, I'll carry you so don't kill me."

"Um. Then, please carry on. I'll be going back to sleep."

"......................... jeez."

Ryner sighed out loudly, and following that, he dismounted the horse. After that, he brought down Ferris, who had descended into deep sleep.

Then, in her desired princess cradle fashion, he carried the bothersome princess,

"A princesssssssssssssss!"

Iris made a jab as she clung to Ferris's chest.

The weight of the two people on Ryner's hip. His hip seemed about to sprain. He really felt like killing the two troublesome sisters.


But.

"...... uhwu, I have to bear with it until I get her to a bed. Do your best, Ryner. I'll be able to relax when she sleeps......"

He encouraged himself, and started walking.

Following that, Kiefer came to him.

"............"

While staring at him, she smiled kindly.

But, somehow, it was different from the smile just now. She was looking intently at him with a somewhat, transfixed, biting gaze, and softly,

"...... princess cradle."

"Eh? What?"

"Nothing."

"But you know, these two people are really heavy...... hey, Kiefer, can you help me?"

Ryner asked, to which Kiefer said,


"Nope."

"Eh?"

"No way."

"Erm......"

But, at that moment, she grinned,

"Just kidding ~. It was a joke, a joke. I'll help you. The past few days have been tough on you guys right? You're tired right?"

While saying that, she supported Ryner's arms, and pushed upwards. With that, his burden lessened.

"Oh, that really helps."

"That's great."

"Thanks."

"Yeah!"

Kiefer acknowledged happily.

Following that, Ryner once again looked in front of him, at Toale.

For some reason, with a seemingly bad mood, he was looking at him --- rather, at Kiefer.


"Hn? What's wrong, Toale?"

On hearing Ryner's words, his face turned to one of surprise,

"Eh? Umm...... ah ~, no, nothing. Long time no see, Ryner-san."

"Long time no see."

Upon saying that, Ryner wanted to wave his hands, but realizing that both his arms were encumbered, he merely nodded his head at him.

Toale then rushed up to him.

"Do you need help?"

"Yeah, can you help me with the top one."

Toale nodded, and lifted up Iris, who had been clinging to Ferris's chest.

Iris's face then lit up,

"Wah! It's high, are you bringing me higher!? Iris loves that!"

On hearing that, Toale lifted Iris up and down. Following that, he looked at Ryner,

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"Well Ryner-san, I would have never expected to reunite with you under such circumstances."

Ryner nodded as well. He smiled wryly at the tight-fitting, seemingly unsuitable military uniform that Toale was wearing.

"Yeah. I've never thought so either. So to speak, it became something real bothersome."

Following that, Toale opened the entrance to the tent. Inside was a simple bed, and he pointed to it,

"Over there."

"Yeah."

Ryner nodded as he carried Ferris there. He put Ferris down on the bed, and hugging the pillow, she slept comfortably.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Ryner then said smilingly.

Following that, once again, Kiefer looked at him with a slightly angry face.

Ryner cocked his head to the side.

"So, what's wrong?"


"N-o-t-h-i-n-g."

"Hey, those words sounded rather thorny."

"No they don't."

"Yes they do."

"I said no, they don't"

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Well ok...... forget it then."

"No way."

"Eeeehhh?"

"Humph."

Kiefer turned her face away from him and went out of the tent.

With an incomprehensible look on his face,

"...... what the hell was that?"

Ryner asked Toale.

On hearing that, for some reason, he also made an unpleasant face,


"Please don't ask me."

"Toale, why are you angry as well?"

"I'm not angry."

"Really?"

"Yes. More importantly......"

Upon saying that, he looked at Ryner.

And smiled.

"Really, long time no see. Ryner-san, I'm really happy to hear that you are coming here to help me. ''I'm coming here to save you. The reason is because we're friends. Ok?'', those words, frankly speaking, made me want to cry."

He said, to which Ryner smiled.

"Was that a little too mushy?"

"Nope. It was a great thing to me, who was depressed from getting cornered in all directions."

"Is that so. That's great then."

Ryner nodded, pulled up a nearby chair and sat down.

Toale then said,


"Should I brew some tea like what we did in the past?"

"Ah ~, the tea you brewed was really good. But, forget it now. There's really not much time left. Erm, so the situation we are now in......"

"I have already heard everything from Kiefer-san. As to where did you come from, and why are you here now......"

Upon saying that, Toale looked at Ryner with a pair of somewhat reproachful eyes,

"...... jeez, Ryner-san, you really had me with all those lies. You are a person from Roland right. And on top of that, the best friend of that hero king, Sion Astal. And to top if off, a year ago, you introduced that Sion-san as your cousin and ate in my house......"

On hearing that, Ryner nodded with a somewhat apologetic face.

That's right, that's how it was.

Ryner had met Toale and withheld his true identity then.

During that time, as a spy from Roland, he had to hide his identity while searching for the Heroes' Relics together with Ferris.


They had then visited Imperial Nelpha, Runa Empire, and Iyet Republic before returning back to Roland again.

On top of that, Toale had met Sion.

At that time, Sion was on a formal visit, calling on the grandfather of Toale, the previous king of Imperial Nelpha, Gread Nelphi, and had asked Ryner to become his bodyguard.

And so, Sion then went to the place where Ryner was at, which was Toale's house, and they had dined together on the same table.

"............"

During that time, he couldn't possibly have imagined that the relationship between Sion and Toale would have become such a bothersome thing.

Ryner nodded, and said.

"...... yeah. When we met you, Sion was masquerading as my cousin."

Toale then smiled vexedly.

"That fine young man is the hero king huh...... a powerful enemy indeed."

"Well, yeah. He's really a workaholic...... it will be a troublesome thing to surpass him."

"But we're going to surpass him right?"


"If not, you will be dead."

"Yeah. But, can I trust you? Ryner-san, you are the best friend of Sion-san right? I am a little doubtful that you will betray him and truly come here to help me. Perhaps, this is just Sion-san's ploy......"

However, Ryner shook his head immediately,

"No way."

He denied it outright.

But still,

"Even if you say that, I don't have enough information to make an assessment though. Now, with the lives of tens of thousands of people on my shoulder, will I be able to see this through correctly......?"

Said Toale.

Ryner then looked intently at Toale,

"Are you pressuring me to explain everything to you?"

Toale nodded.

"Yes, that's right. Even if it's me, I can't move too carelessly while carrying the lives of so many others."


"Well, you're right though. So, what do you want to know?"

"The first thing I want to ask is about the time when you first made contact with me. Was all that an act? Did you send that hoodlum to put up an act in order to get to me, who has royal blood flowing inside my veins?"

Said Toale.

When he said that.

Ryner felt a number of extraordinary killing intent from the surroundings outside of the tent. The tent was probably surrounded by soldiers.

"...... woah, Toale-chan I say, you're pretty cautious."

Ryner said in a light manner.

Following that, Ferris's eyes opened in response to that killing intent,

"...... hey Ryner."

But immediately, Ryner said,

"Go sleep, Ferris. There's no problem. I just need to explain things a little."

"But."

"I said it's fine. You're tired right? Just sleep. In the first place, with this level of opponents, I can take care of them myself. In the worst case, I'll take Toale hostage."


Ferris then replied,

"...... well, you have a point."

"That's right."

"Got it. But, if something......"

"I said it's fine. You should know that Toale and I are good buddies right? So, don't worry and sleep."

After Ryner said that, Ferris nodded and went back to sleep.

After ascertaining that, Ryner looked at Toale. With a troubled face. Then,

"Withdraw your troops. I told you I'm your ally right?"

However, without taking his eyes off him, Toale said,

"...... but you're the best friend of Sion."

''Best friend'' --- Toale had said.

Ryner made a sad face on hearing that,

"Yeah."


And he nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. But, for Sion's sake as well, I won't let him kill you."

"For Sion's sake, you say?"

"Yeah. His way of thinking is already different from mine. We're looking in different directions now."

While saying that, ''but, isn't it because we have been looking in different directions right from the start'', Ryner thought.

Even when he was shouldering everything, suffering, and on the verge of tears, he was a fool who would not even confide in his best friend.

Even when he had already been looking in a different direction, he had hidden his weeping face, and had kept on smiling perhaps.

That's why this had happened.

That's why things had progressed to this unrecoverable state.

However, he could more or less understand his thought process.

"...... he...... Sion probably wants to use the shortest amount of time to eradicate fighting in the world. Choosing the path with the least number of sacrifices, and advancing along that path. But I'm a little different. I can't distinguish between many lives and few lives, I think. Whether it is sacrificing you to save hundreds of thousands of lives, or sacrificing Sion to save millions of lives, I can't forgive something as stupid as that. At the very least, I don't want that. If you die, I'll cry, if Sion dies, I'll cry. But I hate crying."


Toale then smiled wryly.

"You're so willful."

"...... perhaps. But, that's probably what's different between me and him."

"Ryner-san, because you're too willful right?"

Ryner smiled,

"That's right."

He said.

"But, he should have the same kind of thinking as me. At any rate, he's the type of person who hates fighting, a person who hates crying, but yet, since there was no one who could save that rotten country, he became king even though he didn't really want to you know? So there's no way a gentle person like him, could kill you, or the people of Nelpha without batting an eyelid, just because this is something necessary, he isn't the kind of person who can decide this so easily with a smiling face, you know?"


Well, the truth was that he wasn't the kind of person who can come to such decisions easily. Otherwise, Ryner would not no longer be alive by now.

An '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer is an accursed creature who would end up killing others. Then, in order to save many other lives, he should have killed the Ryner, who's in danger of going berserk anytime, right away, in order to avoid such a calamity.

But yet, he didn't kill him.

Holding a knife while yelling how he would kill him, but yet, in the end, he didn't kill Ryner.

"He's really...... a fool. He's always carrying everything by himself and weeping by himself. But still, he started moving forward...... because he had no choice. But, I want to stop him. And I want to look for another way with him. I want to tell him that he's not alone, and doesn't need to shoulder everything by himself. But, I'm no longer by his side. My voice can no longer reach him. That's why I'm aiming higher. I want to reach a place where my loud voice can reach him. For that purpose, I......"

At that juncture, while looking intently at Ryner, Toale began,

"For that purpose, you've come to save me."

Ryner nodded.


"...... both of you are my friends. I've already said this earlier, but I hate to see my friends cry or die."

"...... I see. But I heard that Sion-san wants to kill you...... and you still want to save Sion-san in spite of that?"

But, to that question,

"Don't make me repeat myself please."

Ryner replied promptly.

Toale then smiled.

"......even when you are faced with that, you hate to see your friend cry...... and because I'm a friend, you will risk your life to protect me? That's quite reassuring huh."

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if you keep annoying me by making me say those lines again and again, I won't be your friend anymore."

On hearing that, ''haha'', Toale laughed out loud. Following that,

"Then, during the first time we met......"


"That was purely a coincidence. I didn't know about your identity then, and even if I did, it didn't matter. However, that's not the case with Roland. They see your popularity as a threat. You were asleep then so you didn't know this, but a year ago, when we were putting up at your house, Roland had sent an assassin, but got driven off by us. Well, during then, I didn't know that he was an assassin from Roland as well......"

At that moment, Ryner recalled the time when the assassin came to kill Toale.

He remembered the unpleasant guy called Miran Froaude, who had eyes cold like the devil, and wielded a Heroes' Relic.

The first time he fought him was in the backyard of Toale's house.

He never would have thought that Froaude was the subordinate of Sion.

Was that also.

Was that assassination attempt also carried out on the orders of Sion? If that's true, then right from the start, he was already looking in a different direction from Sion.

"............"

Well, even if he worried about it now, there was nothing he could do about it, so he brushed those thoughts aside.


Meanwhile, Toale had an expression of surprise on his face at hearing that.

"I didn't hear about it."

"We didn't tell you."

"You should have told me."

"Even if I had told you, it wouldn't amount to anything."

"Eh? No, that's true but...... but doesn't that mean my life got saved twice by you guys?"

But, Ryner waved his hand to brush that aside.

"You gave us food, a place to sleep, and on top of that let us into the library, we are even."

"Erm no, that can't make us even right."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

"Then, trust me this time. That will make us even."

"But, aren't you doing this to save me......"

However, Ryner shook his head.


"That's not it. I'm also asking you to lend me a hand to save Sion."

Upon saying that, Ryner held his hand out to Toale.

And said.

"Can you lend me a hand?"

He looked intently at Toale with a serious expression on his face.

Then, ''wasn't this how Sion held his hand out to me?'', Ryner thought in the corner of his mind.

''Let's go together'', Ryner thought back to the time when Sion had held his hand out to him.

That really saved him. Having enshrouded in solitary and had thought about he was better off being dead , that one line really saved him.

But it was different now.

He was longer the one being saved, but the one who will try to save, he thought.

Of course, he didn't think that he could do it as well as Sion.

"............"


That's why Ryner held his hand out to Toale. Moreover, he didn't know whether he could be saved. No, to have taken this path, he didn't know whether he could save Toale, and after that Sion.

But, he could no longer bear seeing others get hurt and not do anything about it.

He had to move forward.

Whatever the result might be, he shall shoulder all that and move forward, Ryner thought.

Just like what Sion did.

''Just like how he has saved the me who has been running away all this while.''

That's why Ryner stretched his hand straight out to Toale.

Toale then looked at that hand. He looked intently at it with a troubled face.

It was difficult to make a determined decision. He was carrying tens of thousands of lives on his back. If he made a mistake, there was a possibility that all those lives would be lost.

He was probably fearful of that.

He was fearful of carrying all that.

A weight that was as heavy as the one as Sion, who was enduring everything like an idiot and screaming in anguish.


That was why Toale looked at Ryner's hand silently for a while.

But in the end,

"...... jeez, you got me. Coming on me straight in that manner with my troops surrounding the tent, doesn't that make me feel embarrassed?"

While saying that, he took Ryner's hand. And then,

"I understand. I shall trust you. You won't be falsifying your identity again right."

He smiled upon saying that.

To which Ryner smiled as well,

"No, I'm still fake this time you know? The truth is the hardworking me you're seeing now is a fake, the real me really wants to dump everything and take an afternoon nap."

On hearing that, Toale said,

"I know that you know? I also want to dump everything and take a nice afternoon nap."

"You said it."

"Yes. But, we can't run away from troublesome things...... and what should our future plans be?"

On hearing that question, Ryner released Toale's hand. He scratched his head and started thinking again.


Originally, Ryner's plan was like this.

To look for valuable, capable people to protect the commoners with the soldiers.

In the meantime, Ryner will bring along Toale to subdue Starnel.

If however, Roland breaks its agreement and attack while Ryner and Toale are not around, then the plan will change.

The Nelpha troops will carry the flags of Roland and attack Runa, then pretend to lose and run away.

This act should create a powerful threat to Roland.

At any rate, if things go badly, the alliance relationship between Runa and Roland could sour terribly.

Of course, since Runa and Roland are allies, there was a possibility that Runa has already been alerted to this plan of Ryner's, but that would not pose a problem.

The problem was how other countries would view the troops carrying Roland's flags getting beaten off by Runa.

Say for an example, what will happen if that is known to Cassla?

No, even if not other countries.


What will happen if this news reach the troops led by Starnel?

What if the soldiers of Runa were misled into thinking that their ally, Roland, was fearful of them?

The rumor would spread easily.

It's even better if it's a bad rumor.

And if that kind of rumor were to spread, the image of a mighty Roland that Sion was trying to paint would crumble. In this way, the image of nobody being able to resist against Roland who held an absolute amount of overbearing power, would easily crumble.

The other countries in the south would form an alliance and there was a possibility that Roland would no longer be able to advance northwards easily.

That's why the plan should work easily.

Since Sion is a gentle person who will choose the path with the lowest number of sacrifices.

That's why, just by doing the things they ought to do, even without attacking Runa, the plan should succeed.

Ryner was then about to explain the plan to Toale.

It's fine.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 203.jpg|thumb]]

He was about to explain it to him and tell him it's okay to follow him.

But, at that moment.

Before Ryner could explain the plan to Toale.

"............"

Abruptly, everything started going crazy.

Suddenly, the entrance to the tent opened.

"Hn?"

Ryner turned his gaze there.

Standing there, was the face of a familiar man.

Golden hair tied up behind him, a calm face.

That was the man who Ferris took hostage when Ryner attacked Claugh a few days ago.

His name was Shuss Shirazz, if he remembered correctly.

An excellent vice-commander of Claugh.

Ryner looked at Shuss with tinge of surprise,


"Oh, they sent a messenger at a surprisingly early time. Have you already told Sion my suggestion?"

On hearing that, Shuss nodded. Then,

"...... we did."

As he said that, for some reason, his face looked dark and a little pained.

On seeing that, Ryner asked with a puzzled look.

"...... so, what did he say? You've come here to give a reply because he accepted right? At any rate, he should not have any a choice other than to accept this plan......"

But, cutting his words off, Shuss said.

"No. The reply has not come yet."

"Huh? There's no reply?"

"Yes."

"Then, what did you come here for? If there's no reply, there's no meaning in you coming here right?"

On hearing Ryner's words, Shuss made an even more pained expression,

"...... the truth is that I came here not on His Majesty's orders, but to pass a message to you from Field Marshal Claugh Klom."


"From red-hair?"

"Yes."

On hearing that, Ryner face became increasingly more puzzled.

As if he had entirely no clue.

He had never expected that in this situation, it was not a reply from Sion, but a message from Claugh. That's why he could not guess what kind of message it would be.

But.

He knew that it would not be something good. He knew that immediately just by looking at Shuss's face.

Looking at the dark expression on Shuss's face, Ryner asked.

"So, what is it? What did that muscle idiot red-hair want to tell me? Did he say I'm annoying and that he wanted to kill me?"

Following that, in a grave voice unmatching of that light tone of Ryner, Shuss said.

"No. Field Marshal, his Honor, told you to...... 'Run away'......"


Run away.

Ryner cocked his head at those words.

"Huh? Run away? What is the meaning of that? Why do I have to run away? We are the ones threatening Roland right? Right now, you shouldn't be able to take on both Runa and Nelpha right. In order to prevent that, Sion definitely has to accept my idea......"

However, Shuss cut him off there,

"...... Roland has already started invading Runa Empire."

He said.

Ryner's eyes widened at that,

"...... what."

He could only utter.

But, Shuss continued.

"His Majesty made no reply to your message. He ignored it totally. And, Roland has already passed the southern borders of Runa, and advancing northwards at an overwhelming speed. The commander is Marshal Bayuuz White and, Lieutenant General Miran Froaude. Without accepting Runa's surrender, they are now massacring people. And we have also received our orders. Until we have killed both Starnel Nelphi and Toale Nelphi, do not relax on your attacks. Show them Roland's might --- it said."


On hearing that.

On hearing that, Ryner.

"............"

Was at a loss for words.

He then desperately turned over what Shuss had said in his head. Unable to breathe, his face pale, he thought desperately.

Shuss had said.

''"His Majesty made no reply to your message."''

Shuuss had said that.

But, he thought otherwise.

The reply had already come.

Sion had already made his stand on Ryner's plan.

''I'll not accede to your wise plan. Roland shall, without borrowing your power, challenge the world with its might, speed, fearsomeness, and massiveness.''


''In order to do that, I don't care how much sacrifices there will be. Even if it amounts to hundreds of thousands, or even millions of lives.''

The balance Sion was using has become a gigantic one.

On realizing that, Ryner uttered,

"............ damn."

He spat.

He had made another mistake.

He had made another mistake in his calculations.

Because of that, large numbers of people will die.

''Because of my stupidity, foolishness, and my lack of consideration, many people will die.''

''Because my resolve has yet reached the level of Sion's, large numbers of people will die once again.''

Upon thinking that,

"...... damn damn damn."

He wanted to cry.

He wanted to run away.


He wanted to run away to a faraway place right now.

But there was no place to run to. He was already shouldering large numbers of lives.

Even if he was slapped with sudden despair, and wanted to scream in anguish.

"............"

He could only move forward like what Sion did.

He could only move forward like him.

Since the gears were spinning.

Since they were spinning crazily, intensely.

That's why Ryner.

"............"

Looked up.

He glared at Shuss, and with a low, cracked voice,

"...... Roland already has the power to crush both Nelpha and Runa at the same time?"

He asked.

However, that was a foolish question.

The results had been proven.


Runa had already declared their surrender, but Roland did not accept it and continued to raze them.

And that performance was probably creating a dramatic effect. As a result of having razed and crushed two countries, Nelpha and Runa, with overwhelming might, Roland has created an image of itself to other countries as a fearsome country that will not accept any kind of surrender once it starts waging war.

It would be able to make other countries tremble in fear with that image.

So the next time when it moves again, others will proclaim a surrender without even putting up a resistance, allowing Roland to proceed unhindered.

For that purpose.

"............"

For that purpose, there was meaning to the massacre this time.

This was the best choice to minimize the number of sacrifices in the future.

In order to take the path of least sacrifices, Sion had again taken the lives of large numbers of people.

In order to take the shortest path, Sion had again chosen the lives of large numbers of people.

The one who had yet the resolve.

The one who had yet to make his resolve,


"...... is me."

Ryner said groaningly with a face that was on the verge of crying.

But, he had really never thought that Roland would be able to acquire such overwhelming power to be able take on both Nelpha and Runa at the same time. It was beyond his expectations.

"...... damn. That's also my calculation mistake."

Ryner muttered.

Even when he had been spending that same time with Sion, he had never noticed it.

He had never once noticed the depth of the darkness he bore.

He regretted it.

Even when the regrets did not help him, he regretted.

Ryner said.

"...... I understand now what Sion is doing. So, Claugh is asking me to run away?"

Shuss nodded.

"In two more days, we'll start advancing our troops again. The next time we meet on the battlefield, we intend to kill all of you. But for just two days...... we'll stop at our current location. In the meantime......"


Ryner continued from there.

"...... in the meantime, you want us to run away? In other words, this time, Claugh is unsatisfied with Sion's order?"

But, Shuss said.

"No, he didn't say that. Field Marshal, His Honor, will definitely not go against the orders of His Majesty."

Even if he said that, Claugh would not be setting off immediately, and would be delaying things for two days. On top of that, he even told Ryner about the current situation, where Sion had started attacking Runa.

If this is not going against his orders, then what else is?

But Ryner instead said,

"I see."

Shuss nodded again.

"That's right. And my mission ends here. The next time we meet will be......"


"On the battlefield?"

"Yes. The next time I will be killing you. I won't be so easily defeated like the last time, so brace yourself."

Upon saying that, Shuss turned on his heel. With that, he started exiting the tent.

To his back,

"...... tell Claugh thanks for his help."

On hearing that, Shuss merely waved lightly and left the tent.

Looking after his departing figure,

"............"

Ryner took a deep breath and breathed out. As if he were letting go of the built up despair in his body, he breathed out with all his strength.

And once again, he looked at the Toale beside him.

Toale was making a complicated face. Looking at that face,

"I'm sorry Toale. The plan's all messed up."

"I've heard."

"So, with regards to what's next......"



{{Incomplete|percentage=40}}

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==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>
 
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| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol3|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Afterword|Afterword]]
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</noinclude>

Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 2

2011-11-19T02:46:47Z

Error:

==Chapter 2 - The Burden He Shoulders==


“Why is Ryner and Ferris-san together, and I’m aloneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

Suppressing her heated emotions, Kiefer Knolles walked alone.

With shoulder length red hair, and strong, dignified red eyes.

With a girlish body, feeling a little uncertain to be travelling alone as a girl, having a lovely appearance, and on top of that, wearing a one-piece dress that has a short skirt length.

The truth is, it would have been more convenient for her to wear the light armor made for travelling, but right now, there was no way she would wear that useful armor.

The reason was because, the strongest and worst love rival, peerless beauty Ferris Eris, for some reason, was wearing a one-piece dress for travelling!

For a girl with such an expressionless face!

For a girl who has no interest in fashion at all!


Wearing such a cute one-piece dress!

And if.

''And if I don't wear a few one-piece dresses as well, and because of that,''

''(Ah-reh, Kiefer doesn't look very womanly, not cute at all)''

''Ryner might mock me privately like that, and that is something I don't want happening, geez,''

"Idiot!"

Kiefer let out a soft incomprehensible holler.

By the way, currently, Kiefer was on a wilderness trail a short distance away from the highway of Nelpha.

She had heard from the villagers whom she had dropped by en route to here that there were bandits in the vicinity,

''"Hey, hey Miss, if a girl like you wears such 'flashy' clothes, you will get abducted for sure! Even if not so, for a cute girl like you, it's better to be more careful you know!"''

The part on ''"even if not so, for a cute girl like you"'', however much she wanted Ryner to hear that,


"Why is Ryner never by my side during crucial times like this!"

She ranted loudly all by herself.

And when Kiefer was done with her rants after some time,

"Wait, this isn't the time for this......"

She retorted at herself.

During these few years.

While Kiefer was travelling alone in search of a way to nullify Ryner's '''Alpha Stigma''' with the hope of saving him, she had acquired a bunch 'self-conversing' techniques to pass the time.

On this day as well, after leaving the village, getting off the highway and while walking along the wilderness trail, she had been talking to herself and fantasizing all this time, and consequently, she did not feel any boredom in the slightest.

"Wait, isn't it a little sad that I've gotten used to talking to myself?"

She muttered and followed that with a chuckle.

And then, she looked up at the clear sky.

"............"

Since morning, the weather had been good, giving off a comfortable air that made her wonder whether the current dark situation in Nelpha was really happening.


But the truth was things had become rather serious. It appeared that the chaos of the war was about to sweep across the country.

During her travels these past few years, she had witnessed such landscapes numerous times.

Attacked by neighboring countries, the people who had neither power, money, nor information to aid them in escaping got swallowed up the ambitions of other countries.

The ordinary people who knew nothing, were the ones who got sacrificed first.

Even the villagers at the village which Kiefer had made a pit stop at earlier seemed ignorant of when the Roland army would reach this vicinity and turn it into a battlefield, but yet, the only thing they were worried about was Kiefer travelling in a one-piece dress by herself.

No, most of the people who could escape had already escaped northwards. The only ones left were those elderly who did not have the strength to run, and they had clearly already given up and continued living here calmly.

"............"

Thinking of those calm faces made Kiefer feel like crying.

Wars had always been like this, she thought.

As always, there was no salvation anywhere.

Only destruction and despair.


It was the same during the time when Kiefer's sisters got killed.

And there was nothing she could do to change that. No, rather, she had also never have thought about doing something about it.

War is always cruel, but, it'll be fine as long as the people precious to her did not get caught in it, she would only think.

"...... in the end, everyone died......"

She murmured with a sad looking face.

But, this time, it was different.

Her journey this time was different.

The thing she was going to accomplish this time through her journey, was to stop this unproductive war.

It was a plan thought out by Ryner.

It was a plan thought out after much mulling by Ryner, who was always so kind, and always only thinking about sacrificing himself to save everyone.

It was a wonderful plan.

And the most important part of it was entrusted to Kiefer.

And that gave her a little sense of pride.


"............"

And at that moment, she recalled the words of Ryner.

''"Kiefer, I'm leaving the most important part to you though, but, I think you are the only one who can pull it off. That's why, I'm entrusting it to you."''

He had said.

''You are the only one who can pull it off. That's why, I'm entrusting it to you.''

That was what Ryner had said.

He had said it with a serious face.

She recalled that moment when Ryner had entrusted this to her, believing in her.

After having betrayed everyone again and again, when she recalled the moment when Ryner had entrusted this to her, believing in her,

"........................ uwufufu."

She laughed again, all by herself.

Despite the fact that her being all alone had bothered her when she thought about it, since this made her happy, it couldn't be helped, she thought.

That's why, even when she should be traveling alone enthusiastically, whenever she thought about the fact that the beauty Ferris-san was by the side of Ryner, ''uwuuu ~'', she would get depressed, but whenever she thought about how Ryner was believing in her, depending on her, ''uwufufu ~'', she would cheer up again; anyway she was a solitary busy woman right now.


"But, well."

She looked at her surroundings.

She then spread the map of Nelpha in her mind.

Entered into her head was most of the map, starting from Roland then northwards, past Imperial Nelpha and the Autonomous Holy City of Cassla, and even further past the central continent, up till the northern continent all the way to Gastark.

She was generally aware of the situations of roughly each and every country.

While she had accumulated all this knowledge after three years of traveling, she had never thought that this would be something useful to Ryner, but somehow, it was currently the most useful thing to him.

Kiefer looked in front of her.

A hill that was as small as her left hand was ahead of her, and beyond that would be a river.

But, further up the river, it opens up into a plain, and if Toale Nelphi's ten thousand troops were to hide themselves from the army of Roland, and prepare themselves from surrounding attacks, they might be lurking on the side of the woods there were beyond the plain, and with that supposition, Kiefer had come all the way till here.


Then.

"...... seems like my guess was right."

She looked at the ground.

On the ground were almost faded traces of campfires. If there were bandits, they would not bother erasing the traces of the fires they built. Then, who was responsible for all these?

"............"

Kiefer crouched down and touched the remnants. She brushed off the ashes, attempting to find out how long ago were the fires extinguished.

This was probably the work of scouts sent by Toale to find out the place where Roland's army was concentrated at, she thought.

Maybe Kiefer and them had just passed each other.

If that's the case, then it might be faster if Kiefer were to just go after the scouts and ask them the location of Toale.

"............"

At that moment, Ryner's face surfaced in her mind again.

His rare serious, drawn face.


''"Before you manage to meet up with Toale directly, avoid contact with any contact with Nelpha soldiers alright? Toale isn't the type of person who will do anything to a woman without first listening to her, but with regards to the soldiers of Nelpha, due to the hostility posed by Roland's army, they might act violently, and attack you without listening to your story, thinking that you might be a spy, so you must move cautiously."''

He had said.

And Kiefer had laughed at that.

''"Oh, Ryner, so you're worried about me?"''

On hearing that, he had made a strange face,

''"That's natural right. I'm sending you alone into the enemy's base. There's no way I won't be worried. Kiefer, please be careful no matter what."''

He had said.

Upon thinking about that.

"............"

Kiefer's face softened again.

However, she was also aware of how dangerous this mission was.


In this current situation, it was certain that the Nelpha soldiers would act hostilely against others. And they were not limited to outsiders, but included past comrades of the this very country as well.

The truth was, Prince Starnel had made use of these ten thousand troops to cover his escape, abandoning them. Before Toale appeared to lead them, the abandoned troops must have felt disheartened, she thought.

That's why, right now, this place was unbelievably dangerous.

But of course, compared to the plan that Ryner was executing now, which was to beat down the number one monster of Roland's forces --- Crimson Finger Claugh Klom, and use him as bargaining chip, this was nothing.

"But, my success or failure will also determine the fate of Ryner, so I have to give it my best......"

And she started walking again.

Paying heed to her surroundings, she erased her tracks so as not to set up an unfortunate encounter with the scouts of Nelpha while she advanced forward.

This was a specialty of hers.

Traveling alone, infiltrating other countries.


Alright, she shall do her job properly this time as well,

"In order to get praised by Ryner."

She murmured and at that moment.

"............"

A faint sound riding on the wind reached her ear.

Instantly.

She lowered her body.

It was really a faint sound that could be attributed to mishearing, but still, she tensed herself up and lowered her body.

While crouching down, she moved to a place where grass grew, hid herself there, and extinguished her presence. She listened intently.

However.

"............"

She could no longer hear anything. The only thing she could hear were the sounds of the grass rustling in the wind. Perhaps, she really had misheard.

But still, even so,


"............"

She kept still.

Her sixth sense, that had protected her all this while she journeyed alone, told her not to move.

Something was there.

She could feel it.

No, even if there wasn't, there wasn't a need for her to move for a while. If there wasn't, then so be it.

However, the problem would arise if there was something there and she were to let her guard down and move. That would be fatal.

Compared to Ryner and Ferris, she was not that strong. Even though she could take care of one or two soldiers who have not received a lot of training, but she could not afford to let her guard down just because of that.

She might just die if she even let her guard down one bit.

"............"

That's why she continued to conceal her presence.

At that moment, she could once again catch hold of a faraway sound riding on the wind.

"......ig.........................re."


This time round, she was certain of it.

It was the voice of a person.

And it was coming closer towards here.

This time round, she was pressed to make another choice. Whether to ascertain who was heading towards here or not.

Now, which one should she choose?

"............"

Kiefer considered as she held her breath.

In the meantime, the owner of the voice was getting closer. From the sounds, she could tell the number of people.

The hooves of horses.

Three of them.

From the sounds of the hooves, they were moving fast.

Seems like they are in a hurry.

From their hurried motion, the possibility of them being scouts is high, Kiefer thought.


"...... now, what should I do?"

Hidden in the grass, she peered through the gaps with her red eyes.

She could see the sand stir up from the south.

The sand stirred up by the horses.

Three horses galloping towards here.

However.

However, the people riding on the three horses were clearly strange.

"............"

Without thinking, Kiefer almost cried out in surprise. With her eyes widening, ''what's that!'' She withheld her impulse to almost cry out.

But, the scene that was unfolding before her was clearly a strange one.

There were three horses that were galloping at an extremely fast pace, but yet, only the one at the center was ridden by people.

And for some reason, that horse at the center was ridden by three people.

On top of that,

"Yahorh!!"


The one who was sitting right in front, leading the three horses and had shouted loudly, was but, a ten year old, no matter how one looks at it, bishoujo with golden hair and blue eyes.

On seeing that, Kiefer stood up.

"I-Iris-chan! You can't be so loud here!"

It was hard to tell whether she had said that in a loud or soft voice.

Following that, Iris turned.

Looking at Kiefer with a happy face, she waved without thinking,

"Wah Kiefer-neechan, here we are!!"

"Dduh, as I was saying, hush! Hush!"

She put a finger to her lip, gesturing to Iris to keep quiet.

In response to that,

"Hush?"

Iris raised a finger.

"Hush hush."

And then, on top of making a 'V' sign, she said,

"Yay!"


"Dang, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Somehow, the stupid thing that it had become made Kiefer flare up in anger without thinking.

As the horses reached her, Iris called them to a halt, and dismounted,

"Eh? Eh? What's wrong?"

On hearing that, Kiefer could only smile.

She let her tension leave her body and patted Iris's head,

"Nothing. It's ok. But, Iris-chan, you did manage to come from Roland safely huh."

Iris then made a triumphant face,

"I came back!"

She acknowledged loudly.

With golden hair resembling that of her big sister Ferris, and with her big, round, blue eyes, it seems like she will grow up to become an incredible beautiful woman.

She was wearing a dress with a lot of frills, and carrying a large backpack behind her, like always.

However, for a small girl like her, she was given an extremely mission this time.


That's how few comrades Ryner has beside him, to the point that even a girl like her need to do her best.

"............"

They have to fix this, Kiefer thought. It would be quite tough to go up against the Hero King Sion Astal. Of course they were not considering about waging a war against him or anything of that sort, but still, they should try to gather a few more allies as soon as they can, she thought.

If Ryner is already determined to carry this forward, then the sooner they do that the better.

Well, this might be too premature to think about now.

In any case, the girl right before her, Iris Eris, little sister of Ferris, was given an important mission just like Kiefer.

That was.

"............"

Kiefer then looked at the two horses which were not ridden.

Strapped onto their backs, were backpacks which were similar in shape as the one carried by Iris, but much larger in size.


Looking at that, she asked.

"So, inside those packs."

Iris nodded.

"Yep, I've brought the flags. Roland's flag flag ~!"

Following that, she pointed to the pack behind her,

"But, this one right here is Onee-sama's dango dango ~"

She said.

Well, who cares about the dango, but with regards to Roland's flags, it's an indispensable item for them to carry out their strategy.

Nelpha troops carrying Roland's flags and attacking Runa.

Of course, if it will be best if it doesn't come to that, but in truth, faced with that possible threat, it's necessary to hoist those flags.

That's why, with a slightly serious face, Kiefer approached the horses. Following that, she opened up the backpacks and ascertained the contents.

Inside it, were a few flags which have the symbolization of Roland, a spear with a snake twirling around it, drawn on them.


"Orh ~, Iris-chan, this is perfect!"

She smiled gently and turned around.

Iris then raised both her hands,

"Iris is a perfect kid!"

She said happily.

And that was one of the missions that Iris had to accomplish.

On top of that, there was one more mission that Iris was entrusted with.

"............"

Just by looking at the faces of the pair of young man and girl, she knew that Iris had completed all her missions properly.

She had managed safely to bring along two more of Ryner's comrades from Roland.

Well, even though she had called them comrades, they were merely seven, eight year old kids.

She looked at the pair on the horse, a cute-looking girl with light brown hair looking a little unsettled, and behind her, holding her as if he was protecting her, a black hair, chivalrous-looking young man who had an air which somewhat resembled that of Ryner around him.

Just by one look, she knew that these were the two who Ryner had left behind in Roland.


Previously captured by the Nelpha military<ref>'''Nelpha vs Runa Discrepancy:''' In Denyuuden, it was the Runa military that had captured Arua. This is obviously a mistake, and I'm sure Kagami is aware of the mistake since Denyuuden anime aired after he has written this. However, I do not know of any new edition where this is fixed. So I'm translating it as what was written in the novel rather than fixing it on my own accord, because there will be some linked mentions later. But even so, the impact of this discrepancy seems only limited to this volume and is not too big a deal, and does not affect the main plot in any major way. </ref> and tortured, '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer Arua, and his childhood friend, Kuku.

Arua looked at Kiefer and said.

"...... then you must be Kiefer-san right?"

He used a polite manner of speech unthinkable for a child. While, from the messy black hair and black eyes of an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer, she could feel that there's some resemblance to Ryner, Arua's mannerisms also gave the impression of him as an orderly and disciplined person.

His movements, very much un-childlike, also had no openings.

Showing traces that he had clearly undergone some sort of training. According to Ryner, after he had brought them out of Nelpha, they had been putting up at the famous swordsclan house, with the Eris family, and Arua had probably received some training there.

But even so, it was strange for a seven, eight year old boy like him to be that calm. It was as if he had seen through various things in life from his gruesome past.

"............"


Kiefer's face contorted in sadness for a moment. But immediately after, she shook her head and adopted a gentle smile, and then said.

"Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Kiefer Knolles. I've been traveling around various countries, and finally ended up as Ryner's comrade. And so, you are......"

Upon her saying that, Arua puffed his chest out and said,

"I'm the disciple of Ryner-sensei."

Disciple --- when Arua said that, he had a sense of pride in his tone, ''oh, Ryner I say, you are loved even by children huh'', Kiefer became a little happy.

Following that, Kuku who was in front of him said,

"I'm Kuku, the fiancee of Arua!"

Instantly.

Arua's face turned red suddenly.

"Eh? Wait, fiancee!? Hey, Kuku, erm......"

"Eh? I'm wrong?"

"No, that aside, we're not even ten yet......"


"Eeeeeeeehhhhh? Then, then, when we were leaving Roland, when you said that you're going to protect me for life, was that a lie?"

"No, it's not."

"Then we're engaged right!"

"Really?"

"Of course! You did say for life right? When you say for life, it means forever right?"

"Yeah but."

"Then we'll have to get married right!"

"Really?"

"Of course! So in other words, I'm Kuku, Arua's fiancee. Pleased to meet you, Kiefer-neesama!"

She said cheerfully.

On hearing that,

"Uwu ~?"

His face turned red.

That face was different from the earlier feeling it gave off, no matter how dark Arua's past was, right, he's smiling right from the bottom of his heart; Kiefer could see that, and she smiled.


Then, she thought.

Just like the time when Ryner saved Kiefer, he had saved Arua, she thought.

Around the world, there are other '''Alpha Stigma''' bearers, but most of them have a sad face of misfortune and will eventually die in the end.

Kiefer had witnessed those sad faces a number of times.

But Arua was different from them.

Having been blessed with a bothersome-looking sleepy-head teacher like Ryner, right now, he was really smiling cheerfully.

Just by seeing that, Kiefer knew that what they were about to do was the right thing to do.

What Ryner wanted to accomplish was the right thing to do, Kiefer thought.

Because he was always trying to save someone.

And right now, Ryner was attempting to save a comrade who was crying in anguish.


He was trying to save his best friend whom he had walked with all this while.

He was trying to save Sion Astal.

What will happen in the end?

"............"

Kiefer didn't know.

When Kiefer left Gastark Empire, the king of Gastark, Refal Edia had told her this.

''"I'd like you to go save Ryner from the monster of the south --- Sion Astal."''

''I'd like you to save Ryner from getting devoured by Sion.''

''If you don't, the foolish, sad, '''Lonesome Demon''' will gladly let himself get devoured by the '''Mad Dark Hero'''.''

Refal had said that.

He had said that he would like her to prevent that.

The fairy tale which had repeated itself again and again, told to her by Refal, was too large a scale for her to comprehend, but yet, somehow, she understood.


The Lonesome Demon who thinks about his friend.

The '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer who's too kind and too sad.

That kindness of Ryner will get betrayed.

But still, even so, Kiefer couldn't tell Ryner to abandon his friend.

''Since I.''

"............"

''Since I love that part, that kindness of Ryner.''

That's why, she would be putting her faith in Ryner, and try saving him. As to what will happen in the end, she did not know.

With the hope of saving Sion, and the desire to rescue Ryner, she will try moving forward, she thought.

And after that, if something that will cause Ryner to weep happens, even if she needs to sacrifice herself, she will save him, that's what she has decided. Even if she has to beat Ryner up, and get hated by him, she will take him to Gastark and save him, that's what she has decided.

But, until then.


Until she has seen it through to the end, she has decided that she will devote herself to his cause wholeheartedly. She has decided that she will save him from his destiny.

And in order to do that, the plan for the upcoming event must succeed.

Kiefer said.

"Well, now that we're done with the introductions, let's get going. It'll be dangerous if we tarry around here for too long."

On hearing that, Arua nodded and looked around him,

"...... Toale-sama's troops are probably hiding somewhere ahead."

He said.

In response to that, Kiefer nodded as well.

"Oh, as expected from someone born to Nelpha. I'm also of the same opinion. In terms of terrain, what's ahead of here would be the best."

"Yeah. But, since it's too much of a best place, Roland's troops will probably find them soon. We need to quickly get to the place that Ryner-sensei wants us to move to, but...... if the four of us move together, it may not be such a good thing. More importantly, it'll be dangerous if we get into contact with Nelpha troops with the Roland flags that we are carrying. That's why we should split up into two groups here. Iris-neesama, Kuku, and I should first proceed to near the Runa borders."


What he said was exactly the same idea that had unfolded in Kiefer's head.

This child is really sharp like his teacher.

Kiefer smiled and looked in the direction of Kuku.

"What an awesome fiance, isn't he?"

She said and ''yeah!'', Kuku nodded.

Arua's face turned red again.

For some reason, Iris was eating dango while standing on one of her hands.

"............"

''Hey, isn't this girl already ten plus years old, then why is she acting so childishly......''

As Kiefer pondered about that, she remembered the cute mannerism of Ferris, who is around her own age, and perhaps this girl is just like her big sister, she thought.

Just when she was thinking about how adorable those two are, once again, ''uwuu, Ryner you idiot, are you already head over heels in love with Ferris-san huhhhhhhhhhhhhh?'', she thought but now's not the time, let's get moving, and so Kiefer also has her own troubles brewing.

For a few seconds, those complicated thoughts ran amok in Kiefer.


"Now."

She said.

Once again, she looked towards the north.

A hill that was as small as her left hand was ahead of her, and beyond that would be a river. And upstream along that river, was a plain, and beyond that a forest, and past that, would probably be the place where Toale's ten thousand army was encamped at.

If she is to ride that distance, it will probably take less than two days.

In order not to get discovered, she had been slowly searching for the place where Toale's troops were, but right now, she already had a clear idea of where that was, so it would be better if she just head straight there by horse.

Of course, if she rides, it'll increases the danger of her getting discovered, but, the appointed time with Ryner was getting closer.

The appointed time to move nearer to Runa's borders and link up with Ryner. And there was not much time left to that appointed time.

At that moment, Arua dismounted and so did Kuku.

Then.

"Please use this horse. We'll bring the flags and proceed ahead to Runa's borders first."


Kiefer nodded.

Following that, she mounted the horse. She patted its head and turned around,

"Well then, Arua-kun. Take care of Kuku-chan and Iris-chan."

Upon saying that, Arua suddenly had a bewildered expression,

"Eh, erm but, Iris-neesama is much stronger than me......"

But, at that moment, Iris, who was still standing upside down said,

"Arua Arua!"

"Yes?"

"Please take care of me!"

She shouted cheerfully as if she had understood nothing, and in response to that, Arua looked troubled,

"...... y-yeah. I'll do my best."

He nodded.

Kiefer smiled, and with that,

"Alright, everyone, take care."

She said and started her horse forward.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 115.jpg|thumb]]

The scenery started to flow.

The destination was getting closer.

A mission to persuade the Toale Nelphi she had yet to meet, and the abandoned ten thousand soldiers, and to coax them into becoming their allies.

A dangerous mission which could get her killed if she did it badly.

But.

"............"

But, Kiefer merely smiled at that thought.

And while facing straight ahead,

"...... this is something I'm good at."

She murmured softly.

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The location shifts to somewhere further north.

Somewhere off the midstream of the Grydl River, inside a small tent erected in a clearing.


"But, no matter how many times I've worn this, it still feels tight."

Toale Nelphi said as he loosened the neck of the military uniform he was wearing.

With brown hair and gentle eyes. However, embedded deep within those eyes, a single-mindedness, air of nobility could be seen.

Nineteen years old.

Being born of the current king of Imperial Nelpha, Starnel Nelphi and his mistress, he was abandoned because of his commoner blood, and while living in an ordinary town while his half brothers and sisters were raised within the royal compounds, he was not involved in politics nor given any authority.

"............"

However, right now, he was followed by ten thousand soldiers, as well as over two thousand commoners who had joined up by themselves, and made the king of people.

"...... they've gotten me."

Toale murmured.

He stood up, and exited the tent.

Outside, filled to the point where he could hardly see anything else, were people, people, people.


Mixed in the group of people who were wearing the military uniform of Nelpha, were men, women, elderly, and children.

The children who saw Toale come out of the tent shouted,

"It's Toale-sama!"

Then, all the rest looked at him and waved.

There were also those who lowered their heads.

There were also those who prostrated.

On seeing that, more from just the tightness of his uniform, it became harder to breathe.

However, he couldn't show that on his face. The people who were gathered here were more unsettled than Toale himself.

That's why he smiled and waved his hand. As he did that, the soldiers and people started cheering. He then nodded with a confident expression on his face and murmured,

"...... this shouldn't be happening."

In response, from behind him,

"This is all because of Toale-sama's benevolence."

Said a familiar face, the master of the library that Toale had always hung out at, Gainel.


Toale grimaced and turned around.

"That'll be troubling, Gainel-jiisan. In the first place, I didn't want you to be following me here as well. To put it frankly, this is a journey of suicide you know?"

He said.

That was the truth.

He had desperately come all the way here to save the ten thousand troops that were thrown away by Prince Starnel as sacrificial pawns from getting crushed by Roland's forces, but for some reason,

''"Finally, our star, the true ruler, Toale Nelphi, has decided to rise up!"''

''"Everyone, follow Toale Nelphi-sama!"''

Incomprehensible things like that happened and after this and that, he was set up as king.

And right now, the soldiers and people who were here were filled with hope on their faces.

Even though it should be a situation that was hopeless beyond hopelessness, but yet, everyone was making a face as if they had found a beacon of light.


"............"

However, in response to that, Toale sighed.

The reason was because this light wouldn't continue for sure.

The life of their beacon of light that they had put up, Toale, would not remain for long.

Right now, the overwhelming large forces of Roland Empire were heading northwards. They were so mighty that the entire Imperial Nelpha had been sent into a panic.

And his father had gone nuts. Without consideration for the people, he took his troops, plundered the people and escaped.

However, that act itself was meaningless.

Roland will probably crush the whole of Nelpha.

When that happens, where in the world will Starnel run to?

Runa?

It can't be.

There was no way Runa, as Roland's ally, will accept him.

Then, to Cassla in the north?

That's also impossible.


There was no way he can enter with seventy thousand soldiers. Bring soldiers across the borders. That means war. On top of that, Starnel had massacred his own people and plundered them. Cassla will definitely not accept such a fella.

Then, what's left?

"............"

There is only one answer.

Imperial Nelpha will disappear. The humongous Roland Empire will oppress Nelpha and take her lands.

If you're weak, you lose.

That was a natural result and his grandpa --- the wise king Gread Nelphi was fully aware of that.

That's why he wanted to surrender.

His grandpa had thought of how to minimize the sacrifices and move forward to the best conclusion.

"............"

But, in the end, things made a turn for the worse.

However, Toale wanted to resume those plans.


He wanted to resume his grandpa's plans. That was his duty, the duty of a person who is connected to the royal blood, he thought.

That's why he rose up.

And the first thing he had to do was to save the sacrificial ten thousand soldiers, and following that, send Roland a letter telling them of his intention to surrender.

But, in order to do that, he must not resist the Roland's forces, and it was necessary to display his intention strongly.

That he was different from Starnel and won't go crazy. That he had no intention of going against Roland. That's why, ''In exchange for my life, can you please stop the war? In exchange for my life, can you please let the ten thousand soldiers and the people of Nelpha off?''

He had to proclaim that.

And from his proclamation, a percentage of the seventy thousand soldiers who were following Starnel will probably surrender as well, and that should reduce the number of meaningless killings.

Of course, the remaining soldiers who choose to stay on with Starnel will probably get decimated by Roland in the end, but this should already be the most ideal way to minimize the number of sacrifices.

That's why, this was definitely a suicidal journey.

A suicidal journey where salvation will start with Toale's execution.


However, in reality, things were starting to get worse.

Once the rumor that Toale had taken command of the ten thousand troops had spread, people who declared their intention to follow him appeared one after another. Not just the commoners. Even the bandits operating in this area were now in his camp.

On top of that, there were several nobles who had served under Gread Nelphi who had made the declaration as well. As well as soldiers who should have been following Starnel.

Right now, his location had yet to be found out by the people of Nelpha, so not that many were gathered yet, but in due time, this place would be found out.

Toale, who was going to give up his life, might end up having tens of thousands of people assembled under him.

This state of events can really be described as the worst possible situation.

With this, even if Toale were to proclaim that he has no intention of fighting, Roland will not believe him.

If such a thing were to come to pass, then the whole country will be plunged into war.

And it will be a war where they have no chance of winning, an all-out war that will only increase the number of sacrifices.

"...... this is troubling."

On hearing Toale's words, Gainel's confident, bearded face became agitated,


"Not at all. With this tide, Toale-sama shall become the king of Nelpha!"

He said.

"The people are the allies of Toale-sama."

He said.

"............"

Toale became gloomy on hearing that.

What is the king of Nelpha?

This king is going to die soon!

He wanted to cry out.

However, instead, with his troubled face,

"...... even so, I can't do a thing like abandoning everyone."

Upon saying that, he looked around him. He looked at the faces of the commoners and the ten thousand soldiers who had assembled for his sake.

Everyone was smiling at him.

But the scene of everyone smiling happily was the most awful scene to Toale.


The refugees who were abandoned by Nelpha and had been driven off their lands by Roland numbered more than thirty thousand.

The matter on giving out rations and feeding this large number of people was a serious problem.

From hereon, if they don't resort to plundering, it will be impossible to sustain them.

But if he were to do that, then he will be the same as his father --- Starnel.

But if he doesn't do that, then over thirty thousand people will not even last two months and starve to death.

Now.

"......now...... what should I do about this?"

As he muttered with a serious expression on his face, he looked intently at the crowd of people who had assembled for his sake.

The solemn faces of the soldiers.

The still lean, and hesitant faces of the soldiers.

The boys who were running around.

The elderly and the woman who were chasing after them.


And from behind all that, from behind the waves of people, the face of a woman poked out. And she looked at him.

She stared straight at him.

"............"

Toale noticed her.

A pair of charming, red eyes looking straight at him. With red hair reaching her shoulders. A beautiful girl, Toale thought. Her age was probably the same as his own right?

While the somewhat cute looking girl looked straight at him,

"...... you are Toale?"

She said.

As Toale nodded to that, she broke into a cheerful smile. That smiling face disappeared from his view for an instant. She was making her way forward,

"Orhh ~. Somehow, with the large number of children and women, it was easy to infiltrate into here ~"

She said and smiled again. That smiling face was definitely bewitching, a smiling face that seemed to bring happiness to those around her --- but, Toale's expression hardened.

"............"


The word she just said.

The word 'infiltrate'.

Toale's whole body tensed up.

Just a while ago. He had thought that such a person would come, but it was earlier than he had expected.

An assassin sent by Roland who had viewed Toale, who had attracted a following of people, as a menace.

Or perhaps, an assassin sent by Starnel who saw his son as an obstacle.

Whichever the case, this was no doubt a killer. Since right now, to the factions that were present in Nelpha, Toale was seen as the largest obstacle.

However, right now, Toale could not afford to get himself killed here. Before he could send a surrender proclamation to Roland, he could not afford to be killed.

That's why, he wanted to retreat hurriedly and shout ''Guards'' while doing so.

But, she was faster than him.

With a smiling, beaming face, she was faster than Toale, and took another step forward,

"Aah, aah, wait a minute, don't run. I'm here to help you guys."

"Liar."


"It's true."

"Then why are you chasing after me?"

"Because you're running away right?"

"I...... I can't afford to be killed here."

"I know. That's why I'm here to help you."

"Don't mess with me. Right now, in this country, the factions who will help me......"

Don't exist at all. Even though he was about to say that, she was faster than him and finished after him.

Staring straight at him with her red eyes.

"Is Ryner, who will be giving you a hand."

Instantly.

Toale's feet stopped, and following that,

"Eh?"

He uttered.

He knew that name. But, the last time he met him was a long time ago. More than a year ago. However, he remembered clearly.

A strange, sleepy-looking man by the name of Ryner Lute.


He and his partner, Ferris Eris, had rescued his little brother from getting assaulted by some hoodlums.

Following that, they became friendly with him, put up at his place for a while, and after that, they had set off on their journey again.

"............"

Toale looked intently at Kiefer. He stared at her in an attempt to read her, and search to see whether anything was hidden behind her smiling face.

Then, her smiling face became a little nervous,

"...... who on earth are you?"

"Orh, finally, you are willing to listen to me?"

"...... who knows. Well, at the very least, I know that you are not an assassin."

If she had wanted to kill Toale, she wouldn't have started a conversation, and would have stealthily come straight for the kill.

If a single woman like her had wanted to infiltrate a camp full of Nelpha soldiers to carry out an assassination, she wouldn't have time to tarry around like that.

However, she had come here to talk to Toale. Then, perhaps, she's here to bring a message?


Or is she a messenger who has come to threaten him, ''if you don't submit, we'll kill you''?

Whichever the case,

"...... if you don't have any intention of killing me, I'm willing to listen to you."

She grinned again. That smiling face stole Toale's gaze.

Then, ''dangerous'', he thought.

Her charm is dangerous. If she is a spy from another country, she is one capable spy.

That's why Toale tensed up and looked intently at her.

While she continued to smile,

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kiefer. Kiefer Knolles."

"...... hm. So, Kiefer-san, where did you come from?"

Asked Toale.

Rather, Toale did not even know where the man known as Ryner Lute came from, and where he is now.

For some reason, a year ago, he had told him that he was looking up old legends and fairy tails from across the different lands, and had asked to have access to the national library of Nelpha.


And Toale had no clue as to what purpose and intent he had in doing that.

However, right now, the girl before him said that she had come as a messenger from Ryner to help him.

Who in the world are these people?

What do they intend to accomplish?

There's a need to see through all of this, and upon thinking that, Kiefer said.

"Er~m, if you want me to talk about where I came from, where I will be going, and why I've appeared here, it'll be a little too long, so, right now, since we don't really have much time for that, I'll just pass you Ryner's message first."

"Ryner-san's message?"

"Yeah."

"So, what did Ryner-san say?"

Kiefer then looked up at the sky, appearing to recall something, and following that, she looked intently at Toale, and for some reason, while adopting a sleepy, languid, but yet somehow gentle face resembling that of Ryner, she said.

"Orh ~ Toale, long time no see ~. Seems like you're in a pinch huh, even though it's bothersome, I'll help you out. The reason is because we're friends. Ok?"


On hearing those words.

''The reason is because we're friends. Ok?''

On hearing those light-hearted words.

"...... haha."

Toale couldn't help but laughed.

Following that, he looked intently at Kiefer,

"...... uwah ~, somehow, that's very persuasive."

He said while laughing.

As he did that, she then made a relieved face,

"Ah, this really worked. Ryner, you know, had said that if I told you that, it would work, and I was getting nervous about what if it doesn't work."

"That's certainly quite nerve-wrecking."

"Isn't it? Assuming it might fail, I ended up thinking out seven types of persuasion methods. But, it's great that it worked, so, are you ready to listen to me?"

"Of course. Ah, let's go into the tent."


Toale prompted for Kiefer towards the tent but, she shook her head.

"Unfortunately, we don't have that time. We need to get moving soon."

"Get moving?"

"Yeah. If we stay here, Roland's scouts will find us soon. We have to move."

"But, sooner or later, they will find us right? With this many people moving, there's no way the enemy won't......"

"Ryner has taken care of that. We're going to move to a place where both Nelpha soldiers and Roland soldiers wouldn't get close, allowing us to at least buy some time before getting discovered."

Toale tilted his head.

A place where Nelpha soldiers and Roland soldiers wouldn't get close.

"Where on earth would such a place be?"

A smile surfaced on Kiefer's face at that question. Once again, nervousness was mixed into that smile.

Following that, she pointed to the East with a finger.

"To the borders with Runa Empire."


On hearing those words.

On hearing those words of hers, Toale started to tense up.

Then, he gradually understood roughly what Ryner Lute's plan entailed.

Indeed, if they were to do that.

If they were to do that, there might indeed be a slight chance that they can break free of this worst case scenario.

However, that was way too dangerous.

An overly dangerous gamble.

A gamble that could put the lives of the commoners into danger, a gamble so dangerous that he hesitated.

However, his tension seemed to have reached Kiefer, and her initial smiling face disappeared, replaced by serious expression as she spoke to him.

"...... I can understand your hesitation, but there's no other way that can reduce the number of sac......"

Cutting her off,

"I understand."

Said Toale.

Indeed, it was so.


Right now, even if Toale gets executed, there is still a high chance that Roland won't stop their massacre.

If whatever he did wouldn't help the situation at all, sink or swim, perhaps, it wasn't that bad an idea to ride on Ryner's plan.

That's why Toale looked up and said.

Glaring at Kiefer,

"But, if there's any indication that you are going to betray us......"

Kiefer cut him off again.

"There's no merit for us to betray you."

"But there's no merit in helping us as well right?"

"That's true but...... but, Ryner is idiotically gentle, so he'll help you. Do you believe that? Well, if you don't believe, I will have to unveil those seven types of persuasion patterns."

"............"

On hearing that.


Toale waved his hand as a smile floated on his face.

"No, it's fine. I believe in Ryner-san."

There isn't any other way I can take anyway --- he couldn't say that.

But Kiefer smiled and nodded.

"Well then, I hope you can start moving your soldiers immediately though."

Once again, she looked around her.

"But, the situation's kind of different from what I've thought. I've heard that you have ten thousand troops following you but...... there are clearly more than ten thousand...... and on top of that, more than half are commoners......"

Toale looked around him. He scanned the crowd of commoners who had come following him.

And then.

"...... if you're telling me that they can't follow along, then, regarding this plan......"

But, immediately, Kiefer said,

"It's fine. Ryner will definitely keep complaining, ''what a bother what a bother'', and in the end, he will save each and everyone."

On hearing that, Toale recalled.


He recalled the time when he first met Ryner.

When Toale's little brother and sister were being assaulted by hoodlums, Ryner passed by and while he kept complaining how bothersome things were and how he didn't want to get involved in it, in the end, he still saved them.

"............"

So as to speak, perhaps Ryner is just that kind of person.

While he didn't know what has Ryner become right now, perhaps.

Perhaps, it might be interesting for him to entrust what may be his final suicidal fate to a friend, Toale thought.

"Well then, let's get moving."

After saying that, he turned to face the several commanders of the ten thousand strong army who had been looking at him inquiringly with nervous looks on their faces.

He then nodded,

"Get your butt moving. Get up. Don't move like a slug!"

He started yelling.

After ascertaining their responses, Toale turned to look at Kiefer. She smiled and nodded.

Once again, that smile took his eyes away.


He gazed at those red eyes in which embedded a strong will, but yet in which surfaced a fleeting shade of weakness.

''I have never met such a beautiful girl'', those words floated in his mind.

At that moment, she returned his gaze with a curious look on her face and said.

"What's wrong?"

"Eh? Ah, no ~...... erm...... I was just thinking it's going to be tough from here."

She then nodded with a straight face.

"Yeah. But, for the sake of the people gathered here, we need to manage somehow."

"Erm, ah ~, yeah."

Toale made an appropriate response and turned his gaze away from Kiefer.

And then, he became exasperated with the strange feelings that had been born inside of him.

''Fool'', he chided himself.

''No matter where I run to, in the end, I'll just get executed, what the hell am I thinking about?''

"...... aah, damn."

He shook his head, and started moving.


He really didn't have time to think about foolish things.

He had to move.

Carrying the lives of tens of thousands of people, he had to move.

He had no time to wrestle with strange feelings.

"Commanders, tell this to Major Selues. Set up a vanguard of five thousand troops and move towards the Runa borders. But, make sure they don't get too close to the Runa borders. Otherwise, we'll end up fighting Runa. And we have to avoid that at all costs. The commoners will follow next, and with the remaining five thousand troops will follow me and we'll erase our traces here and follow along. We'll disappear from here steadily but rapidly. Get it?"

On hearing that, the commanders bowed and left.

After a while, the soldiers started moving. And following that, the commoners also started moving.

With that, the over thirty thousand people led by Toale started moving in masses.

Looking at that,

"...... I pray to God that this decision is a right one......"

He murmured and Kiefer smiled,


"I thought that there're no religious groups in Nelpha?"

She said.

On hearing that, as much as possible, without looking back at her, Toale replied.

"Indeed. That's why I just prayed to the God of Runa. I prayed to that God of the religious country of Runa Empire...... I prayed for the outcome that even as we get close to the borders of Runa, it won't result in a war."

While saying that, he looked to the front of the moving crowd. The commoners were moving at a slow speed. With this pace of movement, it will probably take them three days to reach their destination.

Three days.

"Three days huh...... that's long."

He groaned.

And if they were to be discovered by Roland forces in these three days, everything would come to an end.

And that would be a very tough fight, he thought.

But, even so,

"...... I have to make this work......"

While murmuring that softly, with a bitter face, he looked up to the southern sky above the Roland forces which were making their way northwards here.


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He knew that the world was moving.

In a completely different direction than before.

He could hear the sounds of the moving world, giving birth to a completely different scenery.

"............"

In the whirlpool of the sounds, Sion Astal bent over slightly.

With silver air that has an air of nobility, and golden eyes in which a strong determination was embedded.

Those eyes were not now looking at his throne room but at a completely different world.

It was a dark, dark, scenery which was completely dark in its entirety.

Occasionally, a light would be given off but it would disappear immediately. In the overly dark world, the dim light would disappear immediately.


That was the scenery that he was looking at now.

It was a scenery seen by the former hero.

It was a scenery seen by the former demon.

Recently, it has overlapped with the real world.

"...... most terrible."

Muttered Sion.

Most of the madness inside him was about to awaken.

Most of the ecstasy within him could no longer be suppressed.

Change.

Everything will.

Be changed.

The world.

It starts right from here.

The door starts from here.

Looking at that door.


Looking at the door that connects to the darkness on the other side.

What's left is to open the lock of that door with a key.

Key.

Key.

The sacrificial demon.

If Ryner's life becomes mine......

"............"

And at that moment.

"Your Highness."

He was called.

Sion dispelled the darkness before his eyes. His consciousness returned to reality and he turned his gaze to the front.

A man stood there.

With long beautiful black hair, and frozen, dark, dark blue eyes.

Before him, was Lieutenant General Miran Froaude.

Those dark eyes looked intently at him.


"Your Highness."

Sion answered.

"What is it?"

"...... no, it's because you didn't seem to notice me when I entered the throne room...... are you tired?"

To that question, Sion replied.

"No, no problem at all."

But, Froaude had a worried look, which didn't seem to suit him, on his face,

"Is that so? When I'm not around, it's good to get some sle......"

But, Sion cut him off,

"Did you come here just to talk about that?"

He said.

Froaude stopped his words. With a troubled looking face, he looked intently at Sion,

"No. I have a few reports to make."

"Then speak."

"Yes. Firstly...... regarding the capturing of Ryner Lute......"


But, Sion said instead.

"You want to tell me he escaped? I know that. He went to Nelpha."

Froaude's eyes widened in slight surprise.

"I see. Your Highness is aware of that. Was someone assigned to spy on me......"

But, Sion shook his head.

"No."

"Then, how is it......"

"I'd know if Ryner leaves the country. Since he's the key to open the door. If a thing of necessity disappears from this country, I'd know. Aah, besides that......"

Sion turned to face his back, looking up at the empty space,

"Lucile has also praised you. ''He's a wonderful pawn, so treat him well'', he said."

While saying that, he looked at Froaude once more.

A thin smile formed on his deep red lips.

"...... well well, I'm really honored at his praise. Then, I presumed you've heard from him with regards to the matter?"


Froaude said, but the truth was different.

It was really as what Sion had said earlier.

That's the extent to which the '''Mad Hero''' inside of Sion had started encroaching on him.

He was starting to get dominated by the '''Power''' inside of him to the effect of attaining awareness of whether the target he wanted to devour was still nearby or not.

Occasionally, his consciousness would get blended in.

Really, by now, he should have already opened the door with the key, and become '''True''', but because of the delay, the '''Power''' has started meandering off into a strange direction.

For some reason, Lucile had said that it was interesting.

Moving forward without devouring Ryner, without repeating that screwed-up past; that is an interesting development, he had said.

"............"

No, now's not the time to think about that.

Sion looked at Froaude.

He was once again looking at him with a worried look on his face.

Sion smiled wryly.


He could tell that he had returned slightly to his former humanity with that wry smile.

"...... no...... aah, I'm sorry, Froaude. I was paying a little too much attention to another place. I haven't slept a lot in this place. Like you said, I'm a little tired."

Froaude nodded and said.

"...... there's still a long way to go. No, it might be more apt to say that your domination journey has just started. You have to take care of your body."

"I understand."

"Perhaps, you'd like to take a little rest?"

"...... you're right. But right now, I can't rest yet. Before that, let's hear about the situation in Nelpha."

"It's going well."

On hearing those words,

"Hah."

Sion laughed.

If it was going well, that means the war should come to an end soon. Nelpha will surrender soon and everything should end smoothly but.

"...... I've heard that Gread Nelphi died."


Sion said, to which Froaude nodded.

"He was killed by his son."

"It couldn't be prevented huh?"

A cynical smile then surfaced on Froaude's face.

"Nelpha's upper echelon was foolish beyond our expectations, it seems......"

"So, it will become an all out war?"

"Yes."

"Is Claugh agreeable?"

"...... no. Field Marshal Claugh has sent another message."

Upon saying that, Froaude handed over a piece of paper that he had held in his hand.

Sion took it and let his gaze fall onto the paper.

It was yet again another message from that fella. From the one who had escaped from this country, Ryner ---

A message from his best friend.

"............"

And in that message, was written a plan which he had come up with, on how to break through this worst case scneario.


"............"

Sion squinted his eyes.

Furthermore, at the end,

''"Because Sion Astal is my friend, I won't abandon him, that's the disgusting message that the sleepy-headed man gave, now, what will you do, Sion?"''

Such a line was scribbled by Claugh, in his not so beautiful handwriting.

"............"

Sion looked at that message.

Following that, he looked up at the ceiling once as if to consider the words.

Ryner's plan is a pretty interesting one, Sion thought. It might be interesting to go along with it, he thought.

Ryner has come up with this plan for my sake, isn't it? He thought.

Just as he thought, Ryner had moved to save Roland --- to save Sion, without Nelpha surrendering nor having Roland move backwards to where it has been before, he thought.


Because they are friends.

Because they are best friends.

''Even though I have betrayed him in the worst possible way, Ryner still said that.''

With his usual kind and sleepy face, he had said that.

"............"

However, in response to that.

Sion crushed the piece of paper in his hand.

And said.

To the man with a devil-like smile before him.

"Froaude."

"Yes."

"What do you think of this message?"

"...... a cowardly prank."

On hearing that,

"That's right."


Said Sion.

"The Roland now is not a country that can stop at this juncture."

He said.

"We have proclaimed that we'll conquer the world. With the least number of sacrifices, in the shortest possible way, in the fastest amount of time, we'll reach the center, central Menoris. For that reason, we need to show our absolute might here. Save the life of Toale Nelphi? To reduce the number of sacrifices, even if it's only a little? Fool. The gears are already spinning. It's no longer possible to stop them. If we don't move forward, the sacrifices will just keep mounting up, more than ever. In the first place, if we stop here, what shall we say to the lives that have already been lost up till this point? What shall we say to the lives that have been lost along our route of advancement? The dice have been cast. The landscape of this world is starting to change. If so, what is it that we must do? What is the best choice we must make?"

On hearing Sion's question, Froaude smiled happily. With a happy, devil-like smile floating on his face,

"...... Your Highness, I understand your feelings. Then, let's kill everyone. In order not to have anyone stand up again. In order not to have anyone want to bare their fangs again."

With that, he turned on his heel. And started walking.


Sion said his leaving back.

"Bring along Bayuuz as well. Take care of everything in a flash."

Without turning around,

"Your wish is my command."

Said Froaude, and he walked out of the throne room.

And once again, the room returned to silence.

Sion was alone again.

Shouldering the quiet world.

Shouldering the lonely world.

Shouldering a world in which he could not even take the hand of his best friend, Ryner, even when he had held it out to save him, a world with so much despair that he wanted to cry.

[[Image:DDnYnD v03 153.jpg|thumb]]
To that.

"............"

To that, Sion smiled.

A sad smile.

But even so, the gears spun.


But even so, the landscape moved forward.

That's why once again, he closed his eyes quietly.

In order to erase this reality, and turn his consciousness back to the other side.

In order to sink himself into the darkness, to kill each and every of the gloomy '''Goddesses'''.

Then, at the time when he opened those eyes once more......

 
"........................"
<noinclude>
 
----
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>
 
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|-
| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol3|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 3 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Chapter 4

2011-11-18T21:34:36Z

Error: /* Chapter 4 - The Moment To Sunder That Darkness */

==Chapter 4 - The Moment To Sunder That Darkness==


The light had receded.

Sometime in the middle of the night, covered in darkness, at some facility of Roland.

Along the corridor of that facility was Ryner, running at an unbelievable rapid speed, different from his usual languid behavior.

With wide open eyes, and a vermillion five-point pentacle over the center of his black pupils, he was looking intently at the unfolding magic right before him.

At the other end of the corridor.

There were three guards in the process of launching spells in his direction.

Rather, one of them had already completed his spell.

That guard, who appeared to be the most skilled out of them all, had cast '''Kuuri''', which Ryner dodged.

And that guard was stunned,

“To, to dodge '''Kuuri''' at this distance......”


While hearing himself called a monster again, something which he was used to already, Ryner ran.

“It’s your own fault for missing at this distance.”

While he said that, another guard was about to complete his magic inscription.

This time round, it's '''Kurenai'''.

But Ryner is many times faster, and had constructed a completely different spell structure.

While running, he promptly finished inscribing the glowing symbols.

In the midst of his opponent’s incantation.

“WHAT I SEEK IS BURNING FIELDS >>> KURE......”

In the midst of that,

“WHAT I SEEK IS WATER MIST >>> MISUMI!”

In the center of Ryner’s magic inscription, water started gathering into a state of high pressure, and it burst forth in the form of a jet stream towards the enemy.

The guard who was about to launch '''Kurenai''' could only utter the following.

“What kind of absurdity......”

On saying that, the guard who was about to fire off '''Kurenai''', as well the guard who cast '''Kuuri''', were both caught in the strong jet of water and sent crashing into the wall, consequently passing out.


Though Ryner had already gone easy on them to the point where they would not die from his attack, that force must have broken several of their bones.

Usually, Ryner would have gone even easier on them, but today he simply did not have that kind of luxury.

In order to prevent them from calling for reinforcements, it was necessary to knock them out in one shot.

And that's because this place.

“......”

Ryner scanned the surrounding area with just his eyes.

While there wasn't much visible light, he could make out the black rocks that were used to lay the walls of this place, a building which resembled a prison.

This was one out of many buildings which form the intelligence center of Roland.

Though he had probably chosen one of the least guarded places to infiltrate, this was still the heart of the enemy grounds.

If reinforcements were to come, even if it's Ryner, getting killed here was not an impossibility.

That's why he increased the power of his magic, but.

“......”

Ryner looked in the direction of the remaining guard,


“...... did I go too far? But, but, I’m already doing my best to hold back. Sorry.”

He said it with an awkward expression.

And he started running towards the last remaining guard.

That sole guard was already making his escape, running in the opposite direction to call for reinforcements but,

“I won’t let you get away ~”

Ryner gradually closed the distance between them.

If someone familiar to him were to see him, they would ask, ''why are you running so fast, don’t you always move like a turtle?''. That was the extent as to how fast he's running.

Knowing he would get caught up soon, the guard had made a small sound and taken out a knife from his waist belt. He then turned around and threw it at Ryner.

But Ryner promptly,

“Hoi.”

He stopped the knife.

“Thanks for that.”

He kept the knife in his own belt.


The guard now had a look of utter despair on his face.

“...... what, what the hell was that...... what the hell is this guy...... why is this monster attacking Class Two Intelligence Center...... damn it!”

And not knowing when to give up, the guard drew a glowing magic symbol to attack his pursuer,

“Too slow.”

Ryner said as he caught up with him.

He had put his own finger into the magic inscription drawn by the guard, and changed its structure. He recklessly changed it to something that he just thought of, completed the inscription and chanted,

“WHAT I SEEK IS, erm, something like, SMOKE, I guess >>> KEMURI!”

That was what he chanted.

As he did that, a cloud of smoke started forming at the center of that inscription, blinding the guard.

“I, I can’t see anything!?”

The guard said with a frightened voice.

And beside him,

“U, uwah, can’t see a thing.”


Having his own visibility taken away, it was a complete failure.

“This is kinda bad.”

While saying that, he searched for the guard’s presence.

The guard seemed to be running away.

“Some, someone......”

The guard raised his voice, about to call for help.

But,

“Please don’t call for reinforcements.”

Ryner grabbed him from behind, strangled him for a while, and he lost consciousness.

The guard fell to the ground.

And the fight came to a close.

Ryner looked at the surrounding smoke, and attempted to decipher its structure with his '''Alpha Stigma'''.

“Ah...... I made this recklessly without thinking much, and it’s surprisingly troublesome to dispel.”

While saying that, his finger started dancing in the air again.

He drew a glowing magic symbol, and constructed the corresponding dispelling magic for the smoke that had completely filled up his surroundings.

“WHAT I SEEK IS...... erm, what shall I call it, it would be nice if it sounds real cool, just now it was a little too mundane...... erm, well, WHAT I SEEK IS ah, DISPERSAL CLOUD >>> KI, KIERO!”


In the end, he’s a person without much artistic sense in liguistics after all.

“...... well, erm, hm. What the heck was that again?”

He heaved out a huge sigh.

''Supposedly the stronger the words, with one’s will, that are used for invocation will correspond to a stronger magical power, well then again, that’s the research arena of an academic scholar of magic'',

“It's not like I'm some scholar of magic anyway, so that’s fine right?”

Though he said that, there wasn’t anyone around to answer him.

The smoke disappeared as it got sucked in by the magic he created. His surroundings returned to their previous state.

The dark corridor was lit merely by the moonlight streaming in through the window.

He was currently standing in the corridor of the sixth floor of a building belonging to the military, the Class Two Intelligence Center of Roland Empire.

By the way, he originally wanted to infiltrate the Class One Intelligence Center instead, but it was heavily guarded and seemed impossible to penetrate, and that’s why he changed his target to here.

At any rate, that Class One building was filled with those mutated monster guards with liquidified bodies. He remembered a number of those guards who were supposedly dismissed from the mage knight battalion when Sion ascended the throne.


If he had tried infiltrating there, he would die, and that he was certain of, so that’s why he chose this place instead.

In spite of this, that was not to say that the guards here were weak or less watchful.

“......”

Ryner looked at the fallen guard at his feet.

Before coming to this floor, Ryner had already steathily, without causing any ruckus of any sort, disposed of fifty such guards and a dozen working personnel, and had finally arrived here.

That was some unbelievable tough work.

All that took him four hours.

With lots of patience, he had to ambush one or two people at a time and knocked them out in succession, taking him a total of four hours.

He had infiltrated this place at eleven, and now, it’s already three in the morning.

“Ah ~ darn, I’m really tired.”

Ryner said wearily.

Well, by the time he reached the fifth floor, it had gradually become more troublesome, and how he cleared the fifth and sixth floor was just like what he did a while ago.


To put it in another way, if he had continued to clear the fifth and sixth floor in the same slow manner, it would probably take until morning.

But now, he could finally move around freely.

Now that everyone had been knocked out, he was free to search around the facility as much as he wished.

Ryner had been looking forward to this outcome.

“...... uwah ~, what I have to do from hereon out might even be more troublesome however......”

Well, now that it’s late into the night, there wasn’t really any time for him to celebrate.

He gathered what little energy he had left, and trudged into one of the rooms on the sixth floor.

Before him lay a mountain of documents. He reached out to take some, and with familiar ease, started flipping through the pages with an incredible speed.

“...... oops, seems like this is the fruit of the idiotic work that the idiotic Sion was making me do every single day......”

At that moment, he started thinking of Sion again.

He remembered how he was made to slog throughout the past year,

“...... the next time I see him, I’ll hit him first. ''Do you know how much I want to hit you?'', that’s what I will say to him......”


While muttering to himself, he continued flipping through the pages.

But it seemed like this room did not have anything he was looking for, and he headed to the neighbouring room.

And he repeated what he did.

After finishing, he went again to the next room.

“......”

By the way, before coming here, he had already acquired much of the information he desired.

For the whole of today, he was practically jumping from place to place within Roland.

In the morning, while making small talk with the people in town, he was discovered by his pursuers and he fled, at noon, he assaulted some nobles’ residence, extracted some information on how Roland would be moving from now on, and on top of that made off with their money, and then he was attacked by some of his pursuers who he crushed easily, went into hiding after all that, then after when things cooled down he came out again to gather more information from bars, back-street alleys, and other places self-proclaimed to be rich in information.

And consequently, he had a much more complete grasp of the situation in Roland.


1. The more prominent nobles were politically purged, having cuffs put on their authority and power.

Well, this would definitely please the people. ''It’s all thanks to the Hero King Sion-sama'', they were saying. ''Sion-sama is the ally of the powerless people''.

2. For the past year, in order to deal with all the issues, Roland had amassed substantial power. As a result, the neigbouring countries were viewing Roland as a rising threat. They were supposedly banding together to form a coalition to crush Roland, but before they could do that, Roland had already invaded Nelpha. As expected of the reliable Hero King.

This was also something that Ryner was well aware of. Ryner had contributed to some of this power that Roland had acquired during this past year. Well, though among all areas, the fact that the military had expanded the most was something he didn’t know of, and now that he thought about it, Sion had never involved him much in that area.

That was something he couldn’t really stomach, but thinking with regards to the circumstances, it was something really beyond his control.


3. Even though they were waging war, the people were able to become more prosperous in their lifestyle. If the country’s territory continues to expand in this manner, wouldn’t the people be able to become more prosperous?

Ryner had been doubtful of that line of thought. He thought that it couldn’t be possible that the people can continue to become more prosperous in times of war.

To build one’s happiness on top of the deaths of others, how can one possibly live with that?

Sion should have been one of the people who was well aware of this, and in the first place, even now Ryner was still doubtful about the necessity of strengthening Roland’s military.

Indeed, in Northern Menoris exists the threat of Gastark Empire, armed with the Heroes' Relics, has started moving southwards and with its overwhelming power conquered the major power of Stohl.

And fearing that power, the three major powers in Central Menoris have started strengthening their military. Everyone has started setting their sights on war. Setting their sights on encroaching the territory of others.

The possibility of such a large scale world war happening right now is one that will set a precedence in history.

But even so, that is a matter still far up in the north. Until then, can’t Sion, rather than using military force to wage wars to subjugate the south, instead resort to talks and diplomacy to bring the other countries together?


Well, normally that would not be possible.

It would not be possible for someone else other than that stupid king.

However, Ryner thought that Sion is one who possesses such an ability.

Without fighting, he would have the ability to stand in opposition to Gastark or other great nations. And furthermore there was still time.

But yet Sion......

“What’s causing you to be so impatient......?”

Ryner was turning over the pages.

That’s right.

Sion was being impatient.

Extremely impatient.

Impatiently moving forward.

Merely doing it all by himself. Without consulting with his best friend, taking on every single burden.

But why’s that so?

Why was there a need to invade an ally now?


The massacre this time was a performance to make other countries submit easily.

Sion not only wanted to conquer Nelpha, but also Runa, Cassla, in fact the whole of Southern Menoris. Well, it’s a possibility that his ambition extends to that of Central and Northern Menoris as well.

But what’s the purpose of all that?

Is it for his own self satisfaction?

After acquiring one thing, he wants to get his hands on something better the next time. Something bigger and much better.

“...... what a fool he is......”

''He is not such a person.''

Ryner would be the one who is most aware of that.

''The first time we met, he was like a weak insect. Very much afraid of hurting others. Very much afraid of hurting his comrades. And he would take on whatever had happened as his own fault.''

''That’s why he wanted to become a king.''

''In order to protect people, his comrades, and the commoners.''

''He definitely did not become king to fulfill his own desires.''

During that time.


At the battlefield where the both of them first met.

During that time, both Sion and Ryner were still students.

The battlefield where their comrades were being slaughtered, where Kiefer betrayed Roland, where Ryner went berserk from his '''Alpha Stigma''', he remembered what Sion said then.

''This is what he said. Even when he had done nothing wrong, with a sad face, with a self-reproaching face, this is what he said.''

''"............ it was my fault to have made you my teammate. Tyle, Toni, and Fahl...... it was also my fault that they died. The war that was started...... it’s also because of me not having become king yet......"''

''He is a person who hates wars.''

''He hates having lives thrown away unnecessarily.''

''But still, now, he’s impatiently killing off people.''

''What’s the reason behind that?''

“Why are you...... why in the world is Sion in such a hurry?”

At that moment.

“...... what a coincidence. That is what I’m looking into as well.”

A voice was heard suddenly.


That was also from the room that Ryner was in.

Feeling surprised, Ryner looked up.

In complete darkness.

Inside the room which he thought was empty just a while ago. He could see the figure of a man, with his back facing him, sitting on a desk beside the window, with a stack of documents in his hands.

A desk which he could reach in merely five large strides. That was how close it was but yet, Ryner did not notice his presence all this while.

It was an extreme situation.

“......”

An extremely bad situation.

It meant that this guy was a guy of incredible power.

Without Ryner noticing, he had sneaked into the room.

No, wait a minute, could it be that he was here right from the beginning?

Ryner glared at the back of that man and said.

“...... so you have been here all this while?”

“Yeah.”


The man replied simply.

That voice was one familiar to Ryner, which troubled him.

He knew this man.

He looked intently at the back of the man.

Despite his youth, he had long white hair. And that mature, kind-looking face, and intelligent sounding voice.

Just by these features, he already knew who he was.

“...... Luke?”

As Ryner said that, the man turned around.

With a grinning, calm face. He was slightly taller than Ryner, and wore a Roland military uniform over his slender body.

Even though he looked like twenty-four, or twenty-five years of age, he sprouted complete white hair which is a special trait of his.

Just as he thought.

It was Luke Stokkart.

The subordinate of Milk Callaud, Ryner’s childhood friend.


Even though he was always carrying that frivolous smile, with the face of a teacher at a nursery school or a kindergarden, for him to go unnoticed in this small, cramped room, he was someone whom Ryner could not take lightly.

Ryner’s body tensed up in preparation of an engagement, and said.

“So, you are here, looking into something as well?”

Luke smiled.

“No way. I’m here waiting for you actually.”

“...... how did you know I would be......”

“Haha. That’s an easy one. With your current strength, there is no way you could have gone to the castle to question Sion-san directly. Well, it might be possible for you to overcome Class One Intelligence Center, but if you were going to escape to another country thereafter, it is necessary for you to avoid running the risk of getting injured. That’s why you won’t attempt to infiltrate that place. Well, you could always acquire that level of information later after escaping to Nelpha...... but in order to do that, you would need to first look into the real situation between Roland and Nelpha, that’s why you’ve decided to come here to take a look before leaving this country...... and as you were wondering where those relevant documents are as you sift through the place......”


At that moment, Luke held out to show him the documents he was holding onto.

“And, here are those documents that I’ve consolidated for you......”

He smiled gently as he said that.

Ryner scowled at that smiling face.

“In other words, you knew all along that I was going to come here?”

“Well, that’s right.”

“...... and you’re here to kill me?”

“Regarding that, well, I’m wondering about it.”

Ryner gave the befuddled-looking Luke a sharp look and said.

“But at the very least, you have filled this room with the traps that you take pride in, haven’t you?”

And he looked around.

That’s how it was. ''The most troublesome thing about this guy is his extraordinary skill in laying traps.''

His strength didn’t lie in his magic, his movements, nor his combat prowess. Well, even though he is notches above that of a normal soldier in all these areas, he was no match for Ryner.

Even though Ryner should have been more than a match for him, he did not feel that victory was already in his grasp.


He had the sinking feeling that all his moves would be read by this guy if he were to fight him.

''Feels like I’m dancing in the palms of this fella.''

Within Ryner’s sight, he could not see the signs of any traps in the room.

But Luke laughed,

“Ever since you were fighting on the first floor, I have been doing my best, spending two hours to lay all my traps.”

He said that promptly.

As he thought, there were traps present. And it was beyond Ryner’s ability to find them.

A fatal mistake. It was almost as if his defeat had been decided.

“......”

''Wait, what if this was all a bluff, another specialty of his.'' Which meant that there was no real physical trap, but the trap was in his words themselves, that is, a bluff to stop Ryner from moving?

Ryner shifted his eyes around, desperately searching for the presence of any traps in the dark room.

As he did that, Luke pointed to a spot near him,

“For example, somewhere to your right, a trap that springs out a knife.”

[[Image:DDnYnD v01 247.jpg|thumb]]

Instantly.

A ‘ba-ching’ sound was heard behind him.

Ryner, in a flash, looked there.

That was a fatal move.

The sound was made by a rubber band, which Luke had sprung, striking a document shelf.

And Ryner appeared to be distracted by it.

The opening was all that Luke needed to make his move. A knife streaked through the air in a straight line towards his head......

But a smile floated on Ryner’s face,

“I thought something like this would happen.”

He took a step backwards and dodged it.

Luke had a surprised look on his face.

“Ah, you dodged it.”

“Ha. That’s because of the many times I’ve suffered from falling into your traps......”

But that was not the end yet.

This time round, Luke pointed to his left and said.

“Ah, but the trap is there instead.”


“You can’t fool me again......”

At that moment, a ‘go-gan’ sound rang out on his left.

“Go-gan!?”

Without thinking, Ryner shouted. It was evident that the sound was not made by a rubber band.

''So what was that?''

''Well, if I turned my head, this time round, I’ll really have Luke’s knife sticking into me.''

''Now, now, then again, it just won’t do if I don’t know where that ‘go-gan’ sound came from. Because it’s ‘go-gan’ right? It’s not ‘ba-ching’ hello? The ‘go-gan’ sound seemed to be something I can’t take lightly......''

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh this is so shitty!”

That tug-of-war struggle inside his mind took place in only an instant, and in the end, unable to bear it anymore, Ryner turned his eyes toward that sound.

As he did that, what he saw was a teddy bear being launched from inside of a bookshelf, falling onto the ground.

And then.

“......”

And then that was it.


“Huh, what was that all about!”

Ryner yelled, and Luke smiled.

“What do you think? Does it suit your taste?”

“What!?”

“Well, I was referring to the teddy bear of course. Cute, isn’t it?”

“It’s not cute at alllll!”

“Eh, is that so? Well, I bought that as a souvenir for Captain Milk...... after hearing that it was the cutest and how popular it was from the shop assistant at the plushie store......”

“Duh, that’s not the pointtttttttt! Arghhhhhhhhh, so now, what the heck are you after all this while!”

For some reason, Luke did not intend to seriously fight Ryner today.

Nevertheless, with a weary face from dealing with Luke’s bluffs and trickery, he said.

“...... whenever I fight with you, it’s a serious drain on both my heart and mind, and I really hate that.”

“That goes the same for me, you know. You practically surpass in me in every area, and if I made a mistake in my tactics, I’ll be dead. But then again, I don’t make mistakes.”


“Your face certainly doesn’t go well with your dislikable personality.”

“Haha. Because the only person whom I’ll be gentle to is Captain Milk.”

“Oh really, is that so?”

“Yup, that’s right.”

Looking intently at the contented expression of Luke, Ryner let out a sigh.

''It’s really tiring to talk to this guy'', he thought. When he looked at the all-knowing face that seemed to be able to see through anything and everything, he felt that whatever his reaction or response was, it would make him look like a fool.

Ryner looked up and looked at Luke.

“So, what business do you have with me? You are here to meet me right?”

Luke acknowledged.

“...... yes, that’s right. I’ve come here to meet you, the traitor Ryner Lute-san.”

“Woah. So now I’ve become a traitor of this country?”

“Yup.”

“Even though I did nothing traitorous at all?”


Luke shrugged at his query.

“....... you are a traitor if you are judged to be so, regardless of whether you truly are one or not...... it’s something you hear often in this country, isn’t it so?”

And Ryner averted his eyes from Luke and looked at the teddy bear on the ground.

That was supposed to be Milk’s souvenir.

Milk.

Milk Callaud.

A comrade and a childhood friend, like Ryner, she was raised in a terrible place where human experiments were conducted day in and day out, a place where nothing but torturous training awaited them daily --- 307 Special Facility.

The Roland then was truly terrible. Rather, until recently when Sion ascended the throne, it was a truly terrible country, a world where, a village could be wiped out just on the capriciousness of a noble, let alone being branded a traitor falsefully.

But that was no longer the case.

Ryner looked up again and said.

“Indeed, that used to be the case...... But no longer now, since Sion became king.”

Luke nodded.


“Yes. This country has changed. It has taken a large step forward. And in days to come, it will continue moving forward.”

That’s right. This country is moving forward. It will continue moving forward. But that,

“...... towards where? Where is it heading to?”

Luke smiled.

“Towards...... the light.”

“But, what if that is the wrong light?”

“The Hero King will never be wrong.”

“Is that so? Sion can be unexpectedly a dunce sometimes. The other day, when he was working an all-nighter, the sleepy-head ended up at the wrong place while going to the toilet.”

“Ahahaha. Is that for real?”

Of course it’s for real.

And it was just sometime ago. About a month ago. At a time when the landscape of this country had not yet changed.

But now, in just one month, everything had been completely transformed.

But why was that so?

“...... what in the world is Sion trying to accomplish? Is there something he is trying to get his hands on that there is a need to attain such power? Why is he in such a hurry to move northwards?”


There must be a reason. There must be an answer to all those questions.

Whether it was about the world war, or Gastark, or the unrest in the neighbouring countries, et cetera, there must be a reason behind all these.

But yet, why was Sion, who hated bloodshed and would never want to see his comrades die, a person who would be pained even at the death of his enemies, why was he doing this,

“Even if there is a reason...... isn’t he in too much of a hurry?”

At Ryner’s query, Luke looked doubtful.

“That’s why I’m looking into that.”

“...... even you guys don’t get what is going on?”

“Not really, we understand more or less what is currently transpiring. But still, there are a few things we are concerned with. His Majesty has been keeping secrets from us. Well then again, ever since I knew him, Sion-san has always liked to keep things to himself. It’s something that can’t be helped......”

Ryner thought about that.

Luke mentioned --- secrets.

''It could be that'', he thought.


During that rainy night.

There was something inside Sion, and during that time, his appearance had transformed into something strange.

That must be something that was influencing Sion’s actions. Rather, even for his imprisonment, as well as his fretful actions, there must be a relationship between those and the form he took back then, Ryner thought.

''But what the hell was that?''

Of course, he wasn’t about to look into all that within this country.

But could Luke have already,

“Are you already on to something?”

“Nope.”

Luke promptly shook his head.

“But, currently, my superior...... ahh speaking of that, it’s someone Ryner-san is acquainted with as well. Rahel Miller, having being summoned by Sion-san, is currently being updated on a number of matters.”

“Ah, I see. So Sion is letting him in on the secrets?”

“No idea. It’s not as if I was the one summoned. But still, it doesn’t really matter. Those are Sion-san’s business. There must be a good reason behind them.”


He spoke in a trusting tone.

Because he’s the Hero King, he will definitely not make a mistake.

That’s the tone he used.

Ryner said.

“As I said, what if Sion made a mistake?”

But Luke shook his head.

“Didn’t I tell you earlier? The Hero King will never make a mistake.”

“Didn’t I also tell you? He is unexpectedly a dunce at times. He has made mistakes before.”

“He makes no mistakes.”

“He does. The thing is...... he might have been deceived by somebody else altogether.”

''Like the thing inside of him.''

''Or perhaps that somebody could have been the monster who appears and disappears every now and then around him --- Lucile.''

He sighed at that thought. That’s right. There was the possibility that Sion had been deceived and someone was making use of him.


As to exactly who it was...... or what it was, he didn’t know, but it could be due to some sort of embroilment with some particular legend, a legend surrounded by Heroes’ Relics, God, Demon, and things like that. There was a possibility that he was used.

Keeping all this to himself, Ryner looked intently at Luke and continued.

“...... you know, he isn’t the kind of person you guys think he is. He is very much a clumsy fella who would try to bear every burden all by himself. He will never make a mistake? Just because he’s the Hero King? Don’t say such a stupid thing. He is a fella who frequently makes mistakes, and then he’ll be regretting it, brooding over it, continuing to put all the blame on himself. Even if he is the Hero King, he is still human. There is no way he won’t make a mis......”

At that moment,

Luke cut in and said.

“I’m very well aware of that.”

“Huh?”

“Like I said, I’m very much well aware of that. Even Sion-san does make mistakes...... we do acknowledge that. But despite that, what I meant was, that it doesn’t matter. Even for the summons this time, where Miller-senpai has gone to hear Sion-san out, it’s not like we’re going to completely believe Sion-san’s words. Well......”


Luke stopped mid-sentence, and moved away from Ryner. And once again, he propped himself up onto the desk.

“...... right from the beginning, we have not believed in everything. Regarding this country, or even the Hero King......”

Ryner frowned at Luke’s words.

“So why are you guys working for him?”

At that, Luke shrugged his shoulders as if to say it’s a no-brainer.

“Isn’t it because Sion-san is an excellent king? Anybody could see that it’s no easy task to find a person of such calibre. To be blessed with such an excellent king, it’s the great fortune of Roland.”

“So......”

Luke interrupted, and continued.

“However, whether Sion-san is an excellent king or not, and whether we can trust Sion-san or not, are two different matters. It’s possible to work under him despite not trusting him. While we constantly question whether the young king is making any mistakes. If he did, it’s up to us to reduce the number of sacrifices along the way. The Hero King’s...... subordinates had the freedom to act. But for that to happen......”


At that moment, Luke held out the documents in his hand.

“We must have accurate information. And it’s not something that is acquired one-sided through only his words. It’s not something that we get from only one source in hindsight. It must be something that is attained from every possible location, a macroscopic way of gathering information......”

At that point, unexpectedly, Luke had a embarrassed look,

“Oops, it seems like I’ve been preaching a lot to you? But, since you are about to embark on a journey...... this is something I feel a young man like you should hear...... that’s why I’ve come here specially to talk to you.”

He said.

Ryner gave him a sharp look.

''So, this is how things were. This fella doesn’t believe in anything.''

People.

Country.

The world.


And not to mention even for Sion, he’s a person to be doubted.

That’s why they were allowing Ryner to escape.

To get outside of this country.

In order to let him gather information from other countries.

Those were not the only thoughts that Ryner had had while conversing with Luke just now.

“Even if it’s Sion, could it be that he had been deceived and manipulated into doing all that?”

''Even this particular train of thought, quite possibly, was something that this fella had led me to'', he thought.

''He is constantly suspicious of everything in this world.''

“...... so what is it that you are trying to make me accomplish?”

Ryner groaned and Luke, once again, shrugged with a befuddled look.

“Nothing. We just want you to live in whichever way you want.”

“Don’t mess with me.”

“I’m not. In truth...... we have some hopes on you...... if Sion-san comes to make a huge, irreversible mistake, we are hoping you can become a force of deterrence. In order to save Sion-san, you are heading out to the world to obtain the necessary power. Excellent. That’s absolutely excellent. Even though we don’t know what is going to happen to you...... if you manage to obtain great power...... such as an army, or a country, a power that is on par with Roland, if at that point in time you still see yourself as Sion-san’s friend...... since a reassuring partner is hard to come by during a time of a great war plaguing the entire continent, isn’t it so?”


Even as Luke asked that, he continued.

“If Sion-san becomes mad and turns into a tyrant, we’ll need someone who can kill him...... well then again, when that happens, or rather before that happens, we will kill him ourselves.”

He said it in such a manner as if they could do that anytime.

But Luke shook his head. Even though Ryner had not said anything, it was if Luke could read his mind and he smiled,

“No, that’s not it. If we lay our hands on Sion-san at this stage, the ones getting killed will be us. Currently, we don’t have any way of dealing with the monster Lucile. Well, then again...... we’ll manage somehow.”

What a thing to say.

It was as if.


The manner in which he talked, it was as if he could really see through everything.

“...... the monster, would be you instead.”

Ryner said with a half-groan.

And Luke smiled again.

“Haha. I was often told that when I was a child. But, aren’t you the same as well?”

“............”

“Well, that’s enough I guess. I’ll drop it and various other things among that. I’ve probably talked too much. Then, please have this.”

As he said that, he handed the documents to him.

“These are the documents that will fill you in on the situation between Roland and Nelpha. To be honest, I was lying when I told you I consolidated these, they were from my subordinate, Lear Rinkal, who worked through the night before to assemble all these. It’s all for your sake. He’s an excellent man, and it should be easy to read.”

Ryner took the documents from him.

The cover page read,

''“Report for Ryner-kun who’s about to embark on a journey”.''

That was the title.


“...... sigh. You guys are making fun of me.”

Luke shook his head furiously.

“We are not making fun of you at all. Rather, we are pretty much fearful of you. We were pretty troubled on whether or not to let a person of such power out of the country. But we decided to let you go...... do you know the reason?”

''Of course, I do.''

“...... the threat that Sion posed is greater than myself, isn’t it? If in the event Sion goes crazy and comes after me, I will be the one to kill him. I’m an insurance against Sion running amok.”

But, Luke shook his head again.

“It’s the reverse, complete reverse. We let you go in order to leave open the possibility of not having Sion-san killed. If assuming that Sion-san was deceived and manipulated by others, and eventually makes a terrible mistake, what we can only do is to kill him. But it’s different for you right? You will hang on till the end. No matter how many sacrifices, how much hurt you’ve incurred, you will still hang on, and try to bring Sion-san back. Because you are his friend...... because you’re his best friend, like what you did on that rainy night...... you still hung on......”


Ryner was left alone in the room.

In his hands were the documents detailing the war status between Roland and Nelpha, which was what Ryner had been looking for.

He flipped the pages and started reading the contents.

''So after reading this, what is Luke telling me to do?''

He thought for an instant, then shook his head.

''No.''

''It should be after reading this, “what will I do” instead.''

That would be something which Luke could not predict, which Sion could not predict.

''What in the world can I actually accomplish?''

For his sake.

No, that’s not all.

For the sake of the world.

''What is it that I can do for the sake of this world?''

He recalled the words spoken by a youth, a cursed eye bearer, just before he died a while ago, before Ryner’s eyes.


They were the words of the youth named Lafra.

''“Those who have given up on humans, sorrowful God’s eyes bearers...... please save them.”''

''After saying that, he died.''

''But just before he died, he was smiling. He was smiling with a saddened face. It was the same as the former Ryner. It was a resigned smile that held unspeakable resentment and sorrow for being born with those cursed eyes.''

''It was then when Lafra said to Ryner.''

''“It’s because you are a kind and gentle person.”''

''He spoke of a foolish thing.''

''"That’s why...... you will definitely keep the promise. I’m happy to have met you in the end."''

Even though he was not really that kind and gentle.

Even though there was no way he could keep that promise.

Lafra still said that.

And then he died.

Ryner thought of trying to keep that promise.


For a person like him who had given up on everything, for once, he would like to try keeping that promise.

In order to do that, he tried working hard, trying to change Roland.

But in the end, this happened.

He couldn’t protect anyone.

With only a mild effort, he couldn’t save anyone.

Lafra, Pueka, Tiir, Kiefer, Milk, Ferris, Tyle, Toni, Fahl, Arua, Sion......

And above all else, he couldn’t save himself.

That had to be because his amount of commitment was not enough.

Since he thought by relying on Sion, with just some amount of effort, everything would work out fine.

To treasure himself more.

To hurt himself more.

To strengthen himself more.

There was a need to take on more responsibility unto himself.

Not the fault of anyone.


Not for the sake of anyone.

What did he actually want to achieve? What did he want to do? It was necessary to think about all this.

“I want to save Sion.”

But that was not all.

“...... people...... everything that’s before me...... I want to save everyone.”

But that was not all.

“Humans, cursed eyes bearers, adults, children, men, women, countries, the world..... anything and everything......”

All of them.

He wanted to save all that he could see.

That was what Ryner thought.

“............”

But that was dream talk.

There was probably somebody else who would say the same.

To bring happiness to others.

To prevent others from getting hurt.


Such kind of dream talk.

Of course, Ryner also thought of this as merely dream talk.

He himself had also caused hurt to others before.

Rather, there were already many who had been hurt by him.

But still.

But still, he decided to choose a different path from Sion.

Until now, he had been running away, and because of that, it had always led to him losing various things.

But this time around, he wanted to try moving forward without running away.

No matter what he has to lose.

No matter what kind of sadness he has to go through.

He wanted to try believing in himself.

Believing in the him who wanted to save someone.

Believing in the him who wanted to save Sion, the him who wanted to save the world.

This monster. For the sake of the people who believed in this monster which was capable of hurting someone just by being alive.

He wanted to try believing in himself a little more.


“............”

At that moment, as he was flipping through the documents that Luke left him, an article he remembered flashed into his mind.

That was something from before Sion ascended the throne.

It was a report that he written during the two years in which, in place of Kiefer, he had spent in prison. It was a report which he had forgotten a long time ago.

The report began like this.

 
''People hate dying.''

''They hate killing as well.''

''They don’t like making others cry, or cry themselves.''

''How would it feel to not be able to choose one’s own life?''

''What about having one’s family dead?''

''What about having one’s lover dead?''

''No one should have wished for all that, but yet why is the world smiling and desiring only such senseless sorrow?''


''I have never thought of forcefully changing anything. But if I don’t, it will be sorrowful, and neither do I want to lose any more things......''

''Such bothersome talk......''

''It’s about time to move on. All this while, I’ve averted my eyes, but if needed, I shall try looking at my own past.''

''And.''

''In order to create a world where no one loses anything.''

''A world in which that child, and Kiefer don’t have to cry, in which Tyle, Toni, and Fahl don’t have to die, in which Sion doesn’t have to brood.''

''A world in which everyone can laugh and just take afternoon naps.''

''Ryner Lute''

 
“...... but, I didn’t do anything.”

He thought.

He did not do a single thing.


That’s why this was the worst kind of report.

Lafra and Pueka were dead, and Sion was brooding alone, crying.

''Before it came to all that, I didn’t do anything.''

''But, it’s different now.''

He would not say that it was too late, but instead work harder.

In order not to continue losing anything that was precious to him.

In order not to make his dear friends, comrades, family, and people precious to him cry anymore.

He stood up.

“...... I shall leave this country.”

There were a lot of things that had to be done.

Rather.

There were a lot of things that he wanted to do.

That’s why he wanted to leave this country and become stronger, Ryner thought.

Suddenly, at that moment,

“Ah, I see I see.”

Luke, who had supposedly left the room, was peeping in,


“Huuuuuuhhhhhhhhh!? Eh? What? I thought you’ve left already!”

Luke said with an apologetic look,

“No, I’m sorry. I wanted to continue observing you for a while......”

“Don’t fool around with meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?”

Ryner yelled in his loudest voice today.

''Eh? Eh? This is a bad joke right? Just now, didn’t I say something embarassing?''

''Look, look, I, I talked about saving Sion, saving the worldd nooooooooo, since just thinking about it is enough to kill me with embarrassment I don’t want to think about it woah it’s reeally embarrrrrrrrrrassssiiiiiiingggggggg!''

Luke beamed,

“Well, I never thought Ryner-san is such a fiery and passionate person......”

“Shut uuuppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp!”

“Well well, I’m praising you and there’s no need to feel shy about it......”

“Please I beg you, stop that pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!”

“Is it really that embarrassing?”

“...... eh? Of course it is......”


“Then, I shall stop.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Ryner felt a sense of relief. Moreover, it was great that the person who had heard him was not that bully Sion, nor that willful Ferris, but this man with a gentle disposition, he thought......

But, at that moment.

“Well but, ''but, I didn’t do anything......'', that line moved even me......”

“As I thought, you are a detestable guyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!”

Ryner looked like he was about to cry.

After laughing delightfully at that, Luke said,

“Let’s get to the main topic.”

“Main topic?”

“Yes. There was something I forgot to tell you.”

“What?”

“Ryner-san intends to break into Nelpha through the Senel border gate right?”


While Ryner did not make any acknowledgement, he had indeed thought of that route.

The Senel border was narrow and was practically unusable for large armies to move through, and most important of all, the Roland troops that were currently invading Nelpha would not be present there.

However.

Luke said.

“There’s an ambush there.”

That was something he expected of course.

“...... is that at the level that even Ferris and I can’t break through?”

Luke tilted his head.

“Well, maybe? But I think it’s gonna be tough. If I were you, I won’t choose that route.”

“So it can’t be done?”

“It can’t be done.”

“...... geez, it’s such a bother. Then which way should I opt for hm?”

Ryner spread an imaginary map in his head.

There were two other paths aside from Senel, but one of them, was probably currently used by Roland to send troops into Nelpha, a pretty troublesome route.


That meant only one choice was left.

Luke spoke before him.

“By the way, Fait as well.”

“Ambush?”

“Yes.”

“Sion is serious eh?”

“Well, I’m not so sure whether it’s under the orders of His Majesty.”

“Then, whose orders is it?”

“Who knows? I haven’t really investigated who has currently undertaken the mission of pursuing you......”

Ryner, with a disgruntled look, said,

“Do your job properly duh.”

“Haha. I’m not really obligated to do so much for you.”

Luke laughed.

“But, if you can’t even overcome an obstacle of this level......”


He stopped before finishing, but Ryner knew what he wanted to say.

If he could not even overcome an obstacle of this level, he was no longer of any value to Luke.

Ryner thought.

From now on, he would be pursued by the Hero King of Roland Empire, a major power of southern Menoris.

If he couldn’t even overcome something of this level.

“............”

Ryner started weighing his situation.

Well, even if he didn’t use a border gate, he could always choose to use a wilderness path to go over a mountain to enter Nelpha territory.

That would be pretty bothersome though.

It would take him several days more if he took that alternative, compared to using a border gate.

During that time, the pursuit would still continue, and as much as possible, he would like to be in Nelpha sooner.

“Well, whichever the case, regarding the matter of whether or not we can break through a border gate, I will have to verify it with my own eyes before......”


Ryner looked up.

“Duh, there’s no one around!”

Not knowing when Luke left, he uttered without thinking.

Once again, Ryner was left alone in the dark room.

But he wasn’t about to believe that.

He had enough of having his embarrassing talk eavesdropped by someone else like what had happened earlier.

He started up to ascertain whether Luke had really left.

He opened the door and looked down the corridor.

But it seemed like Luke was gone this time......

At that moment.

Along the corridor.

From the direction which should be leading to a stairway, Luke’s head popped out,

“There’s no need to see me off, you know?”

“As I thought, you’re still here!”

“Fufufu. Since you are way too trusting of people at times, I thought I shall have you be a little bit more suspicious...... now, can you tell whether I really intend to go back or~?”


With all his heart, Ryner answered the quiz that Luke, who appeared to be having fun, had put forth.

“The hell I care, moron! Go die already! Go die now!”

“Ah haha. You are so cruel. But, I’m really going back now. It’s pointless to stop me......”

“............”

Without waiting for him to finish what he was saying, Ryner walked back into the room and shut the door.

Once he did that, he could no longer hear Luke’s voice.

This time round, he heard the sound of Luke’s footsteps walking down the stairs, but whether that was really the case or just a sham, was something Ryner didn’t know, however, he thought that it didn’t really matter anymore, and after letting out a sigh, he took a chair and sat down.

Behaving like a punk, he brought his legs up onto the desk.

When he looked at the clock hanging on the wall of the room, it was already four o’clock in the night.

“No, it should be morning instead......”

With the current season, the sun wasn’t up at such an early hour, and the sky was still dark.

But it won’t be long before daybreak.

When morning comes, they have to start their journey out of the country.


He told Ferris to wait at Asohld dango tea-house, which was just a little further north of the street from this place, at eight in the morning.

Four hours from now.

No, taking into account the time needed to reach that place, Ryner only had an hour left to gather information from within Roland.

One more hour.

He looked outside the window. And gazed out into the night.

From the window which was facing to the west, it was just the right place for him to see the castle sitting in the northwest. He looked at the streets just below the castle to the southwest.

He was gazing at the country that had raised him.

The visible scenery.

He gazed at the nauseating, visible scenery.

And incidentally, he thought

''After leaving the country today, I won’t be back for quite a while.''

No, it’s possible that I won’t be coming back at all.''

The place where Milk, Kiefer, Sion, Ferris, and his friends and comrades were, it was possible that he won’t be coming back at all, he thought.


It was different from before.

It was different from the time when he and Ferris, under the orders of Sion, left to search for the Heroes’ Relics in various countries.

Today, for Ryner, it was farewell to this country.

Though it was not because he felt any saddness in that, for some reason, he had those thoughts.

This place where he was born, where he was bullied, where he was tortured, where he was scorned, where he was treated as a taboo, this kind of country could just disappear for all he cared, but before he knew it, he had found friends and comrades.

But, all that was soon to be destroyed, and in order to restore things, he was going to embark on a journey.

A journey to save his dearest friend.

That was something awesome, he thought.

For someone who had nothing up until now, it was like his life was lit by a radiant light.

He felt that finally there was a meaning to his life.

But, still.

“............”

Ryner looked outside the window with a faint, sad smile.


“...... but still, it feels a little sad to be leaving this place, I guess.”

A lot happened here after all.

Even though most of them might be unpleasant, but it did feel like there were also many good things that happened which could displace all that.

He had never thought that he would ever experience such days. On many occasions, he thought he was going to die and that tomorrow would never come.

It was different now.

It felt sad he could not return to those good old days. He thought of how nice it would be if those happy days could continue. Why was it always the case, that only when precious things were lost, then would he realize it, and feel regretful about it.

If he had to lose them anyway, he would have indulged in them more during those days. During those days, he would have done more.

''I would have laughed more, and make others laugh more. I really like you guys. Since I was saved by you guys, I wanted to save you guys as well, even if it’s embarrassing, I would tell you guys these if time could turn back. If I knew we couldn’t go back to the way it was, I would have told you guys properly......''

He was thinking of something stupid.


Nevertheless, he could no longer go back to those days.

No matter how much he regretted it, he could not turn time back.

But wouldn’t it be alright if he could change things again tomorrow, he asked himself.

Whenever he thought about the past good times he had, it felt indeed a little.

A little sad.

And he was certain that.

“...... you feel the same way, don’t you? Sion.”

Ryner said as if he was conversing with someone.

But there was no answer.

He gazed through the window. The tall castle, for some reason gave off a different feeling from before, feeling colder, more inhuman, and further away.

Awfully far.

It might be a little difficult to reach the castle with his outstretched arms currently.<ref name="outstretched_arms">'''Outstretched Arms:''' A figurative form of speech, meaning Ryner doesn’t have the power to reach Sion yet.</ref> Stretching higher and taller, it probably won’t do if he didn’t give his best.

But, but still.

“............”


At that moment, Ryner averted his eyes from the window.

And looked at those documents received from Luke, which were propped on his lap. And turned the pages.

He wanted to use the remaining hour to go through the documents. One way or another, it would be difficult to make his move without confirming the situation in Nelpha.

Since he was still debating on whether to continue on to Nelpha, or to head towards Runa instead.

He flipped the pages. And the next page, the next page, the next page.

With an incredible speed, he scanned the words and input the information into his head.

The situation was worse than he thought.

The women and children were really being massacred.

Even though he knew the reason behind it, but still, Ryner frowned.

And then, Nelpha’s actions became weird. Just right before Nelpha’s king officially expressed his surrender, he was killed and confusion set in.

On top of that, the successor sent ten thousand troops to square off with Roland, while he promptly escaped in the meantime.

That was why currently, without the presence of the king, there was no one in authority who could raise the surrender flag for Nelpha.

In this situation, Roland would have to continue fighting until Nelpha was completely destroyed.


But at that point, a ray of hope appeared.....

“............ huh? What’s this......”

At that moment.

He said with a slight groan.

“......that rascal Luke......”

Finally, Ryner understood what Luke was trying to make him do.

It was the worst.

Luke was making him do something which could be said to be the worst kind of bother that could ever be.

This was what was in the documents.

Although the stupid prince, who killed Nelpha’s king and made his escape thereafter, had sent ten thousand troops to fight Roland, in the end, they did not meet Roland’s army at all.

A new commander had appeared and taken command of the ten thousand troops.

A person who carried the blood of the dead king.

The son of the stupid prince and his commoner mistress, a capable man who was popular among the people, had successfully persuaded the ten thousand soldiers to come under his lead, and had led them west, avoiding the conflict with Roland.


And the name of the man who had saved those ten thousand soldiers was.

“...... Toale......”

Ryner said with a weary voice.

Toale Nelphi.

He knew that name well. Just about a year ago, when Sion made a diplomatic visit to Nelpha’s capital, Ryner was also there as well and that was when he had met him. Despite his frailness, he tried to protect his little brother and sister from some stray hoodlums, and as he was getting beaten up, that was when Ryner and Ferris came to his rescue, and that was how they met one another.

That was the discriminated son of the stupid prince and his commoner mistress, but then again, being part of royalty still, he had some amount of influence and had helped Ryner in looking up various things in the library...... well, to say that he knew him well, that was actually the extent of it.

However, he had also put them up and had spent a number of days with the duo.

Toale himself, as well as with his numerous brothers and sisters.

Indeed, he looked like a promising youth with a good head, and always did whatever he could to protect his brothers and sisters while going about his own life.


He was also popular among the people in town, and they cried for him to be the next king rather than that stupid prince.

''That fella is really a popular guy.''

Thanks to that popularity, he attracted the attention of a strange ‘monster’.

At that moment, Ryner remembered the incident in which a powerful, black ‘demon’ had come to kill Toale.

“...... Miran Froaude.”

Speaking of this, that was the first time he met that man.

With a wave of his ring, he could summon shadow beasts to attack them.

That ring was probably a Hero’s Relic, and on top of that, though Ryner recognized him to be a descendent of the Holy Knight Halford Miran, that man, evidently filled with darkness, hardly looked like a descendent of the Holy Knight.

What he could only see was a demon to the core.

One who could kill people without a change in expression.

And he came to kill Toale.

It seemed like he was working for a tyrant king, and was willing to kill anyone who might hinder them.


“That fella is seriously some kind of murderous devil......”

Ryner said with a groan as he recalled all this.

He remembered his words.

From some place within the dark and deep recesses of his mind, he remembered his words.

''“You were asking me, what would be left after killing off all the hindrances...... that was what you asked right? From the bottom of my heart, I would say that after killing off all the hindrances, what’s left would be those of convenience who could serve my purpose. From the perspective of an'' '''''Alpha Stigma''''' ''bearer like you, if you kill off all the other human beings, then the world will be easier to live in for all the'' '''''Alpha Stigma''''' ''bearers...... That is the truth, isn’t it? People are animals who could only live an existence of agression. In order to eat, in order to protect their pride, in order to have a better life, in order to protect a loved one......’’

''And, in order not to be killed......''

''People fight.''

''To create a place where there are no sacrifices, where everyone can live happily...... that is a pile of bullshit. This kind of world is impossible. The world is not as naive a place as you think.''


That was what he said.

People fight in order not to be killed.

That was perhaps a statement striking true. But even so, it doesn’t mean he would accept that.

People can find someone to be of a hindrance at one time, or to be disagreeable, or they may even want someone to disappear, but in the next instant, they can also love the same person whom they hated a while ago.

If that someone were to die unexpectedly, even though they should have found him or her to be a bother, they could become lonely in the end, as a result.

That’s why, undoubtedly, there was only one of the aforementioned reasons that fit the needs of having to kill off a hindrance.

If everyone were to kill one another, in the end, oneself will become a hindrance and have to be killed.

It was obvious that the path he was seeking was wrong.

And the result was already showing.

Indeed, as a military man from the great nation of Stohl up north, his words might seem fitting...... but Stohl should have already been annihilated by Gastark.

He wondered what had happened to him after all that, but well,

“I’m pretty sure no one would miss him, so let me just forget about him.”


Ryner smiled and returned his former thoughts.

In any case, Toale, who was targetted by Froaude, is a capable man.

And finally, just as the people had wished, a opportunity had arisen for Toale to ascend the throne.

“But...... what bad timing it is.”

Toale was probably born unlucky, Ryner thought.

With regards of Toale’s situation, Ryner had no clue, but as to what Toale was thinking about, it was a different story.

Firstly,

''"Since we’re surrendering, would you forgive the ten thousand soldiers and the people?"''

That would probably be his proposal. But this would be rejected.

''Because Nelpha’s king is still that stupid prince, and not you.''

The Roland now would not just stop at this. In the future, it had plans to invade Runa, Cassla and other neighbouring countries.

They could not afford to show any mercy just because of Toale’s proposal, in order to make Nelpha an example for the rest.

''Roland is going to use its might to crush Nelpha thoroughly, and it’s not up to you to stop them.''


''If you really want to put forth a surrender, you had to take the head of your stupid prince father. And become the official king of Nelpha, only then will anyone start listening to you.''

But that was going to be something reckless.

Toale had only ten thousand troops under his command.

In comparison, the stupid prince had sixty-eight thousand soldiers protecting him.

That’s nearly seven times.

It wasn’t a battle Toale could win.

But still, he had no choice but to win. If he could not win over the hearts of the seventy thousand soldiers and have the stupid prince’s head delivered to him, Nelpha’s people would be doomed.

Therefore,

“...... so this is where I shall come in to help?”

With a bitter face, Ryner looked in the direction where Luke had left.

“...... that sly fox.”

Given his capabilities in gathering intelligence, Luke must have been aware that Ryner was acquainted with Toale.

He probably predicted that Ryner would go give Toale a hand after reading these documents.


He remembered his earlier words.

''"If you manage to obtain great power...... and so on and so forth."''

''"Such as an army...... and so on and so forth."''

''"A power that is on par with Roland...... and so on and so forth."''

''"If at that point in time you still see yourself as Sion-san’s friend...... and so on and so forth."''

He could only hear Luke telling him to go help Toale from all those words.

“Geez. He was out to use me right from the beginning.”

Ryner said with a fed-up voice.

However, as things were going, he had to go help him. If he didn’t, lots of people would die. That was something Ryner did not want.

No, even if Ryner didn’t go help him, Roland would, through some secret maneuvers, dispatch some reinforcements to help Toale with killing that stupid prince.

That was the most advantageous method to Roland.

And once Toale had served his purpose.


Toale would be killed.

“............”

After executing the stupid prince, his capable son, and Nelpha’s royalty, they would announce it to the neighbouring counties.

''Did you see the fate of Nelpha, who dare oppose Roland?''

''If you want to surrender, now’s the time.''

''If you do it now, we will spare the royal family and the nobles, and allow them to keep their status.''

''But, if you don’t surrender now......''

“''We’ll destroy you''...... to that effect?”

At that moment, Ryner flipped close the documents from Luke.

After withdrawing his legs from the desk, he folded his arms.

And he looked at the ceiling.

“...... I’m beat.”

He grumbled.


For some reason, just as he was about to leave the country, the number of things he had to do just kept piling up.

In other words, if he didn’t hurry, the homework would seem to continue accumulating.

If he tarried around any longer, Nelpha’s soldiers and people would be killed off in the meantime.

A little more bothersome than that would be if Toale’s head were to fly next.

But what should he do next after rescuing Toale?

After linking up with Toale and mobilizing his troops, he would somehow immobilize that stupid prince. It was clear up till that part.

But, what’s next?

Taking Toale along and finding a way out somehow? Would Roland overlook that?

No, it might turn out that he would need to take command of Nelpha’s troops and battle it out with Roland’s army in order to protect Toale......?

“............”

Ryner scowled at the ceiling while turning things over in his head.

Normally, that would not have been the case.

At the very least, Sion, the current Sion would not come to such a conclusion.

If all they needed was the single life of Toale, there was no necessity to incur unneeded loss of lives.

That was balance. A giant balance which human lives rode on.


Kill less to save more.

To save ten thousand lives, it’s ok to kill a thousand.

That has to be what people call a king.

Carrying the fate of a country, the lives of many people while moving forward, that has to be what a king is.

But.

“But...... will I be capable of such a thing?”

''Rather, is it okay to do such a thing?''

He asked himself.

In order to protect the peace of many, and kill off all the cursed eye bearers.

In order to protect the peace of many, Sion had become a sacrifice while weeping.

''Can I forgive all this?''

“............”

He thought otherwise.

He thought that there had to be another way.

A world where no one loses anything.

A world where no one cries.


Could such a world exist?

Of course, if he were to say such a thing, he might be laughed at. No, in actual fact, Froaude had already laughed at him.

A country without any sacrifices where everyone living in it can laugh happily.

He laughed that off as bullshit. He told him that it’s better to stop overlooking the painful experiences in reality and to stop dreaming of such naivety......

At that thought, Ryner’s face twisted in pain.

“I already have plenty of those painful experiences......”

But still, even if others were to give up on such a dream, I would still think that way.

If Sion was crying and giving up, I would still......''

“............”

Even though he said that, it was still an unpleasant bother to square off with Roland’s army.

At that thought, Ryner recalled the name of the commander of Roland’s army in Nelpha from the documents Luke gave him.

The current commanding officer of Roland’s army was Field Marshal Claugh Klom.

That red-hair muscle-brain.


But Ryner was well aware of that.

The first time when he met him, the only time when they exchanged blows, he became well aware of how bothersome his strength could pose.

Crimson Finger Claugh Klom.

That name was equivalent to that of a death god on a battlefield.

“...... a~h, am I supposed to fight that monster on the battlefield? Seriously?”

Ryner said in an unpleasant tone.

On top of that, this time round, he was not just putting his own life on the line.

He might be possibly shouldering the lives of both the soldiers of Roland under Claugh’s command, as well as the troops of Nelpha under Toale’s command.

Could he actually fight such an opponent while taking care to minimize the number of casualties at the same time?

“............”

At that thought, he recalled even more of what the documents contained. Luke was actually kind enough to have included Claugh’s profile within the documents.

The death god of battlefields.


A demon who have never lost on a battlefield.

With an overwhelming fighting prowess, and a talent in deploying troops.

Against such an opponent,

“Wha-t can I do?”

Somehow, he felt like running away.

“Ah geez, I just keep getting into these bothersome stuff.”

But, was it actually God’s grace that his opponent wasn’t Luke? He thought.

If it were Luke marshaling the army, the Ryner now, might not be a match for him.

If such a person, who possesses a level-head beyond ordinary, were to take command of the troops, with the current state of Ryner now, it wasn’t even funny to begin with.

Of course, Ryner had actually studied battle tactics and strategies for use in battlefields before, if he had to be honest with himself, it was a one-man battling...... in other words, the training was targeted to build him into a one-man army.

“So as to speak, well, it would be highly suspicious if I could actually beat that guy from those kind of training......”

He said with a weak voice, and then,


“...... but if I actually encounter him on the battlefield, I can’t let myself be killed either...... then, is that the only way? I must suddenly acquire the ability to surpass him in thinking, that’s the only way right? That kind of development? Uwah, that’s impossible right?”

He was already overwhelmed with despair.

The excessive bothers of life made him want to sigh out.

“............”

At that moment, Ryner glanced at the needles of the clock and realized that it was already past five.

“...... oops.”

While thinking all those weird thoughts and making considerations, without knowing, he had already spent more than an hour.

Even though it was time for the morning sun to rise soon, due to the seemingly bad weather, the sky outside was still dark. That was why the time had passed without him realizing it.

“It’s time to move.”

He hurriedly stood up. Left the room, and climbed down the stairs. As he stepped out of the building, he looked up at the dark sky which was overcast with clouds, and thought that it did seem like it was going to rain today.

“...... geez, and it was such a long-awaited morning for us to embark on our journey. A bad omen eh.”

As he said that, without really thinking much into it despite what he just said, he started off running.


Along the way, he thought of taking a detour to a library, and borrow some books on battle tactics and strategies, but in the end gave up on that thought. Since he knew not when he would be able to return those books after leaving the country, and more importantly, he did not want to find out what Ferris was going to do to him for being late from that detour.

And then, in order not to be late and have Ferris waiting, he increased his pace.

<center>♦</center>

The time now shifts back to a while ago.

It was already time to set off if she didn’t want to arrive late at the designated place to link up with Ryner.

“Darn. Looks like I might be late.”

Ferris was running along the merchant street.

She was carrying two knapsacks and a large pouch.

By the way, the knapsack on her left contained her clothes. It contained the cute clothes with the dango logo, which were bought from the previously mentioned apparel shop.

Currently, she was wearing the same type of clothes as well.

It was much more comfortable than her usual armor, and her feet felt lighter. Except that the sword hanging from her waist seemed a little out of place......


However, strangely, whatever she wore seemed to suit her nicely.

And the knapsack on her right, as one would expect, contain Ryner’s new clothes bought from the same apparel shop.

In the beginning, the shop assistant had made some suitable selections for her, except for one piece, which was actually an underwear that only a pervert would wear, that alone was chosen by Ferris.

At that time, the female shop assistant said,

''“Ohh, that must be a present for your boyfriend! The two of you must be very close~”''

Ferris then replied,

''"Nope, it’s the complete opposite in fact. This is something I’m giving him to shame him."''

''"Uwah, so you guys go for this kind of ‘play’!?"''

''"...... ‘play’? What are you talking about?"''

''"No, no, it’s nothing. I see. Miss, for you to go on such level of offense, my most humble self feels absolutely touched. Then, what about this? I think this will look pretty good."''

''"Hoh. Then let’s have that as well."''

''"How about this as well?"''

''"Then, that one as well."''

In the end, the knapsack was filled with those pervy wear.


Perhaps, Ryner was really going to travel half-naked most of the time.

Half-naked, with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pince-nez pince-nez] glasses.

She started imagining the look of despair on Ryner’s face.

“...... fuffu. I’m looking forward to it.”

She laughed expressionlessly while running.

Well, actually she did buy a few pieces of normal clothing for Ryner, which was stowed into the large pouch, but that was a secret. She would make him go half-naked, and only reveal those to him at the very end when he started crying.

In any case.

With an incredible speed, she passed through the merchant street, and the residence area, and got onto the highway.

However, she got off the highway immediately.

Even though this path would lead straight to the rendezvous location, Asohld dango tea-house, she couldn’t take that direct path.

Both yesterday and today, as she was going around the town, she saw groups of pursuers who were going round searching for Ryner.

Even though Ferris was not in the wanted list yet, which was why she had nobody coming after her, things might have changed by now.


Even if this wasn’t so, if she was tailed, they would be able to get hold of Ryner’s location, and this could become a bother.

That’s why she got off the highway, and verified whether there was anybody following behind her.

“......mm. It seems okay.”

On saying that, she started relaxing her pace a little.

From now on, she would be heading towards the meeting place without using the unobstructed highway, but before that.

“...... I’m pretty sure it’s around this area.”

She said.

Last night, she found Iris taking a stroll on the streets, and gave her some orders.

Tomorrow, Ferris would be embarking on a journey.

After Ferris and Ryner had gotten out of the country, once things cool down, Iris was supposed to bring Arua and Kuku along and follow behind them.

And tomorrow, before Ferris leaves, she is to prepare eight knapsacks of dango and pass them to her at somewhere a little off the highway leading northwards.

She was at that place where she’s going to receive her dango,


“...... it should be around this area.”

She halted as she said that.

She looked around her surroundings.

It was different from the orderly highway, and even though it was just a small distance away from the main path, it looked as if this was already a complete wilderness area.

The area had a dense growth of wild grass that was even taller than Ferris, and it was an area which was difficult to walk through.

That’s why she intended to head to the rendezvous point through these grass to avoid discovery by any pursuers.

“...... I can’t seem to find Iris among all these thick grass.”

She scanned her surroundings.

And searched for Iris’s presence.

But nothing.

“Iris, are you here?”

She called out, but as she thought,

“......”

There was no reply.


“...... hm. She hasn’t arrived yet?”

She pushed through the grass and moved further up.

“Iris, are you here?”

Then, from among the grass,

“Nee-sama!”

Iris called out.

Ferris turned her head in that direction.

And saw her sister. Iris was there within the grass.

With blond hair resembling that of Ferris, and fair smooth skin. While she had a childish face, her features were unbelievably perfect. She was wearing a dress with lots of frills, and on her back was a small red backpack, her usual outfit.

That Iris,

“............”

Iris was covered in blood, and hanging upside down with her feet grabbed.

Both her hands and feet were bounded as well.

“...... nee-sama, don’t come!”


Iris cried out with a face that looked like she was about to cry.

And Ferris.

“............”

Ferris saw the man who was grabbing her feet.

With long flowing, pitch-black hair, and cold deep blue eyes.

And the man bore a dark smile resembling that of a devil.

That man was familiar to Ferris.

''If I remember correctly, he is called Froaude......''

''But, why is he here.''

''Why did Iris have those eyes.''

''Why.''

''What in the world......''

“...... bastard, what the hell did you do to Iris, ehhhhhhhhhhh!”

She drew her sword. And advanced towards Froaude with an unbelievable speed.

It was a speed that could not be followed by the naked eye.

One could say that it’s god speed.


There was no normal human being who would be able to stop her sword.

However, Froaude just carried a dark smile.

“...... you drew a sword in a frenzy...... A foolish thing to do. You should know very well that you can’t beat me alone.”

And he waved his hand. His right hand which was adorned with a black ring.

And he murmured softly.

“...... let there, be darkness.”

In an flash.

The shadow of Froaude on the ground expanded and became distorted.

And out came shadow beasts, flying out from the shadow.

Black-colored monsters that looked like wolves.

One of them flew towards Ferris.

“Ku.”

She swung her sword at it.

But she didn’t cut it down.

The wolf, with its sharp teeth, bit on her sword and stopped it.


Froaude shrugged his shoulders.

“Oops, seems like you’ve gotten weaker since the time we met? The you from before would have been able to readily cut down one or two of those '''Kagerou (Shadow Wolves)'''...... or is it that you have become flustered from this?”

As he said that, he raised his left hand.

The left hand that was grabbing Iris.

Iris was crying. Since young, she had hardly shown any tears and was perpetually smiling, showing expressions which Ferris was sometimes envious of, that very sister of hers was sniffing and sobbing right now.

“...... bastard.”

Ferris withdrew her sword once, took a step backwards, and swung. Her swing was sharper and faster than before.

The two wolves were sliced apart and disappeared.

But the next bunch of shadows had already appeared. Three of those wolves were circling Iris and Froaude.

“............”


Ferris stared at them and concentrated.

If she let her guard down, she would be killed.

This fella. The shadows created by this fella were abnormally strong.

The first time when she fought this guy, she couldn’t touch him at all. At that time, Ryner was with her, and after finding his weakness they managed to drive him off, now, could she rescue Iris from his hands all by herself?

“............”

It would be difficult, she thought.

But it was not impossible, she felt.

Since that time, her skills had reached another notch.

Furthermore, she was aware that the shadows were conjured using that black ring he was wearing.

In the space after she cut down all the shadows, she shall slice off that finger where the ring was adorned.

“...... no.”

At that moment, she looked at the bloody form of Iris. Her forehead was cut, shoulders too, legs too...... and more seriously, there was blood dripping from her back..


She understood just by looking at that. Froaude was toying with Iris while she tried to escape. Her back must be ridden with bite wounds from the shadow wolves.

Iris shook in fear. Ferris had never seen her sister with such an expression.

Her sister. Someone whom she has cherished dearly since young,

“............”

This was not the end.

Ferris thought.

His arm.

She shall sever that arm with the ring.

She adopted a low sword stance. She steeled her nerves, and brought forth the highest amount of concentration towards the tip of her sword.

At that moment, Iris yelled.

“Don’t! Nee-sama, don’t!”

“............”

“You have to get out of here. This guy is incredibly strong beyond what we’ve ever se......”

Ferris interrupted her mid-sentence and said.

“...... I’ve seen it before. That’s why there is no need to worry. I’m coming to rescue you in a second.”


Froaude laughed again.

“What beautiful sisterly love...... is that what I should say? But all that is a foolish struggle.”

“............”

Ferris did not answer. She focused all her strength towards the tip, one single point, of her sword.

Froaude continued.

“…... as I thought, you alone don’t pose much of a threat to me. You drew your sword in a frenzy, and chose to fight a battle in which you have no chance of winning...... Ryner-san won’t do such a thing right?”

“............”

She did not answer. ''A chance of winning does exist. This guy is making light of me, if he thinks I’m the same as before, I shall let him taste pain.''

''In a flash, I will cut off that arm and wipe that smirk off your face.''

She thought.

And her preparations were complete.

At that moment, Froaude said.

“Now, withdraw your sword and stand down. I don’t really enjoy wasting unnecessary time on such trivialities......”


And at that moment.

“Then, I shall put an end to your time here.”

Ferris’s body launched forward.

And that was at a speed many times faster than before.

The shadow wolves reacted and closed in on her, but she started cutting them down immediately.

One.

On top of that, another two of them attacked her simultaneously, one of which she dodged, and the other she cut down and continued advancing forward.

The one she had dodged was once again coming after her from behind, but she ignored that.

It was fine as long as it couldn’t catch up.

Advancing more swiftly, swinging more sharply.

And without getting caught by the enemy’s attacks, taking aim at Froaude’s arm......

“............”

Sharply, swiftly.

Delivering the sword blow to his arm.

In an instant.


“...... gah.”

That muffled cry came from Ferris instead.

The sword never reached Froaude.

A giant black snake appeared from the shadow below Froaude and bit into her right leg.

With razor sharp teeth, it was biting deep into her thigh.

Because of that sudden intense pain, the movement of her sword became dull.

At the same time, from behind her, the wolf bit into her left arm.

“............”

Her face twisted in agony, unable to make a sound from the agonizing pain.

But still, even so, she didn’t stop.

With her sword arm still free, and her left leg which was unhindered, she took a stride forward, and slashed at Froaude......

That man who was wearing a thin, evil smile before all this was slightly taken aback,

“...... you nearly got me. If you continue to move in that state though, your limbs might get torn off.”

But Ferris did not mind. She only glared at the man in front of her,


“...... I’ll kill you.”

“But, you can’t do it.”

He shook his ring. As he did that, another snake came out of the shadow and bit her left leg.

“Nee-sama!?”

Iris cried out.

But, she could not respond to that. Another shadow wolf flew out of the shadow and bit into her remaining free right arm.

“............”

A tearing sound was heard, and blood started spurting out.

At that instant, she almost lost consciousness from the intense pain.

Her sword seemed about to fall to the ground.

But she shook her head, and was determined to endure the pain. If she passed out here, she wouldn’t be able to save Iris.

“............ ku.”

She raised her arm.

To cut off Froaude’s head......


With slow movements, she raised her sword arm.

And Iris began,

“...... please don’t...... it’s enough! It’s enough so please stop moving Nee-sama!”

She hollered.

But Ferris only smiled faintly at her. ''I’ll be fine, so don’t make such a worried face'', she seemed to say. ''When have you ever seen Nee-sama lose to anyone before? Never, isn’t it? It’s going to be alright this time round as well, so just wait there'', she wanted to say.

But, no sound came from her. Her strength started ebbing away from her, from the arm that was attempting to raise her sword......

Iris was crying. With tears flowing, she screamed in a shaking voice.

“Please, please stop. If you continue to move...... your arm...... Nee-sama’s arm would be to......”

Her arm, would be torn into pieces.

She knew that of course. But, she still tried to raise her arm. Somehow, she had to save Iris......

But, at that moment, Froaude hoisted Iris up,

“Do you really want to save her so much? Then, I shall first......”


At that moment, he started waving the hand with the ring.

“...... let there......”

He intended to kill her.

He intended to kill Iris.

In order to stop him, Ferris tried lifting her arm. Gripping her sword, lifting her arm. But, she failed. Her arm did not move.

''What should I do?''

''What can I do?''

“............”

But there was nothing she could do.

“...... no.”

''Someone.''

''Someone save us.''

She yelled from her heart.

''Please, someone save us.''

''Someone!?''


“............”

While she was wishing for that, an unbelievable thing happened.

It was if her prayers were answered.

From the edge of her sight, she could see a lone man running on the highway.

That was a man she knew well.

Always having a sleepy look.

Always unmotivated.

Languidly passing everyday, but at times, this sort of thing does happen.

At the time when she wished for.

At the time when she wished to be rescued, for some reason, he appeared near her, and towards here......

Towards here......

“...... Ry, Ryner.”

She tried saying.

Calling out his name.

Calling out the name of her partner.


“............”

However.

Before she could do that, Froaude had already covered her mouth with his hand.

“...... oops...... I can’t allow that. I’ve gone out of the way, doing my best, to secure Ryner-san’s weakness, if we let him see us in this situation, it might become problematic. He, unlike you, might be troublesome to deal with......”

Despite her attempts, Ferris could not move her mouth against the force exerted from that delicate hand.

Froaude continued.

“...... that’s right. Even if both of you are here, I’m still confident of my victory. But yet, if he interferes, he could turn things around. Even though his strength should be at the same level as yours, but if you join forces with him, there is a chance that I could be defeated. Inexplicable right? If he uses you, a clear advantageous situation to turn things around could be created. It’s like as if he is cloaked in some strange magic...... is it because he is the man known as '''The Greatest Magician of Roland'''?”

But she didn’t hear anything he said.

[[Image:DDnYnD v01 319.jpg|thumb]]

She could only gaze after Ryner’s figure.

The figure of Ryner that was getting further and further away.

''Idiot, why didn’t you turn around'', Ferris thought. ''I’m right here, why didn’t you turn around and look this way'', she thought.

“............”

But Ryner seemed to be running with a furor that he’d never had, and had not noticed any of the ongoings close by.

And she was well aware of why he was running so furiously. In order not to be late for the rendezvous. In order not to let Ferris wait, that was why he was running so furiously.

“............”

She gazed at that.

That was the only thing she could do.

After Ryner disappeared into the distance, Froaude removed his hand.

“...... for a moment, you saw a foolish dream, didn’t you? Thinking that there might still be a way out of this.”

He said in a delightful voice.

Ferris lifted her head and glared at Froaude.

“....... I’ll definitely kill you later.”


“Haha.”

“...... Ryner will come. After seeing...... after seeing the state we are in, he won’t keep quiet about it.”

“He’s already long gone.”

“Even so, he’ll come. You...... you’re going to be killed......”

At those words, Froaude, with a jubilant smile, said.

“Ooh. That’s scary. But he won’t be able to kill me. Because you...... you will become a hindrance to him......”

He waved his hand again and continued.

“In order to avoid wounding you, the magician shall fall. ''Don’t take away my precious things'', he’ll shout out, and become incapable of using his magic. He is indeed someone with an intelligent and lucid mind, and can be an unusually tough opponent to fight...... but still, he is trash who should not be a source of distress to my master.”

He lifted his hand with the black ring.

“...... when friends are captured, his heart wavers. When friends are wounded, he becomes unable to advance forward. When friends are killed...... he weeps. That weakness is the problem, isn’t it? Weak. Too weak. That level of trash...... my master......”


And he said.

“He is not worthy of being the friend of Hero King Sion Astal.”

To those words.

Ferris, for an instant, did not comprehend them at all.

Her mind went blank from the incomprehension.

''What did this guy just say?''

''This guy.''

“...... don’t tell me...... don’t tell me that Sion...... Sion is your......”

Froaude answered promptly.

“...... this is also on his orders.”

And he waved his hand.

He drew an arc with the black ring.

As he did that, darkness.

At Froaude’s feet, the darkness expanded again and ten beasts appeared.

Iris was......

“Wait, stop!!”


Ferris yelled.

She twisted her body, her limbs seemingly about to be torn apart, after enduring the intense pain from that,

“Stoppp!!”

Ferris hollered.

Pleadingly.

Seeking help.

''Please save us.''

''Somone, please save us'', she yelled.

But he did not stop.

The scene before her became increasingly dreadful.

“What is this......”

She was confused.

Unable to think of anything else, she was in a state of confusion.

“What the hell is happening here?”

Iris dying. Being killed. And the orders were from Sion.

''What’s this.''


''What the hell is this.''

''I don’t get it. What should I do?''

''What can I do?''

She felt a strong sense of loneliness.

The world...... she felt that the world was a terrible place.

It was the same as that day.

That day from two weeks ago.

Ryner went missing all of a sudden, and Sion became weird.

It was a different world from what she knew before, as if it had undergone a complete transformation.

Unsettling, fearful, shivering everyday.

But all that should have ended.

It should already have ended.

Because she found him.

Because she found what she was looking for.

In that prison.

Her light --- that sleepy-headed languid-looking light, she should already have found that.


“Why...... why didn’t you come save me! Ryner! I’m right here! Come quickly!”

She screamed.

She screamed with desperation, attempting to send her calls to the already distant Ryner.

“Come save us, Ryner!!”

However.

What was reflected in her eyes was not light, but darkness.

Froaude laughed.

His thin devilish red lips, parted widely.

“............”

In that instant.

 
Ferris gave off a throat-tearing shriek.

 
<center>♦</center>

 

Somewhat north of that location, at the place known as Asohld dango tea-house.

Ryner was waiting alone.

As it was still early, the shop was still closed. If it were the dango god Ferris, she might have gotten the shop to open, but as for him, he couldn’t do anything about it.

“...... no place to sit.”

Speaking in a moronic voice, he turned his head around.

The time now should be eight-thirty.

Somehow, he managed to reach the place five minutes before the appointed time, ''a~h, now she won’t be able to complain about anything'', was what he thought, but now it was already way past thirty minutes from the appointed time.

“...... that gal, hurry up and get here......”

He gave a knock to his tired waist. Then stretched himself, and bent himself all the way backwards.

That was all he did.

There was nothing else to do.

It seemed like Ferris still had not arrived yet.


“...... did I make a mistake with the time?”

He recalled his conversation with Ferris the morning before, and verified that the appointed time was indeed eight.

''Then, why isn’t she here yet?''

''Don’t tell me something had.....''

“............”

At that moment.

Drops of water fell onto his face.

“Huh?”

He looked up into the sky and the sky was already completely dark.

Drops of water just kept falling.

“...... woah, this is the worst.”

Ryner frantically tried to take shelter at the edge of the eaves of the shop.

“...... geez, spare me please...... we are going to embark on a journey hereon. At the very least, give us a pleasant weather when we set off eh?”

Even though he said that, his wishes were unanswered and the rain just got increasingly heavier.


Ryner sighed softly and looked in the direction of the highway again.

The ground was wet from the falling rain.

Ryner continued looking in that direction.

The rain looked like it was going get even heavier. It might be quite tiresome to leave the country today. After Ferris arrives, he plans to find a place to put up at until the rain stops before moving out again.

“............”

While pondering, he absentmindedly gazed at the scenery before him, which had its visibility distance gradually reduced due to the rain.

Ferris should be here by now, but yet there was no sign of her.

Lightning flashed across the sky.

The rain got even heavier.

He looked at the sky, ''is this for real'', he thought, letting out another sigh.

To walk through this rain would be tough.

He looked at the highway again. In the direction of Roland’s capital.

With his sight set in the direction where Ferris should be coming from, he said.

“...... she’ll be kind of pitiful if she’s totally drenched.”


The sky flashed again, followed by a thundering boom.

It was if the sky was mad about something.

And at that moment.

“...... yner!”

He seemed to hear a voice from afar.

Because of the rain, it was pretty much obscured.

“...... Ryner.”

He could hear it this time.

His name was been called.

“...... finally the princess has arrived?”

As he said that, he looked at the highway. But, there was no Ferris.

But still, once again.

“...... Ryner-tteba!” <ref name="tteba">'''tteba:''' A particle which in this context, indicates emotional closeness.</ref>

He was called.

But that voice, instead of coming from the south, was coming from the north.

“Eh?”


Ryner turned around.

Standing there, was not Ferris --- but another girl.

In the heavy downpour.

Was the smiling face of a girl.

Even though she was smiling, for some reason, she looked like she was about to cry at the same time.

Looking at that girl, Ryner, with a surprised voice, said.

“...... Kiefer.”

And,

Kiefer came running towards here.

“............”

And embraced Ryner tightly.
<noinclude>
 
----

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>
 
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|-
| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol1|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Afterword|Afterword]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Chapter 4

2011-11-18T21:16:15Z

Error: /* Chapter 4 - The Moment To Sunder That Darkness */

==Chapter 4 - The Moment To Sunder That Darkness==


The light had receded.

Sometime in the middle of the night, covered in darkness, at some facility of Roland.

Along the corridor of that facility was Ryner, running at an unbelievable rapid speed, different from his usual languid behavior.

With wide open eyes, and a vermillion five-point pentacle over the center of his black pupils, he was looking intently at the unfolding magic right before him.

At the other end of the corridor.

There were three guards in the process of launching spells in his direction.

Rather, one of them had already completed his spell.

That guard, who appeared to be the most skilled out of them all, had cast '''Kuuri''', which Ryner dodged.

And that guard was stunned,

“To, to dodge '''Kuuri''' at this distance......”


While hearing himself called a monster again, something which he was used to already, Ryner ran.

“It’s your own fault for missing at this distance.”

While he said that, another guard was about to complete his magic inscription.

This time round, it's '''Kurenai'''.

But Ryner is many times faster, and had constructed a completely different spell structure.

While running, he promptly finished inscribing the glowing symbols.

In the midst of his opponent’s incantation.

“WHAT I SEEK IS BURNING FIELDS >>> KURE......”

In the midst of that,

“WHAT I SEEK IS WATER MIST >>> MISUMI!”

In the center of Ryner’s magic inscription, water started gathering into a state of high pressure, and it burst forth in the form of a jet stream towards the enemy.

The guard who was about to launch '''Kurenai''' could only utter the following.

“What kind of absurdity......”

On saying that, the guard who was about to fire off '''Kurenai''', as well the guard who cast '''Kuuri''', were both caught in the strong jet of water and sent crashing into the wall, consequently passing out.


Though Ryner had already gone easy on them to the point where they would not die from his attack, that force must have broken several of their bones.

Usually, Ryner would have gone even easier on them, but today he simply did not have that kind of luxury.

In order to prevent them from calling for reinforcements, it was necessary to knock them out in one shot.

And that's because this place.

“......”

Ryner scanned the surrounding area with just his eyes.

While there wasn't much visible light, he could make out the black rocks that were used to lay the walls of this place, a building which resembled a prison.

This was one out of many buildings which form the intelligence center of Roland.

Though he had probably chosen one of the least guarded places to infiltrate, this was still the heart of the enemy grounds.

If reinforcements were to come, even if it's Ryner, getting killed here was not an impossibility.

That's why he increased the power of his magic, but.

“......”

Ryner looked in the direction of the remaining guard,


“...... did I go too far? But, but, I’m already doing my best to hold back. Sorry.”

He said it with an awkward expression.

And he started running towards the last remaining guard.

That sole guard was already making his escape, running in the opposite direction to call for reinforcements but,

“I won’t let you get away ~”

Ryner gradually closed the distance between them.

If someone familiar to him were to see him, they would ask, ''why are you running so fast, don’t you always move like a turtle?''. That was the extent as to how fast he's running.

Knowing he would get caught up soon, the guard had made a small sound and taken out a knife from his waist belt. He then turned around and threw it at Ryner.

But Ryner promptly,

“Hoi.”

He stopped the knife.

“Thanks for that.”

He kept the knife in his own belt.


The guard now had a look of utter despair on his face.

“...... what, what the hell was that...... what the hell is this guy...... why is this monster attacking Class Two Intelligence Center...... damn it!”

And not knowing when to give up, the guard drew a glowing magic symbol to attack his pursuer,

“Too slow.”

Ryner said as he caught up with him.

He had put his own finger into the magic inscription drawn by the guard, and changed its structure. He recklessly changed it to something that he just thought of, completed the inscription and chanted,

“WHAT I SEEK IS, erm, something like, SMOKE, I guess >>> KEMURI!”

That was what he chanted.

As he did that, a cloud of smoke started forming at the center of that inscription, blinding the guard.

“I, I can’t see anything!?”

The guard said with a frightened voice.

And beside him,

“U, uwah, can’t see a thing.”


Having his own visibility taken away, it was a complete failure.

“This is kinda bad.”

While saying that, he searched for the guard’s presence.

The guard seemed to be running away.

“Some, someone......”

The guard raised his voice, about to call for help.

But,

“Please don’t call for reinforcements.”

Ryner grabbed him from behind, strangled him for a while, and he lost consciousness.

The guard fell to the ground.

And the fight came to a close.

Ryner looked at the surrounding smoke, and attempted to decipher its structure with his '''Alpha Stigma'''.

“Ah...... I made this recklessly without thinking much, and it’s surprisingly troublesome to dispel.”

While saying that, his finger started dancing in the air again.

He drew a glowing magic symbol, and constructed the corresponding dispelling magic for the smoke that had completely filled up his surroundings.

“WHAT I SEEK IS...... erm, what shall I call it, it would be nice if it sounds real cool, just now it was a little too mundane...... erm, well, WHAT I SEEK IS ah, DISPERSAL CLOUD >>> KI, KIERO!”


In the end, he’s a person without much artistic sense in liguistics after all.

“...... well, erm, hm. What the heck was that again?”

He heaved out a huge sigh.

''Supposedly the stronger the words, with one’s will, that are used for invocation will correspond to a stronger magical power, well then again, that’s the research arena of an academic scholar of magic'',

“It's not like I'm some scholar of magic anyway, so that’s fine right?”

Though he said that, there wasn’t anyone around to answer him.

The smoke disappeared as it got sucked in by the magic he created. His surroundings returned to their previous state.

The dark corridor was lit merely by the moonlight streaming in through the window.

He was currently standing in the corridor of the sixth floor of a building belonging to the military, the Class Two Intelligence Center of Roland Empire.

By the way, he originally wanted to infiltrate the Class One Intelligence Center instead, but it was heavily guarded and seemed impossible to penetrate, and that’s why he changed his target to here.

At any rate, that Class One building was filled with those mutated monster guards with liquidified bodies. He remembered a number of those guards who were supposedly dismissed from the mage knight battalion when Sion ascended the throne.


If he had tried infiltrating there, he would die, and that he was certain of, so that’s why he chose this place instead.

In spite of this, that was not to say that the guards here were weak or less watchful.

“......”

Ryner looked at the fallen guard at his feet.

Before coming to this floor, Ryner had already steathily, without causing any ruckus of any sort, disposed of fifty such guards and a dozen working personnel, and had finally arrived here.

That was some unbelievable tough work.

All that took him four hours.

With lots of patience, he had to ambush one or two people at a time and knocked them out in succession, taking him a total of four hours.

He had infiltrated this place at eleven, and now, it’s already three in the morning.

“Ah ~ darn, I’m really tired.”

Ryner said wearily.

Well, by the time he reached the fifth floor, it had gradually become more troublesome, and how he cleared the fifth and sixth floor was just like what he did a while ago.


To put it in another way, if he had continued to clear the fifth and sixth floor in the same slow manner, it would probably take until morning.

But now, he could finally move around freely.

Now that everyone had been knocked out, he was free to search around the facility as much as he wished.

Ryner had been looking forward to this outcome.

“...... uwah ~, what I have to do from hereon out might even be more troublesome however......”

Well, now that it’s late into the night, there wasn’t really any time for him to celebrate.

He gathered what little energy he had left, and trudged into one of the rooms on the sixth floor.

Before him lay a mountain of documents. He reached out to take some, and with familiar ease, started flipping through the pages with an incredible speed.

“...... oops, seems like this is the fruit of the idiotic work that the idiotic Sion was making me do every single day......”

At that moment, he started thinking of Sion again.

He remembered how he was made to slog throughout the past year,

“...... the next time I see him, I’ll hit him first. ''Do you know how much I want to hit you?'', that’s what I will say to him......”


While muttering to himself, he continued flipping through the pages.

But it seemed like this room did not have anything he was looking for, and he headed to the neighbouring room.

And he repeated what he did.

After finishing, he went again to the next room.

“......”

By the way, before coming here, he had already acquired much of the information he desired.

For the whole of today, he was practically jumping from place to place within Roland.

In the morning, while making small talk with the people in town, he was discovered by his pursuers and he fled, at noon, he assaulted some nobles’ residence, extracted some information on how Roland would be moving from now on, and on top of that made off with their money, and then he was attacked by some of his pursuers who he crushed easily, went into hiding after all that, then after when things cooled down he came out again to gather more information from bars, back-street alleys, and other places self-proclaimed to be rich in information.

And consequently, he had a much more complete grasp of the situation in Roland.


1. The more prominent nobles were politically purged, having cuffs put on their authority and power.

Well, this would definitely please the people. ''It’s all thanks to the Hero King Sion-sama'', they were saying. ''Sion-sama is the ally of the powerless people''.

2. For the past year, in order to deal with all the issues, Roland had amassed substantial power. As a result, the neigbouring countries were viewing Roland as a rising threat. They were supposedly banding together to form a coalition to crush Roland, but before they could do that, Roland had already invaded Nelpha. As expected of the reliable Hero King.

This was also something that Ryner was well aware of. Ryner had contributed to some of this power that Roland had acquired during this past year. Well, though among all areas, the fact that the military had expanded the most was something he didn’t know of, and now that he thought about it, Sion had never involved him much in that area.

That was something he couldn’t really stomach, but thinking with regards to the circumstances, it was something really beyond his control.


3. Even though they were waging war, the people were able to become more prosperous in their lifestyle. If the country’s territory continues to expand in this manner, wouldn’t the people be able to become more prosperous?

Ryner had been doubtful of that line of thought. He thought that it couldn’t be possible that the people can continue to become more prosperous in times of war.

To build one’s happiness on top of the deaths of others, how can one possibly live with that?

Sion should have been one of the people who was well aware of this, and in the first place, even now Ryner was still doubtful about the necessity of strengthening Roland’s military.

Indeed, in Northern Menoris exists the threat of Gastark Empire, armed with the Heroes' Relics, has started moving southwards and with its overwhelming power conquered the major power of Stohl.

And fearing that power, the three major powers in Central Menoris have started strengthening their military. Everyone has started setting their sights on war. Setting their sights on encroaching the territory of others.

The possibility of such a large scale world war happening right now is one that will set a precedence in history.

But even so, that is a matter still far up in the north. Until then, can’t Sion, rather than using military force to wage wars to subjugate the south, instead resort to talks and diplomacy to bring the other countries together?


Well, normally that would not be possible.

It would not be possible for someone else other than that stupid king.

However, Ryner thought that Sion is one who possesses such an ability.

Without fighting, he would have the ability to stand in opposition to Gastark or other great nations. And furthermore there was still time.

But yet Sion......

“What’s causing you to be so impatient......?”

Ryner was turning over the pages.

That’s right.

Sion was being impatient.

Extremely impatient.

Impatiently moving forward.

Merely doing it all by himself. Without consulting with his best friend, taking on every single burden.

But why’s that so?

Why was there a need to invade an ally now?


The massacre this time was a performance to make other countries submit easily.

Sion not only wanted to conquer Nelpha, but also Runa, Cassla, in fact the whole of Southern Menoris. Well, it’s a possibility that his ambition extends to that of Central and Northern Menoris as well.

But what’s the purpose of all that?

Is it for his own self satisfaction?

After acquiring one thing, he wants to get his hands on something better the next time. Something bigger and much better.

“...... what a fool he is......”

''He is not such a person.''

Ryner would be the one who is most aware of that.

''The first time we met, he was like a weak insect. Very much afraid of hurting others. Very much afraid of hurting his comrades. And he would take on whatever had happened as his own fault.''

''That’s why he wanted to become a king.''

''In order to protect people, his comrades, and the commoners.''

''He definitely did not become king to fulfill his own desires.''

During that time.


At the battlefield where the both of them first met.

During that time, both Sion and Ryner were still students.

The battlefield where their comrades were being slaughtered, where Kiefer betrayed Roland, where Ryner went berserk from his '''Alpha Stigma''', he remembered what Sion said then.

''This is what he said. Even when he had done nothing wrong, with a sad face, with a self-reproaching face, this is what he said.''

''"............ it was my fault to have made you my teammate. Tyle, Toni, and Fahl...... it was also my fault that they died. The war that was started...... it’s also because of me not having become king yet......"''

''He is a person who hates wars.''

''He hates having lives thrown away unnecessarily.''

''But still, now, he’s impatiently killing off people.''

''What’s the reason behind that?''

“Why are you...... why in the world is Sion in such a hurry?”

At that moment.

“...... what a coincidence. That is what I’m looking into as well.”

A voice was heard suddenly.


That was also from the room that Ryner was in.

Feeling surprised, Ryner looked up.

In complete darkness.

Inside the room which he thought was empty just a while ago. He could see the figure of a man, with his back facing him, sitting on a desk beside the window, with a stack of documents in his hands.

A desk which he could reach in merely five large strides. That was how close it was but yet, Ryner did not notice his presence all this while.

It was an extreme situation.

“......”

An extremely bad situation.

It meant that this guy was a guy of incredible power.

Without Ryner noticing, he had sneaked into the room.

No, wait a minute, could it be that he was here right from the beginning?

Ryner glared at the back of that man and said.

“...... so you have been here all this while?”

“Yeah.”


The man replied simply.

That voice was one familiar to Ryner, which troubled him.

He knew this man.

He looked intently at the back of the man.

Despite his youth, he had long white hair. And that mature, kind-looking face, and intelligent sounding voice.

Just by these features, he already knew who he was.

“...... Luke?”

As Ryner said that, the man turned around.

With a grinning, calm face. He was slightly taller than Ryner, and wore a Roland military uniform over his slender body.

Even though he looked like twenty-four, or twenty-five years of age, he sprouted complete white hair which is a special trait of his.

Just as he thought.

It was Luke Stokkart.

The subordinate of Milk Callaud, Ryner’s childhood friend.


Even though he was always carrying that frivolous smile, with the face of a teacher at a nursery school or a kindergarden, for him to go unnoticed in this small, cramped room, he was someone whom Ryner could not take lightly.

Ryner’s body tensed up in preparation of an engagement, and said.

“So, you are here, looking into something as well?”

Luke smiled.

“No way. I’m here waiting for you actually.”

“...... how did you know I would be......”

“Haha. That’s an easy one. With your current strength, there is no way you could have gone to the castle to question Sion-san directly. Well, it might be possible for you to overcome Class One Intelligence Center, but if you were going to escape to another country thereafter, it is necessary for you to avoid running the risk of getting injured. That’s why you won’t attempt to infiltrate that place. Well, you could always acquire that level of information later after escaping to Nelpha...... but in order to do that, you would need to first look into the real situation between Roland and Nelpha, that’s why you’ve decided to come here to take a look before leaving this country...... and as you were wondering where those relevant documents are as you sift through the place......”


At that moment, Luke held out to show him the documents he was holding onto.

“And, here are those documents that I’ve consolidated for you......”

He smiled gently as he said that.

Ryner scowled at that smiling face.

“In other words, you knew all along that I was going to come here?”

“Well, that’s right.”

“...... and you’re here to kill me?”

“Regarding that, well, I’m wondering about it.”

Ryner gave the befuddled-looking Luke a sharp look and said.

“But at the very least, you have filled this room with the traps that you take pride in, haven’t you?”

And he looked around.

That’s how it was. ''The most troublesome thing about this guy is his extraordinary skill in laying traps.''

His strength didn’t lie in his magic, his movements, nor his combat prowess. Well, even though he is notches above that of a normal soldier in all these areas, he was no match for Ryner.

Even though Ryner should have been more than a match for him, he did not feel that victory was already in his grasp.


He had the sinking feeling that all his moves would be read by this guy if he were to fight him.

''Feels like I’m dancing in the palms of this fella.''

Within Ryner’s sight, he could not see the signs of any traps in the room.

But Luke laughed,

“Ever since you were fighting on the first floor, I have been doing my best, spending two hours to lay all my traps.”

He said that promptly.

As he thought, there were traps present. And it was beyond Ryner’s ability to find them.

A fatal mistake. It was almost as if his defeat had been decided.

“......”

''Wait, what if this was all a bluff, another specialty of his.'' Which meant that there was no real physical trap, but the trap was in his words themselves, that is, a bluff to stop Ryner from moving?

Ryner shifted his eyes around, desperately searching for the presence of any traps in the dark room.

As he did that, Luke pointed to a spot near him,

“For example, somewhere to your right, a trap that springs out a knife.”

[[Image:DDnYnD v01 247.jpg|thumb]]

Instantly.

A ‘ba-ching’ sound was heard behind him.

Ryner, in a flash, looked there.

That was a fatal move.

The sound was made by a rubber band, which Luke had sprung, striking a document shelf.

And Ryner appeared to be distracted by it.

The opening was all that Luke needed to make his move. A knife streaked through the air in a straight line towards his head......

But a smile floated on Ryner’s face,

“I thought something like this would happen.”

He took a step backwards and dodged it.

Luke had a surprised look on his face.

“Ah, you dodged it.”

“Ha. That’s because of the many times I’ve suffered from falling into your traps......”

But that was not the end yet.

This time round, Luke pointed to his left and said.

“Ah, but the trap is there instead.”


“You can’t fool me again......”

At that moment, a ‘go-gan’ sound rang out on his left.

“Go-gan!?”

Without thinking, Ryner shouted. It was evident that the sound was not made by a rubber band.

''So what was that?''

''Well, if I turned my head, this time round, I’ll really have Luke’s knife sticking into me.''

''Now, now, then again, it just won’t do if I don’t know where that ‘go-gan’ sound came from. Because it’s ‘go-gan’ right? It’s not ‘ba-ching’ hello? The ‘go-gan’ sound seemed to be something I can’t take lightly......''

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh this is so shitty!”

That tug-of-war struggle inside his mind took place in only an instant, and in the end, unable to bear it anymore, Ryner turned his eyes toward that sound.

As he did that, what he saw was a teddy bear being launched from inside of a bookshelf, falling onto the ground.

And then.

“......”

And then that was it.


“Huh, what was that all about!”

Ryner yelled, and Luke smiled.

“What do you think? Does it suit your taste?”

“What!?”

“Well, I was referring to the teddy bear of course. Cute, isn’t it?”

“It’s not cute at alllll!”

“Eh, is that so? Well, I bought that as a souvenir for Captain Milk...... after hearing that it was the cutest and how popular it was from the shop assistant at the plushie store......”

“Duh, that’s not the pointtttttttt! Arghhhhhhhhh, so now, what the heck are you after all this while!”

For some reason, Luke did not intend to seriously fight Ryner today.

Nevertheless, with a weary face from dealing with Luke’s bluffs and trickery, he said.

“...... whenever I fight with you, it’s a serious drain on both my heart and mind, and I really hate that.”

“That goes the same for me, you know. You practically surpass in me in every area, and if I made a mistake in my tactics, I’ll be dead. But then again, I don’t make mistakes.”


“Your face certainly doesn’t go well with your dislikable personality.”

“Haha. Because the only person whom I’ll be gentle to is Captain Milk.”

“Oh really, is that so?”

“Yup, that’s right.”

Looking intently at the contented expression of Luke, Ryner let out a sigh.

''It’s really tiring to talk to this guy'', he thought. When he looked at the all-knowing face that seemed to be able to see through anything and everything, he felt that whatever his reaction or response was, it would make him look like a fool.

Ryner looked up and looked at Luke.

“So, what business do you have with me? You are here to meet me right?”

Luke acknowledged.

“...... yes, that’s right. I’ve come here to meet you, the traitor Ryner Lute-san.”

“Woah. So now I’ve become a traitor of this country?”

“Yup.”

“Even though I did nothing traitorous at all?”


Luke shrugged at his query.

“....... you are a traitor if you are judged to be so, regardless of whether you truly are one or not...... it’s something you hear often in this country, isn’t it so?”

And Ryner averted his eyes from Luke and looked at the teddy bear on the ground.

That was supposed to be Milk’s souvenir.

Milk.

Milk Callaud.

A comrade and a childhood friend, like Ryner, she was raised in a terrible place where human experiments were conducted day in and day out, a place where nothing but torturous training awaited them daily --- 307 Special Facility.

The Roland then was truly terrible. Rather, until recently when Sion ascended the throne, it was a truly terrible country, a world where, a village could be wiped out just on the capriciousness of a noble, let alone being branded a traitor falsefully.

But that was no longer the case.

Ryner looked up again and said.

“Indeed, that used to be the case...... But no longer now, since Sion became king.”

Luke nodded.


“Yes. This country has changed. It has taken a large step forward. And in days to come, it will continue moving forward.”

That’s right. This country is moving forward. It will continue moving forward. But that,

“...... towards where? Where is it heading to?”

Luke smiled.

“Towards...... the light.”

“But, what if that is the wrong light?”

“The Hero King will never be wrong.”

“Is that so? Sion can be unexpectedly a dunce sometimes. The other day, when he was working an all-nighter, the sleepy-head ended up at the wrong place while going to the toilet.”

“Ahahaha. Is that for real?”

Of course it’s for real.

And it was just sometime ago. About a month ago. At a time when the landscape of this country had not yet changed.

But now, in just one month, everything had been completely transformed.

But why was that so?

“...... what in the world is Sion trying to accomplish? Is there something he is trying to get his hands on that there is a need to attain such power? Why is he in such a hurry to move northwards?”


There must be a reason. There must be an answer to all those questions.

Whether it was about the world war, or Gastark, or the unrest in the neighbouring countries, et cetera, there must be a reason behind all these.

But yet, why was Sion, who hated bloodshed and would never want to see his comrades die, a person who would be pained even at the death of his enemies, why was he doing this,

“Even if there is a reason...... isn’t he in too much of a hurry?”

At Ryner’s query, Luke looked doubtful.

“That’s why I’m looking into that.”

“...... even you guys don’t get what is going on?”

“Not really, we understand more or less what is currently transpiring. But still, there are a few things we are concerned with. His Majesty has been keeping secrets from us. Well then again, ever since I knew him, Sion-san has always liked to keep things to himself. It’s something that can’t be helped......”

Ryner thought about that.

Luke mentioned --- secrets.

''It could be that'', he thought.


During that rainy night.

There was something inside Sion, and during that time, his appearance had transformed into something strange.

That must be something that was influencing Sion’s actions. Rather, even for his imprisonment, as well as his fretful actions, there must be a relationship between those and the form he took back then, Ryner thought.

''But what the hell was that?''

Of course, he wasn’t about to look into all that within this country.

But could Luke have already,

“Are you already on to something?”

“Nope.”

Luke promptly shook his head.

“But, currently, my superior...... ahh speaking of that, it’s someone Ryner-san is acquainted with as well. Rahel Miller, having being summoned by Sion-san, is currently being updated on a number of matters.”

“Ah, I see. So Sion is letting him in on the secrets?”

“No idea. It’s not as if I was the one summoned. But still, it doesn’t really matter. Those are Sion-san’s business. There must be a good reason behind them.”


He spoke in a trusting tone.

Because he’s the Hero King, he will definitely not make a mistake.

That’s the tone he used.

Ryner said.

“As I said, what if Sion made a mistake?”

But Luke shook his head.

“Didn’t I tell you earlier? The Hero King will never make a mistake.”

“Didn’t I also tell you? He is unexpectedly a dunce at times. He has made mistakes before.”

“He makes no mistakes.”

“He does. The thing is...... he might have been deceived by somebody else altogether.”

''Like the thing inside of him.''

''Or perhaps that somebody could have been the monster who appears and disappears every now and then around him --- Lucile.''

He sighed at that thought. That’s right. There was the possibility that Sion had been deceived and someone was making use of him.


As to exactly who it was...... or what it was, he didn’t know, but it could be due to some sort of embroilment with some particular legend, a legend surrounded by Heroes’ Relics, God, Demon, and things like that. There was a possibility that he was used.

Keeping all this to himself, Ryner looked intently at Luke and continued.

“...... you know, he isn’t the kind of person you guys think he is. He is very much a clumsy fella who would try to bear every burden all by himself. He will never make a mistake? Just because he’s the Hero King? Don’t say such a stupid thing. He is a fella who frequently makes mistakes, and then he’ll be regretting it, brooding over it, continuing to put all the blame on himself. Even if he is the Hero King, he is still human. There is no way he won’t make a mis......”

At that moment,

Luke cut in and said.

“I’m very well aware of that.”

“Huh?”

“Like I said, I’m very much well aware of that. Even Sion-san does make mistakes...... we do acknowledge that. But despite that, what I meant was, that it doesn’t matter. Even for the summons this time, where Miller-senpai has gone to hear Sion-san out, it’s not like we’re going to completely believe Sion-san’s words. Well......”


Luke stopped mid-sentence, and moved away from Ryner. And once again, he propped himself up onto the desk.

“...... right from the beginning, we have not believed in everything. Regarding this country, or even the Hero King......”

Ryner frowned at Luke’s words.

“So why are you guys working for him?”

At that, Luke shrugged his shoulders as if to say it’s a no-brainer.

“Isn’t it because Sion-san is an excellent king? Anybody could see that it’s no easy task to find a person of such calibre. To be blessed with such an excellent king, it’s the great fortune of Roland.”

“So......”

Luke interrupted, and continued.

“However, whether Sion-san is an excellent king or not, and whether we can trust Sion-san or not, are two different matters. It’s possible to work under him despite not trusting him. While we constantly question whether the young king is making any mistakes. If he did, it’s up to us to reduce the number of sacrifices along the way. The Hero King’s...... subordinates had the freedom to act. But for that to happen......”


At that moment, Luke held out the documents in his hand.

“We must have accurate information. And it’s not something that is acquired one-sided through only his words. It’s not something that we get from only one source in hindsight. It must be something that is attained from every possible location, a macroscopic way of gathering information......”

At that point, unexpectedly, Luke had a embarrassed look,

“Oops, it seems like I’ve been preaching a lot to you? But, since you are about to embark on a journey...... this is something I feel a young man like you should hear...... that’s why I’ve come here specially to talk to you.”

He said.

Ryner gave him a sharp look.

''So, this is how things were. This fella doesn’t believe in anything.''

People.

Country.

The world.


And not to mention even for Sion, he’s a person to be doubted.

That’s why they were allowing Ryner to escape.

To get outside of this country.

In order to let him gather information from other countries.

Those were not the only thoughts that Ryner had had while conversing with Luke just now.

“Even if it’s Sion, could it be that he had been deceived and manipulated into doing all that?”

''Even this particular train of thought, quite possibly, was something that this fella had led me to'', he thought.

''He is constantly suspicious of everything in this world.''

“...... so what is it that you are trying to make me accomplish?”

Ryner groaned and Luke, once again, shrugged with a befuddled look.

“Nothing. We just want you to live in whichever way you want.”

“Don’t mess with me.”

“I’m not. In truth...... we have some hopes on you...... if Sion-san comes to make a huge, irreversible mistake, we are hoping you can become a force of deterrence. In order to save Sion-san, you are heading out to the world to obtain the necessary power. Excellent. That’s absolutely excellent. Even though we don’t know what is going to happen to you...... if you manage to obtain great power...... such as an army, or a country, a power that is on par with Roland, if at that point in time you still see yourself as Sion-san’s friend...... since a reassuring partner is hard to come by during a time of a great war plaguing the entire continent, isn’t it so?”


Even as Luke asked that, he continued.

“If Sion-san becomes mad and turns into a tyrant, we’ll need someone who can kill him...... well then again, when that happens, or rather before that happens, we will kill him ourselves.”

He said it in such a manner as if they could do that anytime.

But Luke shook his head. Even though Ryner had not said anything, it was if Luke could read his mind and he smiled,

“No, that’s not it. If we lay our hands on Sion-san at this stage, the ones getting killed will be us. Currently, we don’t have any way of dealing with the monster Lucile. Well, then again...... we’ll manage somehow.”

What a thing to say.

It was as if.


The manner in which he talked, it was as if he could really see through everything.

“...... the monster, would be you instead.”

Ryner said with a half-groan.

And Luke smiled again.

“Haha. I was often told that when I was a child. But, aren’t you the same as well?”

“............”

“Well, that’s enough I guess. I’ll drop it and various other things among that. I’ve probably talked too much. Then, please have this.”

As he said that, he handed the documents to him.

“These are the documents that will fill you in on the situation between Roland and Nelpha. To be honest, I was lying when I told you I consolidated these, they were from my subordinate, Lear Rinkal, who worked through the night before to assemble all these. It’s all for your sake. He’s an excellent man, and it should be easy to read.”

Ryner took the documents from him.

The cover page read,

''“Report for Ryner-kun who’s about to embark on a journey”.''

That was the title.


“...... sigh. You guys are making fun of me.”

Luke shook his head furiously.

“We are not making fun of you at all. Rather, we are pretty much fearful of you. We were pretty troubled on whether or not to let a person of such power out of the country. But we decided to let you go...... do you know the reason?”

''Of course, I do.''

“...... the threat that Sion posed is greater than myself, isn’t it? If in the event Sion goes crazy and comes after me, I will be the one to kill him. I’m an insurance against Sion running amok.”

But, Luke shook his head again.

“It’s the reverse, complete reverse. We let you go in order to leave open the possibility of not having Sion-san killed. If assuming that Sion-san was deceived and manipulated by others, and eventually makes a terrible mistake, what we can only do is to kill him. But it’s different for you right? You will hang on till the end. No matter how many sacrifices, how much hurt you’ve incurred, you will still hang on, and try to bring Sion-san back. Because you are his friend...... because you’re his best friend, like what you did on that rainy night...... you still hung on......”


Ryner was left alone in the room.

In his hands were the documents detailing the war status between Roland and Nelpha, which was what Ryner had been looking for.

He flipped the pages and started reading the contents.

''So after reading this, what is Luke telling me to do?''

He thought for an instant, then shook his head.

''No.''

''It should be after reading this, “what will I do” instead.''

That would be something which Luke could not predict, which Sion could not predict.

''What in the world can I actually accomplish?''

For his sake.

No, that’s not all.

For the sake of the world.

''What is it that I can do for the sake of this world?''

He recalled the words spoken by a youth, a cursed eye bearer, just before he died a while ago, before Ryner’s eyes.


They were the words of the youth named Lafra.

''“Those who have given up on humans, sorrowful God’s eyes bearers...... please save them.”''

''After saying that, he died.''

''But just before he died, he was smiling. He was smiling with a saddened face. It was the same as the former Ryner. It was a resigned smile that held unspeakable resentment and sorrow for being born with those cursed eyes.''

''It was then when Lafra said to Ryner.''

''“It’s because you are a kind and gentle person.”''

''He spoke of a foolish thing.''

''"That’s why...... you will definitely keep the promise. I’m happy to have met you in the end."''

Even though he was not really that kind and gentle.

Even though there was no way he could keep that promise.

Lafra still said that.

And then he died.

Ryner thought of trying to keep that promise.


For a person like him who had given up on everything, for once, he would like to try keeping that promise.

In order to do that, he tried working hard, trying to change Roland.

But in the end, this happened.

He couldn’t protect anyone.

With only a mild effort, he couldn’t save anyone.

Lafra, Pueka, Tiir, Kiefer, Milk, Ferris, Tyle, Toni, Fahl, Arua, Sion......

And above all else, he couldn’t save himself.

That had to be because his amount of commitment was not enough.

Since he thought by relying on Sion, with just some amount of effort, everything would work out fine.

To treasure himself more.

To hurt himself more.

To strengthen himself more.

There was a need to take on more responsibility unto himself.

Not the fault of anyone.


Not for the sake of anyone.

What did he actually want to achieve? What did he want to do? It was necessary to think about all this.

“I want to save Sion.”

But that was not all.

“...... people...... everything that’s before me...... I want to save everyone.”

But that was not all.

“Humans, cursed eyes bearers, adults, children, men, women, countries, the world..... anything and everything......”

All of them.

He wanted to save all that he could see.

That was what Ryner thought.

“............”

But that was dream talk.

There was probably somebody else who would say the same.

To bring happiness to others.

To prevent others from getting hurt.


Such kind of dream talk.

Of course, Ryner also thought of this as merely dream talk.

He himself had also caused hurt to others before.

Rather, there were already many who had been hurt by him.

But still.

But still, he decided to choose a different path from Sion.

Until now, he had been running away, and because of that, it had always led to him losing various things.

But this time around, he wanted to try moving forward without running away.

No matter what he has to lose.

No matter what kind of sadness he has to go through.

He wanted to try believing in himself.

Believing in the him who wanted to save someone.

Believing in the him who wanted to save Sion, the him who wanted to save the world.

This monster. For the sake of the people who believed in this monster which was capable of hurting someone just by being alive.

He wanted to try believing in himself a little more.


“............”

At that moment, as he was flipping through the documents that Luke left him, an article he remembered flashed into his mind.

That was something from before Sion ascended the throne.

It was a report that he written during the two years in which, in place of Kiefer, he had spent in prison. It was a report which he had forgotten a long time ago.

The report began like this.

 
''People hate dying.''

''They hate killing as well.''

''They don’t like making others cry, or cry themselves.''

''How would it feel to not be able to choose one’s own life?''

''What about having one’s family dead?''

''What about having one’s lover dead?''

''No one should have wished for all that, but yet why is the world smiling and desiring only such senseless sorrow?''


''I have never thought of forcefully changing anything. But if I don’t, it will be sorrowful, and neither do I want to lose any more things......''

''Such bothersome talk......''

''It’s about time to move on. All this while, I’ve averted my eyes, but if needed, I shall try looking at my own past.''

''And.''

''In order to create a world where no one loses anything.''

''A world in which that child, and Kiefer don’t have to cry, in which Tyle, Toni, and Fahl don’t have to die, in which Sion doesn’t have to brood.''

''A world in which everyone can laugh and just take afternoon naps.''

''Ryner Lute''

 
“...... but, I didn’t do anything.”

He thought.

He did not do a single thing.


That’s why this was the worst kind of report.

Lafra and Pueka were dead, and Sion was brooding alone, crying.

''Before it came to all that, I didn’t do anything.''

''But, it’s different now.''

He would not say that it was too late, but instead work harder.

In order not to continue losing anything that was precious to him.

In order not to make his dear friends, comrades, family, and people precious to him cry anymore.

He stood up.

“...... I shall leave this country.”

There were a lot of things that had to be done.

Rather.

There were a lot of things that he wanted to do.

That’s why he wanted to leave this country and become stronger, Ryner thought.

Suddenly, at that moment,

“Ah, I see I see.”

Luke, who had supposedly left the room, was peeping in,


“Huuuuuuhhhhhhhhh!? Eh? What? I thought you’ve left already!”

Luke said with an apologetic look,

“No, I’m sorry. I wanted to continue observing you for a while......”

“Don’t fool around with meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?”

Ryner yelled in his loudest voice today.

''Eh? Eh? This is a bad joke right? Just now, didn’t I say something embarassing?''

''Look, look, I, I talked about saving Sion, saving the worldd nooooooooo, since just thinking about it is enough to kill me with embarrassment I don’t want to think about it woah it’s reeally embarrrrrrrrrrassssiiiiiiingggggggg!''

Luke beamed,

“Well, I never thought Ryner-san is such a fiery and passionate person......”

“Shut uuuppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp!”

“Well well, I’m praising you and there’s no need to feel shy about it......”

“Please I beg you, stop that pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!”

“Is it really that embarrassing?”

“...... eh? Of course it is......”


“Then, I shall stop.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Ryner felt a sense of relief. Moreover, it was great that the person who had heard him was not that bully Sion, nor that willful Ferris, but this man with a gentle disposition, he thought......

But, at that moment.

“Well but, ''but, I didn’t do anything......'', that line moved even me......”

“As I thought, you are a detestable guyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!”

Ryner looked like he was about to cry.

After laughing delightfully at that, Luke said,

“Let’s get to the main topic.”

“Main topic?”

“Yes. There was something I forgot to tell you.”

“What?”

“Ryner-san intends to break into Nelpha through the Senel border gate right?”


While Ryner did not make any acknowledgement, he had indeed thought of that route.

The Senel border was narrow and was practically unusable for large armies to move through, and most important of all, the Roland troops that were currently invading Nelpha would not be present there.

However.

Luke said.

“There’s an ambush there.”

That was something he expected of course.

“...... is that at the level that even Ferris and I can’t break through?”

Luke tilted his head.

“Well, maybe? But I think it’s gonna be tough. If I were you, I won’t choose that route.”

“So it can’t be done?”

“It can’t be done.”

“...... geez, it’s such a bother. Then which way should I opt for hm?”

Ryner spread an imaginary map in his head.

There were two other paths aside from Senel, but one of them, was probably currently used by Roland to send troops into Nelpha, a pretty troublesome route.


That meant only one choice was left.

Luke spoke before him.

“By the way, Fait as well.”

“Ambush?”

“Yes.”

“Sion is serious eh?”

“Well, I’m not so sure whether it’s under the orders of His Majesty.”

“Then, whose orders is it?”

“Who knows? I haven’t really investigated who has currently undertaken the mission of pursuing you......”

Ryner, with a disgruntled look, said,

“Do your job properly duh.”

“Haha. I’m not really obligated to do so much for you.”

Luke laughed.

“But, if you can’t even overcome an obstacle of this level......”


He stopped before finishing, but Ryner knew what he wanted to say.

If he could not even overcome an obstacle of this level, he was no longer of any value to Luke.

Ryner thought.

From now on, he would be pursued by the Hero King of Roland Empire, a major power of southern Menoris.

If he couldn’t even overcome something of this level.

“............”

Ryner started weighing his situation.

Well, even if he didn’t use a border gate, he could always choose to use a wilderness path to go over a mountain to enter Nelpha territory.

That would be pretty bothersome though.

It would take him several days more if he took that alternative, compared to using a border gate.

During that time, the pursuit would still continue, and as much as possible, he would like to be in Nelpha sooner.

“Well, whichever the case, regarding the matter of whether or not we can break through a border gate, I will have to verify it with my own eyes before......”


Ryner looked up.

“Duh, there’s no one around!”

Not knowing when Luke left, he uttered without thinking.

Once again, Ryner was left alone in the dark room.

But he wasn’t about to believe that.

He had enough of having his embarrassing talk eavesdropped by someone else like what had happened earlier.

He started up to ascertain whether Luke had really left.

He opened the door and looked down the corridor.

But it seemed like Luke was gone this time......

At that moment.

Along the corridor.

From the direction which should be leading to a stairway, Luke’s head popped out,

“There’s no need to see me off, you know?”

“As I thought, you’re still here!”

“Fufufu. Since you are way too trusting of people at times, I thought I shall have you be a little bit more suspicious...... now, can you tell whether I really intend to go back or~?”


With all his heart, Ryner answered the quiz that Luke, who appeared to be having fun, had put forth.

“The hell I care, moron! Go die already! Go die now!”

“Ah haha. You are so cruel. But, I’m really going back now. It’s pointless to stop me......”

“............”

Without waiting for him to finish what he was saying, Ryner walked back into the room and shut the door.

Once he did that, he could no longer hear Luke’s voice.

This time round, he heard the sound of Luke’s footsteps walking down the stairs, but whether that was really the case or just a sham, was something Ryner didn’t know, however, he thought that it didn’t really matter anymore, and after letting out a sigh, he took a chair and sat down.

Behaving like a punk, he brought his legs up onto the desk.

When he looked at the clock hanging on the wall of the room, it was already four o’clock in the night.

“No, it should be morning instead......”

With the current season, the sun wasn’t up at such an early hour, and the sky was still dark.

But it won’t be long before daybreak.

When morning comes, they have to start their journey out of the country.


He told Ferris to wait at Asohld dango tea-house, which was just a little further north of the street from this place, at eight in the morning.

Four hours from now.

No, taking into account the time needed to reach that place, Ryner only had an hour left to gather information from within Roland.

One more hour.

He looked outside the window. And gazed out into the night.

From the window which was facing to the west, it was just the right place for him to see the castle sitting in the northwest. He looked at the streets just below the castle to the southwest.

He was gazing at the country that had raised him.

The visible scenery.

He gazed at the nauseating, visible scenery.

And incidentally, he thought

''After leaving the country today, I won’t be back for quite a while.''

No, it’s possible that I won’t be coming back at all.''

The place where Milk, Kiefer, Sion, Ferris, and his friends and comrades were, it was possible that he won’t be coming back at all, he thought.


It was different from before.

It was different from the time when he and Ferris, under the orders of Sion, left to search for the Heroes’ Relics in various countries.

Today, for Ryner, it was farewell to this country.

Though it was not because he felt any saddness in that, for some reason, he had those thoughts.

This place where he was born, where he was bullied, where he was tortured, where he was scorned, where he was treated as a taboo, this kind of country could just disappear for all he cared, but before he knew it, he had found friends and comrades.

But, all that was soon to be destroyed, and in order to restore things, he was going to embark on a journey.

A journey to save his dearest friend.

That was something awesome, he thought.

For someone who had nothing up until now, it was like his life was lit by a radiant light.

He felt that finally there was a meaning to his life.

But, still.

“............”

Ryner looked outside the window with a faint, sad smile.


“...... but still, it feels a little sad to be leaving this place, I guess.”

A lot happened here after all.

Even though most of them might be unpleasant, but it did feel like there were also many good things that happened which could displace all that.

He had never thought that he would ever experience such days. On many occasions, he thought he was going to die and that tomorrow would never come.

It was different now.

It felt sad he could not return to those good old days. He thought of how nice it would be if those happy days could continue. Why was it always the case, that only when precious things were lost, then would he realize it, and feel regretful about it.

If he had to lose them anyway, he would have indulged in them more during those days. During those days, he would have done more.

''I would have laughed more, and make others laugh more. I really like you guys. Since I was saved by you guys, I wanted to save you guys as well, even if it’s embarrassing, I would tell you guys these if time could turn back. If I knew we couldn’t go back to the way it was, I would have told you guys properly......''

He was thinking of something stupid.


Nevertheless, he could no longer go back to those days.

No matter how much he regretted it, he could not turn time back.

But wouldn’t it be alright if he could change things again tomorrow, he asked himself.

Whenever he thought about the past good times he had, it felt indeed a little.

A little sad.

And he was certain that.

“...... you feel the same way, don’t you? Sion.”

Ryner said as if he was conversing with someone.

But there was no answer.

He gazed through the window. The tall castle, for some reason gave off a different feeling from before, feeling colder, more inhuman, and further away.

Awfully far.

It might be a little difficult to reach the castle with his outstretched arms currently.<ref name="outstretched_arms">'''Outstretched Arms:''' A figurative form of speech, meaning Ryner doesn’t have the power to reach Sion yet.</ref> Stretching higher and taller, it probably won’t do if he didn’t give his best.

But, but still.

“............”


At that moment, Ryner averted his eyes from the window.

And looked at those documents received from Luke, which were propped on his lap. And turned the pages.

He wanted to use the remaining hour to go through the documents. One way or another, it would be difficult to make his move without confirming the situation in Nelpha.

Since he was still debating on whether to continue on to Nelpha, or to head towards Runa instead.

He flipped the pages. And the next page, the next page, the next page.

With an incredible speed, he scanned the words and input the information into his head.

The situation was worse than he thought.

The women and children were really being massacred.

Even though he knew the reason behind it, but still, Ryner frowned.

And then, Nelpha’s actions became weird. Just right before Nelpha’s king officially expressed his surrender, he was killed and confusion set in.

On top of that, the successor sent ten thousand troops to square off with Roland, while he promptly escaped in the meantime.

That was why currently, without the presence of the king, there was no one in authority who could raise the surrender flag for Nelpha.

In this situation, Roland would have to continue fighting until Nelpha was completely destroyed.


But at that point, a ray of hope appeared.....

“............ huh? What’s this......”

At that moment.

He said with a slight groan.

“......that rascal Luke......”

Finally, Ryner understood what Luke was trying to make him do.

It was the worst.

Luke was making him do something which could be said to be the worst kind of bother that could ever be.

This was what was in the documents.

Although the stupid prince, who killed Nelpha’s king and made his escape thereafter, had sent ten thousand troops to fight Roland, in the end, they did not meet Roland’s army at all.

A new commander had appeared and taken command of the ten thousand troops.

A person who carried the blood of the dead king.

The son of the stupid prince and his commoner mistress, a capable man who was popular among the people, had successfully persuaded the ten thousand soldiers to come under his lead, and had led them west, avoiding the conflict with Roland.


And the name of the man who had saved those ten thousand soldiers was.

“...... Toale......”

Ryner said with a weary voice.

Toale Nelphi.

He knew that name well. Just about a year ago, when Sion made a diplomatic visit to Nelpha’s capital, Ryner was also there as well and that was when he had met him. Despite his frailness, he tried to protect his little brother and sister from some stray hoodlums, and as he was getting beaten up, that was when Ryner and Ferris came to his rescue, and that was how they met one another.

That was the discriminated son of the stupid prince and his commoner mistress, but then again, being part of royalty still, he had some amount of influence and had helped Ryner in looking up various things in the library...... well, to say that he knew him well, that was actually the extent of it.

However, he had also put them up and had spent a number of days with the duo.

Toale himself, as well as with his numerous brothers and sisters.

Indeed, he looked like a promising youth with a good head, and always did whatever he could to protect his brothers and sisters while going about his own life.


He was also popular among the people in town, and they cried for him to be the next king rather than that stupid prince.

''That fella is really a popular guy.''

Thanks to that popularity, he attracted the attention of a strange ‘monster’.

At that moment, Ryner remembered the incident in which a powerful, black ‘demon’ had come to kill Toale.

“...... Miran Froaude.”

Speaking of this, that was the first time he met that man.

With a wave of his ring, he could summon shadow beasts to attack them.

That ring was probably a Hero’s Relic, and on top of that, though Ryner recognized him to be a descendent of the Holy Knight Halford Miran, that man, evidently filled with darkness, hardly looked like a descendent of the Holy Knight.

What he could only see was a demon to the core.

One who could kill people without a change in expression.

And he came to kill Toale.

It seemed like he was working for a tyrant king, and was willing to kill anyone who might hinder them.


“That fella is seriously some kind of murderous devil......”

Ryner said with a groan as he recalled all this.

He remembered his words.

From some place within the dark and deep recesses of his mind, he remembered his words.

''“You were asking me, what would be left after killing off all the hindrances...... that was what you asked right? From the bottom of my heart, I would say that after killing off all the hindrances, what’s left would be those of convenience who could serve my purpose. From the perspective of an'' '''''Alpha Stigma''''' ''bearer like you, if you kill off all the other human beings, then the world will be easier to live in for all the'' '''''Alpha Stigma''''' ''bearers...... That is the truth, isn’t it? People are animals who could only live an existence of agression. In order to eat, in order to protect their pride, in order to have a better life, in order to protect a loved one......’’

''And, in order not to be killed......''

''People fight.''

''To create a place where there are no sacrifices, where everyone can live happily...... that is a pile of bullshit. This kind of world is impossible. The world is not as naive a place as you think.''


That was what he said.

People fight in order not to be killed.

That was perhaps a statement striking true. But even so, it doesn’t mean he would accept that.

People can find someone to be of a hindrance at one time, or to be disagreeable, or they may even want someone to disappear, but in the next instant, they can also love the same person whom they hated a while ago.

If that someone were to die unexpectedly, even though they should have found him or her to be a bother, they could become lonely in the end, as a result.

That’s why, undoubtedly, there was only one of the aforementioned reasons that fit the needs of having to kill off a hindrance.

If everyone were to kill one another, in the end, oneself will become a hindrance and have to be killed.

It was obvious that the path he was seeking was wrong.

And the result was already showing.

Indeed, as a military man from the great nation of Stohl up north, his words might seem fitting...... but Stohl should have already been annihilated by Gastark.

He wondered what had happened to him after all that, but well,

“I’m pretty sure no one would miss him, so let me just forget about him.”


Ryner smiled and returned his former thoughts.

In any case, Toale, who was targetted by Froaude, is a capable man.

And finally, just as the people had wished, a opportunity had arisen for Toale to ascend the throne.

“But...... what bad timing it is.”

Toale was probably born unlucky, Ryner thought.

With regards of Toale’s situation, Ryner had no clue, but as to what Toale was thinking about, it was a different story.

Firstly,

''"Since we’re surrendering, would you forgive the ten thousand soldiers and the people?"''

That would probably be his proposal. But this would be rejected.

''Because Nelpha’s king is still that stupid prince, and not you.''

The Roland now would not just stop at this. In the future, it had plans to invade Runa, Cassla and other neighbouring countries.

They could not afford to show any mercy just because of Toale’s proposal, in order to make Nelpha an example for the rest.

''Roland is going to use its might to crush Nelpha thoroughly, and it’s not up to you to stop them.''


''If you really want to put forth a surrender, you had to take the head of your stupid prince father. And become the official king of Nelpha, only then will anyone start listening to you.''

But that was going to be something reckless.

Toale had only ten thousand troops under his command.

In comparison, the stupid prince had sixty-eight thousand soldiers protecting him.

That’s nearly seven times.

It wasn’t a battle Toale could win.

But still, he had no choice but to win. If he could not win over the hearts of the seventy thousand soldiers and have the stupid prince’s head delivered to him, Nelpha’s people would be doomed.

Therefore,

“...... so this is where I shall come in to help?”

With a bitter face, Ryner looked in the direction where Luke had left.

“...... that sly fox.”

Given his capabilities in gathering intelligence, Luke must have been aware that Ryner was acquainted with Toale.

He probably predicted that Ryner would go give Toale a hand after reading these documents.


He remembered his earlier words.

''"If you manage to obtain great power...... and so on and so forth."''

''"Such as an army...... and so on and so forth."''

''"A power that is on par with Roland...... and so on and so forth."''

''"If at that point in time you still see yourself as Sion-san’s friend...... and so on and so forth."''

He could only hear Luke telling him to go help Toale from all those words.

“Geez. He was out to use me right from the beginning.”

Ryner said with a fed-up voice.

However, as things were going, he had to go help him. If he didn’t, lots of people would die. That was something Ryner did not want.

No, even if Ryner didn’t go help him, Roland would, through some secret maneuvers, dispatch some reinforcements to help Toale with killing that stupid prince.

That was the most advantageous method to Roland.

And once Toale had served his purpose.


Toale would be killed.

“............”

After executing the stupid prince, his capable son, and Nelpha’s royalty, they would announce it to the neighbouring counties.

''Did you see the fate of Nelpha, who dare oppose Roland?''

''If you want to surrender, now’s the time.''

''If you do it now, we will spare the royal family and the nobles, and allow them to keep their status.''

''But, if you don’t surrender now......''

“''We’ll destroy you''...... to that effect?”

At that moment, Ryner flipped close the documents from Luke.

After withdrawing his legs from the desk, he folded his arms.

And he looked at the ceiling.

“...... I’m beat.”

He grumbled.


For some reason, just as he was about to leave the country, the number of things he had to do just kept piling up.

In other words, if he didn’t hurry, the homework would seem to continue accumulating.

If he tarried around any longer, Nelpha’s soldiers and people would be killed off in the meantime.

A little more bothersome than that would be if Toale’s head were to fly next.

But what should he do next after rescuing Toale?

After linking up with Toale and mobilizing his troops, he would somehow immobilize that stupid prince. It was clear up till that part.

But, what’s next?

Taking Toale along and finding a way out somehow? Would Roland overlook that?

No, it might turn out that he would need to take command of Nelpha’s troops and battle it out with Roland’s army in order to protect Toale......?

“............”

Ryner scowled at the ceiling while turning things over in his head.

Normally, that would not have been the case.

At the very least, Sion, the current Sion would not come to such a conclusion.

If all they needed was the single life of Toale, there was no necessity to incur unneeded loss of lives.

That was balance. A giant balance which human lives rode on.


Kill less to save more.

To save ten thousand lives, it’s ok to kill a thousand.

That has to be what people call a king.

Carrying the fate of a country, the lives of many people while moving forward, that has to be what a king is.

But.

“But...... will I be capable of such a thing?”

''Rather, is it okay to do such a thing?''

He asked himself.

In order to protect the peace of many, and kill off all the cursed eye bearers.

In order to protect the peace of many, Sion had become a sacrifice while weeping.

''Can I forgive all this?''

“............”

He thought otherwise.

He thought that there had to be another way.

A world where no one loses anything.

A world where no one cries.


Could such a world exist?

Of course, if he were to say such a thing, he might be laughed at. No, in actual fact, Froaude had already laughed at him.

A country without any sacrifices where everyone living in it can laugh happily.

He laughed that off as bullshit. He told him that it’s better to stop overlooking the painful experiences in reality and to stop dreaming of such naivety......

At that thought, Ryner’s face twisted in pain.

“I already have plenty of those painful experiences......”

But still, even if others were to give up on such a dream, I would still think that way.

If Sion was crying and giving up, I would still......''

“............”

Even though he said that, it was still an unpleasant bother to square off with Roland’s army.

At that thought, Ryner recalled the name of the commander of Roland’s army in Nelpha from the documents Luke gave him.

The current commanding officer of Roland’s army was Field Marshal Claugh Klom.

That red-hair muscle-brain.


But Ryner was well aware of that.

The first time when he met him, the only time when they exchanged blows, he became well aware of how bothersome his strength could pose.

Crimson Finger Claugh Klom.

That name was equivalent to that of a death god on a battlefield.

“...... a~h, am I supposed to fight that monster on the battlefield? Seriously?”

Ryner said in an unpleasant tone.

On top of that, this time round, he was not just putting his own life on the line.

He might be possibly shouldering the lives of both the soldiers of Roland under Claugh’s command, as well as the troops of Nelpha under Toale’s command.

Could he actually fight such an opponent while taking care to minimize the number of casualties at the same time?

“............”

At that thought, he recalled even more of what the documents contained. Luke was actually kind enough to have included Claugh’s profile within the documents.

The death god of battlefields.


A demon who have never lost on a battlefield.

With an overwhelming fighting prowess, and a talent in deploying troops.

Against such an opponent,

“Wha-t can I do?”

Somehow, he felt like running away.

“Ah geez, I just keep getting into these bothersome stuff.”

But, was it actually God’s grace that his opponent wasn’t Luke? He thought.

If it were Luke marshaling the army, the Ryner now, might not be a match for him.

If such a person, who possesses a level-head beyond ordinary, were to take command of the troops, with the current state of Ryner now, it wasn’t even funny to begin with.

Of course, Ryner had actually studied battle tactics and strategies for use in battlefields before, if he had to be honest with himself, it was a one-man battling...... in other words, the training was targeted to build him into a one-man army.

“So as to speak, well, it would be highly suspicious if I could actually beat that guy from those kind training......”

He said with a weak voice, and then,


“...... but if I actually encounter him on the battlefield, I can’t let myself be killed either...... then, is that the only way? I must suddenly acquire the ability to surpass him in thinking, that’s the only way right? That kind of development? Uwah, that’s impossible right?”

He was already overwhelmed with despair.

The excessive bothers of life made him want to sigh out.

“............”

At that moment, Ryner glanced at the needles of the clock and realized that it was already past five.

“...... oops.”

While thinking all those weird thoughts and making considerations, without knowing, he had already spent more than an hour.

Even though it was time for the morning sun to rise soon, due to the seemingly bad weather, the sky outside was still dark. That was why the time had passed without him realizing it.

“It’s time to move.”

He hurriedly stood up. Left the room, and climbed down the stairs. As he stepped out of the building, he looked up at the dark sky which was overcast with clouds, and thought that it did seem like it was going to rain today.

“...... geez, and it was such a long-awaited morning for us to embark on our journey. A bad omen eh.”

As he said that, without really thinking much into it despite what he just said, he started off running.


Along the way, he thought of taking a detour to a library, and borrow some books on battle tactics and strategies, but in the end gave up on that thought. Since he knew not when he would be able to return those books after leaving the country, and more importantly, he did not want to find out what Ferris was going to do to him for being late from that detour.

And then, in order not to be late and have Ferris waiting, he increased his pace.

<center>♦</center>

The time now shifts back to a while ago.

It was already time to set off if she didn’t want to arrive late at the designated place to link up with Ryner.

“Darn. Looks like I might be late.”

Ferris was running along the merchant street.

She was carrying two knapsacks and a large pouch.

By the way, the knapsack on her left contained her clothes. It contained the cute clothes with the dango logo, which were bought from the previously mentioned apparel shop.

Currently, she was wearing the same type of clothes as well.

It was much more comfortable than her usual armor, and her feet felt lighter. Except that the sword hanging from her waist seemed a little out of place......


However, strangely, whatever she wore seemed to suit her nicely.

And the knapsack on her right, as one would expect, contain Ryner’s new clothes bought from the same apparel shop.

In the beginning, the shop assistant had made some suitable selections for her, except for one piece, which was actually an underwear that only a pervert would wear, that alone was chosen by Ferris.

At that time, the female shop assistant said,

''“Ohh, that must be a present for your boyfriend! The two of you must be very close~”''

Ferris then replied,

''"Nope, it’s the complete opposite in fact. This is something I’m giving him to shame him."''

''"Uwah, so you guys go for this kind of ‘play’!?"''

''"...... ‘play’? What are you talking about?"''

''"No, no, it’s nothing. I see. Miss, for you to go on such level of offense, my most humble self feels absolutely touched. Then, what about this? I think this will look pretty good."''

''"Hoh. Then let’s have that as well."''

''"How about this as well?"''

''"Then, that one as well."''

In the end, the knapsack was filled with those pervy wear.


Perhaps, Ryner was really going to travel half-naked most of the time.

Half-naked, with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pince-nez pince-nez] glasses.

She started imagining the look of despair on Ryner’s face.

“...... fuffu. I’m looking forward to it.”

She laughed expressionlessly while running.

Well, actually she did buy a few pieces of normal clothing for Ryner, which was stowed into the large pouch, but that was a secret. She would make him go half-naked, and only revealed those to him at the very end when he starts crying.

In any case.

With an incredible speed, she passed through the merchant street, and the residence area, and got onto the highway.

However, she got off the highway immediately.

Even though this path would lead straight to the rendezvous location, Asohld dango tea-house, she couldn’t take that direct path.

Both yesterday and today, as she was going around the town, she saw groups of pursuers who were going round searching for Ryner.

Even though Ferris was not in the wanted list yet, which was why she had nobody coming after her, things might have changed by now.


Even if this wasn’t so, if she was tailed, they would be able to get hold of Ryner’s location, and this could become a bother.

That’s why she got off the highway, and verified whether there was anybody following behind her.

“......mm. It seems okay.”

On saying that, she started relaxing her pace a little.

From now on, she would be heading towards the meeting place without using the unobstructed highway, but before that.

“...... I’m pretty sure it’s around this area.”

She said.

Last night, she found Iris taking a stroll on the streets, and gave her some orders.

Tomorrow, Ferris would be embarking on a journey.

After Ferris and Ryner had gotten out of the country, once things cool down, Iris was supposed to bring Arua and Kuku along and follow behind them.

And tomorrow, before Ferris leaves, she is to prepare eight knapsacks of dango and pass them to her at somewhere a little off the highway leading northwards.

She was at that place where she’s going to receive her dango,


“...... it should be around this area.”

She halted as she said that.

She looked around her surroundings.

It was different from the orderly highway, and even though it was just a small distance away from the main path, it looked as if this was already a complete wilderness area.

The area had a dense growth of wild grass that was even taller than Ferris, and it was an area which was difficult to walk through.

That’s why she intended to head to the rendezvous point through these grass to avoid discovery by any pursuers.

“...... I can’t seem to find Iris among all these thick grass.”

She scanned her surroundings.

And searched for Iris’s presence.

But nothing.

“Iris, are you here?”

She called out, but as she thought,

“......”

There was no reply.


“...... hm. She hasn’t arrived yet?”

She pushed through the grass and moved further up.

“Iris, are you here?”

Then, from among the grass,

“Nee-sama!”

Iris called out.

Ferris turned her head in that direction.

And saw her sister. Iris was there within the grass.

With blond hair resembling that of Ferris, and fair smooth skin. While she had a childish face, her features were unbelievably perfect. She was wearing a dress with lots of frills, and on her back was a small red backpack, her usual outfit.

That Iris,

“............”

Iris was covered in blood, and hanging upside down with her feet grabbed.

Both her hands and feet were bounded as well.

“...... nee-sama, don’t come!”


Iris cried out with a face that looked like she was about to cry.

And Ferris.

“............”

Ferris saw the man who was grabbing her feet.

With long flowing, pitch-black hair, and cold deep blue eyes.

And the man bore a dark smile resembling that of a devil.

That man was familiar to Ferris.

''If I remember correctly, he is called Froaude......''

''But, why is he here.''

''Why did Iris have those eyes.''

''Why.''

''What in the world......''

“...... bastard, what the hell did you do to Iris, ehhhhhhhhhhh!”

She drew her sword. And advanced towards Froaude with an unbelievable speed.

It was a speed that could not be followed by the naked eye.

One could say that it’s god speed.


There was no normal human being who would be able to stop her sword.

However, Froaude just carried a dark smile.

“...... you drew a sword in a frenzy...... A foolish thing to do. You should know very well that you can’t beat me alone.”

And he waved his hand. His right hand which was adorned with a black ring.

And he murmured softly.

“...... let there, be darkness.”

In an flash.

The shadow of Froaude on the ground expanded and became distorted.

And out came shadow beasts, flying out from the shadow.

Black-colored monsters that looked like wolves.

One of them flew towards Ferris.

“Ku.”

She swung her sword at it.

But she didn’t cut it down.

The wolf, with its sharp teeth, bit on her sword and stopped it.


Froaude shrugged his shoulders.

“Oops, seems like you’ve gotten weaker since the time we met? The you from before would have been able to readily cut down one or two of those '''Kagerou (Shadow Wolves)'''...... or is it that you have become flustered from this?”

As he said that, he raised his left hand.

The left hand that was grabbing Iris.

Iris was crying. Since young, she had hardly shown any tears and was perpetually smiling, showing expressions which Ferris was sometimes envious of, that very sister of hers was sniffing and sobbing right now.

“...... bastard.”

Ferris withdrew her sword once, took a step backwards, and swung. Her swing was sharper and faster than before.

The two wolves were sliced apart and disappeared.

But the next bunch of shadows had already appeared. Three of those wolves were circling Iris and Froaude.

“............”


Ferris stared at them and concentrated.

If she let her guard down, she would be killed.

This fella. The shadows created by this fella were abnormally strong.

The first time when she fought this guy, she couldn’t touch him at all. At that time, Ryner was with her, and after finding his weakness they managed to drive him off, now, could she rescue Iris from his hands all by herself?

“............”

It would be difficult, she thought.

But it was not impossible, she felt.

Since that time, her skills had reached another notch.

Furthermore, she was aware that the shadows were conjured using that black ring he was wearing.

In the space after she cut down all the shadows, she shall slice off that finger where the ring was adorned.

“...... no.”

At that moment, she looked at the bloody form of Iris. Her forehead was cut, shoulders too, legs too...... and more seriously, there was blood dripping from her back..


She understood just by looking at that. Froaude was toying with Iris while she tried to escape. Her back must be ridden with bite wounds from the shadow wolves.

Iris shook in fear. Ferris had never seen her sister with such an expression.

Her sister. Someone whom she has cherished dearly since young,

“............”

This was not the end.

Ferris thought.

His arm.

She shall sever that arm with the ring.

She adopted a low sword stance. She steeled her nerves, and brought forth the highest amount of concentration towards the tip of her sword.

At that moment, Iris yelled.

“Don’t! Nee-sama, don’t!”

“............”

“You have to get out of here. This guy is incredibly strong beyond what we’ve ever se......”

Ferris interrupted her mid-sentence and said.

“...... I’ve seen it before. That’s why there is no need to worry. I’m coming to rescue you in a second.”


Froaude laughed again.

“What beautiful sisterly love...... is that what I should say? But all that is a foolish struggle.”

“............”

Ferris did not answer. She focused all her strength towards the tip, one single point, of her sword.

Froaude continued.

“…... as I thought, you alone don’t pose much of a threat to me. You drew your sword in a frenzy, and chose to fight a battle in which you have no chance of winning...... Ryner-san won’t do such a thing right?”

“............”

She did not answer. ''A chance of winning does exist. This guy is making light of me, if he thinks I’m the same as before, I shall let him taste pain.''

''In a flash, I will cut off that arm and wipe that smirk off your face.''

She thought.

And her preparations were complete.

At that moment, Froaude said.

“Now, withdraw your sword and stand down. I don’t really enjoy wasting unnecessary time on such trivialities......”


And at that moment.

“Then, I shall put an end to your time here.”

Ferris’s body launched forward.

And that was at a speed many times faster than before.

The shadow wolves reacted and closed in on her, but she started cutting them down immediately.

One.

On top of that, another two of them attacked her simultaneously, one of which she dodged, and the other she cut down and continued advancing forward.

The one she had dodged was once again coming after her from behind, but she ignored that.

It was fine as long as it couldn’t catch up.

Advancing more swiftly, swinging more sharply.

And without getting caught by the enemy’s attacks, taking aim at Froaude’s arm......

“............”

Sharply, swiftly.

Delivering the sword blow to his arm.

In an instant.


“...... gah.”

That muffled cry came from Ferris instead.

The sword never reached Froaude.

A giant black snake appeared from the shadow below Froaude and bit into her right leg.

With razor sharp teeth, it was biting deep into her thigh.

Because of that sudden intense pain, the movement of her sword became dull.

At the same time, from behind her, the wolf bit into her left arm.

“............”

Her face twisted in agony, unable to make a sound from the agonizing pain.

But still, even so, she didn’t stop.

With her sword arm still free, and her left leg which was unhindered, she took a stride forward, and slashed at Froaude......

That man who was wearing a thin, evil smile before all this was slightly taken aback,

“...... you nearly got me. If you continue to move in that state though, your limbs might get torn off.”

But Ferris did not mind. She only glared at the man in front of her,


“...... I’ll kill you.”

“But, you can’t do it.”

He shook his ring. As he did that, another snake came out of the shadow and bit her left leg.

“Nee-sama!?”

Iris cried out.

But, she could not respond to that. Another shadow wolf flew out of the shadow and bit into her remaining free right arm.

“............”

A tearing sound was heard, and blood started spurting out.

At that instant, she almost lost consciousness from the intense pain.

Her sword seemed about to fall to the ground.

But she shook her head, and was determined to endure the pain. If she passed out here, she wouldn’t be able to save Iris.

“............ ku.”

She raised her arm.

To cut off Froaude’s head......


With slow movements, she raised her sword arm.

And Iris began,

“...... please don’t...... it’s enough! It’s enough so please stop moving Nee-sama!”

She hollered.

But Ferris only smiled faintly at her. ''I’ll be fine, so don’t make such a worried face'', she seemed to say. ''When have you ever seen Nee-sama lose to anyone before? Never, isn’t it? It’s going to be alright this time round as well, so just wait there'', she wanted to say.

But, no sound came from her. Her strength started ebbing away from her, from the arm that was attempting to raise her sword......

Iris was crying. With tears flowing, she screamed in a shaking voice.

“Please, please stop. If you continue to move...... your arm...... Nee-sama’s arm would be to......”

Her arm, would be torn into pieces.

She knew that of course. But, she still tried to raise her arm. Somehow, she had to save Iris......

But, at that moment, Froaude hoisted Iris up,

“Do you really want to save her so much? Then, I shall first......”


At that moment, he started waving the hand with the ring.

“...... let there......”

He intended to kill her.

He intended to kill Iris.

In order to stop him, Ferris tried lifting her arm. Gripping her sword, lifting her arm. But, she failed. Her arm did not move.

''What should I do?''

''What can I do?''

“............”

But there was nothing she could do.

“...... no.”

''Someone.''

''Someone save us.''

She yelled from her heart.

''Please, someone save us.''

''Someone!?''


“............”

While she was wishing for that, an unbelievable thing happened.

It was if her prayers were answered.

From the edge of her sight, she could see a lone man running on the highway.

That was a man she knew well.

Always having a sleepy look.

Always unmotivated.

Languidly passing everyday, but at times, this sort of thing does happen.

At the time when she wished for.

At the time when she wished to be rescued, for some reason, he appeared near her, and towards here......

Towards here......

“...... Ry, Ryner.”

She tried saying.

Calling out his name.

Calling out the name of her partner.


“............”

However.

Before she could do that, Froaude had already covered her mouth with his hand.

“...... oops...... I can’t allow that. I’ve gone out of the way, doing my best, to secure Ryner-san’s weakness, if we let him see us in this situation, it might become problematic. He, unlike you, might be troublesome to deal with......”

Despite her attempts, Ferris could not move her mouth against the force exerted from that delicate hand.

Froaude continued.

“...... that’s right. Even if both of you are here, I’m still confident of my victory. But yet, if he interferes, he could turn things around. Even though his strength should be at the same level as yours, but if you join forces with him, there is a chance that I could be defeated. Inexplicable right? If he uses you, a clear advantageous situation to turn things around could be created. It’s like as if he is cloaked in some strange magic...... is it because he is the man known as '''The Greatest Magician of Roland'''?”

But she didn’t hear anything he said.

[[Image:DDnYnD v01 319.jpg|thumb]]

She could only gaze after Ryner’s figure.

The figure of Ryner that was getting further and further away.

''Idiot, why didn’t you turn around'', Ferris thought. ''I’m right here, why didn’t you turn around and look this way'', she thought.

“............”

But Ryner seemed to be running with a furor that he’d never had, and had not noticed any of the ongoings close by.

And she was well aware of why he was running so furiously. In order not to be late for the rendezvous. In order not to let Ferris wait, that was why he was running so furiously.

“............”

She gazed at that.

That was the only thing she could do.

After Ryner disappeared into the distance, Froaude removed his hand.

“...... for a moment, you saw a foolish dream, didn’t you? Thinking that there might still be a way out of this.”

He said in a delightful voice.

Ferris lifted her head and glared at Froaude.

“....... I’ll definitely kill you later.”


“Haha.”

“...... Ryner will come. After seeing...... after seeing the state we are in, he won’t keep quiet about it.”

“He’s already long gone.”

“Even so, he’ll come. You...... you’re going to be killed......”

At those words, Froaude, with a jubilant smile, said.

“Ooh. That’s scary. But he won’t be able to kill me. Because you...... you will become a hindrance to him......”

He waved his hand again and continued.

“In order to avoid wounding you, the magician shall fall. ''Don’t take away my precious things'', he’ll shout out, and become incapable of using his magic. He is indeed someone with an intelligent and lucid mind, and can be an unusually tough opponent to fight...... but still, he is trash who should not be a source of distress to my master.”

He lifted his hand with the black ring.

“...... when friends are captured, his heart wavers. When friends are wounded, he becomes unable to advance forward. When friends are killed...... he weeps. That weakness is the problem, isn’t it? Weak. Too weak. That level of trash...... my master......”


And he said.

“He is not worthy of being the friend of Hero King Sion Astal.”

To those words.

Ferris, for an instant, did not comprehend them at all.

Her mind went blank from the incomprehension.

''What did this guy just say?''

''This guy.''

“...... don’t tell me...... don’t tell me that Sion...... Sion is your......”

Froaude answered promptly.

“...... this is also on his orders.”

And he waved his hand.

He drew an arc with the black ring.

As he did that, darkness.

At Froaude’s feet, the darkness expanded again and ten beasts appeared.

Iris was......

“Wait, stop!!”


Ferris yelled.

She twisted her body, her limbs seemingly about to be torn apart, after enduring the intense pain from that,

“Stoppp!!”

Ferris hollered.

Pleadingly.

Seeking help.

''Please save us.''

''Somone, please save us'', she yelled.

But he did not stop.

The scene before her became increasingly dreadful.

“What is this......”

She was confused.

Unable to think of anything else, she was in a state of confusion.

“What the hell is happening here?”

Iris dying. Being killed. And the orders were from Sion.

''What’s this.''


''What the hell is this.''

''I don’t get it. What should I do?''

''What can I do?''

She felt a strong sense of loneliness.

The world...... she felt that the world was a terrible place.

It was the same as that day.

That day from two weeks ago.

Ryner went missing all of a sudden, and Sion became weird.

It was a different world from what she knew before, as if it had undergone a complete transformation.

Unsettling, fearful, shivering everyday.

But all that should have ended.

It should already have ended.

Because she found him.

Because she found what she was looking for.

In that prison.

Her light --- that sleepy-headed languid-looking light, she should already have found that.


“Why...... why didn’t you come save me! Ryner! I’m right here! Come quickly!”

She screamed.

She screamed with desperation, attempting to send her calls to the already distant Ryner.

“Come save us, Ryner!!”

However.

What was reflected in her eyes was not light, but darkness.

Froaude laughed.

His thin devilish red lips, parted widely.

“............”

In that instant.

 
Ferris gave off a throat-tearing shriek.

 
<center>♦</center>

 

Somewhat north of that location, at the place known as Asohld dango tea-house.

Ryner was waiting alone.

As it was still early, the shop was still closed. If it were the dango god Ferris, she might have gotten the shop to open, but as for him, he couldn’t do anything about it.

“...... no place to sit.”

Speaking in a moronic voice, he turned his head around.

The time now should be eight-thirty.

Somehow, he managed to reach the place five minutes before the appointed time, ''a~h, now she won’t be able to complain about anything'', was what he thought, but now it was already way past thirty minutes from the appointed time.

“...... that gal, hurry up and get here......”

He gave a knock to his tired waist. Then stretched himself, and bent himself all the way backwards.

That was all he did.

There was nothing else to do.

It seemed like Ferris still had not arrived yet.


“...... did I make a mistake with the time?”

He recalled his conversation with Ferris the morning before, and verified that the appointed time was indeed eight.

''Then, why isn’t she here yet?''

''Don’t tell me something had.....''

“............”

At that moment.

Drops of water fell onto his face.

“Huh?”

He looked up into the sky and the sky was already completely dark.

Drops of water just kept falling.

“...... woah, this is the worst.”

Ryner frantically tried to take shelter at the edge of the eaves of the shop.

“...... geez, spare me please...... we are going to embark on a journey hereon. At the very least, give us a pleasant weather when we set off eh?”

Even though he said that, his wishes were unanswered and the rain just got increasingly heavier.


Ryner sighed softly and looked in the direction of the highway again.

The ground was wet from the falling rain.

Ryner continued looking in that direction.

The rain looked like it was going get even heavier. It might be quite tiresome to leave the country today. After Ferris arrives, he plans to find a place to put up at until the rain stops before moving out again.

“............”

While pondering, he absentmindedly gazed at the scenery before him, which had its visibility distance gradually reduced due to the rain.

Ferris should be here by now, but yet there was no sign of her.

Lightning flashed across the sky.

The rain got even heavier.

He looked at the sky, ''is this for real'', he thought, letting out another sigh.

To walk through this rain would be tough.

He looked at the highway again. In the direction of Roland’s capital.

With his sight set in the direction where Ferris should be coming from, he said.

“...... she’ll be kind of pitiful if she’s totally drenched.”


The sky flashed again, followed by a thundering boom.

It was if the sky was mad about something.

And at that moment.

“...... yner!”

He seemed to hear a voice from afar.

Because of the rain, it was pretty much obscured.

“...... Ryner.”

He could hear it this time.

His name was been called.

“...... finally the princess has arrived?”

As he said that, he looked at the highway. But, there was no Ferris.

But still, once again.

“...... Ryner-tteba!” <ref name="tteba">'''tteba:''' A particle which in this context, indicates emotional closeness.</ref>

He was called.

But that voice, instead of coming from the south, was coming from the north.

“Eh?”


Ryner turned around.

Standing there, was not Ferris --- but another girl.

In the heavy downpour.

Was the smiling face of a girl.

Even though she was smiling, for some reason, she looked like she was about to cry at the same time.

Looking at that girl, Ryner, with a surprised voice, said.

“...... Kiefer.”

And,

Kiefer came running towards here.

“............”

And embraced Ryner tightly.
<noinclude>
 
----

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>
 
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|-
| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol1|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Afterword|Afterword]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Chapter 3

2011-11-18T20:07:01Z

Error: /* Chapter 3 - The Moment When Darkness Completely Took Over */

==Chapter 3 - The Moment When Darkness Completely Took Over==


Killing everyone.

Killing everyone.

As long as it was an enemy, even if it’s women or children, they shall be killed with no mercy.

“......”

That was how it turned out in the end.

He thought.

Just as he previously thought.

Sion Astal became the king, and that was how it turned out in the end.

“......”

That was what Lieutenant General Milan Froaude thought.

With beautiful raven-black hair. With a slender and delicate figure. And wearing a rare black ring on his long slender fingers.


Bearing a face with surprisingly well-ordered features, he possesses a gleaming pair of dark blue eyes that speaks of an unyielding cold darkness.

Those deep, dark-colored eyes seem to despise all they see, making them look like a curse was buried within them.

With those sharp-looking thin pupils of his, he was currently deep in thought on the current state of affairs of this country.

The perfect country that was created by the Hero King Sion Astal.

A beacon of light arising from the former messed-up Roland to guide this country.

He was the one who could reign supreme over this country, or rather, reign supreme over the whole world, that was what Froaude thought.

And he thought that he would be the one to bear upon himself all the necessary darkness in order to make this a reality.

However.

That was no longer necessary.

''His Majesty...... in spite of having taken in the darkness of this entire world, has yet to lose his brilliance.''

Killing women.

Killing children.

Resuming the human experiments.

Purging the rebellious nobles.

There was no longer anyone who could go against him or this country.


From another viewpoint, he was a tyrant.

A level of dictatorship that was unmatched previously. He already possesses a level of power that could only be acquired through losing himself.

He already possesses a level of power that can strike fear into the hearts of everyone.

And yet.

And yet, he continued on with the identity of a hero king.

A hero king whom, his people were madly in love with, whom his subordinates were cheering on, and whom even those soldiers created from the human experiments had found a reason to die for, Sion Astal.

That was some unbelievable power.

Charisma.

Popularity.

Reputation.

Fame.

All of these became his 'allies'.

A king born with these qualities.

A king born with the ability to carry both humongous levels of light and darkness.

From a dark corner, Sion Astal emitted a piercing gaze that seemed to be able to smash away all obstacles right in front of him, wherever he looked.


That’s why everyone could adore him, and follow him in his madness.

The people.

The country.

The world.

That’s why.

“...... that’s why I......”

He gazed outside the window.

At the corridor that led towards the throne room, the light from the morning sun was streaming in through the window.

It was as if it was shining on the man who was waiting for him further up front, shining on the future of this country.

Well.

“...... His Majesty may not think so though.”

As he said that, a thin cold smile floated on Froaude’s lips.

Because he, Sion Astal, was a troubled king.

The invasion of Nelpha must have caused him a tremendous amount of grief. One who looked upon his face could tell.


But that was just a feeling of pain in his heart.

It would not stop him from moving forward.

In spite of the pain in his heart, his determination would not waver.

The massacre of Nelpha was a thing of necessity. Knowing that, if he were a person who was unable to take on an absolute and convicted decision, he would not have been chosen by Froaude as his liege.

Especially ever since the obstacle Ryner Lute was removed, the determination of Sion Astal to move forward became even stronger. As expected, that '''Alpha Stigma''' monster was a cancer to Sion.

But that was removed.

With determination, Sion moved forward.

“......”

Froaude stopped there.

He had come to the end of the corridor, and was standing in front of the huge, spacious throne room. He bowed his head.

And inside the room.

The man sitting on the throne that could only be seated by the very king of this country, nodded.


“You’ve come.”

“Yes.”

Froaude raised his head. In front of him was the Hero King.

Bearing silver hair with a regal feel, and golden eyes that speak of an indomitable spirit which seemed to mesmerize all who look into them.

That light.

Froaude thought.

''That light had the power to bury the deep darkness within me......''

That was what he thought.

Froaude took a few steps forward and stood just before Sion, then bowed his head again.

“...... you seem to be in great spirits, Your Majesty.”

Sion shrugged his shoulders.

“Hardly.”

Froaude smiled faintly.

“I know.”

“Then, you said that in spite of knowing?”


“Yes.”

“A detestable person indeed.”

“That’s my role......”

“Haha. Is that something that one would say of himself?”

Froaude smiled again. But that was a terribly cold smile.

“And......”

Froaude said.

“I heard you called for me?”

Sion nodded.

“There’s something I want to ask of you.”

“Something you want to ask of me?”

At that moment, Froaude searched through his mind in an instant. What was it that Sion wanted to ask of him?

If it’s about the invasion of Nelpha, it had already been entrusted to the Field Marshal of this country, Claugh Klom. And if he was the one being entrusted, the task would no doubt be completed without any mishaps. He was a capable man. Hence it should not have anything to do with the issue on Nelpha, he thought.

[[Image:DDnYnD v01 175.jpg|thumb]]

Then, was it to discuss with him about plans for invading Runa? It should also be about time to think about the strategy with regards to Cassla, located to the north of this southernmost part of the continent.

Or could it be about the disposal of the remaining resisting puny group of nobles hidden in the shadows.

Or was it about the movements of the Gastark Empire, which is expanding southwards at an alarming rate.

But for each and every one of them, the appropriate countermeasures were already in progress.

If so,

“......”

Froaude stopped the flow of his thoughts and looked at the face of his king.

The troubled expression of his king, and he.

“...... is this about Ryner Lute?”

Sion nodded.

“Yes. With the aid of his comrade, he broke out of prison and escaped.”

“I see.”

“And on top of that, Miller has been interfering with me.”


Froaude smiled.

“That’s because Major Miller has yet to know of the thing inside of Your Majesty.”

Well actually, Froaude was originally also not aware of that immense amount of power squirming inside of Sion.

But that was something to be expected.

That was a power that a king needed.

Sion Astal was a chosen one, and that’s why he was conferred with such a power.

That day.

That day which Sion showed it to Froaude.

And he understood it immediately.

The responsibility, the light, and the darkness that Sion was carrying was greater than what he had thought.

But this king still moved forward.

In order to change the world.

Froaude continued.

“So, for Ryner Lute......”

“Apprehend him.”


“...... on what grounds?”

“A fugitive traitor of the country.”

“Then shall I kill him?”

Sion’s expression did not change. But he could see that his heart was wavering.

Ryner Lute.

Ryner Lute. Ryner Lute. Ryner Lute.

Just as he thought, that man was a cancer. That was what Froaude thought.

Sion said.

“...... ah. It’s okay to kill him. But the best is to capture him alive.”

And Froaude,

“...... understood.”

He acknowledged.

He turned around after that.

“...... in that case, I’ll be on my way.”

He left the throne room.

Ryner Lute.


He was also, perhaps, a chosen one.

For him to bring this amount of distress to the hero king.

But, each and every person has a role to play in the grand scheme of this world.

Sion is one who will change the world.

And.

As food, as fodder, Ryner is one who will become a sacrifice.

It would be terribly troublesome for the fodder to move freely on his own.

After leaving the throne room, Froaude stood in the corridor for a while, and murmured.

“Now, what is the best course of action?”

To kill Ryner Lute.

Or to capture him alive.

While undertaking that mission, he might uncover some new leads.

''What in the world is Sion Astal?''

''And what will we bring about to this world?''

The investigation into those questions were mostly already underway.

And quite possibly, Major Rahel Miller must also have been gathering information regarding these matters. And because he must have reached the limits on what he could discover, he tried letting Ryner escape.


He recalled back to what Sion said a while ago.

''“With the aid of his comrade, he broke out of prison and escaped.”''

The comrade he was referring to was probably that woman known as Ferris.

And it was probably Miller who leaked Ryner’s whereabouts to her. Miller was making efforts in trying to discover Sion’s secret.

“...... such a roundabout manner was really unnecessary.”

Froaude smiled.

If he really wanted to know, he could just ask Sion. Since there was no longer any need to hide it anymore. But then again, Rahel Miller and his subordinate, Luke Stokkart, are the type of people who would cover up their tracks, and do things covertly. It was this shrewdness of theirs that put Sion in a favorable position to start the revolution to revive this country.

They are excellent men. Men of exceptional abilities.

However, this time round, what they did was indeed a little too indirect, Froaude thought.

Even without doing that.

“...... all they had to do was to ask. Isn’t that right? Lucile Eris-san.”


He murmured in a very soft voice that could hardly be heard by even someone who were to stand just beside him.

On saying that.

“...... that’s right.”

A voice replied.

And the voice came from right in front of him. In the center of the corridor right before him, where there was nothing to be seen.

There he was.

Invisible to the eye, there he was.

“......”

The monster.

Froaude smiled.

“Finally, we meet.”

“I’ve always been watching you though.”

“I see.”

“You are a splendid person. Even when Sion’s heart starts to waver, you will undoubtedly guide him back to his rightful path.”


Froaude shook his head.

“You flatter me too much. His Majesty...... even if I’m not around, he will definitely get back onto his rightful path and move forward.”

“Ah, you’re right. But even so, you’ve aided him quite a lot, haven’t you? You’ve said it right at the start, didn’t you? The time when you and Sion first met......”

''I’ll shoulder your darkness.''

That was what he said.

However, the Sion now seemed to be able to manage both sides of the light and darkness, without losing his brilliance.

Of course, that also meant that it had become much easier for Froaude to carry out his tasks but.

But Lucile said.

“From hereon, you will still continue to move forward right?”

Froaude laughed.

“You must be referring to how I’m going to deal with Ryner Lute, isn’t it?”

Lucile did not reply. However, Froaude felt his acknowledgement.

He continued.


“His Majesty said to either kill or capture Ryner. But are you...... Duke Eris, wishing for something else altogether?”

There was no response.

There was no sign of him.

It was indeed hard to communicate with a monster, Froaude smiled wryly. He put up with it and continued.

“That is of course something along the same line of what I was thinking. Since whenever it comes to the matter of that '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer, His Majesty’s sensibility gets clouded.”

That’s right. Whenever it came to the matter of dealing with Ryner Lute, Sion could never seem to think rationally.

Was it indeed because he was special in some way?

It was a history repeating itself since ancient times.

The hero and the sacrifice.

Was it due to the circumstances binding the light and the sad demon?

That was something that Froaude could not understand. Rather, there was no real need for him to understand. What he needed to do was just what he thought was necessary and required, well rather, at times something that goes beyond that, and then move forward.


Sion wished to kill Ryner Lute. In order to prevent him from becoming his fodder. In order to prevent him from becoming a sacrifice.

There was of course another method. To kill Ryner Lute, and to once again depend on another '''Alpha Stigma''', this was another possibility.

If Ryner Lute could be captured alive, it was also possible to conduct research on him to find a way to save him.

And after saving him, he could substitute another '''Alpha Stigma''' for him. That was also possible.

But by doing any of those, he would end up going through a large detour.

''If that’s the case, then how about allowing Ryner Lute to escape to other countries?''

''In that situation, His Majesty would not be able to save him.''

If he could not be saved.

If they were far apart from each other, and without a convenient way to save him, the time would come one day when everything ends.

Sion will devour Ryner and attain his true form.

But.

But that would be still too condoning of him.


Froaude thought.

There were still quite a number of major unknowns present. If assuming Ryner got killed by someone else in the meantime, the plan would fail.

If assuming Ryner discovers something that would allow him to pull Sion out of his current state, the plan would fail.

And if assuming Ryner......

“......”

Well, even though the chance of this happening is one in a million, it’s not completely impossible for him to gather strong allies to pose a threat against Sion Astal, or rather, against the entire Roland Empire.

All of that would be for the sake of saving Sion, and not for satisfying his own ego, which will make it not impossible for him to become a great threat.

To see him as not someone who was not just canon fodder for Sion, not just a sacrifice but something beyond that, Froaude shall not let him foil the plan.

Hence,


“...... I shall capture Ryner Lute.”

“I see.”

Lucile answered.

But without skipping a beat, Froaude continued.

“And I shall imprison him in some place beyond His Majesty’s sight, until that day comes. I shall cut his tongue off, and chop off his limbs.”

Definitely.

Definitely in such a situation, Ryner would not be able to interfere with Sion anymore.

“It would be fine if his life is spared, isn’t it?”

Froaude asked and Lucile replied.

“Yes. As long as he is alive, with his cursed eyes. He can still become the sacrifice in that state.”

“If so, he won’t need anything below his head.”

“You do say some scary things.”

But in response to Lucile’s words, ''I won’t want to hear that coming from you, a monster from which I could only feel an aura of death'', Froaude thought.


Even though he did not say it aloud, his thoughts must have reached Lucile.

Lucile said.

“...... fufu. Am I scary?”

“Yes. You are scary indeed.”

Froaude answered honestly.

“Because you might get killed?”

“No, since the day I was born, I have never feared death.”

“...... then what do you fear of me?”

Froaude laughed at that question. He looked intently at the empty space in front of him and laughed coldly.

“What I fear is your weakness. Duke Lucile Eris. The you who has bestowed His Majesty his influence...... the you who possesses an absolute power...... the thing I really feared most...... is a weakness in you.”

“Horh?”

Lucile made a questioning sound as his curiosity was slightly aroused.


But Froaude thought that it was meaningless to continue this discussion. Whatever the case, in the end, there were too many things to predict, and some form of uncertainties are sure to exist. Knowing all that, if one could not have the last laugh, one could not claim the ultimate victory.

And Froaude, and Sion, intend to ultimately bring victory to this Roland.

No matter what the obstacles are.

Whether it is Ryner Lute, or Gastark, or even if this Lucile Eris is the one to interfere.

''In the end, we will have the last laugh.''

Hero King Sion Astal shall rule over the whole of this Menoris continent, and Roland shall have the last laugh.

Well, but until then.

“...... it has been a pretty long conversation. If I spend too much time here, the traitor will get away.”

Until then, this person...... this monster Lucile Eris, also has a usable value.

At the same time, in order to be prepared to treat him as an enemy, it is necessary to find a way to kill him.

The way to kill this monster who sees everything from within Roland.

“I shall take my leave here.”


Froaude started walking.

Forward.

In the direction from which Lucile’s voice resounded.

And in an instant, a cold killing intent was felt from behind him, but Froaude’s expression did not change.

Since he was not fearful of death anyway.

He continued walking forward.

“......”

Lucile did not say anything. But, he could feel it. He was not putting on a guard against Froaude. That’s to be expected of course. Towards such an insanely powerful monster, Froaude could not even come close to scratching him. He was no way a match for Lucile. That was what he could feel. As long as he continued to remain useful around the monster, it would be fine, that was all he could think of.

But.

“......”

That was fine.

That was no need for Lucile to be wary.


There was no need for him to put his guard on.

For him to think of Froaude as a worthless existence, that was fine in Froaude’s perspective.

While creeping around in the dark like a poisonous snake, there was no need for the monster to notice his fangs right now.

Anyway, in the end.

Since in the end, he would discover his fangs with a certain realization.

“......”

Without looking back, a smile floated on Froaude’s lips. With that smile, he revealed his white teeth for just an instant. A smile that was cold, like that of a devil.

At least for now, as long as he didn’t realize......

“......”

All of a sudden.

“...... you got it all wrong. Even I, am afraid of a human like you.”

From behind Froaude, Lucile whispered close to his ear. At a distance where he could almost touch him.

On the spur of moment, Froaude turned towards that direction.


As he did that, right in front of him, was a strikingly beautiful face of a man with blond hair. That monster, with a smile, was peering at Froaude.

He was peering into his heart.

He understood with just a single glimpse.

This man standing beside him did not seem like an untouchable apparition.

He looked nothing like a insanely powerful monster.

But still, those were his words. In a mocking manner. As if to ridicule him.

“That’s why I am putting my guard on. Against your strength. Against your fangs. Against your poison.”

Even though he said it lightly, he was serious.

Froaude seemed to shake at that.

It seemed like he was shaking from despair.

Even while he possesses such a level of power, there was no sign of haughtiness. There was no sign of arrogance. If so, what should he do? Perhaps, there was really no weakness attached to him.

If so, what should he do?

Froaude seemed to be shaking.

“......”


He seemed to be shaking.

However, that shaking certainly did not stem from fear.

It was from delight.

A feeling of delight from seeing a darkness that was deeper and darker than that of his.

Such a monster.

Such an incredibe monster.

“......”

''Is he going to kill me......''

As that thought floated in his mind, he appeared to shake with an uncontrollable sheer delight.

“...... haha. You must be joking. I’m not going to make an enemy out of you. If we were to come to blows, I would just get killed in the end.”

“Heh. Is that so?”

“Yes. That is so.”

But that was a lie.

''I will one day kill him. It will be necessary for me to do so. The reason for that is because he will become an unnecessary existence.''


''This monster, such a monster; the world does not need the likes of him.''

''Therefore, I would be taking in the darkness present within him. I will bear even this darkness. It is just as I’ve said right at the start.''

''I alone shall shoulder all the darkness of the Hero King, Sion Astal.''

“......”

That was what Froaude thought.

He would surpass this darkness, and stretched his hand towards a deeper, darker place.

Somewhere deeper, and darker.

As dark as he could, as deep as he could, in order to increase the brilliance of Sion Astal.

''And that brilliance shall bury my darkness.''

“...... I will not oppose you. It’s my principle not to do anything that is meaningless.”

“Fufu. Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Well, if that’s what you insist, then it’s fine for now.”

“Then, may I?”


“Sure.”

Froaude bowed his head once more, and started walking.

He could feel his gaze on him from behind.

The gaze of a monster.

But it’s not the time to turn around and look back.

It’s not the time to kill him yet.

Thus, without looking back.

“......”

He started thinking about another prey that he needed to hunt right now.

<center>♦</center>

The situation was at its worst.

Cruel. Dirty. Tragic. Despondent. Everything and anything in sight was so.

But that was not something out of the ordinary.

Since there was no battlefield that is free from those things.

“......”


He looked over the scenery before him, and grimaced.

It was a scene of piled-up dead bodies in a sea of blood.

There was no sign of life anywhere.

Since his orders were to spare no one.

That did not just apply to soldiers.

To kill all living, even women and children, those were his orders.

''"In order to show the world the might of Roland, in order to let them know the consequences of opposing Roland, massacre them all."''

Those were Sion’s orders, and as such, those were Claugh's very orders.

That’s why right before him, there was nothing but dead bodies.

Belonging to the angry soldiers, crying families, despaired lovers. The nobles, the populace, humans, animals, regardless of status or gender.

There was only death.

Even though this was the first time he had given out such thorough orders to kill everyone, he seemed to be at ease.

No, perhaps, it’s wrong to say so.


It was the same as always.

Whether it comes to killing children, adults, women, men, or anyone else, it was the same as always,

“...... disgusting......”

Claugh Klom seemed to be spitting out those words.

With flaming red hair, sharp red eyes. Donning a set of steel armor, and Roland’s military uniform.

The closest aide to the Hero King, Sion Astal, the Field Marshal of Roland Empire.

From within Roland to the neighbouring countries, there is none who has never heard of his name.

But that fame was not gained from his position as a Field Marshal, but rather as a death god who appears on the battlefield.

Whichever battlefield the death god goes to, a rain of blood will follow.

Riding like the wind through the enemy ranks, and soaking his right arm with the enemy’s blood, a man to be feared by all.

Just by seeing his figure on a battlefield.

Just by seeing the tattoo on his right arm, the enemy is bound to lose their morale and be thrown into confusion from the overwhelming fear arising from just that alone.


That’s the reason for that.

That’s the reason why even when told ''"for the Field Marshal to be at the frontlines, are you crazy?"'' in an attempt to stop him, Claugh just shook it off and came all the way here.

Since just by using his name, some of the enemy might lose their fighting spirit and flee, which would make it possible to minimize the sacrifices.

However.

“......”

Claugh looked over the land before him.

He looked over the piled-up bodies.

And with a sad look, he grimaced.

He was now pretty much north from the borders that divide Roland Empire and Imperial Nelpha, within the territory belonging to a noble known as Count Terens.

To be precise, he was now assaulting its largest town. And further up front, were Count Terens’s castle and fortress, where he was making his stand.

By the way, before this, Claugh had already taken over the land of two other nobles, and on top of that, within Terens’s territory, he had completely leveled five villages and two towns.

Thus, once this town and that fortress fall, the connected territory that leads all the way back to Roland, in other words, the defense lines that Nelpha had against Roland would have all crumbled.

All that had taken one week.

In just one week, Claugh had killed many of Nelpha’s populace.

The number of people killed during that period, was already something he didn’t want to think about.

The disparity in strength was evident, and there was no way Nelpha could stand up to Roland.

Rather, since the merger with Estabul Kingdom, there was no country in the south of this continent that could stand up to Roland Empire.

But even so, during this one year after the merger, Roland did not slow down in its pace to move forward.

Sion Astal had been preparing for the upcoming wars during this one year......

Well, rather.

It was not really for these wars, in fact it’s only starting now, all of those efforts in increasing military might were preparations to wage war against the entire world.

Training soldiers. Conscripting soldiers. Magic research.

And the human experiments.


At any rate, Sion has acquired a considerable amount of power.

And thus there had been a fair amount of accomplishments within the country of Roland.

He had acquired from the former broken Roland, which previously existed merely for the pleasure of the nobles, a large amount of data on the unthinkable human experiments which were left behind, and above all else, put a stop to the tyranny of the nobles, brought back peace and freedom to the lives of the people who had suffered under the former rule.

Normally, the build up of military power would have placed a heavier burden on the people in taxation, but Sion instead funded it through the coffers of those nobles who had continued to indulge in their extravagant lifestyle.

And in the end, it was possible to amass a huge army to the benefit of the country.

Under the rule of a righteous king, Roland has become something else altogether, growing into a great powerful country.

“......”

And right here, right now, assembled an army with an extraordinary high morale.

These were not your everyday troops, but strength-enhanced soldiers from the human experiments, a product of the past one year of magic research and training, a hybrid army made up of both Roland and former Estabul’s soldiers.

There were ten thousand of them here.

However, with just that ten thousand alone, Claugh was ordered by Sion to decimate Nelpha’s eighty-eight thousand strong army.


And that was what he had been doing.

He was already close to annihilating Nelpha’s defense lines.

The casualties incurred on this side so far, was only two.

Faced with this abnormal army from Roland, Nelpha was already losing their will to fight.

Thus this war was already.

“...... it’s over.”

Claugh murmured.

Rather, it had to end. So far, it had been going according to Sion’s calculations, by demonstrating Roland’s might, and showing Nelpha the massacres, they had obtained surrender after surrender before Nelpha’s main force was sent out.

By doing that, even if the populace had to be killed initially, the loss of lives could be minimized at the end of the day.

This was the same as those human experiments.

Even if a large number of people had to be sacrificed for the human experiments, in the end, if it was possible to overwhelm other countries with merely ten thousand troops, the loss of lives could be reduced.

And the result of all that could already be seen.

This Count Terens served as a good example.


Even though up till this point in the territory, troops had been sent out for defense, the bulk of them had fled almost immediately. They fled and left behind the people they were supposed to protect. Count Terens must have already abandoned his fortress as well.

Abandoning the wailing commoners, he had fled.

Even so, Claugh would definitely not relax his attacks.

This was where it would be decided.

The killing of Nelpha’s people shall end here.

It definitely will end here.

Therefore,

“...... spare no one.”

Claugh said in a low, dark voice.

The order was passed down quickly. The troops moved in a perfect orderly manner. That is to say Roland’s troops.

Past the piled-up bodies, from the almost completely wrecked town, the soldiers moved forward.


Only four hours were probably needed for the entire castle and fortress to be overrun by Roland’s troops.

There would be more mountains of dead bodies created.

“...... really.”

Claugh, for another time, said.

“It’s really a disgusting way to fight.”

But, since it was necessary, he had to do it.

Sion had been for the past one year, fighting in this manner alone.

And now, together with his other subordinates, they had to answer to his resolve. As the king of Roland, Sion could have pushed all the dirty work to his subordinates.

Well, before the army was dispatched, when Claugh made that remark, Sion,

''“If that’s the case, then why are you heading to the frontlines? You can just sit back from behind and leave the dirty work to your men, can’t you?”''

And so on and so forth, he said.

And at the end, he said the following.

''“...... sorry for making you do the dirty work.”''

As he recalled Sion’s tired and sad looking face during that time, Claugh just smiled faintly.


“...... bummer. That idiot always tries to take on everything all by himself......”

At that moment, Claugh, for a single time, turned around and looked behind him.

Towards the south.

The south where Roland is.

Just as he thought, at this kind of distance, it was impossible to see Roland’s castle.

The sky was clear. Even though it seemed like from the southwest, dark clouds were floating towards here, well, before the rain comes, the battle in this land will have ended by then.

Claugh made a small sigh.

And at that moment.

“Your Eminence Field Marshal Claugh!”

The familiar voice came from northeast, the opposite direction he was looking at, and he turned towards there.

And there, was a horse galloping towards here, with a young official riding it.

He has golden hair, and a pair of intelligent looking eyes. Though he is not really tall, it was clear that he has a firm and toned body.

It was Shuss Shirazz.


While six years younger than Claugh at a young age of nineteen, Shuss was someone who had been through countless battles with him, a long-time trusted aide.

He was one who could analyze a situation calmly, and was in charge of gathering intelligence.

Even now, he had been investigating the reactions of Nelpha in response to this particular attack from Roland, and had finally returned.

Shuss stopped his horse before Claugh, got off, and knelt before him.

“I’ve returned, Your Eminence.”

Claugh frowned at him,

“Stop the ‘Your Eminence’ thing.”

“But.”

“That’s enough. How long have you been following me around? All soldiers are now out. So stop mimicing the behaviour of others.”

In response to those words, Shuss made a slightly troubled face.

“However, we are now on the battlefield...... Your Eminence.”

Claugh shook his hand in a fed-up manner.

''This person has always been like that. His over-seriousness, is it a bad quality or a good quality, no, it definitely has to be a bad quality.''


Claugh gave up and asked.

“And?”

“Yes sir. There are a total of four reports, one good, one bad, and two interesting ones.”

“I see. So, which one do you want to start with?”

Shuss seemed to think for a moment, and made a mischievious face.

“Then, I shall start with the good report.”

“Haha, so you want to save the bad report for the last, and leave me depressed? You have a surprisingly bad personality.”

Shuss smiled.

“Just like my superior.”

“Which superior are you referring to?”

“Hm, who is it again? I seem to remember him having red hair and an iron-like body.”

Shuss looked intently at the red-haired Field Marshal of Roland.

But Claugh,


“Who the heck has red hair hrm. Calne?”

What a thing to say, and Shuss smiled.

“No, I don’t remember Major General Kaiwal having anything like red hair...... well let’s leave that aside for now.”

“Yeah. We will do just that. That guy has a pretty bad personality. And on top of that, he’s a lecher who likes other people’s wives.”


“Haha. I won’t deny the fact that his overzealous interest in women is something undesirable though...... Major General Kaiwal probably is [[Dai_Densetsu_no_Yūsha_no_Densetsu:Volume_1_Translator's_Notes#Sneezing|sneezing]] right now, don’t you think?”


“And that would get him dumped because it feels dirty to be sneezed on.”

“Yeah yeah.”

Both of them laughed.

By the way, the person known as Calne Kaiwal, like Claugh, has been a subordinate of Sion since the old militaristic days, and even right now, alongside with Claugh, is called the left hand of the Hero King, and even so, since he is around the same age as Shuss and they have known each other since back then while following Sion, they are on particularly good terms and can joke around with no reservations at all.

However, Calne is a Major General.


Shuss is still a Second Lieutenant.

The reason was because Shuss had rejected all promotions. In order to bear less responsibilities so that he could continue to serve Claugh, and that’s the reason why he’s here right now.

Claugh and Calne are serving Sion.

But, as for Shuss, he chose Claugh as the man he would follow to the bitter end.

And even this time round, he had chosen to follow Claugh to this dirty dishonorable battlefield.

Even though Claugh had told him that it was better not to come along, he just smiled and rejected the advice flatly.

''“It was for this that I joined the army. This is my country. In order not to show this terrible scene to my dead family again. In order not to show the terrible scene that had befallen Roland before, I shall be the first to bear witness to all of these.”''

What a thing to say.

''You are an overly-serious man.'' If Claugh called him an overly-serious fool, Shuss would just respond in a joking manner,

''“Ahaha. That’s quite true. I’m a very serious guy. In order to protect the superior who is even more serious and more foolish than me, and who would throw himself away like an ornamental stone, I’m going along. That’s because you are an important person that Roland cannot do without. I have to be there to save you from dying, at least for one time as a substitute.”''


And when Claugh said ''don’t mess around with me, if you die before me, I’m gonna kill you'', Shuss merely grinned.

''"Haha. If I die, you won’t be able to kill me, right?"''

And only smiled.

“......”

But he understood what this fool was saying.

He too wanted to dirty only his own hands.

If by doing that, they could save someone else, it’s enough.

''For that to happen, that’s why we are here.''

“...... and?”

Claugh asked.

“Well then, shall we start with the good report?”

Shuss nodded.

“The head of Imperial Nelpha...... has decided to surrender to Roland.”


“......”

That was a report that Claugh had been waiting for impatiently.

To make Imperial Nelpha surrender with the least number of sacrifices, and also to demonstrate Roland’s might to Cassla and Runa, which will give an advantage to Roland in the near future.

Regarding Nelpha’s expected surrender after this, everything should have been going according to plan.

However.

Claugh squinted his eyes.

Given the current circumstances, he did not get the feeling that everything would be going well for certain.

The truth was that Imperial Nelpha was currently split into two factions from within.

The first belonged to the benevolent king who had agreed to the alliance with Roland, Gread Nelphi, and the nobles who followed him.

The second was the Anti-Roland noble faction who see the act of Estabul Kingdom merging with Roland into a larger power as a threat. This faction was formed by the First Prince of Nelpha in order to increase his influence. And while King Gread Nelphi was bedridden from illness, in the name of the King, he might have moved his army southward to invade Roland if not for Roland’s preemptive strike.


Among these two factions, whose head was the one that decided on the surrender.

Well, one could make a guess.

“Was Gread Nelphi the one who put out the surrender?”

Claugh said, and Shuss nodded.

“Yes. Even though he is in his old age, he is still the one who has rebuilt Imperial Nelpha in just one generation.”

“He could immediately tell the difference in strength between Roland and Nelpha, and how unproductive it was to spill unnecessary blood. A wise monarch indeed.”

“Yes.”

“Then, this war is already over.”

Even as Claugh said that, his expression did not relax.

“But, you still have something bad to report right?”

Shuss nodded quietly.

“So, what’s the bad news?”

“King Gread Nelphi......”

On hearing just that, Claugh assumed a troubled expression.

“...... is he dead?”


“Yes. Immediately after declaring the surrender.”

“Because of old age?”

Even though Claugh didn’t really think that was the case, he asked anyway.

As expected, Shuss shook his head.

“He was killed.”

By who? But he didn’t bother asking. He must have been killed by his son from the opposing faction.

Shuss continued.

“King Nelphi offered his head, as well as the imprisonment of his successor, Prince Starnel, as a proposal to end this war but......”

By the way, Starnel was the one who formed the Anti-Roland faction, the prince who raised an opposing flag towards King Gread Nelphi.

“And Starnel didn’t really like the surrendering proposal put forth by King Nelphi right?”

“Yes.”

“Then, he killed his own father to save himself.”

Shuss nodded.

“Thinking that his imprisonment in Roland will undoubtedly lead to his death, in a frenzy, he killed his father, so it seems.”


“What a stupid prince.”

Claugh smiled wryly.

But the prince’s thinking was on the right track.

There was no intention of sparing any of the royal family in this war.

They were to kill all of the royal family and announced it.

Because Nelpha obstructed Roland and resisted, even if it’s only once, they would have to kill all of the royal family.

However, if right from the beginning Nelpha had surrendered, the royal family would be inducted into Roland’s nobility, and would be able to keep their lives and status.

This would have been a befitting result.

The decision to go to war or not lay with the nobles and the royal family. And if the royal family had decided to allow the invasion of Roland, thereby retaining their lives and status, what would then happen?

Making a choice that would be unlike that of the benevolent lord, Gread Nelphi, who can use his own life to protect his people.

In order to secure their own lives, they would definitely surrender.

Though that, in certainty, would reduce the fighting and deaths.


''For now, in order to achieve the ultimate end where there is less loss of lives, I’m sorry but we have to make an example out of you, Nelpha.''

The orders from Sion was to kill all who were related to the royal family within the order of the second degree.

And Gread Nelphi must have been aware of that. But apparently, he’s attempting to bargain against that. By offering his own head, he had hoped to bargain for his son’s life.

That’s why the surrender came so promptly.

Currently, only the frontline defense had fallen. Nelpha still has seventy thousand strong to be deployed.

By surrendering early, Nelpha has effectively helped Roland to display their overwhelming power to the entire world, so would Roland agree to the bargain?

That was indeed a wise judgement.

That would really help convey the right message.

In just two weeks, Nelpha had fallen to Roland’s invasion.

By surrendering early, it’s possible to secure one’s life and status which would have been taken away otherwise as long as one belongs to the royal family. It’s really better to surrender earlier...... that was the message that could be conveyed to other countries.

This would really have resulted in the best possible end of minimum life loss across the board.

Gread Nelphi has died. Killed by his own son, the prince who understood nothing and could only think of saving himself.


“So what did the foolish son do after killing his father?”

Shuss made a tired face to that question.

“He ordered ten thousand troops to retaliate against Roland......”

“I see. So you’re sacrificing ten thousand soldiers to slow us down while escaping on your own. A complete failure of a noble.”

But Shuss did not acknowledge that. He only looked at Claugh with a dark face.

“Well actually, Starnel has not escaped yet.”

“Oh, so what’s he up to then?”

As Claugh asked, Shuss took a deep breath, to find the right words.

And he said.

“He massacred......”

“What!”

Without thinking, Claugh exclaimed in shock.

But Shuss just continued on.

“...... he intended to kill all the people, and take what he could to make his escape northwards.”


“......”

Claugh had nothing to say to that.

That was the worst possible development.

To think that he couldn’t read his enemy up till here. Killing his own people, stealing from them and then making his escape, what a rotten way of doing things.

This will lead to even more sacrifices, more so than a straight-up assault into the capital.

On top of that, there is no one of authority left to make an official surrender to Roland. In other words, Nelpha will not be surrendering at all.

And because there is no official statement of surrender made, Roland can only continue its killing spree.

Killing those retaliating ten thousand soldiers who are well aware of their imminent deaths, killing the populace, and completely razing Nelpha.

Thinking of that, Claugh,

“......”

He was really at his wits’ end.

That’s why he hated wars.

Since as always, everything and anything about wars is merciless, dirty, tragic, and sad.


Even though they had already assumed the worst, this was something that was one step beyond that.

From now onwards.

From now onwards, it wasn’t possible to change the direction of the events. From hereon, there was still value in the razing of Nelpha and more slaughtering.

In order to reduce the loss of lives in future wars.

Even though this in itself was already a terrible war, it was all in the name of avoiding more terrible wars in the future.

There was no other choice. ''Shall we get on with this''...... as Claugh was about to utter those words, Shuss continued on.

“However, to add on, there is something else that proved to be interesting.”

“Huh?”

Claugh looked at Shuss. Claugh recalled what Shuss said earlier, about one good report, one bad report, and two interesting ones.

“Something else that proved to be interesting?”

Shuss nodded at Claugh’s query.

“It’s about the earlier report on the ten thousand soldiers that were supposedly heading southwards.”

“Uh huh.”


“They aren’t coming here after all.”

“Excuse me? What do you mean by that?”

“Well...... for some reason, there is a rumor that a man by the name of Toale Nelphi is leading those soldiers eastwards......”

“Toale......?”

Claugh queried as he seemed to have heard the name from somewhere.

Shuss nodded.

“It’s Toale Nelphi. The grandson of the deceased Gead Nelphi.”

As he said that, Claugh remembered.

Froaude mentioned it before he marched his army.

''"While there is hardly any talent existing in Nelpha that could pose a threat to Roland at this point in time, there is still one individual whom you must watch out for. His name is Toale Nelphi. He is the son of Prince Starnel and his commoner mistress, and though he is currently away from the center of power of this country, he is sympathetic to his country, and in the event where it seems likely that he would be given power and authority...... it is my recommendation that you crush him first."''

That was what he said.


And because of what Froaude said about that Toale guy, he was wondering what kind of person is he, ''I see''.

''You’ve come forth to change the direction of the incoming troops.''

The son of a commoner mistress.

By the way, that was the same for Sion.

“A weed growing in the wilderness...... is stronger?”

Shuss shrugged his shoulders at what Claugh said.

“But even if Sion-san grew up in the wilderness, he is more of a flower, isn’t it?”

“Right. He is like a pretty-looking, insect-eating plant?”

“Now ~. At the very least, can you compare him to a rose instead? A thorny one or something like that.”

“Yeah ~. Indeed, it is more apt to describe Sion as a rose. For the slip of my tongue, should I slap my lips?”

To those words.

For some reason, Shuss face contorted. He was shaking as if to keep something bottled up within him. In the end, he burst out laughing.

“Please, don’t say something weird! It brought a weird image to my mind.”


His face was bright red from the pent-up laughter directed towards Claugh.

With a sidelong glance, Claugh considered the situation.

It seemed like the situation was not as bad as it seemed.

According to Froaude, the guy called Toale has a high popularity and seems to be an able man.

''"I once wanted to eliminate him. Well, thanks to a certain odd duo of a magician and swordswoman, I had to abort it......"''

However, for now, Claugh was grateful to that magician and swordswoman. Since if Toale had been killed by Froaude then, this current development would not have been possible.

There still remained a path of less bloodshed to the end of this war.

If Toale became the king of this country and announced his surrender.

“......”

And then after that, if they have Toale killed.

With the head of Toale Nelphi, the war could be ended.

“...... in either case, there is still a lot more killing to be done.”

Claugh muttered to himself.


He had a sudden realization and looked in the direction of Shuss.

“...... but then again, you are pretty kind.”

Shuss was surprised by those words and asked.

“Huh? Why’s that?”

“About the reports.”

“Yes?”

“All in all, even though what we are about to do from now on is still something bothersome, thanks to the order of your reports, I could sense some glimmer of hope at the end.”

Shuss beamed at that.

“I’m most happy to be able to please Your Eminence.”

“Like I said, drop the ‘Your Eminence’.”

“Well, Your Eminence, there is still one more interesting thing to report though.”

“Like I said.”

But Shuss just ignored that and continued.

“And that is something concerning Your Eminence.”

“Huh? Concerning me?”


“Yes.”

“What’s that?”

Shuss then pointed at Claugh’s arm.

His right arm.

He pointed to his right arm, which was of an entirely pitch-black color.

It looked completely different from the former arm that was filled with red tattoos, the arm which earned him the nickname of ‘Crimson Finger Claugh Klom’.

That former arm was devoured by a monster bearing the Cursed Eyes known as '''Iino Dwoe'''.

That’s why the arm he has now is an artificial arm. A cursed artificial arm.

It was a special arm regrown from a <Forbidden Curse>.

Even though he has already grown accustomed to his new arm and could use it as if it were originally his own, normally, that arm covered in pitch-black would be attempting to kill its own host.

So to speak, it was something born out of one of the crazy human experiments carried out in Roland.

Even though the previous arm with red tattoos came from a similar origin, this time round, it was something even more powerful and more monstrous than before.

After looking at his own pitch-black arm, Claugh asked.


“So, what’s the thing about me?”

Shuss replied in an amused tone.

“Your nickname has changed.”

“Ah. Well, my arm isn’t red anymore. So, what has ‘Crimson Finger Claugh’ become? Did it become something that sounds more adorable?”

“Haha. An adorable name won’t really suit Claugh-san.”

“Well, it doesn’t really need to be adorable though...... but why the hell do I keep getting nicknames attached to my name?”

“Because you are popular, isn’t that so?”

But Claugh merely snorted laughingly.

“Don’t be foolish. It’s a murderer’s nickname. A name of notoriety. So, what has this name of notoriety changed to?”

After a mild laugh, Shuss said.

“The Black Hand Death God.”

''Death God huh.''

Claugh looked at his black arm again and thought.


Even though he had yet to release the cursed power of his arm on the battlefield, it amounted to the same thing.

This very arm had already taken tons of lives.

He, who did not wish to keep remaining in his current safe haven away from the direct fighting, was well aware of that.

While he was in his safe haven, people were dying. He had witnessed much of that.

And more of that was to come.

“...... hn.”

At that moment.

Claugh’s black arm, the one nicknamed '''Black Hand''', moved in a flash.

That hand caught hold of a knife seemingly thrown from somewhere.

It’s not as if he was looking in the direction from which the knife was thrown. He merely sensed the flow of a killing intent and reacted accordingly.

If a normal person were to have seen this, he or she would have called him a monster.

A monster with flaming red hair donning steel armor.

The death god with a black hand who have appeared on the battlefield.


And then Claugh threw the knife back in the direction from which it came. His throw was powered with a force many times stronger than when it came flying towards him, with a deadly accuracy.

A cry was heard.

Then came the sound of a person falling to the ground.

[[Image:DDnYnD v01 225.jpg|thumb]]
However, he did not turn to see who it was.

Whether the culprit was a man, a woman, an adult, or a child, it did not matter.

In any case, he had only to kill.

From hereon, he had to keep on killing the people of Nelpha for a while longer.

That’s why he did not bother to look.

Because he thought there was no reason to do so.

He merely.

“......”

He merely, if only a little.

Made a tired and sad face.

“...... I’m sorry.”


The death god of the battlefield murmured with a strained voice.
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| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
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Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Chapter 2

2011-11-18T19:02:41Z

Error: /* Chapter 2 - The Moment When Light Fell */

==Chapter 2 - The Moment When Light Fell==


"So there you are", Ryner said as he scowled at the beautiful woman in front of him with half-opened eyes.

Two hours had already passed since he shook off the mage soldiers. It was pitch-black just a while ago but now, the sky was starting to brighten.

The 'usual place' he was to meet Ferris had to be Wynitt dango shop, but when he arrived there, she was nowhere in sight,

“Uwah, she’s not here.”

Ryner grumbled while he headed towards Fargo dango shop located at the outskirts, and when he arrived, the proprietress lady who was just opening the shop said,

“Ah ~, if you’re looking for Ferris-[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics#Chan chan], "''I’m currently making a dango tour!''" she was saying as she headed towards Pappul dango pastry shop.”

"Huh, if you’re supposed to wait for me, don’t go about making a dango tour for heaven’s sake!!"

He shouted as he made his way to Pappul dango pastry shop which, by the time he reached it at five in the morning, was already open for business and the shop owner, without saying a word, handed him a piece of paper that said,


“Fuhahahaha! How was it! With your level of moronic brain tissue --- in short moronic tissue, it’s impossible for you to find me, the genius [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishōjo bishojo]! Is it mortifying? Mortifying, isn’t it? Fuffuffu. Well well, if you’re feeling that mortified, then try finding me!!”

“I DON’T HAVE THAT KIND OF TIMEEEEEEEEE!”

As Ryner was yelling out, the shop owner said,

“Man, it must have always been tough on you.”

His pity for Ryner made him feel like crying .

That’s right. It was really tough on him, till the point that he did not even have any energy left to respond.

Well, this was really not the time to go along with Ferris’s foolish antics. Since they were still being pursued by Roland’s military. Every minute and every second counted and he really had to link up with Ferris as soon as possible to discuss the matter on leaving Roland.

That’s why he kept looking back and forth at his surroundings, and thought about which was the next dango shop where he would be able to capture that dango fanatic troublesome girl.

He looked at both the left and right paths, and started to consider.

‘’Now, which of the dango shops along the two paths will she be at?’’


‘’The one on the right is the closer one, but recently she prefers to patronize the one on the left which I think she mentioned was called Puum, or did she mention that at all, arghhhhhh, why do I have to think about such stupid things!’’

While he was thinking about this wearily, the shop owner behind him continued.

“Well, you don’t seem to have any choice really. It is a man’s duty to work hard for a beautiful woman, and besides, she really is an incredible beauty.”

Without turning around, Ryner replied.

"''Is it really enough to be just beautiful!'' That’s really something I want to scream out right now."

“No but, aside from her looks, she also has an incredible personality, hasn’t she?”

However, Ryner reacted by just raising his eyebrows,

“Really?”

He said.

But the shop owner did not waver.

“Yeah. The other day, you know, there was a carriage passing by this shop at an incredible speed, while a puppy was passing through, and it seemed like it was going to get run over in an instant! And at that moment, within a hair’s breadth, she dived across to save that puppy. As a result she was completely covered with bruises and mud.”

“Wow.”


“But the puppy was fine and didn’t have a single scratch. She was willing to go out of the way and risk getting injured to save that puppy.”

“Woah. Well, she does seem like one who would do this sort of......”

As Ryner was speaking, the shop owner seemed to get emotional,

“And the number of puppies she has saved to date, has already exceeded two hundred in number......”

“Huh, what kind of lie is that!”

Ryner instinctively made a comeback.

And he turned around and looked at the shop owner behind the counter.

As he did that, for some reason, the shop owner appeared flustered.

“......”

Furthermore, also behind that counter, not knowing from where and when she appeared, was Ferris, scribbling furiously on a piece of paper.

“......”

After she was done, she hurriedly handed the piece of paper to the shop owner and ducked back under the counter.

The shop owner then read from the piece of paper with a nervous voice,

“It...... it’s not a lie! Truly, two hundred puppies were indeed saved! If you think that number is insignificant, there is still that you know? Cats! Two hundred cats as well...... no, two thousand cats were saved!”


Those words.

“......”

Ryner, without a doubt, had nothing to say to that.

A piece of paper was passed out from beneath the counter.

“And also, and also babies! Babies who just started crawling, they were just too full of themselves and willfully took long trips from their homes you see......”

''What kind of babies will get too full of themselves and willfully take long trips from their homes!'' Ryner wanted to make such a comeback at that point, but given how meaningless it seemed to be, he decided to bear with it.

However, the shop owner, in other words Ferris still continued on her silly antics.

“Somehow, for some reason, they were climbing mountains as well. And those were volcano types. Well you see, babies are still ignorant and can’t tell the danger those mountains hold.”

‘’No, that’s not the crux......’’

“On top of that, those babies while crawling with lots of vigor, trod on one another, and in the blink of an eye all 1.5 trillion of them slipped at the same time! They were all about to fall into the volcano at the same timeee!”

The shop owner was shouting energetically all of a sudden.


Thereafter, left without a choice, Ryner was thinking of making a comeback statements like "''how can such a stupid thing be possibleeeeee?!''", or "''I don’t think there are even 1.5 trillion human beings in this world to begin withhhhhh!''", but before that, he started to imagine ten thousand babies making “zugagagagaga” sounds and climbing furiously and all of them started falling into the volcano at the same time, and then thought that it was truly an unbelievably majestic scene.

“...... wait, ahhh, somehow, somehow it feels kind of pretty incredible.”

That being said, Ferris again immediately handed another piece of paper to the shop owner. He read it,

“That, that’s right! What a horrible tragedy, don’t you think!”

“...... yeah.”

“That’s the thing! That’s when the soft-hearted, that’s when the soft-hearted Ferris Eris-sama, whose heart is even softer than cotton candy, went to the rescue, saving the world! That’s exactly how it was!!”

That kind of.

After hearing that kind of transcendent story, Ryner,

“......”

He nodded his head anyway.

As he looked at the shop owner’s somewhat tired face, he understood, and made a "''I can understand exactly what you’re going through''" expression, which caused the shop owner to smile bitterly. After the two men connected on a heart-to-heart level, Ryner slowly walked towards the back of the counter.

[[Image:DDnYnD v01 091.jpg|thumb]]

Ferris, who was crouching under the counter, was once again writing furiously on a piece of paper.

And written on it were the following: “Furthermore, she also rescued 8 trillion, 600 million, and 400 koala bears who were falling off the trees they were climbing, isn’t she something?! (please use an intensely excited tone when you reached this portion on ''isn’t she something?!'')”. And Ryner was staring at that nonsense written on that piece of paper.

“...... erm.”

As he said that, with half-opened eyes, he was scowling at the back of that trouble-causing beautiful woman.

She was found out!? With a startled expression, she turned around, opened her mouth as if to say something, then stopped, then opened her mouth again, then stopped, and finally said,

“Wh... what a coincidence Ryner. I just arrived at this shop a moment ago.”

“...... I see.”

“By the way, I just heard from Oyaji. <ref name="oyaji">'''Oyaji:''' Oyaji (親父), in this particular context means boss of an establishment. In other contexts, it could mean father or old man. It's less cumbersome to use Oyaji than to keep using shopkeeper or shop owner in Ryner and Ferris's dialogue (since this is used in the novel as well).</ref> Seems like you’ve heard quite a lot about me?”

“...... yeah, I’ve heard......”

“What do you think? Isn’t it a little unexpected...... a little unexpected of me...... how was it like?”


She was asking for feedback on her cock-and-bull story with nothing but sheer excitement on her face, which made Ryner feel even more weary.

The obvious answer to that would be "''As I thought, it was really an unexpectedly idiotic story''", but since he could see himself getting killed with that kind of response, with a somewhat stiff voice, he decided to go with,

“...... ermmm...... ah ~, yeah. That’s it. I’ve known all along that you are an incredibly kind and good person, but that was really kind of unexpected heh.”

He was doing his best to prevent his voice from involuntarily growing light.

And then,

“Is that really so? That’s so true! That’s right! I’m really a good person! Fufufu.”

In an instant, she was in a completely joyous mood. It goes without saying that her face was beaming happily at the praise.

She was getting all jubilant like an idiot for such a meaningless thing.

“......”

Well, actually, she was not really making a face that was obviously full of happy emotions, at the very least not to others, if any, who might be looking at her. It was just that unlike most people, Ryner was able to tell even the slightest change of emotions from her mostly expressionless face.

And to him, from her face, she was undoubtedly having fun right now.


As Ryner looked at her face, there were still words he wanted to grumble and protest aloud,

“......”

But he gave up on that.

''I don’t really have time to go along with your foolish games'', he thought...... but after seeing how happy she was from all these silly antics, ''well, I’ll let it pass'', was what he thought.

Because, when he first met her, there was no way she would make such a face.

When he first met her, she had a completely expressionless face, and spoke with a voice that had hardly any inflection, as if she was merely a life-sized doll.

And that was probably due to her upbringing.

It was all due to the fact that she was the younger sister of that monster Lucile.

Perhaps not just that. It was probably due to the fact that her House --- the Eris swords clan, was an extraordinary clan.

A mere doll possessing an extraordinary strength.

To other ordinary folk, this level of strength was something that could even be called a monstrous strength.

And for her to acquire such power at a young age, it was inevitable for her to have sacrificed something for it.


And in her case, they were her emotions, her expressions, and her smile.

Of course, that was something not so uncommon in this particular country. The institution where Ryner was previously placed in was such a place as well.

In the former Roland, which was under a tyrannical rule, these could be said to be fairly common occurrences.

Abnormally intense trainings, human experiments, and people who went insane because of that, Ryner had bore witness to many of such stories.

To die before one goes mad, or to live and break down eventually, those were the two mutually exclusive choices in most cases.

And she was one of those who lived.

The price for that was the loss of her emotions.

“......”

However, right before Ryner, she, who was supposed to have lost her emotions, was smiling happily.

And that was deep-felt genuine happiness, Ryner thought.

And that was probably a thin line.

The thin line that divides the possibility of retaining her emotions and the possibility of breaking down and possibly going mad.

It was just like the time when Ryner had given up on everything.


She completely sealed her emotions away.

However, despite the fact that the emotions were barely visible, she was smiling.

Without showing any expression and any emotion, a dango lover, a troublesome beauty who was ignorant of the world around her.

She who should have lost her emotions.

Day by day, she was regaining bits and pieces of her emotions, that was what Ryner felt.

And that was due to her spending the days with Ryner.

And that was due to her spending the days with Sion.

The three of them spending their days fooling around.

And Ryner thought so again.

It was thanks to Sion.

Ferris was also saved by Sion, he thought.

It also was Sion who pulled her from the depths of darkness.

Ryner and Ferris, who had been entrapped in darkness for a long time, were pulled out by Sion.

“......”

This was something that Ryner would normally never say out loud, but the truth was that Ryner had always wondered whether he was in a dream.


After meeting Sion.

After meeting Ferris.

To have spent his days with the two of them, it was as if he was living a dream in which he was having tons of fun, he thought.

The insane amounts of work that Sion pushed on him everyday, Ferris swinging her sword at him on her whims, and him shouting "''It’s annoyingggggg!''" at them, but even with that, the truth was that he was enjoying himself as well.

Compared to the amount of trouble they brought him, the number of times they saved him were way more than that, that was truly what he thought.

“......”

The rainy night when Sion told him he was going to kill him.

Ryner once again wanted to give up.

Just as always, finding everything to be a bother, he wanted to give up on everything.

If he was going to be killed by him.

''If I’m going to be killed by my best friend who saved me, I can just die here'', that was what he thought of immediately.


''Anyway, there’s no real worth in me staying alive, I just happened to have a beautiful dream, and that’s enough.''

It had always been like that since the beginning. Important things like happiness and friends, as a monster, there was no way he could have acquired all that.

But at that point in time, something different from before awoke within him.

Ferris’s words resounded in his head.

It was at a time when he should have given up as usual, an image of her face appeared in his head.

And she said.

''To a monster with a worthless life. To me, a defiled monster who is only capable of hurting others, she said''.

Someone who should have lost her emotions. Expressionless, rampaging, self-centred, spouting nonsensical ramblings all the time, that Ferris, to the Ryner who was ready to give up, who looked as he was about to cry as he was getting ready to die, she said.

That Ferris who should have lost all traces of her emotions, with a teary expression.

With a sorrowful, lonely expression, she smiled faintly.

''"...... you idiot. If you were to die...... it would be lonely without you......"''


Those words struck him hard in his mind as he remembered them. The wall that he used to protect himself, which had been built up over the years till then, seemed to be completely shattered at that.

And the Ryner then could no longer afford to die. He could no longer afford to give up. He realized what a fool he had been before. ''I have caused her such grief and why didn’t I realize this earlier?''

I was saved.

''I owed her, the two of them so much. What had I been doing up till now?'' He thought.

Why is it that he kept pushing them away as they reached out to him, and hurting them as a result.

In order to avoid getting hurt himself, he had hurt them.

And he actually used the excuse of not wanting to hurt them in order to cover it up.

“......”

Ryner looked at Ferris.

He looked at her delighted self.

There was a trace of expression on her face now.


It might be something that was hard to discern, but if one looked closely at her, not just Ryner but someone else, they might be able to notice it as well. That was what had changed.

It was different from the past.

She had changed, little by little.

It was not just Ryner.

Ryner, Ferris, and perhaps even Sion, had changed, little by little.

Because they were spending time together after all.

Because they were spending time together making a fool out of themselves, and laughing merrily like idiots.

It was thus not unrealistic to believe that in the near future, she would be able to laugh out loud. Ryner was sure of that.

If they were together.

He might be getting too far ahead, but if they were to stay together, the day will come when she would be able to laugh heartily, he thought.

And he wanted to see that day come.

He wanted to be by her side and witness it when that day comes, the day when she will be able to show a laughing face, laughing out loud from her heart, he thought.


And.

“......”

He wanted to show that to Sion as well.

That was what he thought.

The Sion who was now alone, appearing to be burdened by some unknown force.

He wanted to show him her laughing face, her crying face, he thought.

''No, not just her.''

''All by himself, he is wallowing in despair, hopelessness, and seemed ready to die. “Ferris and I really wanted to support you in every way possible”, we need to let him know how we feel.''

''If Sion dies.''

''If he dies, I’ll definitely.''

''I’ll definitely go crazy from the pain, and wail out loudly, I need to tell him all that.''

“......”

Ryner looked at Ferris.

Just not long ago, she was crying.


Ryner felt extremely flustered from seeing her cry for the first time.

In the prison.

When she came to rescue him, she started crying when she finally found out where he was.

For someone who should carry no emotions at all, Ryner and Sion were the ones who made her cry.

Ryner suddenly went missing on her, with his whereabouts unknown to her.

Sion became weird.

And she became unsettled.

She became unsettled from the feeling of losing everything she had, and finally when she found Ryner, she started crying in relief......

The two of them had become a huge and important part of her life.

For someone who should not possess any emotions, like an empty doll, Ferris was driven to the edge in such a manner.

Just because Ryner disappeared.

Just because Sion became weird.

It was because of that she was driven to the edge.

Did Sion understand that?

Did he really think Ryner and Ferris could leave him alone fighting all by himself?


If he really thought that way.

“...... we have to make him realize that.”

Ryner thought.

Well, even though that’s what he thought, he couldn’t really fathom what was happening.

As before, he was not in a position to contact Sion directly, and from the previous dialogue with the mage soldiers, it seemed like they were ordered to kill him if he couldn’t be captured.

In fact, the second wave may be coming after them soon.

There were already a ton of things they needed to do.

Even if Ferris was still feeling unsettled from all that had happened, it was not the time nor the place to continue fooling around.

Ryner looked at Ferris.

Not knowing since when, she grabbed a string of red bean paste dango from the racks and stuffed it into her mouth.

“Oo, delicious!”

What a thing to say.

The dango shop owner’s face brightened up at that.


“Ah, that was actually a new creation, Ferris-chan. It was filled with a special type of honey. I call it mitsuan-dango. <ref name="mitsuan">'''Mitsuan-Dango:''' Literally means "honey red bean paste [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dango dango]".</ref>”

“Mitsuan-dango!? You must have spent time thinking of that, Oyaji!”

“That’s right.”

“That’s awesome! This mitsuan-dango is definitely going to become popular throughout the town!”

“Fufufu. In order to convert my own residence into a dango specialist shop, I’ve racked up quite a lot of debt, and that’s why I’ve worked so hard at this, you know ~.”

''What a fun conversation it seems to be, eh... it seems like she can really live on dango alone, does she really need me and Sion?'' He pondered briefly and said.

“Hey Ferris, we haven’t even managed to meet up with Sion yet, isn’t it too early for you to be back on your feet already?”

Ferris turned her head and tilted it towards him, with an incredulous expression on her face.

“Huh? Get back on my feet? What are you talking about? I didn’t get depressed at all.”

“Is that so?”

“Yup.”

“Hm ~ but you know, just now in the prison, you were cry......”

In an instant.


As usual!

The same usual development unfolded!

With a speed that was not visible to the naked eye of most, she drew her sword and the flat of the blade came smashing into his face.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?”

And he was sent flying, crashing into the ground with a spin.

“Gafa.”

He landed.

With a tearful expression, he looked up and Ferris said to him.

“Come again, who did what?”

“...... well, you know, you......”

“Hm?”

“...... nothing, nothing happened really......”

Ryner said with a shaking voice.

Well but, the reaction she had just now, that it in itself showed that she was worried about Sion as well, he thought.


Probably......

He was not really confident about that though......

And at that moment, she peered down at Ryner.

“By the way Ryner, you went flying all of a sudden, what happened to you? You aren’t covered with any bruises or mud, it seems. Don’t tell me you saw an illusion of a dog getting run over by a carriage? Don’t tell me you are on some kind of dubious drug?”

In response to that, Ryner,

“...... yeah. I’m on a drug......”

Somehow, he replied with a matching response.

He really had no time to fool around with her anymore.

After sighing slightly, he got up on his feet in a flash. He used his hands to brush off the imaginary mud.

And he sighed again, and said.

“Well, it’s time for some serious talk. Let’s review our situation now.”

At that, she nodded her head and said.


“Okay. But before that Ryner, there is something I need to tell you.”

“Tell me?”

“Yeah.”

“What?”

“Well, currently, a matter of grave importance had cropped up within Roland...... did you know?”

She said it with a strangely meek expression, and Ryner squinted his eyes.

“...... a matter of grave importance? Is it something that is even graver than the war with Nelpha?”

She nodded with the same meek expression.

“Nothing can be compared to this.”

“Nothing can be compared...... so, what’s the matter about?”

She kept silent for a moment, and started taking deep breaths to quell her apparent nervousness, and said.

“Currently, within this Roland Empire, a universally most awesome dango, the mitsuan-dango has been perfected by Oyaji of this Pappul pastry shop......”

“I don’t care about that anyhowwwwwwwwwwww!!”

This time round, Ryner yelled with all his might.


However, she was shocked at his reaction,

“What, what, what do you mean by you don’t care about that! Oyaji of Pappul had to spend years of tireless effort to perfect this!”

The shop owner butted in as well,

“That, that’s right! In order to build this shop, I had to take on a large amount of loans! If I can’t sell this, if I can’t sell this, my whole family will be ruined you bastard!”

He scolded vigorously, and Ryner replied,

“...... erm, ahh, well, if you are putting your family on the line, that really seems like a grave matter but, ermm, well, what should we do about it ?”

That somehow helped to calm him down a little.

Then Ferris made a "''you finally understood us''" face and said,

“Alright. Anyway, why don’t you first try one of these mitsuan-dango. If you do that, then even if it’s you, you would be able to understand its greatness. After that, we can go into the inner zashiki <ref name="zashiki">'''Zashiki:''' Zashiki (座敷) is a type of Japanese styled room with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatami tatami] flooring.</ref> and discuss our strategies for pushing this dango to the rest of the world.”

“Well, we have other strategies to discuss and it will really be bad if we don’t......”

“Now now, try eating this.”


“Well but, we still have pursuers hot on our heels. If we continue to hang around here carelessly, it will become a dangerous...... wah, what’s this! This is stupendously delicious!”

“Didn’t I tell you! Oyaji! This stupid man gave a thumbs-up as well!”

The shop owner made a gutsy pose,

“Yes! With this, I would be able to pay off my loans!”

"''Wahhahha''", Ferris and the shop owner both laughed at the same time.

“......”

He stared blankly at the two of them.

Somehow.

It was somehow a peaceful scene, Ryner thought.

It seemed so peaceful that he was the one who looked like an idiot while he fretted anxiously.

He began to consider the development in which they started relaxing in the inner zashiki, and started feeling as if there was sufficient time......

While he was feeling that......

“......”

Suddenly, a light appeared from the nearby surroundings.


Ryner opened his eyes fully.

The light took up a sash-like form and was streaking towards the shop.

And Ryner knew what that light was.

It was magic. A type of attack magic.

A powerful, highly damaging spear of light.

Among the magic used in Roland, it counts as one of the more destructive types.

It’s '''Kuuri'''.

That spear of light was the first.

Second.

Third.

Fourth.

Using his eyes, Ryner counted a total of twelve rays of '''Kuuri''' fired towards them.

“Ferris!”

Ryner yelled.

But she was already moving. Carrying the shop owner, she leaped to the second floor.

After verifying that, Ryner leaped as well.


After reading the trail of '''Kuuri''', he turned his body away from it, and followed close behind her.

The magic struck.

With overwhelming power, the flashes of light struck Pappul dango pastry shop.

The counter disintegrated into pieces, the pillar was ripped apart, and a hole was blasted through the wall.

From behind them,

“The, the shop...... my debts arghhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

What a wretched woeful cry that was, but they did not have the luxury of time to pay attention to that.

The spell known as '''Kuuri''', is one of relatively higher difficulty level. It was unlikely that the mage soldiers that were pursuing them a while ago had learned the spell at their level.

In other words, the current pursuers were much more skilled than those earlier.

And from the number of '''Kuuri''' launched against them, the pursuers numbered at least twelve.

Ryner knitted his eyebrows.

“Arghhh, this is really bothersome......that’s why I told you we should have quickly planned out our next move and made our escape preparations...... what should we do now Ferris?”

While he remained attentive to the enemy’s movement behind them, his eyes were looking at Ferris.


As he was saying that, she was standing on the rooftop --- well, since the first level of the shop had collapsed inwards entirely, the roof was pretty low --- with the shop owner in her left arm, and her right hand on her sword preparing to draw it at anytime.

While glaring in the direction of the enemy, she said,

“We’ll run of course. If we fight, I don’t have the confidence in holding back and avoid wounding any one of them.”

Ryner nodded. He was also thinking along the same line.

If the two of them were to fight them, they would certainly triumph over them. To put it in another way, they were capable of wiping them out without incurring a single wound themselves.

However, they were certainly not opponents against which they could hold back their strength and avoid injuring any one of them.

Several of them would probably be seriously wounded. Perhaps a few of them might even die.

Roland’s soldiers.

They couldn’t lift their hands to kill any soldiers of Roland Empire, a place where they belonged to just a while ago.

“...... now really, this has become really bothersome.”

After saying that, Ryner took a small leap to just stand beside her.

“So now, we run?”


She nodded.

“Right. While we are running, we should discuss about our future plans.”

“Ah, finally you feel like getting down to some serious business eh?”

“I’ve always been serious.”

“............ sigh.”

“Why are you sighing!?”

“No no. It’s just that it has really been fun traveling with you.”

“Y... you, you dare make a fool out of me......”

“I’m not, I’m not, stop brandishing your sword at me while the enemy is still around!!”

Ryner yelled, sighed again, and looked in front of him.

The enemy had not shown themselves yet. They were hiding in the shadows of some buildings along the street, watching them.

Not knowing their exact numbers, it would be a difficult thing to just blindly rush through them. Now, what’s next?

“It would be better for us to stay here and wait until they come out of hiding before we start running, but Oyaji may get caught up in it......”


He looked down towards the shop owner whose head was drooped in despair while murmuring ‘’the debts’’, ‘’the debts’’.

Ferris nodded,

“We definitely can’t get the dango shop involved in our problems.”

“Now now, it’s not just about dango shops, but anyone for that matter. So, which way do we go? Right?”

“Left.”

“Left huh. Okay. Cover me for a while, would you? If I don’t use magic to enhance my speed, I won’t be able to catch up with you. It will take three seconds for me to invoke it.”

“Alright.”

“Okay, shall I go ahead?”

“Do it.”

Ryner lifted up and pointed his hand to the sky.

As he did that, he started drawing out words of light in the air.

The magic symbols that were drawn were evidently of a different structure from that of Roland’s magic.

It was magic which he previously stole from Estabul’s mage knights using the special power of his eyes, '''Alpha Stigma'''.

However, as expected, the enemy, who were waiting for them to make a move, started their attack to interfere with Ryner’s spell casting.


To start off, there were several daggers flying towards him diagonally from his right.

But Ryner did nothing to avoid them.

Rather, there was no need to.

Because Ferris promptly used her sword to deflect the incoming projectiles.

Next, balls of fire began flying towards him somewhere from his left. Ferris then thrust her sword into planks of wood that made up the roof, and with her sword acting like a skewer, flung the wood off towards the incoming fireballs. The pieces of wood were shattered into smaller pieces on contact with the projectiles. However, not a single one of them came anywhere near the duo.

And Ryner was gaping at the action,

“Wow, awesome.”

As he said that, Ferris turned and glared at him and said.

Just hurry up.”

“Ya ya.”

Finally, from behind her, came streaking towards them was the same magic that was used previously.

The spears of light, '''Kuuri'''.

It seemed like something that even Ferris couldn’t do anything about it, that’s why Ryner started to dodge.


But.

To that she,

“Hn”

She merely made a small sound and swiftly cut the spears of light with her sword.

“......”

Ryner, for an instant, wanted to smile at that.

Because that was the first time he saw someone cutting light. Well, her skill with the sword is always something that amazes him however......

Thinking about that, he remembered a scene in which he saw her slicing lightning apart but......

But as he thought of that, Ryner started to feel a strange unease and his hand that was inscribing magic symbols stopped moving.

“...... eh?”

He murmured briefly.

''She sliced apart lightning'' --- as those words floated in his head, all of a sudden, he felt a sharp strong pain in his head.

That particular memory, when it happened, where it happened, why it happened, he could recall absolutely nothing at all.

[[Image:DDnYnD v01 117.jpg|thumb]]

Well, in the first place, was that lightning from the sky?

Or was it something that came from magic?

He could not even remember that detail.

At the very least, Roland should not have any magic in the form of lightning in existence......

“...... ouch!”

At that thought, his head was once again assaulted by an excruciating pain, and Ryner groaned......

“Wh... what is this.”

Something odd was happening. Whenever he thought about lightning, he got an immense headache.

Lightning.

Lightning magic..................

“Gua”

In a flash, he felt an immense pain in his head, a nauseating feeling, and giddiness.

“What the hell is this.”

Ryner, with an unsettled feeling, stopped thinking. And his headache was gone.

It was obvious that there was something strange going on.


It was as if he was forcefully disallowed from thinking about anything related to lightning, that was the feeling he got.

What was actually happening now? Rather, it was not now, but probaby something that happened while he was imprisoned......

“...... I was brainwashed......?”

''But what kind of brainwashing was that?''

''What was it that was related to lightning that was erased from my mind?''

While Ryner was starting to ponder about that,

“Hey!”

A voice was heard and "''Gon''"! A loud sound was made as he was given a sharp knock by a sword on his head,

“Gua arghhhhhh!?”

Ryner clutched his head,

“Wh... what the heck are you doing!”

He yelled angrily and Ferris,

“The same goes for you...... wh...... what the heck are you doing! Even if it’s us, anything beyond this...... damn.”


She sounded strained.

He looked at her and saw her desperately slicing away at dozens of '''Kuuri''' launched successively, in order to prevent him from getting struck.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Ryner apologized instinctively.

And without looking back, she said,

“If you have...... the time to apologize...... quickly...... finish working on the spell.”

As she said that, he looked at the glowing words he had drawn in front of him and said.

“Ah, I’m sorry about that as well. It’s already done.”

“I’ll kill you.”

“Please don’t kill me.”

“Then hurry up and do it!”

“Ya ya.”

And Ryner started to chant the words.

"I OFFER UP THIS CONTRACT OF WORDS, TO BEAR THE SPIRIT BEASTS OF MALICE THAT SLEEPS WITHIN THIS EARTH!"


The spell was finally completed.

At the same time.

Ryner’s movement speed started increasing.

He shook his hand lightly to verify that, well beyond his normal physical limits, his movement speed was several times faster than before, and he said.

“Alright, it’s done. Which way are we going again?”

“Right.”

“Liar ~. You said ‘left’ earlier, didn’t you ~.”

“If you remember, don’t ask again!”

“So, in the end, which way are we going?”

Ferris looked left and right, and after confirming that both paths had gradually narrowed due to the encircling of the enemy,

“Alright. Let’s go the opposite way.”

Ryner nodded.

“Well, let’s go then.”

“Right.”


“I’ll restrict their movement with magic, while you go first.”

“Understood.”

“Alright, I’m just going to do this once......”

Ryner’s hand started moving in the air again. With an unbelievable speed, he inscribed glowing magic symbols in the air.

One done.

Two done.

Three done.

Four done.

Five done.

He finished constructing the equations with a speed that could not be followed by the naked eye, and looked in the direction of the enemy.

The enemy, as before, were going to fire successive bouts of '''Kuuri'''. That was the right tactic.

There was no question that the other side had greater firepower. If that’s the case, he should have used more and stronger magic to suppress them.

However.

“That isn’t the right way to use '''Kuuri'''.”

Ryner grinned broadly and started to chant.


“WHAT I SEEK IS IRIDESCENT DESTRUCTION >>> KUURI!”

In an instant, rays of light were fired simultaneously from the first three magic inscriptions that Ryner had drawn.

All three of them were aimed at the same place.

As the rays intersected, an even bigger and more intense sash of light was created, and at the midpoint between Ryner and the enemy, the light particles fell to the ground.

Subsequently, a huge exploding sound was heard and the earth split open.

The ground that was paved with earth and stones was turned up, causing pebbles and gravel to fly, creating a cloud of sand dust.

There were probably some who were hit by the blast, but that was not what Ryner was aiming for. Creating the cloud of sand dust was his true objective.

In an instant, the smoke-like cloud of sand dust that was stirred up greatly reduced the visibility between the two sides.

Of course, at that moment, the enemy would be thinking of rushing him. And Ryner would definitely respond again with a magic attack. The next attack spell would take some time to prepare. By taking advantage of the low visibility, they would capture Ryner...... that’s what they would be thinking.

But Ryner still had two completed magic inscriptions that were not invoked yet.

While grinning broadly.

“WHAT I SEEK IS IRIDESCENT DESTRUCTION >>> KUURI!”

He chanted.


A ray of light was shot out again.

It was aimed in the direction of the enemy.

But it was aimed at a slightly higher point.

It was high enough not to hit the enemy soldiers, but yet not too high at the same time so as to brush by their heads and startle them.

“Uwaah!?”

The gasps of surprise could be heard.

And highly likely, the soldiers should stop moving for around ten over seconds. With the low visibility, and the fact a '''Kuuri''' was fired from the opposing side of the dust cloud, they would be too fearful to make a foolish move.

At that moment,

“So long guys ~”

Ryner started running.

He retreated from that place swiftly, full of vigor.

In the midst of running, after putting some distance away from the enemy, once again,

“WHAT I SEEK IS IRIDESCENT DESTRUCTION >>> KUURI!”

He invoked the final magic inscription.

The enemy probably still thought that Ryner was still standing on the roof of the dango shop.


That would delay them for another ten over seconds.

That would sum up to around thirty seconds.

With that kind of time, he could easily escape from their line of sight.

Ryner turned his head around from the direction of the enemy to face forward.

As he did so, Ferris appeared from a back alley just some distance away, and he ran towards her.

“What are you doing in a back alley?”

As he was asking her, he caught a glimpse of the dango shop owner lying on the ground behind her.

“Ah I see.”

Ryner nodded in agreement.

If they were to leave Oyaji back there, his death would have been certain. And this was something that was completely off Ryner’s mind back then.

Ferris looked at him with a doubtful expression,

“What was the matter with you back then? You took a pretty long time to invoke that magic, forgot all about the shopkeeper. And furthermore, you had that moronic face looking towards the sky...... wait, the moronic face is a usual occurrence though.....”

“Now, there was no real need to insert that extra line......”


“In spite of that, somehow you were staring blankly at the sky. What really happened?”

At her question, Ryner scratched his head and said.

“Well regarding that, that was something bothering me actually......”

“Something bothering you?”

“Yeah. Regarding lightning...... ah, well, forget it. Is Oyaji okay?”

“Uh-huh. He’s only out cold.”

“You’re kind of dangerous when you get violent, were you the one who hit him?”

But Ferris shook her head.

“Ah, so, he passed out from the fear.”

However, she shook her head again,

“He was crying out ''ahhh my debts'' and his eyes rolled over all of a sudden.”

“Eeh ~”

When he heard that, Ryner felt a slight ache in his chest. Well, rather than a slight ache, it might have been a little bit stronger.

But Ferris promptly,

“Now, let’s hurry up and get out of here.”


“Uwah, Ferris is strong. Don’t you feel any kind of heartache?”

With a confused look,

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, it’s nothing if you don’t get it.”

“Well let’s go. The situation doesn’t look too good right now.”

What a thing to say now, and only until now,

“That was what I had been telling you all this while ~”

“Is that so? Well that’s a pity though. Whenever you talk, I don’t seem to hear you at all!”

For some reason, she was brimming with confidence as she said that, and he replied,

“...... well, can you start paying attention to what I say from now on...... please?”

“No way.”

“Ermm...... fine. Since I’ve already known right from the beginning that’s the way you are......”

After Ryner said that with a tired voice, he turned his head around again.

Even though the enemy were still unsure of which way Ryner went and were not coming after them yet, they would get found out sooner or later if they were to continue to hang around here leisurely.


Ryner looked at the lady who had always been inattentive to what he said,

“...... alright. Let’s discuss our strategy along the way as we are getting out of here.”

“Right.”

And the duo ran.

They entered the shopping district, ran just two to three bends ahead, and agilely jumped up onto the rooftops of the grocery stores, and leaped from roof to roof.

Even though there was probably no pursuers who could match up to the speed and vigor at which they were moving, they showed no signs of slowing down.

Ryner began to speak as he was running. He looked at Ferris who was running beside him,

“Well, before we make any other move from now on, it would be prudent to first verify the current state of affairs of Roland.”

Ferris nodded.

“Fugo, gogofugoo, fufufugo.” (munching sounds)

She had four mitsuan-dango in her mouth.

“What the, you managed to bring those along in that kind of situation!”

She swallowed them hastily,


“Of course. That was my top priority and I did my best to grab as much as I could.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep. Because of that, I didn’t manage to cover you fully, and there were around two instances that you were nearly hit by those dangerous magic from the sky, which really made me break out in cold sweat.”

“That’s scaryyyyyyyyyyyy, erm wait, you should be covering me properly hello?”

“It was your bad for staring blankly and not paying attention in the midst of a battle.”

“I thought that it was more of your bad for going all out to secure those dango in the midst of a battle.”

At the end of the day, the fault belonged to both.

“Well, putting that aside anyhow.”

Ryner said.

“We definitely need to leave the country for now. It’s not the first time we are getting chased after though, but currently, there is obviously something strange about this country. I think we need to get another perspective from outside of this country.”

“Thr... throat is blocked...... ocha <ref name="ocha">'''Ocha:''' Ocha (お茶) means tea in Japanese but in the Japanese context, usually by default it refers to Japanese green tea.</ref>......”

“Huh? Shut up. I don’t have any.”

“Ah, ah............ ah, a flower bed......”

“Eehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”


“Ah, I’m fine now.”

“Die!”

“Yep. Almost did. That was dangerous.”

Ferris clutched her chest as she spoke with wheezing sounds, and Ryner, with a fed-up face, said.

“Well, that’s enough. Listen to me now.”

“Right. I was listening. You were talking about how dango and ocha are a must-have, is that right?”

“You are completely offffffffffff, aren’t you? I don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere in my communication with this person arghhhhhhhhhhhh!”

As Ryner was yelling, Ferris said.

“Putting jokes aside, we need to get out of the country, is that right?”

“Ah, you were listening after all?”

“Fufu. I’m different from you in that I’m always serious.”

“Wow. That’s really awesome......”

Ryner said that with half-opened eyes, and Ferris nodded in contentment.

“I see I see. I’m a pretty awesome person! So, after leaving the country, what’s next? Do you have a way to break the deadlock in this situation?”


She asked.

“......”

Ryner thought back about Sion and what happened during that rainy night.

Sion told Ryner to die and a fight ensued.

And in the end, Sion transformed into something strange.

The Sion then said that he wanted to devour Ryner, something which he completely could not understand.

It seemed like he needed to devour something called '''The Solver of All Equations''', and become something called ‘Shin’ or something like that.

But what did all that really mean?

The thing called '''The Solver of All Equations''' somehow seemed to be something special embedded within Ryner’s '''Alpha Stigma''' eyes.

Ryner closed his right eye, and felt his eyeball over his eyelid.

The ‘Shin’ that Sion would become after devouring his eyes, what was that referring to?

Was it the 'Shin' <ref name="shin">'''Shin:''' The kanji for God (神 - normally pronounced as "Kami") can also be pronounced as "Shin". Similarly the kanji for truth (真), can also be pronounced as "Shin".</ref> in god?

Or was it the 'Shin' in truth?

With the current amount of information he had, he could hardly make head or tail on what was said.


Well, however, the figure that Sion transformed into was probably ---

Ryner recalled how he looked like at that time.

His whole skin was glowing a golden color, and underneath that body, there was something dark, ugly, something that appeared to be filled with despair creeping out of his body.

Underneath Sion’s skin, there was some kind of a grotesque form...... sophisticated patterns, incantation words, magic, light, darkness, it felt like every possible thing belonging to this world was creeping out of his body.

To give an analogy, it seemed like a curse that was out to completely invade this world.

Something abnormal and unpleasant was inside Sion.

And the darkness.

To put it more accurately, it was something resembling a deep shroud of blackness that threatened to bury this entire world.

The scene changed.

All of a sudden, he was surrounded by a bunch of black swords......

The swords......

“Ah......”

At that memory, Ryner made a small sound.

That’s right. At that moment back then, Ryner unleashed some form of magic. Something that was powerful and used for attacking purpose. However, the transformed Sion held up his hand, and the black swords struck the magic, and erased it completely.

The magic unleashed by Ryner.

It was as if that form of magic which he used did not even exist in this world in the first place......

But what kind of magic did he actually use......

At that moment,

“...... ouch.”

Ryner clutched his head again.

It was again that excruciating headache, giddiness, and nauseating feeling.

But he smiled. In spite of having that kind of intense headache, he smiled.

‘’That’s right. That time. Lightning......’’

“...... gaa”

The headache was interfering with his thoughts. Despite the intense headache, he did not stop the flow of his thoughts.

‘’Lightning.................................... magic........................ was............ what I used against Sion.’’

And it was erased.


The magic was erased.

As if it did not exist in this world right from the beginning.

He got the feeling that any trace of its former existence was completely erased from this world.

‘’But what was the true extent of that power? Was I the only one with my memories manipulated? Or.......’’

Ryner looked at Ferris.

She had that strangely worried expression again,

“Really, what is the matter with you, Ryner? You were looking at the sky again. Are you having a headache?”

He only gave a faint smile to indicate that he was fine, and then said,

“It’s nothing. But that aside, there’s something I need to ask you.”

“What?”

“You see, about me.”

“Yep.”

“Normally, what kind of magic do I use?”

“...... magic?”

She asked back.

“Yeah. The type of magic that I use normally. Do you remember what is it?”


While running, she folded her arms and tilted her head slightly to the side.

“Hm. Which is it, I wonder. What exactly is it...... hm? Well, I don’t know much about magic though.”

“But don’t you often see me using magic?”

“Yeah.”

“Just now, didn’t I keep using '''Kuuri'''? That spell carries too much power and it’s easy to kill the opponent with that.”

“Yeah, you don’t want that to happen.”

“But I can’t use '''Misumi''' as well. That would cause a flood which would be a troublesome thing.”

Ferris nodded.

“That goes the same for '''Kurenai''' and '''Hamuro'''. I don’t want to start a fire in the area.”

Ferris nodded again.

“So, what was it? What was it that I normally use?”

Her expression became troubled and disturbed.

“...... hmm? It’s strange. I’ve forgotten about it. What in the world......”

But that was enough.


As expected, it was erased.

From Ferris’s memories as well.

From everyone’s memories.

From the entire world.

Its existence was completely erased.

That was something.

“...... that was at the level of god......”

“God?”

Ferris asked, but Ryner did not answer.

That was obviously some extraordinary power. It could not be explained with the current advancements in magic, there was nothing in existence yet that could replicate that kind of power.

Well, in fact, even with the relics of heroes that were encountered to date, there probably was none that possess that level of power.

An extraordinary power that surpassed that of the relics of heroes.

That power wanted to devour Ryner and become Shin.

Ryner smiled bitterly without thinking.


About what Sion was embroiled in.

“......”

It was kind of too bothersome.

Just the relics of heroes alone were already more than what he could handle, and now there’s this extremely immense power that appeared to be a great bother.

Well, that’s why Sion decided to bear all the burdens all by himself, he thought.

However, the key to unlocking the mystery was not totally non-existent.

Assuming that he already got his hands on a number of keywords.

And because they did not connect till now, he was not aware of what they meant.

Because he had no desire to connect them, he was blind to them.

He did already in fact have a number of keywords.

The weaver of all equations.

The solver of all equations.

α.

ω.


The gate.

The key.

The crimson monster in his dream.

And Sion......

Rather, the monster inside Sion, which he was unable to tell what it was even with his '''Alpha Stigma''', wanted to devour Ryner, according to 'him', and become something called 'Shin', and he didn't really know whether it referred to the 'Shin' in truth, or 'Shin' in god.

That's right. It's not as if he was completely up against a dead end.

The keywords were starting to fall into place.

And these words were learned from outside of this country.

That's why there was a necessity to leave this country.

There was a necessity to gain another perspective of this country from outside of this country.

From Imperial Nelpha. From Runa Empire. From Cassla. It might be possible to gain an entirely new insight by realigning their perspective of this country from those three major powers of central Menoris.

Or at the very least, he should be able to get that new perspective if he were to view this country from Gastark.


The Gastark Empire that uses underhand means to gather the relics of heroes, a major power of the north.

If it's them, there was a chance that they might know more about what's happening to Sion.

Well, even though it brought back distasteful memories of them killing his friends, if it's Lir, the guy who killed Lafla, Pueka, and the rest, he would definitely know something about it.

At any rate, as he was on the verge of leaving during their last encounter, he said the following.

''"...... well, as far as possible, do your best to avoid being betrayed, mad monster."''

Do your best to avoid being betrayed.

Was that a prediction on what was happening now?

Did he know that Sion would one day betray Ryner?

“......”

It was certain that he knew something.

Those from Gastark knew something.

Well, even if that's the case, it's unthinkable for them, who are actively hunting cursed eyes bearers, to get along casually with Ryner, an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer, which meant that it would be difficult to acquire any kind of information from them, but was it not possible that such information was scattered around elsewhere outside of Roland?


Well, at the very least, there's nothing left to be learned within Roland. Ryner himself had spent many years researching on his '''Alpha Stigma''', and hardly any lead had been turned up after all those years.

However, once he stepped outside of the country, this sort of information that he was seeking came tumbling into his lap one after another.

In other words, the key to the problem that Sion was bearing upon himself, was it not possible for it to be scattered somewhere outside of the country?

That was also part of the reason for Ryner to leave this country.

In order to save Sion.

In order to discover the truth behind his eyes.

“Ferris.”

“Hn?”

“As I thought, we really should get out of this country.”

Ferris looked at him with a "''what are you saying when we are already at this juncture''" expression.

“You've already said that a number of times. What's wrong with you? Did you really just become an idiot?”

Ryner smiled wryly,


“Well, you see, after thinking about it, I've kind of found various reasons for us to leave this country, and each time I've mentioned it was the time when one of those reasons hit me.”

But Ferris had a slightly worried expression.

Ryner shrugged his shoulders.

“I'm telling you the truth. There's nothing wrong with me really.”

Ferris gave a few knocks to his head with her hand.

“Did somebody put something in your head while I wasn't looking?”

Though she was not too far away from the truth, Ryner shook his head.

“No way.”

But she didn't gave up.

“Or could it be that you got hit real hard on the head?”

“Well, that would be by you with your sword.”

And then she got a ''eureka'' look on her face.

“So that was it!”

“I guess?”

“It's fine then.”


“It's not!”

“Now really, it was good for you.”

There was no way a swinging knock with enough power to send him flying could be good for him, Ryner thought, but instead of debating with her illogical line of thought, he continued.

“Anyway, as I was saying, let's leave the country.”

She nodded.

“I don't really mind.”

After getting her affirmation, Ryner said.

“But before that, we need to understand the current status of Roland...... like the war waged with Nelpha...... and which direction this country will be going is also something we need to be able to foresee.”

“Hm. So, how long will the investigation take?”

“Hn ~ well, one day? If I can capture a soldier and interrogate him, as well talk to some of the people in town, it should be enough, I think. After that, we can proceed to observe the battlefront at Nelpha, which should help us in understanding what Sion is trying to accomplish.”

She stopped in her tracks suddenly,

“So, the next place we are heading to is Nelpha?”


And she turned her sight towards the north.

That was the direction where Imperial Nelpha lay.

Then again, since Roland was located at the southernmost of Menoris continent, any other country would be in the north with respect to Roland.

Ryner stopped and looked to the north as well.

“Well really, Runa would be fine as well...... but it's still officially an ally of Roland. For us who are currently fugutives wanted by Roland, it would be easier to move in a country having hostile relations with Roland.”

It was doubtful however how long would Runa maintain its alliance with Roland, which was quick in waging a war.

Ryner looked behind him.

Seeing no sign of them, it seemed like they had completely lost their pursuers.

Ryner ended his speed enhancement magic.

As he did so, he felt his muscles loosen considerably. Since this particular magic releases a limiter in his mind to allow his muscles to perform beyond their normal physical limits, he felt extremely fatigued upon ending the spell.

As his strength ebbed away from him, he breathed out a sigh of tiredness. He then looked at Ferris,


“I think it's time for us to get down from the rooftops.”

“Agree. There's a good dango shop nearby anyway.”

“Dango again?”

“Dango is everything to me.”

“...... well, if you can gain happiness from that, it's fine I guess. Then, let's talk while we walk.”

“Right.”

The two of them jumped down from the rooftop and started walking.

Ryner continued.

“Now that it's decided that we are leaving this country, it would really be bad if we don't bring Arua and the rest along.”

The boy called Arua, was previously saved by Ryner and Ferris from certain torture in Runa Empire, and like Ryner is an '''Alpha Stigma''' bearer. Currently, he and his childhood friend, Kuku, are residing some distance away from Ferris's house.

But Ferris looked doubtful.

“No, won't it be difficult for us to cross the borders while bringing them along? We are currently wanted right? Furthermore the pursuit for us will get even more intense, and if we get attacked, it will be difficult to escape while protecting them at the same time.”


“Yeah. I thought so too...... but since we were the ones who brought them to this country, to leave now without bringing them along would be kind of bad, don't you think? Even though Sion may be kind at heart and may continue to watch out for them but still...”

Well actually, how the current Sion might treat them still remained a thing to be seen.

Ryner wouldn't feel good about it if Sion were to take them hostage in order to threaten him to return to this country.

If that could happen, then taking them along would become a necessity. Though by doing that would make things a lot more difficult.

“Now, what should we do about it?”

Though as Ryner pondered aloud, Ferris looked at him with an exalted expression.

It felt like she was laughing mockingly, knowingly.

And she said.

“Fufun ♪.”

“Now, I know what you are thinking just by looking at your face, there's no real need to laugh out loud in that manner.”


“Fufufu~n ♪.”

“Arghh really ok ok. So, tell me what's on your mind. You have an idea, don't you?”

He asked in a not particularly expectant manner.

She nodded and said.

“How about this?”

“What?”

“Let's seek Iris's help in bringing Arua and Kuku out of the country. How's that?”

She said.

By the way, the girl called Iris, who is not even a full ten years in age, is Ferris's younger sister. Her beauty and bothersomeness are the splitting image of her elder sister. In fact, while she is twice as bothersome as her elder sister and a difficult person to deal with, her strength is the real deal.

Of course, she is not yet at the same level as Ferris, but still as the second daughter of the powerful Eris House, at the age of ten, she should already possess a level of strength that makes her more than a match for any ordinary soldier.

Ferris continued.


“Ever since Arua came to this country, while precociously saying how he's going to protect Kuku, he has been training like crazy. If Iris and Arua work together, crossing the borders shouldn't be a difficult thing. At the very least, it should be much safer than traveling with us who are on the run. Even if they are captured, at most they would be sent back to Sion. I don't think there's any danger to that, so what do you say?”

What a thing it was for Ferris to say that.

Without thinking, Ryner,

“Some, somehow...... somehow today, for the first time, you actually came up with something decent.”

On hearing that, she said happily.

“Are you surprised?”

“Yeah. I am.”

“Then make a more 'surprised' expression.”

“Eh ~, is that some kind of a request?”

“For once, I just said something brillant, shouldn't you be going ''Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah that's awesomeeeeee Ferris is a geniusssssssss!'' and start rolling on the ground......”

“No way I'm going to do thatttttt, neither am I going to make a comeback on your jokes, I'm kind of tired, so can you please stop digressing? Ever since I got out of prison, thanks to the antics from a certain someone, I'm pretty much drained now.”


Ferris tilted her head to one side,

“A certain someone? Who in the world is that?”

“Well, I'm sure if you search that heart beneath your chest, it would be known to you.”

After Ryner said that, all of a sudden, she gasped. She blushed and with an expression that looked like she just had a realization, she clutched her chest with her hands in a hiding and protective manner.

“Those, those perverted eyes...... what, what in the world are you thinking of doing to my chest!?”

It was again one of her little antics.

And Ryner held up his hand,

“Now seriously, I'm not going to play a fool with you anymore, so please let me off.”

In an instant, she went back to her usual emotionless expression,

“Boring!”

“Now, to say it's boring...... after we get out of this country, I'll play along with you, so for now, can you just bear with it?”

“That's a promise?”

“You really want that so much?”

“Uh-huh. For the past two weeks, with almost no one to talk to...... it had been extremely boring. Let's get out of the country quickly and you can continue to entertain me!”


In a sulky tone she said, and Ryner smiled wryly at her.

So that was it. At the end of the day, she was just feeling lonely.

“So anyway, did you go back to look for Sion during the past two weeks......?”

Maintaing a sulky expression, she nodded.

“No matter how many times I went back, I was chased away. There were like dozens of those disgusting monsters that have their bodies liquidefied...... it was impossible to get close......”

Disgusting monsters with their bodies liquidefied.

Ryner grimaced at that.

During that rainy night, when Sion came to assault Ryner, he brought along those too.

They were made from those vile human experiments.

The sacrifices needed for experimentation to create such super soldiers probably numbered by the dozen, or possibly even by the thousand.

It was a research project inherited from the former Roland.

But that was something that should have been terminated since Sion became king.

It should be something that Sion could not forgive.

However, Sion resumed those experiments. In a place which was out of Ryner's sight. Always smiling like nothing was amiss, he was in fact carrying out those experiments behind his back.


Even though Ryner did not know how much of distress he must be feeling behind them, but he......

He was not the type of person who could easily accept people dying, that was something that Ryner knew best.

Deep distress and despair.

That was what was seen on his face on that rainy night.

The face of someone who was shouldering on a heavy burden.

And now, Sion had already deployed dozens of those abnormal soldiers to guard the castle of Roland.

And Ryner,

“......”

He turned his sight away from Ferris, looked at the streets, and then gazed in the direction of the castle.

Even though it looked as if nothing had changed, this country, without a question, had been completely transformed into something else altogether.

Furthermore, this country was invading a country that should have been its ally, Imperial Nelpha.

And according to Ferris, it's not just the surrendering soldiers, but even women and children were being massacred.


That was something.

“......”

That was something Ryner could not see Sion doing.

But that was already a reality of this country.

That was Sion's reality.

Behind their backs, a reality which he carried upon his shoulders alone.

To kill Ryner.

To continue with the human experiments.

To wage wars on other countries.

And, to let his body be possessed by some kind of unknown monster.

Something that was beyond his imagination was arising in this country.

It was something that needed to be investigated......

At that moment, he abruptly had a not so pleasant realization and he looked at Ferris.

“Oh shit, Ferris. I just realized something bad.”

She looked back at him.

“What is it?”


“We are going to leave this country right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And there are some preparations for that right?”

“Yep.”

“But since I wasn't around, my contract with the inn where I was staying should be terminated automatically right? Anyway, Sion was the one paying for it...... and all my belongings...... are probably gone right?”

In spite of what Ryner said, Ferris had a "''are you an idiot?''" questioning look on her face.

“Even if the contract wasn't terminated, there will be people lying in wait for you there. You are a fugitive now, aren't you?”

“Ah, right. So, what am I going to do? I don't have any other clothes with me, you know?”

She promptly replied,

“Well, that shouldn't pose a problem. Since you are a pervert. Even if you run around naked throughout the whole world, it shouldn't be a problem for......”

“That's not all. On top of that, there's something even worse than that. Without any money now, I can't even buy any clothes.”

At that moment, as if remembering something important, she hit her fist into her other hand.

And Ryner asked.


“Did you just have a sudden stroke of brillance regarding this issue at hand?”

She nodded and then for some reason took on a bullying look and with all her might said.

“This man, such a penniless man arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“.............................. huh, well, it's not totally out of my expectations...... did you really want to say that punchline so much?”

She nodded vigorously.

“That felt unexpectedly good.”

“That's great...... sigh...... so, what about the money?”

“I won't lend it to you.”

“That aside, are you carrying any money right now?”

“Nope.”

“Seriously? You came so far without any?”

She shook her head,

“Not really, I thought I might need to loosen up my purse strings in order to gather information on your whereabouts, so I actually filled up my purse with a large number of gold coins.”

On saying that, even if it's only a little, Ryner could tell that during those two weeks, how much effort she put into in searching for him, and he shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably.


And he asked.

“Well, where is that purse?”

“I don't have it with me now.”

“You left it at home?”

But she shook her head.

“No, I had it just a while ago.”

“And?”

“I left it somewhere.”

“Where?”

“On the lap of the dango shop's Oyaji......”

And then.

And then Ryner remembered the pained look of Oyaji when he shouted "''My debts arghhhhhh!''",

“Ah, ahh. That... can't be helped...”

He said without much thought.


She nodded.

“Yeah. It can't be helped. Well, with that much money, he could easily build not just one, but two dango shops easily......”

“Huh? Aren't you carrying way too much money on you?”

“Yeah. It's my whole fortune.”

“Uwah, you are pretty rich...... well then again, it should be expected of a noble I guess......”

But for her to be willing to part with all her fortune in order to find him, it was indeed......

“......”

It indeed was something that made him feel a sense of guilt.

Ryner, with an obscure expression that looked as if he was smiling bitterly and at the same time as if he was smiling faintly, looked at her.

She faced him,

“Well, most of it was borrowed using your name, so don't worry too much about it......”

“Whaat, you used my name aggaain to borrow money huhhhh!?”

Ryner yelled, but Ferris with a surprised look,

“But that's for the sake of searching for you, isn't it?”


“Well, that's true for that matter...... but still......”

“And those were the support funds for the dango association......”

“Eh, what's this? The conversation just took a strange turn?”

“The money that was supposed to be used for a grand dango party for people to have fun enjoying dango in all their meals all day long, that money is gone now!”

“There's nothing fun in thaaattt! By the way, why in the world would you do such a thing!”

Ryner yelled and Ferris, with an incomprehensible expression, looked at him,

“What are you getting so uptight about? It's not the first time I used your name to borrow money right? And it's already at the amount which you can't payback anyway. I just might as well help you borrow more on top it!”

Ferris said with a strong tone.

“Now now, I don't think you need to get so agitated right? Are you seriously mad?”

“Uh-huh. I am mad!”

He looked at her face, which showed no signs of doubt in her defiant reaction,

“...... is that so...... erm...... right...... okay. Well, I guess that's fine then.”


“Fine.”

Her acknowledgment still sounded strong.

And Ryner,

“Is that so...... it's fine?”

While he didn't really completely feel alright with that, at the same time he felt like he could let it pass.

Since they've already come so far, the thought of having one, two, three, four, hundreds, or even thousands of debtors coming after them was way much better than the pursuers of the Roland military.

There were still other things that he needed to think through...... and he went back deep in thought.

In any case, there were a multitude of preparations to be made for the journey, and on top of all them was the issue of money.

Ryner spoke.

“You know, Ferris.”

“Hn?”

“Just now you mentioned that you left your whole fortune with the dango shop Oyaji right?”

“I did.”

“Was that really your whole fortune?”

“It was everything I had.”


“Don't you have any left at home?”

For an instant, she pondered about something before replying,

“It's not as if there's completely none left...... but.”

Ryner nodded.

“There's probably an ambush lying in wait at your house.”

“Yeah. That's something to be expected under such circumstances.”

“Right...... then as things stand, I'm now a penniless man. I could never have imagined that I would become penniless in a country that Sion ruled over.”

He folded his arms in frustration and pondered.

“Now, what should we do now? You didn't bring any change of clothes as well, which is kind of bad. Now that we are going to be traveling in other countries, it's best for you to take off that armor with Roland's insignia on it.”

As he said that, he looked at her armor.

The Roland emblem was engraved onto the chest area of her armor.

Ferris also looked downwards at her own armor.

“Hm. That's right. This might become a bother from now on......”


“...... well, that's not only true for within Roland, but as well as within other countries, where a negative view on Roland is held.”

“Then, I'll need a new set of clothes and armor.”

“Yep.”

“And that means we need money.”

“Uh-huh. Money. Now, what should we do about it?”

As he said that, she stopped in her tracks.

Ryner turned around.

“What is it?”

But she did not answer. She was looking at a single shop that was still yet to be opened for business,

“Well, look there.”

She said.

“Huh? What's over there?”

As Ryner said that, he looked at where Ferris was looking.

It was an apparel shop.

A large apparel shop that carries a large amount of merchandise for both men and women.


As he looked at that, he knew what she was thinking about.

Robbery.

To break open that door, robbed the store of its clothes and money, that was what it was.

That was the worst.

As a human being, this was an act that should be never be condoned.

Besides.

Besides no matter what the reason was, it was something bad......

“Ah ~, we did this pretty often in other countries, didn't we?”

It was something unpleasant to say, but he couldn't think of anything else.
　
Ferris nodded.

“Uh-huh. We've even assaulted a bank before. That or a noble's mansion...... people who robbed from the poor are called robbers, people who robbed from the rich are called chivalrous thieves!”

What a convenient thing to say for herself, Ryner, without a thought,

“Uwah ~ somehow, somehow that's kind of nostalgic. We did that rather often huh? Even the corrupted Runa church was done in by us.”

“Yep yep.”


For some bizzare reason, given their current circumstances, the two of them started reminiscing their good old days.

“But we seriously became fugitives after what we did then.”

“Uh-huh. But even if we didn't do that, we are already fugitives now. So that was never a problem.”

“On top of that, I was being chased after because of the loans taken......”

“Yeah. And you were preying on the girls on the streets at night......”

“Huh, that didn't happen at all, but well, it's fine. So, what should we do? Are we going to rob that apparel store?”

She shook her head.

“If we do that, won't that make us robbers? As a chivalrous thief, I will of course go after the corrupted nobles!”

“Eh? Is that so? Then why are you looking at that apparel store?”

She pointed at a piece of clothing that could be seen displayed through the glass of the apparel store.

It was a one-piece dress that appeared to give the wearer a great degree of freedom in movement. The colors used were bright, and it looked really nice and lovely, a fine piece of apparel indeed. It came with a belt and a pair of boots, and a label that says "''New Item''" was attached to it.


Ryner looked at that and asked.

“Do you want that?”

Ferris nodded.

“You're going to rob the nobles and use their money to buy that?”

Again she nodded.

“But is that really suited for traveling?”

Ryner could see that for a tall woman of her height, if she puts that dress on, the skirt portion might be a little too short for her, but she promptly replied,

“No problem at all.”

“Is that so?”

“Uh-huh. Even if it's really difficult to move in it, I'm still going to have that. Because I really love that dango pattern at the waist part.”

That was what she said.

“Eh? Dango pattern? Is there such a thing?”

Ryner looked at the waist portion of the dress. And saw at that part, rather than dango, were three small polka dots lying in a straight line.


“Ah, so that was the main point.”

“Of course.”

“Now, that should not be in such a matter-of-fact manner.”

“Hm? Is there anything wrong with it?”

“Eh ~ ? Ah ~ ? Well, that dress looks kind of cute, so there isn't anything wrong with it.”

“With this, I'll be constantly in one body and soul with the God of Dango!”

“That's great ~”

“Yep!”

Seeing the amount of contentment she held in her acknowledgment, Ryner smiled wryly and then looked at the man's clothing displayed somewhat towards the interior of the store.

“Well then, I think I'll take that.”

The mannequin he was pointing to was wearing a set of man's clothing that was probably made from the same maker which made the dress that Ferris had chosen.

It consisted of a set of shirt and pants that appeared to give the wearer the same great degree of freedom in movement. Like the dress, it had the same so-called dango pattern logo, but in comparison, it was much smaller and less visible.

It seemed like that logo was the trademark of that maker.

Ferris then said,

“Ohh, it seems like the day when you've converted to become a dango believer has finally arrived!”

With that proclamation, Ryner said.

“After you loot off those nobles, and since you've already chosen something fitting for yourself, you might as well buy something of the same maker for me.”

She returned to a serious look and looked at him.

“Sure. So, in other words, you want to split up the tasks? Then you will......”

“Yes. I'll look into the current state of affairs of this country. After that, I would decide whether we should be going to Nelpha or Runa based on the circumstances. I'll try to form a plan. And you will take on the task of making preparations for the journey, as well as liaise with Iris on what to do. Is that alright with you?”

She nodded.

“Fine. So how many days from now should we link up?”

Ryner thought for a moment.


It's not a question of how many days he needed to finish his investigation.

It's a question of how many days they could continue remaining in this country.

It was highly likely that Roland would increase the number as well as the strength of the pursuers, which would intensify things.

How should he work this out?

There was not much time for them to do this at a leisure pace.

“As I mentioned earlier, just one day would do. We don't have time to take things slowly.”

Ryner said.

“We'll link up tomorrow morning at eight.”

Ferris nodded,

“Understood. Tomorrow morning at the usual place......”

Ryner responded frantically,

“Ah, that won't do. I don't know which usual place are you referring to. As a matter of fact, do you know how much trouble I had to go through earlier to find you?”

“Hm. Where do we link up then?”

Ryner pondered for a moment, and said.

“Asohld dango teahouse.”


“Oh, Asohld huh! I have yet to taste that tea dango there. Ryner, you are pretty well-informed, aren't you?”

She praised him.

“Uh thanks.”

He acknowledged it without any rebuke. It's not as if he chose that place because of the dango or anything like that.

Towards the north, slightly beyond the measure of land where that teahouse was, along the highway beside it, was the very first road fork. That was why he chose that place.

To the northwest of that road fork lay Nelpha.

To the northeast lay Runa.

Whichever way it was, it was the highway leading out of Roland.

Moreover, because this highway is not too wide and is a roundabout detour, Roland would never use it for sending its troops to Nelpha. That was why he chose that place.

In other words tomorrow.

They would start their journey once they linked up at the tea house, and by afternoon, they would be out of the country.

“......”


In order to save Sion.

In order to save this messed-up country.

Though he was to carry out such a laborious and troublesome task, Ryner did not exhibit any sign of nervousness, nor fighting spirit, and with his usual languid voice,

“Well, Ferris. Let's do it.”

“Right.”

She acknowledged, and Ryner said.

“...... that fool. That stupid Sion, the two of us shall save him.”

She looked at him.

She looked at him with a slightly surprised expression.

And only very faintly.

Only very faintly, she smiled.

“...... right!”

She acknowledged once again.
<noinclude>
 
----

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>
 
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|-
| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#daiden vol1|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2011-11-18T18:06:46Z

Error: /* Chapter 1 - The Moment When The World Completely Transformed */

==Chapter 1 - The Moment When The World Completely Transformed==


“I love you ♡.”

A sudden confession.

“......”

However, Ryner Lute was doing his best to ignore that.

“Heey heey Ryneer ♡ I loove you ♡”

He was told again.

“......”

Like before, Ryner said nothing.

A young man who wished he could sleep for ten thousand years, having black hair and equally sleepy-looking black eyes, Ryner Lute.

Just next to the tall and lean figure with a slightly stooped posture clearly lacking in motivation, came the voice again.

“Hey Ryyyneeer ♡”

What a sweet feminine voice.


“......”

Ryner stubbornly continued to ignore that voice.

To be more precise, he hardly had any time to respond to that lovely voice.

The reason was because, from behind them,

“Hey! Stop right there!”

“Fugitives! Don’t think that you guys can escape us so easily!”

“They are criminals anyway! Let's just kill them!”

The shouting came from dozens of pursuing mage soldiers right behind the duo.

One after another, glowing magical symbols were drawn into the air, and without warning, a hole appeared on the ground where Ryner’s foot had stepped just a split second ago.

[[Image:DDnYnD v01 017.jpg|thumb]]
“Uwah!?”

BAM! Another hole appeared!

“Waaaaaah!?”

BAM! Another!

“Gyaaaaaaaaa!?”

Ryner yelled out while just barely dodging the successive magical attacks.

“That was bad! That was REALLY bad! If I were a tad slower, my right foot would have been gone......”


BAM!

“Owa owa owa! Hey you guys, don’t you think that using such dangerous magical attacks in the middle of the night is troubling the neighbourho......”

BAM!

“Gyaaaaaaaaa damnnn! You guys have better F***ING remember this!!!”

He was yelling and running at the same time.

Running with every ounce of strength he had.

That was how tense the situation was.

And in that kind of situation.

Following just right behind him was a girl who spoke again,

“Heeey heeey listen to this Ryneeer ~ ♡ I would really love to eat [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dango dango] ice-cream now ♡.”

“......”

But, as before, Ryner just kept on running without paying any attention to that.

“Seriously ♡ just the two of us running on the streets, it somehow feels like a date, don’t you think ♡”


“......”

“Now, now, Ryyyneeer! You should already be looking at me ♡”

“......”

“Hey hey hey, why don’t I tell you about how I really feel ♡”

“............”

“Well, this is actually my secret, you see. I've already reached the point where I can’t live without Ryner ♡ Oh, I’ve gone and said it......!”

At that instant,

“YOU ARE SO ANNOYINGLY NOISYYY ARGHHHHHH!!”

He reached his limit and turned his head around.

Behind that sweet voice, somewhat contradictory, was an emotionless and expressionless face of a beautiful woman, following close behind him.

The moonlight shone on her long flowing blond hair, and her almond-shaped clear, somewhat emotionless clear blue eyes were gazing intently at him.

She bore perfect features which were beyond ordinary, was blessed with smooth fair skin like that of porcelain, possessing a delicate slender figure, and hanging from her waist where her slender hand rested, which no one would have been  able to imagine, was a long sword.


An unbelievably beautiful woman. Anyone who sets their eyes on her would agree she is a woman of unmatched beauty. A beautiful woman who resembles nothing less than a goddess.

When a man receives a love confession from such a woman, it would surely be a heart-stopping moment for him.

Well, he was a little bothered.

“Ah ♡ You are finally looking at me ♡”

He was a little bothered by the words that were repeated by that sweet voice, especially when those words were said by someone with a completely expressionless face.

Even with that expressionless face, the charm she exuded could be felt. She was a beautiful woman.

Ryner looked intently at this expressionless, beautiful woman --- his long-time partner, Ferris Eris.

Though it was not obvious, she appeared slightly embarrassed by his gaze. Her eyes got a little misty. And with a slightly shaking voice,

“Now, now.... don’t look at me like that...... ♡”

That excessive amount of sweetness from her voice, made even Ryner's heart skip a beat.


That being said,

“That unusually meaningless cute act that you are putting on, is REEEALLY pissing me OFFFFFF!!”



In mere seconds, his killing intent towards her rose quickly --- in short, coming to a murderous level.

“Really, what is the matter with you!? What are you trying to do!? Would you please take a look around us! Look, attack magic is coming from the right! Attack magic is also coming from the left! And behind us there’s a ridiculous number of mage soldiers! We are are going to be killed right here! Now now, I have a question for you! In such a situation, what the heck are you trying to do to me?”

In response to such a question, what should normally have been an expressionless face of Ferris was again showing a slight embarrassment accompanied by a slight blush.

“......it’s precisely because we are in such a situation, that’s why I want to ascertain Ryner’s love for me ♡”

“Huuuuuuuuuh!? That’s why I’m asking you what the.......”

BAM!

“Gyaaaaaa! See! See! This is really not the time for......”

“But we made a promise to love each other forever......”

“We did NOOOOOOOOOT! Ugh, what kind of direction is this conversation heading towards......”

BAM!

“Uhyaaaaaa! Hey, by the way...... why do you seem uninjured in such a situation? What did you do to avoid all that magic?”

Ryner asked, to which Ferris completely ignored as she continued, with slightly dreamy eyes that seemed to sparkle.


“We have been lovers for over ten years......”

“Yeah, what a lie. Didn’t we meet just a while back, less than two years ago! Where did that ‘lovers’ thing come from, for goodness sake? Seriously, what’s this? What the......”

That was ignored as well.

“...... Ryner has always been saying this...... ''I’ll protect my beloved Ferris! So leave this to me, you go on ahead first''......”

“So this is where it's leading to, ehhhhhhhhh!?”

Ryner yelled with final comprehension on how the conversation was unfolding, but it was already too late.

All of a sudden, she caught hold of some of his hair together with a part of his clothing from his back, and forcibly turned him around.

Looking at Ferris, who was still putting an act of mild embarrassment, with a slightly flushed face. Ryner, looking as if he was about to cry, protested,

“...... eh, that’s impossible right? To kick the asses of dozens of mage soldiers, such a bothersome thing, even if it is me......”

Continuing to look embarrassed, she gave him a shy look,


“But, really, I’m truly happy...... about what Ryner said the other night, those words......”

“...... what words?”

“Don’t you remember...... ''Even if I’m roasted by magic, even if I’m sliced up into minced meat, I’ll definitely protect Ferris!'', those were the words...”

“I DID NOT SAY THOSE THINGSSS!! There’s absolutely no way, I would have said such horrifying words!!”

All of a sudden, Ferris returned to her usual expressionless face.

“Now now, that’s why in the case of Ryner Lute, he shall become 'Minced Meat Lute'. It’s meat grinding time.”

“What’s with the meat grinding time! That’s sounds really scary! That’s a joke right? So, that’s a jok......”

However, that was no joke.

Before Ryner could finish his sentence, Ferris made a sweep at his leg, and forcefully grabbed his arm by the joint. And then, with all her strength, she started pulling him towards the direction of the pursuing mage soldiers behind them.

“Wait wait! Please...... wait......”


“Eey!” (sound of effort from Ferris)

“You’ve gotta be kidding me! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

With a spinning momentum, Ryner was flung into mid-air. The ground and the sky flashed across his eyes.

For a while, Ryner just stared blankly ahead. Then, he turned his head towards the landing ground where he was bounded for.

He saw what was awaiting him there. It was right in the middle of those loud bunch of mage soldiers that were chasing after them.

“......”

Nonetheless.

“......”

Nonetheless, he thought.

“...... Ah...... this is happening again......”

He was already used to it.

He then looked in the direction of Ferris, watching the back of her figure, as she was running away, full of vigor.

“So, what’s going to happen next?”

Without looking back, she answered,

“We’ll meet at the usual place in two hours time.”


Ryner retorted, “Well now, aren’t there like three of those so-called usual places? If you are still fooling around with me, I’ll definitely kill you, seriously you know?” As he said that, he landed head-first.

“Ughhh.”

Groaning like an idiot, he crashed into the ground.

And he was immediately surrounded by the mage soldiers.

“Hahaha. Your comrade has abandoned you. What a pitiful guy!”

“Now there’s nowhere else you can run to, you criminal!”

“Just keep still and let us tie you up!”

While he was being told all that,

“......”

Ryner turned towards them and got up. He made a grunt as he stood up, examined his surroundings, and appeared to consider the seriousness of his situation. Oddly however, there was no sign of any tension from him as he shrugged his shoulders.

“...... well, that line about 'tying me up', isn’t that a little old?”

On hearing that, the man standing right in front of Ryner suddenly flushed bright red.


“Sh... shuddaaaaaap! A criminal has no right to protest!”

“Oh, so that was from you? Did I spoil the mood? If so, I’m really sorry about that.”

The man flushed even redder.

“A... a man with a criminal standing making a fool out of me...... I won’t tolerate this...... I’ve been told from above that it’s perfectly fine to kill you!”

In response to that,

“Really. From above?”

“That’s right! That’s why don’t you dare make light of me. Or I’ll give you a taste of excruciating pain.”

“A taste of excruciating pain...... hmm. Well, I didn’t really have the intention to make light of anything actually......”

After saying that, he suddenly thought of something the man in front of him just mentioned, and smiled faintly at that.

“......”

Well, his wry smile was actually blended into a somewhat sorrowful look on his face.

Criminal.

That’s what that man called him.

Criminal.


“...... criminal huh.”

He murmured. He then glanced briefly at the military uniform of the soldier, specifically at the insignia. The insignia, carved into the uniform, was made up of a snake-like shape twirling around a spear.

That was the emblem of Roland Empire.

And Ryner possessed that same insignia.

“......”

He looked at the clothes he’s wearing. Because of an afflicted wound, he was not wearing his outer garment for his upper body, which was covered in bandages. Otherwise, the outer garment he usually wore, which was currently twirled and tucked around his waist, should bear that very same emblem.

A special cut of a robe weaved into a piece of white armor.

It was a unique type of battle garment specially conferred to only Roland’s mage knight battalion, something which Ryner received from the king of this country, Sion Astal.

Rather, it might be more apt to say that this was something he received from his best friend.

It was given to him before he first started his travels, a particular type of damage-resistant garment that had the ability to withstand even scorching flames.

And of course, the breast area of this particular type of garment had that particular similarity.


“......”

Ryner unfolded the breast area of that garment tucked at his waist. Indeed, there was that very same insignia with a snake-like shape twirling around a spear engraved into that area.

Until just recently, Ryner, Sion, Ferris and their friends had been fooling around, joking, laughing together, and passing the days.

''Now, I’m called a criminal.''

''I’m called a runaway prisoner.''

He thought,

“...... somehow.”

He thought out loud as he looked around his surroundings. He looked at the mage soldiers surrounding him. He looked at the curtain of darkness from the night around him.

“...... somehow...... the whole world seemed to have changed in just a single moment......“

He then looked at the mage soldier who seemed like the leader of the group, and said,

“So, you’ve been told from above that it’s alright to kill me!”

From above.


That was what the man had said. But, who from above was he referring to? Someone important within Roland’s military?

“...... I wonder whether it's Sion.”

Ryner murmured.

That's right.

That was how it was regarding his situation.

The directive from the king of this country --- the directive from his best friend, was to brand him a criminal and to have him killed.

“......”

How it had come to this, Ryner was not sure of that himself.

That night from two weeks ago.

It was a rainy night no different from others, when Sion showed up.

For some reason, he was crying.

As he was crying, he asked Ryner to die.

At that moment, the relationship between the two of them ended abruptly.

''Just recently before that, we were surely laughing and spending great times together, and then all of a sudden I don’t understand what he’s thinking anymore.''


The figure of Sion crying as he tried to kill Ryner.

Strange black blades coming forth from nowhere. The hand of a woman springing out from Ryner’s own chest. And the fading away of the scenery around him. A scene in which he could comprehend nothing.

During that time.

He was standing there alone, enveloped by something resembling a thick shroud of darkness.

But, he spoke nothing of that. He only smiled sadly, and as he was crying, he merely told him to die.

But in the end.

That did not happen.

By the time Ryner regained consciousness, he found himself already imprisoned. Just about anything and everything about this world had changed.

The harshness of the overwhelming transformation of this world was excessive enough to even send Ferris crying.

She told Ryner as she was crying.

Sion had become weird and creepy.

He was laughing like a mad man as he told her that he had killed Ryner.

And that she was not to step into the castle, and show herself before him ever again.

And on top of that, someone who hated wars, someone who hated to see people die, someone who was peace-loving, and that someone, the Hero King Sion Astal, was invading his ally, sending his troops marching into Imperial Nelpha, and appeared to have given the order to kill soldiers, commoners, women, and children without any discrimination.


That Sion.

“......”

That, Sion.

A king who had amassed kingdom-wide popular support.

The appearance of a Hero King.

The appearance of a Hero King who would unite the world. Everything in this world should belong to Roland. That seemed to be what he believed.

Anything that proved as an obstruction, would be removed, killed, and eliminated. That was the state of mind he now had.

“...... really.”

Anything that could change would change.

That was what Ryner thought.

And he thought of Sion’s face. An image of his best friend appeared in his mind.

But that was a tear-streaked face.

A tear-streaked face with a self-loathing expression.


He was definitely not someone who could laugh as he betrayed his best friend. And definitely not someone who could laugh as he invaded another man’s country.

He would always, by himself, frantically shouldering all the heavy burdens which others would find to be endless. In order to hide this from everyone, he would do his best to carry a smile on his face.
But in the end, unable to become free of all these burdens, he put on a sad face.

Just like the one he had on that rainy night.

Ryner remembered the pain shown on his tear-streaked face, when he looked as if he was seeking help.
The Sion in his memory was way too gentle and hurting inside. He was a sorrowful king.

That was the reason why,

“...... um so, you guys were told from above it’s alright to kill me?”

Ryner queried the same man again.

The man laughed,

“Fuhahaha, that’s right! So, you’re only feeling scared now? But then, I’m not an unreasonable person. If you don’t resist, we are fine with apprehending you in a half-dead state......”

Ryner had stopped listening long before that man finished his sentence.


He looked up.

He looked up at the sky.

He turned his head and looked around. He looked in the direction of one of the country’s taller buildings.

Roland’s castle.

The place where this country’s king resided in.

Just some time ago, Ryner, Ferris, and Sion were spending time engaging in meaningless conversations and laughing merrily in that place.

He was looking at that place.

It was a place where he could no longer return to.

Despite not even an hour having passed since escaping from prison, the surrounding area of the castle was already crawling with these many pursuing mage soldiers, it was probably no longer possible to just fight his way back, and arrive at the castle unscathed.

Because the Roland now was no longer the same as before.

“......”

Without the knowledge of Ryner, Sion had secretly completed the vile human experiments, a previously unfinished legacy of the former Roland Empire.

Now, the military boasted ranks of soldiers possessing an abnormal strength, created from the results of such experiments.


Even for Ryner, formerly known as “The Greatest Magician of Roland”, going up against that level of strength might prove to be a dangerously difficult battle.

Right now, the castle was probably protected by that abnormal power.

And it seemed improbable for the Ryner now to overcome that kind of odds and make it into the castle alive.

In other words, it was no longer possible for Ryner to even meet Sion right now.

“......”

Even if his best friend Sion were to be yelling to Ryner for help, that very one thing was beyond his ability right now.

Ryner looked at that very castle,

“Arghhh... damn. It certainly looks far...”

He said in a languid voice.

Moreover, no matter how the man in front of him shouted,

“How dare you ignore what I’m sayinggggggggg!”

Ryner ignored him.

“But even if it’s far...”

He murmured.

However, as of now, even if it was possible to make his way back to the castle easily,


“...... for me to go this far, it’s decided.”

That was what he said.

He grasped the insignia of his clothing.

The emblem of Roland.

The insignia that consisted of a spear with a snake twirling around it.

The very proof of one’s allegiance to this country.

Ryner grasped it strongly, and ripped it apart. Although part of the clothing got torn off together, he did not care. As he vigorously, forcibly, pulled at it, what used to be a damage-resistant piece of clothing that could only be worn by a member of the mage knight battalion, was ripped into shreds.

Ryner stared at the insignia for a while, and threw it away.

“......”

At that point, his world had undergone a massive change, but no one noticed it.

Because he threw it away a little too quickly.

The emblem.

No one had noticed the fact that he had thrown away this country.

Since young, he had lived in Roland all his life, even though he found everything to be a bother and was a genius of a level which might never appear hereupon again, he was bonded to this place in order to save his friends, again and again.


In order to return to the side of his best friend, he had to do it.

No one had noticed the fact that it was the very first time he threw away his country.

The man said,

“That’s enough. Till the very end, you’re making a fool out of us, if you insist on resisting......”

He was interrupted by Ryner before he finished.

Looking at the man with languid eyes,

“No way. I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.”

He said.

With a shocked expression, the man asked,

“Huh? What’s not possible?”

To that, Ryner, with an idiotic expression,

“No, erm, that’s right. If it’s as usual, it would be kind of different. For me to give my best, to be energetic, to be motivated to do anything, that kind of pumped-up mode is really something I dislike...... ''Eh seriously!?'' While I’m in the midst saying that, the possibility of you guys catching me, even in a sluggish manner, does exist actually......”


“Well then, so you are not resis......”

But, Ryner shook his head.

“But, today is slightly different, actually. ''Let's do it!!'' You know, I was kind of thinking along this line, if ever so slightly. But then you know, I never thought that such a troublesome situation in which I hardly have any choice would have arisen...... That’s why, ''I’m going to do it!'' You see, I was kind of thinking along this line.”

While saying that, Ryner looked up at the castle for another time,

“The unmotivated me is finally going to get serious and do it! Aren’t I great, Sion?”

He said.

But of course, the mage soldiers failed to understand those words,

“What the heck are you saying......”

However, they were interrupted by Ryner,

“As I was saying, you guys won’t be able to catch me, don’t you get it? Do you guys know who I am?”

In response to those words, the mage soldiers looked at each other.

“Who is this guy?”


“And how is it that he’s so full of himself?”

“It can’t be that he’s some kind of highly dangerous guy right......”

The man who looked like the leader started,

“Sh... Shut up shut up! Stop acting so flustered! Don’t be misled by the criminal’s bullshit! Look at that sleepy-faced rascal, what’s there to be fearful......”

But, the leader did not finish his sentence.

To be more precise, he was not in a position to do so as he sailed through the air.

It was not just him alone. One after another, five mage soldiers that were behind him were sent flying as well.

Only then did the rest of the mage soldiers realize that something was happening.

The flying soldiers were all struck by Ryner.

With unbelievable speed, before the mage soldiers even realized what was happening, through a series of strikes and kicks, including the leader of the group, Ryner had sent six mage soldiers flying.

The color of the mage soldiers’ faces changed at this unexpected development.

“What is this guy......”


“K... Kill him. This guys is dangero......”

At that moment, with a swift chopping motion, Ryner hit the back of the neck of the second most important-looking man, the man who gave that order, and knocked him unconscious. For a group of such level, once the bosses were put out of commission, the rest would be easy.

“V... Vice-commander was taken out as wellllllll!”

''See ~''

With a floating smile, Ryner broke into a run.

Weaving through the confused mage soldiers who just lost their commanders, he broke free of the group and kept on running.

Immediately after that, one of the soldiers who was probably the third highest ranking among them,

“Don’t let your ranks falter! The enemy, the enemy is just one man! If we all use our magic together, we’ll somehow......”

As he shouted and started inscribing a magic symbol, Ryner turned his head around.

As he did so, a glimmering vermillion five-point pentacle suddenly appeared over the center of his eyes.

Using those eyes, Ryner briefly studied the unfolding magic symbol that was drawn in mid-air.

At that instant, the power, structure, and the invocation method of the spell the man was casting, were all read in by Ryner’s eyes, and he promptly deployed the corresponding spell cancellation magic.


His hand moved rapidly in mid-air, and with a speed many times faster than that of the mage soldier, he completed his spell.

“WHAT I SEEK IS INTRUSION >>> SHIRA”

At that moment, black smoke was discharged from the magic symbol Ryner inscribed, and came into contact with the magic symbol the man was currently drawing. Consequently, as it was, the appearance of the man’s symbol changed into something that resembled a devil’s face.

In reaction to that, the face of the man changed into an expression of shock.

“What the... what is going......”

Such a thing should not have been possible.

Just a moment ago, he was, without a doubt, in the process of inscribing the magic symbol, and not only was the structure of his magic being deciphered quickly, a spell cancel was thrown at him, changing the structure of his inscription, for such a thing to happen, what kind of monster......

The man looked at Ryner’s eyes.

[[Image:DDnYnD v01 041.jpg|thumb]]
The center of Ryner’s eyes.

Right after seeing that vermillion five-point pentacle in the center of his eyes, all of a sudden, the man stiffened in fear.

“It... It’s '''Alpha Stigmaaa'''!! This guy is an '''Alpha Stigma''' monster!!”

Upon uttering those words, a mild confusion started to arise among the mage soldiers.


'''Alpha Stigma'''.

Such a level of disgust, fear, and loathing were embedded in those words.

The eyes that can read in all forms of magic.

However, once the bearer of these cursed eyes goes berserk, regardless of living or non-living, friend or foe, he will start destroying and slaughtering everything around him.

The mark of attestation to a mad monster.

Just as one thought, the mage soldiers looked at Ryner’s eyes and started shaking in fear.

“Mon... Monster!”

Ryner smiled wryly at that.

“...... there’s no need to be so afraid of me...... but then again, if that would make you give up on chasing after me, do become even more fearful ~”

In response to those words, several mage soldiers started fleeing, shouting how they were going to be killed by a monster.

“......”

Ryner made a slightly sad expression for a moment and sighed.

He took a deep breath.


And then,

“...... Errrmmm, ora ora ora! If you don’t want to get killed by an '''Alpha Stigma''' monster, get away from here nowwwwwwwww!”

He yelled with all his strength.

This time round, the majority of the mage soldiers started fleeing.

Looking at the scene before him, Ryner thought it fortunate to have invoked his '''Alpha Stigma''' this early.

But the truth was Ryner originally had a plan.

After being thrown into prison by Sion, and breaking out of prison with the help of Ferris, it appeared that they had been discovered for the mage soldiers were lying in wait for them, and somehow they had managed to escape to this particular street with all their might.

However, the truth was it was easy to shake off these guys.

Rather, to put it more accurately, it was no difficult matter for both him and Ferris to fight them off.

But, the fact was they fled all the way to this street.

What was the reason behind that?

The original plan was to first lure the mage soldiers, who thought they could win against the likes of Ryner and Ferris, to this street and then lose them. After they were shaken off, the mage soldiers would probably continue searching for them for some time while they were under the impression that they could win against them.


In that case, the mage soldiers were unlikely to call for reinforcements at this point in time, delaying the possibility of having more powerful troops or even the activation of the royal military. That was the original plan.

However, the plan failed.

''All thanks to her.''

''All thanks to that stupid Ferris.''

''It was all thanks to that rampaging, trouble-causing, dango-fanatic woman, that I have to end up fighting these mage soldiers.''

They were definitely not weaklings. If Ryner were to fight them for real, there was definitely a need for him to be somewhat more serious.

If that happened, it might lead to some casualties.

Now that he was about to leave the country, he wished to, as much as possible, avoid injuring his former comrades.

“Well, seems like I’ve already hit some of them......”

On top of that, Ryner was afraid that those soldiers who fled would probably call for more reinforcements.

If that happened, more powerful assassins were bound to come after them.

He originally wanted to buy a little more time for them to finish their preparations to leave the country.


“Oh well, it can’t be helped...... now, incidentally......”

One of the mage soldiers who was attempting to run away had been caught by a quick movement from Ryner.

That man who was caught seemed unbelievably frightened,

“Mon... monster... let go of m... me......”

“What the...... isn’t that a little excessive......”

“I’m going to be killed...... I’m going to be killed by a monsterrr...”

The wail of despair caused Ryner to grimace.

Monster.

He had always being called that. Always.

Monster.

MONSTER.

M-O-N-S-T-E-R.

After being repeatedly branded as a monster, and incurring a harsh emotional hurt, in the end, he had given up on anything and everything, and had given up on coming into close contact with other people.

Because he bore a defiled body, he had no right to love another person.

Because he bore a cursed body, he had no right to stay by the side of another person.


With a sense of resignation, he gave up on anything and everything...... that in itself was an easy and comfortable way out.

In exchange for not hurting others, he put himself in a place where he himself would not get hurt.

In exchange for not betraying the hopes of others, he put himself in a place where he could do things half-heartedly.

Though that place was dark and lonely, it was a place of ease and comfort.

And yet, the person who pulled him out from that place, that place of darkness, was none other than Sion.

After meeting him, then meeting Ferris, and doing stupid things with them, for some reason, before he knew it, he was no longer bothered when others called him a monster.

As they were doing stupid things and laughing merrily together, before he realized it, his heart had opened up, and he no longer needed to bear the feeling of being alone anymore.

Despite all that, Sion had told Ryner to go back to the way he was before.

''Having told me to follow him in a pompous manner, without telling me anything, shouldering everything by himself, and saying sorry to me.''

''But it shouldn’t have been like this.''

''That was a little too irresponsible of him.''

Ryner thought.


“Hey you, I need you to pass a message to Sion.”

“I’m going to get kill......”

“Stop that already.”

Ryner’s intimidating tone stopped the flow of his words. The man seemed about to cry.

However, Ryner just smiled faintly.

“Listen to this. I’m not going to kill you. But, I need you to pass a message to Sion... to the king of this country.”

In response to this, the man glared at him,

“Y... You filth, a message from a criminal like you, His Majesty will never hear of......”

To which Ryner interrupted,

“Hear me. He is really a wimpish person, and there is no way he would ignore this. Anyway, it’s fine even if he doesn’t want to hear of it. I just wanted to let him know I’ll be leaving the country. He can do as he pleases.”

“Who would pass a message for a monster like you......”

“Aye. That’s fine as well. But, you will pass the message. Well, this is how it goes. I............”


After making his request, Ryner then released the man.

The man glared at him,

“I’ll not pass on the ramblings of a criminal!”

He shouted loudly. Well, if that was the case, that was fine in itself. Whether the message was passed on or not, how he was to proceed from now on was already decided.

He shrugged his shoulders, smiled faintly, and said,

“Well, thanks a lot for the trouble.”

“Shut up! You monster......”

“Yeah yeah. Now, I think that would be enough. Most of your comrades have completely fled, you know.”

“......”

Even after having said that, the man continued to glare at Ryner for a while before taking off.

After gazing at the back of his fading form for a while, Ryner turned around on his heel.

“Arghhh... for goodness sake, after this, there will surely be more and stronger pursuers coming after us...... we have to finish our preparations and get out of the country before that I guess......”

While muttering to himself, he started walking.

The first destination was the ‘usual place’ where he should link up with Ferris however.


“......”

At that thought, Ryner stopped in his tracks.

“But then again, which usual place was she referring to......?”

He wearily shook his head in puzzlement.

<center>♦</center>

That place.

“......”

That place was terribly dark.

To put it more accurately, though the absence of illumination was the real cause of the darkness, Sion Astal thought that it was terribly dark.

In the castle of Roland Empire, Sion was sitting alone on his throne surrounded by a large amount of empty space.

Actually, since the start of Roland’s invasion of Imperial Nelpha, in order to pass down various orders, the time Sion spent in this spacious room had increased.

Even though either his subordinates or the nobles would call on him one after another, turn by turn within short intervals, Sion thought that the room was dark and lonely.


He looked at the huge windows lining the left and right of his room. The sky was already starting to brighten, indicating it was about time for the morning visits.

The sunlight started streaming through the windows into the room, and furthermore, given that the room was lit by magical illumination, it was actually in truth far from being dark.

“......”

The darkness was caused by this country.

That was what the king who just turned twenty not long ago thought.

Bearing silver hair that has a regal feel, he has sharp, golden eyes that speak of an indomitable will.

With those eyes, he is always looking far into the future.

The future of this country, the future of the people, the future of the world.

What are the things that can be done to bring forth more changes to this world.

He looks far into the future, makes the decisions, and moves forward.

That’s right.

He is the hero king that everyone had been waiting for.

He is the benevolent lord who remade the formerly corrupt Roland Empire into a strong and prosperous major power standing in the south of the continent.


And this all happened within the span of two years since he became king.

During the previous war with Estabul, he rose through the upper ranks quickly due to his remarkable achievements despite of his illegitmate heritage as the son of the previous king and a commoner. After that, he used everything he had - his skills, looks, and charisma - to overthrow the king by acquiring the people's support.

But he had not stopped at that.

Reforming the old practices of the country, he put the tyrannical nobles in their place, eliminated waste, brought prosperity to the country, and kept on moving forward. Moving forward. Moving forward.

It was almost as if part of his life was seeping away, even though he looked like a man who was slowly losing his sanity, he continued moving forward.

Always searching for the best option.

Always searching for a way that would save the most people.

What is the best method?

Which is the most correct path?

Even when he felt troubled, shed endless tears, and felt despair, he still believed that would be a better tomorrow and kept on moving forward.

Without a doubt, the people were rejoicing.

At the appearance of someone who was like a beacon of light for them.


At the dawning of a light that shone across this world of madness, every single person in this country was rejoicing.

Everything would be fine, as they believed that they could leave everything to him, Sion Astal.

It was because he is the hero king.

He is perfect because he is the light of this country.

Therefore, he will never make a mistake.

It is not possible for him to make a mistake.

Everyone believed so. 

And Sion continued to fulfill their expectations.

To look far into the future, and continue moving forward without making any mistakes.

The path which is the most efficient, the most correct, and with the least sacrifices.

That was the reason why he continued those human experiments to create a powerful army.

Because it was necessary.

To minimize the loss of lives of the ordinary commoners, there was no other way than to acquire a power that could easily overwhelm another country.

“......”

It was the same with betraying and invading former ally, Imperial Nelpha.

It was necessary.


To expand and strengthen Roland, to a level where it can be an intimidating force to other countries. It was the same with former ally Nelpha. In the midst of an internal conflict that arose within the court of Nelpha, an anti-Roland faction was born, attempting to seize political power within the country. If Roland did not initiate the preemptive invasion, someday, it would have been the one invaded.

If that's the case, it was better to make the first move, and make it a thorough one. In order to deter other countries from opposing Roland. In order to make them think twice before waging an unproductive war.

He will show it to them.

By doing so, it might be possible to avoid any more meaningless wars from now on. It might be possible to bring an end to the meaningless loss of lives.

To achieve that, a massacre was necessary.

Roland’s army was now on its way to conduct a large-scale massacre in Nelpha. The order was given to show no mercy even towards surrendering troops. Even towards women, even towards children. The order was to spare no one.

To strike fear into other countries.

They shall all watch in fear. In order to make sure that none would ever dare to defy Roland again, the order was to completely crush them.

“......”

In order to show the might of this country, those orders were given.


“......”

Because by doing that, from now onwards, it might be possible to greatly reduce the loss of lives.

Because by doing that, if the desire to oppose Roland was lost, it might be possible to avoid another war.

This was a fair trade.

To sacrifice less to save more.

“......”

The people were supportive. They were enthusiastically screaming about showing Nelpha and showing the world Roland’s might.

Well, that was all due to his manipulation......

“......”

And now, he chose again.

The right path.

The path with the least sacrifices.

Even if the path was a thorny one, he was determined to step on the thorns and carry on.

He will move forward.

He will move forward.


Every step he took forward, he bled. As he forced his way through the thorns, he suppressed the urge to scream out. He suppressed the urge to cry. He suppressed the urge to shout out that he wanted to quit, that he wanted to stop moving forward.

And in the end.

“......”

In the end, even his friend.

“......”

He chose to sacrifice even his best friend.

“......”

Because that was also absolutely necessary.

Because in order to move forward, that was necessary.

“............”

Sion shut his eyes and opened them again. He stared at the emptiness in front of him. There was nothing there but emptiness. Rather, he could feel nothing except for emptiness.

Ever since he parted with him, the room --- the world felt like empty darkness.

The days spent with Ryner.


Together with him and Ferris, the trio spent their days laughing merrily like idiots, doing meaningless things and exchanging blows with one another......

Those days seemed to shine brightly in his mind.

In the end he lost them all, even though he knew that he was immersing himself in a fictitious dream, that was what he wished for.

“......”

However, he had lost them all.

When he opened his eyes, it signaled the end of his dream.

It’s time to move on.

Because even if he had experienced losses, despair, and regrets, time will move forward.

Because to proceed into the future, he had to push himself onward.

Losing something, again and again.

Because even if he’s unwilling, even if he shouted ‘I don’t want to’, he had to push himself onward.

Therefore, he moved forward.

In order to acquire something new, even if he was not entirely convinced it’s something better than that from before......

He abandoned his past, threw away what’s important to him, and moved forward while crying loudly.


In order to seize the future, the light in front of him.

He is that kind of king.

A king who always continues moving forward.

Even if he knows that what lies in front of him is merely emptiness for himself, he will move forward......

At that moment,

“...... do you regret it?”

He was asked in that manner.

Suddenly a voice reverberated from within the emptiness in the room.

It’s Lucile.

Lucile Eris.

The head of the Eris swords clan that, for generations, has been tasked to protect this country’s king from the shadows.

Rather, it may be more accurate to say that he is an abominable god who sees everything in this country......

“...... regret?”

Sion replied.

Regret.

It’s not possible not to have any. Whether it was better to do it in that way or in this way, every matter and everything, from large to small, there were many a times when he wanted to die.


If only he was stronger. If only he was wiser. Then his mother would not have died. His friends would not have been killed. Kiefer would not have cried. He would have been able to protect Ferris.

And Ryner.

“......”

He would not have betrayed Ryner in that manner......

A smile floated on Sion’s face.

“Regretful about what?”

Lucile laughed.

“Haha. That’s promising.”

“Is that so?”

“You are really splendid.”

After saying that, all of a sudden, Lucile materialized before Sion from out of nowhere.

Bearing blond hair, and a pair of closed eyes.

And with a face that is beautiful beyond ordinary.


Since he is Ferris’s elder brother, he should resemble her in likeness, but when Sion looked at him, he could hardly feel any form of resemblance between the two of them.

Though they have the same hair color, the same facial features, and the same beauty, Ferris and Lucile were two completely different individuals. Lucile carried within himself a being of demonic nature.

Rather, in that sense, he is no longer a human being.

Sion gazed at Lucile.

“It is indeed an honor to be praised by you.”

“Don’t I always commend you?”

“Is that so?”

“That is so.”

“Hmm. Well, I must have been ignoring all that. Probably because it didn’t really make me particularly happy.”

“Ah, that’s kind of terrible.”

Lucile smiled again. However, the smile seemed to carry no emotion. None whatsoever. A kind of fearful vast nothingness exists within him.

Sion, while gazing at the nothingness, said,

“I’m serious. Since the truth is I don’t really feel happy to be praised by you.”


In response to that, as a faint smile floated on Lucile’s face, he said,

“That’s a pity. As expected, it seems like I can’t take the place of Ryner-[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics#Kun kun].”

“......”

Sion couldn’t respond to that.

Nonetheless, Lucile continued.

“However, I truly think that you are a splendid king. In spite of the '''Power''' that is devouring you from within, the fact that you can still retain your own will, that in itself is amazing. The previous king --- your father who was promptly taken over by the '''Power''' --- lost his sanity......

But at that juncture,

“He was no father of mine.”

Sion said.

Lucile shrugged his shoulders at that reaction.

“Right. You’re probably right. He wasn’t exactly the person that you would acknowledge as a father. Even though the same blood flows in you both, existing as a lowly puppet, he was in a different league from you. The same goes for your brothers. That’s why I’m grateful to you. For the fact that in my generation, I was able to meet a colossal vessel like you...... for discovering the vessel that I was supposed to choose. Your mother was great, wasn’t she? Your mother who was a lowly commoner labeled as a dog, and beyond my expectations, was stronger than......”


At that,

“...... silence.”

Sion said.

And Lucile stopped. He then smiled faintly and continued again,

“...... in any case, you are truly splendid. Because even if you have any regrets, stricken with despair, you’ll surely, without losing your sanity, choose the right path.”

Sion looked intently at Lucile’s beautiful smiling face.

“...... you showed yourself just only to say that?”

Lucile smiled.

“Not really.”

“Well what is it then?”

At his question, Lucile, for once, turned his head to look in the direction of one of the windows in the room. From that window, one can see the streets below the castle. He looked intently in that direction for a while before turning back around,

“Ryner-kun has escaped.”


Sion’s eyes widened at that. That’s impossible. The prison that Ryner was sent to, it was definitely not one from which he could have broken out, even assuming his allies...... even if Ferris was the one to help him in the jailbreak, there was no way she could penetrate through the strength-enhanced guards all by herself......

As if reading his thoughts, Lucile started.

“By the way, the entire strength-enhanced guards were wiped out. It was all set up by Duke Lieutolu......”

“Kun!”.

Sion groaned.

Duke Lieral Lieutolu.

That was the name of Ryner’s father. He was a noble who was supposed to be dead. Someone who used to maneuver this country from the shadows, a dead legacy of Roland.

He is a monster who can match up to Lucile.

“...... he did something unnecessary......”

Lucile laughed heartily at Sion’s reaction.

“Haha. That’s true, he really did something rather unnecessary there. You even went out of the way to conduct research on Ryner-kun, in order to find a way to save him without sacrificing him...... already more than ten people were killed during the human experiments for that sole purpose...... now that he is taken away, all your efforts have gone to waste......”


“Silence.”

“On top of that, since the other side also has the intention of saving Ryner, it’s really a pity. Perhaps, from your perspective, it’s better for Ryner to be living his life with vigor the way he used to before you took away his freedom and made him a sacrifice......”

“Silence!”

“And this must have been within your expectations. That’s why I said you are a splendid king. In spite of feeling troubled, distressed and straying from your path at times, in the end you’ll return to the rightful path and it’s all due to the fact that you can see very far into the future, and will never embark on a path of mistakes. Things like saving your friends, or helping the people in front of you, you can’t do it if it will lead you to a path of mistakes. Eventually, you’ll lose sight of the important things......”

“I said silence!”

Sion shouted loudly.

Lucile opened his eyes and stared at Sion. His clear blue eyes looked straight at him, as if he could completely see through the depths of his heart.

And he smiled.

As if he was making a fool out of him.


As if he was taking pity on him.

Smiling lightly.

Then Lucile said to him.

“...... what is the matter, Sion? The ‘silence’ just now, compared to the level of ‘silence’ when I was bad-mouthing your mother, was much harsher, don’t you think?”

"......"

“...... or is it that you don’t want to be seen by him? The you who is a murderer. The you who conducts human experiments. The you who have lost his humanity, you won’t want him to see you like that, isn’t it? That’s the reason why you became so agitated.”

“......”

And then Lucile smiled again.

“It’s fine even if you don’t feel like answering. Well...... what do you want to do now? Are you going to let Ryner-kun escape after all?”

But Sion, without facing him, replied.

“...... I won’t allow that to happen......”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter to me one way or the other. However, what you’re doing is pointless, Sion. Even if you keep conducting those human experiments, you can’t create another ‘him’. But well, it’s of course a different story if he dies...... but you can’t lift your hand to kill him as well. The thing you never can do......”


Lucile stopped there. He looked intently at Sion and smiled faintly.

“...... you are aware of this as well. And you’ve already made your choice. To sacrifice him. To drop him into the sea of eternal despair. That would be the most efficient way. But you still fret. In a meaningless way. Really, you still retain some sort of humanity...... even though in truth you are hardly a human being right now...... it is indeed a magnificent thing that you still retain some semblance of humanity in what’s left of you. It’s fine then. Do whatever you want. I’ve told you this before, didn’t I? The choices taken by the '''Hero''' will never be wrong. You will always do the right thing.”

After saying that, Lucile vanished again.

His form, his presence, his entire existence had disappeared. However, he’s still there. Sion knew that for a fact. Thus,

“Lucile.”

He queried.

As expected, there was a response.


“What’s up? Sion.”

And Sion once again reiterated.

“...... I definitely won’t allow that to happen.”

“Ahaha. You’ve said that earlier. And that’s fine. Having come so far...... since you have already come so far...... after all I can’t rise above the sword of the '''Hero''' inside you, feel free to use me as you please. Feel free to use your power as you see fit. Will you sever the darkness from the world? Or will you stop the flow of life? I have absolutely no idea which choice you would take.”

That was what Lucile said.

Sion looked intently at the empty space from which Lucile disappeared.

Sever the darkness from the world?

Or on the contrary, stop the flow of life?

“...... I......”

He started.

“...... I......”

At that moment, a man entered the room.

A man whom Sion used to pass down orders to the military, a military messenger. Normally, if he appeared on his own volition, it meant that something must have happened at the frontlines with Imperial Nelpha.


“Your Majesty.”

The man knelt before Sion.

Sion acknowledged him with a nod and said,

“Rise.”

“Yes sir.”

“Well, did anything crop up at Nelpha?”

He shook his head.

“No sir, this is something from within Reylude......”

Though not as expected, at the very least, Sion was well aware that the man came to report something important.

Reylude is the name of the capital of Roland. In other words, he came to report about something that was happening in the streets below this castle.

In other words,

“...... Ryner Lute?”

“T... that’s right sir.”


“He escaped?”

“Yes. I’m so sorry sir.”

“There is no need for you to apologize. So, because Ryner kicked the asses of the guards and ran away, you’ve come to request for reinforcements, is it something along those lines?”

But the messenger shook his head again.

“The reinforcements were also......”

Sion raised his eyebrows with a start.

“They were repelled as well?”

“Yes......”

“You mean the pursuing troops were already sent out without even reporting the matter to me?”

“...... yes sir.”

“Who was it? Who was the one who gave the order?”

“It was Major Rahel Miller.”

“...... Miller?”

The name brought a bitter smile to Sion’s lips. The man called Miller, who stayed in the shadows during Sion’s revolution, was actually the mastermind behind the revolution.


He is someone known to be a cut above the rest, possessing a sharp and keen mind, and is able to maintain his calm and composure at all times.

When Sion first met Miller, his preparations for the revolution were almost complete. Whether it was regarding gathering of necessary talent, amassing support from the people, or gathering of intelligence on the nobles that had to be defeated.

And according to Miller’s plans, the revolution happened swiftly.

The world changed.

This is the man who has truly earned the right to stand at the top of the military in this country.

However, he is not one who desires to rise to the top ranks of this country. Stubborn as he is, he has chosen to stay at a lower ranked position and protect this country in his own way.

This is a man who can move without Sion’s permission. He was the one who sent troops in pursuit of Ryner.

Nonetheless......

“What did Miller say?”

Sion asked. And the messenger replied.

“Capture the runaway prisoner, whether dead or alive......”

''Whether dead or alive......? In other words, it’s okay to kill him.''

''However, the troops he sent out were completely defeated. Miller, who in spite of being well aware of Ryner’s strength, had sent out troops that could be defeated by Ryner.''


''What is the reason behind it?''

“......”

Sion thought.

''His decision to send out his troops was definitely to delay the reporting of the jailbreak.''

''If the jailbreak had been reported promptly, there would have been sufficient time to take the necessary counter measures. However, Miller had delayed the report, providing Ryner with extra time to make his escape.''

''But even if that was so, what can Miller gain by allowing Ryner to escape?''

''Even though I have sources of information telling me that Miller and Ryner were acquainted in the past, that is not enough reason to have let Ryner escape. Miller is simply not that kind of man.''

''He isn’t one who would be swayed by emotions to make a meaningless move.''

''If so, why?''

“......”

After some consideration, there were two possibilities.

The first was that in order to discover why Sion was so obsessed with Ryner, he had to ensure that Ryner remain alive.

Another possibility was that he already knew about Sion and the '''Mad Hero''', and that in order for the '''Mad Hero''' to be completed, Sion, or rather the '''Mad Hero''' himself, had to devour Ryner as a sacrifice.


It was probably the former. Even if Rahel Miller had been known as a genius, to acquire the knowledge on the latter seemed unlikely.

As of now, in this country, the only people who knew of the changes taking place inside of Sion were Sion himself, Lucile, and Froaude.

On top of that, in Lucile’s house, with their nerves in shreds, and safe-guarded in darkness, were Sion’s brothers, or what’s left of them. However, they were deemed as unfit by Lucile, and had never since regained consciousness.

In other words, only three people in this country should possess knowledge of Sion’s true form.
And all three of them would definitely keep this in confidence.

That would mean that in order to uncover what Sion was hiding, Miller would have to capture Ryner alive.

So, that’s what it meant.

If that’s the case, there was no need for Sion to take any counter-measures. All he needed to do was to explain things to Miller.

The reason behind Ryner’s imprisonment.


The reason behind the continuation of those human experiments.

The reason.

“......”

The reason why it’s imperative for Sion to throw away his humanity.

All he needed to do was to explain those things.

The distortion and the competitive struggles that plagued this world.

And also.

The true form of the mad goddesses.


Miller should be able to understand then. And he should be cooperative then. If he is willing to accept a promotion to the higher ranks, he might even become a greater aid to Sion.

That in itself would solve the problem of Miller.

What was left was Ryner himself.

It was imperative to capture Ryner alive, but who possessed the capability to undertake such a task......

At that moment, the messenger spoke again.


“Erm......”

Sion stopped him before he could say anything else.

“It’s fine. I’ve already understood the issue with Ryner, and that of Miller, I would deal with......”

But the messenger shook his head.

“N... no, that’s not it. The reason why I came here......”

“Hm?”

Sion lifted his head. And looked at the messenger. For some reason, he was having a puzzled expression.

“What’s the matter?”

As Sion asked, he took out an envelope from his breast pocket.

“...... Well...... I’m not exactly sure whether it’s alright to deliver such an absurdity to Your Majesty but.”

“Uhn?”

“There is a message from the criminal to Your Majesty......”

At that moment.

Sion instantly broke out of his thoughts. His vision seemed to blank out for a moment, and he felt as if his blood was drained away from him.


“...... a message from Ryner?”

Acknowledging Sion’s question, the messenger nodded.

Sion was unable to move a muscle at that.

Terrible.

Sion had betrayed Ryner in an unsightly, and most terrible manner.

Always wearing the face of an ally. Always wearing the face of a friend. While saying things like ''come together with me'', ''I’ll protect you'', in the blink of an eye, he had went back on his words and turned against him.

He could still remember Ryner’s face at that time.

That half-smiling face. That expression of loneliness, as if he was about to cry from a sense of hopelessness, but in the end he held back those tears.

Sion told Ryner that he would kill him.

But still, he called Sion his best friend.

Sion told Ryner he would betray him.
But still, he told him, "''I won’t give up on you, until I save you, I will not die''".

"''No matter where I’ll be, I’ll bring you back to the way you were''".

''Even though I’ve told you it’s all over. Even though I’ve told you I’m going to betray you.''


''When did you start acting like an idiot, making such a serious face, and desperately reaching out to me shouting, "I'll never give up, I’ll definitely never give up".''

''“...... Come with me, Sion.”''

Ryner’s words resounded in his mind.

At those thoughts, Sion seemed about to cry. He seemed about to yell out. ''Why am I here? Why is it that the world is always, always, such a cruel place.'' He seemed about to yell out.

''In spite of that, in spite of that, Ryner wanted to save me.''

''But still.''

''What I did do in return to him?''

''Without being able to save you, unable to avoid killing you, selling you to eternal darkness. Selling my best friend, and moving forward.''

''Forward, forward, forward.''

''And yet, I’ve betrayed him in every possible way, in order to move forward.''

“......”

And now, before him, there was a message from Ryner.

''No, if he didn’t do that.''


“......”

''If he didn’t do that, he wouldn’t be able to stand it.''

That was what Sion thought.

“......”

The messenger moved closer to hand over the envelope. And Sion took it.

The messenger said.

“The mage soldier who was caught by Ryner Lute, wrote down the verbally transmitted message from him. Of course I did not read it. And anyone else for that matter...... only because, according to that mage soldier...... ''no matter what, it is better to pass this message directly to His Majesty'', those were his words......”

Sion opened the envelope.

He started reading what was written on a piece of paper taken out of that envelope, but he stopped in the middle of it.

And then,

“You may leave for now. I’ll call for you again later.”

“Yes sir.”

The messenger lowered his head again, and left the room.

After waiting for the messenger to exit, Sion quietly took a deep breath. In order not to have his own emotions waver. In order not to fall prey to his own weakness and stray from his intended path again.


Sion inhaled and then exhaled.

And then brought his eyes back to the letter.

Where the following was written.

''Eh ~ the thing is ~ how do I say this...... ah there are already so many words? The message hasn’t started yet? Don’t stop writing.''

''Eh ~ alright, To Sion-[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics#Sama sama].''

''Ah, you can drop the sama I guess. Ah, wait a minute. You’ve already written that, rewrite it.''

''Erm... yeah. Cough cough.''

''Alright.''

''To stupid Sion.''

''It’s embarrassing to speak formally, and since it’s troublesome as well, I’m going to go with casual form. Casual okay?''

''Erm... what I want to say is, well in other words, this is how it goes.''


''For me, you know, how do I say this. I’ve been dead since a long time ago. Even though I’m alive, I’m actually dead. I’m a monster, you see, a monster who is only capable of hurting people, I can’t have anyone remain at my side, I can’t love anyone, thus there is no real meaning in my life. I’m always thinking about such things, you know, and have long since given up on everything.''

''That’s why despite being alive, I’m actually dead at the same time. Living my meaningless life sluggishly, ‘yaaawn’, that kind of feeling. Yawning every day, thinking whether I’m better off dead, hmm what is this, what am I saying here? Well, it doesn’t matter if it sounded strange.''

''Anyway, this is what I want to say......''

''That, that, in other words.''

''I’m...... you know, saved by you.''

''From the depths of my heart, you’ve saved me.''

''I’ve always...... I’ve always been grateful to you, you know.''

''I think I want to return that favor.''

''I’ve always been pondering on how to go about doing that.''

''That’s why even though I’m not exactly sure what kind of trouble you may be embroiled in, I’ll be coming over to where you are.


''Didn’t I tell you on that rainy night? I would never give up on you. I meant it. That’s why, in order to save you, I’ll be coming over to where you are.''

''I’m going to save you.''

''In order to do that, I’m starting to feel somewhat motivated.''

''In order to get rid of my past unmotivated self, a brand new me has been born! I’m going to do it --- I’m shouting at your castle, you know? Are you laughing right now? Can you hear me? Well, it’s probably going to snow tomorrow. <ref name="snow_joke">'''Snow Joke:'''What Ryner meant was that the likelihood of him getting pumped up was as low as the likelihood of snow falling tomorrow (contextually inferred to be impossible); hence he made the joke that it's going to snow tomorrow since he's getting pumped up here.</ref> Yep.''

''Boring jokes aside, right now I’m thinking of coming over to where you are.''

''I’m not sure what kind of power I need in order to accomplish that, but regardless of that, I will get my hands on every single bit needed to come over to where you are.''

''So until then, prepare yourself and wait for me.''

''Because at that time, I’ll make you regret not killing me.''

''You.''

''The willful you who decided to wallow in misery alone, shouldering everything, making that crybaby face, I’ll be coming over to where you are.''


''I’ll make you.''

''I’ll make you......''

''I’ll make you proclaim that I’m the best best friend that you’ve ever had.''

''Hey you, why the heck are you writing down everything, even the sound of me clearing my throat...... I thought I told you to erase the first part!''

''Shut up, so are you going to rewrite from the beginning?''

''Why are you writing my part of our conversation! Hey, you even wrote down my previous comment...... hey I already told you this isn’t needed...... hey to what extent are you writing... you’re fast...... dahhhhhhhhhhhh what the heck! I say why are you writing everything! Ahh, but, uhm, forget it, this is getting bothersome, I'm getting pursued here anyway, just deliver this.''

''Well, the last part.''

''Erm, your best friend Ryner Lute.''

''Sion Ahotaare <ref name="ahotaare">'''Ahotaare:''' Ahotaare is derived from Sion's original family Astal, which is romanized as Asutaaru. "Aho" (あほ, アホ, 阿呆) refers to idiot and is a word originating from Kansai dialect.</ref>...... you trash, how dare you refer to His Majesty as Ahotaare!''

''Hey, why are you suddenly including your own opinion! It’s my message isn’t it! Anyway, why are you demonstrating your thick-headedness on paper now............ ahh, it has become kind of tiring...... erm yeah. That’s fine as well. Okay, let's end this, shall we? Okay, the end. Please pass this to Sion. Do you understand?''


“......”

That was the end of the message.

And then Sion, without thinking.

“...... what the heck is he doing?”

He smiled involuntarily as he said that. The excessively silly contents in the letter caused Sion, who carried a constant state of tension in his nerves since splitting up from Ryner, to loosen up considerably.

The tensed up Sion loosened up.

“...... idiot.”

Sion smiled as he said that.

As he smiled, a few drops of tears started flowing from his eyes.

“...... idiot. Why...... why is he always......”


His voice drifted off, unable to say anything further.

Even though he had betrayed him in such a terrible manner, Ryner could still say something like this.

''I’ll make you proclaim that I’m the best best friend that you’ve ever had......''

A long time ago.

Though he thought so a long time ago.

“...... to me...... somehow to me, you were my best friend of the past, Ryner.”

Sion’s voice seemed to crack up as he said that.

If possible, he would apologize to Ryner. He would immediately proclaim that Ryner is his best best friend. From here on, to laugh like idiots together. To tell him to work through the night together and have him say ‘no way’ and run away. To chase after him and force him back to work. To have him helping him in his work despite his whining. And occasionally, to sit on the rooftop viewing the night sky, with Ryner, and Ferris, eating dango together. And making meaningless chatter and laughing together.

Those kind of days.

If he could return to those kind of days, he would abandon this world.

That was what Sion thought.

That was what he thought strongly.


“......”

But those were only his thoughts.

Even as a dream, he could only dream about those things in a dream itself.

Even if he was crying.

He would look straight ahead.

With certainty, without looking back.

Moving onward and forward.

Because he is such a king.

“......”

At that moment, his tears had already stopped.

Carrying an emotionless expression.

With only a perfect faint smile.

The face of an unwavering, perfect, flawless hero king.

Sion lifted his head and called for the earlier messenger.

And then.

“...... send for Froaude. In the case of Ryner Lute...... or rather.”


He stopped momentarily before continuing.

“...... in the case of this country’s traitorous fugitive, he shall be apprehended by all means necessary.”

In that manner, Sion corrected his own words.
<noinclude>
 
----
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>
 
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu#Volume_1_-_The_Great_Escape_To_The_Undecided_Future|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dai Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume10 Chapter9

2011-11-18T17:04:49Z

Error: /* Chapter 9: Alhambra Castle */

===Chapter 9: Alhambra Castle===

Alhambra Castle was a citadel the elves built on top of a small hill in the desert.

The incident of the Halkeginia Holy Land Recovery Allied Forces who regained it at the price of countless sacrifices, could be traced back to thousands of years ago.

During that time, the Holy Land Recovery Allied Forces fixed the country border, and told the elves, “This is our land.” Consequently, that became the country's borders.

The elves who had formerly lived in the desert did not have any concept of “country borders.” Just that, the elves knew that humans are living beings who would greedily treat anywhere as their land and fight for it, if “country borders” were not established. So, they reluctantly recognized the line those humans drew as the country border.

Because that citadel became the point from which the elves' land was attacked from many times, they received the elves' attacks many times as well. Every time, this process of trying to remove and being removed repeated...until that battle hundreds of years ago, in which the Holy Land Recovery Allied Forces became its present master. Since the citadel was small, it was left aside as a military base and became an abandoned castle... because of which, it conversely flourished.

At the foot of the hill on which Alhambra Castle was built, an oasis was formed. A small inn town started growing from around that oasis... Because the area surrounding Alhambra Castle was a military base, travellers who passed through the desert would stop by, and it became a small trading area.

With the skills of the elves, the walls of Alhambra Castle were exquisitely constructed, adorned with a fine engraving of geometric patterns. Reflecting the moonlight from the twin moons, the walls shone brightly, providing a fantastic view to the desert travellers.

To the Halkeginians, the area surrounding Alhambra Castle was an exotically beautiful place.

Well then, in a small pub called “Father Joseph's Desert Doors” Inn, in that beautiful inn town, the hot topic was a recent rumor about Alhambra Castle.

A unit of the king's army arrived, and was stationed in the castle.

The merchants who bought ceramics and porcelains in Sahara said to the shop owner in a whisper.

“The troops came to Alhambra Castle lately... but do you know why those guys came, Father?”

Travelling from one place to another, the wise father who had set up a pub here, tasted the stew whilst shaking his head.

“Dunno.” 

“''“Didn't those guys come to this area to dig up some treasure?”'' There was a rumor like that, but... I feel that the truth is different.”

“Is it?”

The father reacted indifferently. He knew that not poking his head in unnecessary affairs was the secret to longevity.

“Hey. I'll treat you a drink, so tell me more about that rumor?”

“Not interested.”

Missing out on getting some wine? The male merchant snorted. Beside him, a lady clothed in sand-warding robe with a hood sat down.

“Isn't that a wonderful conversation?”

The brown skin and red lips peeking out from the openings of the robe gave the impression of a befitting beauty. The merchant gulped nervously.

“Dear, shall we offer up a cup for this man?”

The man's cup was filled with ale to the brim.

“Thanks! Hihi.”

“Well then, can you tell me more about it?”

The whole group greeted Kirche who returned to the table with applause. On top of their street performer costumes, everyone was wearing the same robe used in the desert.

The group had finally arrived at this Alhambra place the previous night.

It took them a week of transferring between stagecoaches travelling through footpaths and highways to reach there from the Orleans mansion. Apparently, Tristain did not issue any warning to Gallia, and the performers were not suspected by any people as they walked down the road. No. On their journey, they were suspected by the patrolling knights several times, but managed to escape by the tactfulness of Kirche who knew the area very well.

“Geez, you guys...always letting me get information by myself, what's your intention?”

“But aren't you the best? Just the person for the job.”

Guiche nodded solemnly too.

“Awesome... 'cause you managed to collect information one after another,” Saito said in admiration.

“Really, just do it. Guys, if you all are still Tristain nobles, with a high pride- no wonder you can't gather information.”

Montmorency turned her face aside in embarrassment, but Louise lifted up her eyes.

“Oh, yes we can! I went as far as being a waitress in a bar in Tristania last time!”

“That pathetic fella?”

Louise's cheeks swelled. Come to think of it, she had let herself be seen a few times by Kirche. But now was not the time for such things, so she had no choice but to keep quiet.

“So, did you get anything?”

The merchant to whom Kirche gave an extravagant treat had told her everything he knew, after which, he became drunk and wasted, lying down on the counter, and fell asleep.

They changed their strategy meeting location to a second floor room. That's because there were people there.

After entering the room, Kirche started telling the news she heard.

“As I thought, looks like it really is this city.”

“Which means?” Saito urged.

“Apparently, that merchant heard about it from the troops stationed there. The reason they came here was to protect a “noble” they brought here. According to the story, they seemed to be fallen royal family members. And then, the crux is that those nobles are 'parent and child.'”

“In other words, Tabitha and her mother?”

“Can't we conclude that?”

Everyone's faces turned solemn.

“I'm back.”

Opening the door of the room, Malicorne entered.

“I used the 'Distant Vision' spell and examined the castle!”

Being a Wind element mage, Malicorne had been using magic to examine the castle from afar. Even Sylphid was not used, since it would be conspicuous. She had remained in her human form until then, and probably due to tiredness, she was asleep on the bed, snoring. It looked like taking the form of a human consumed her willpower more intensely.

Calmly, Malicorne spread a sketched parchment on the table. On it, a rough sketch of Alhambra Castle could be seen. Obviously, the internal structure of the building was not known, but the courtyard, walls, towers, keeps - all of them were drawn accurately.

“Good job!”

“Splendid...”

Guiche praised him.

“The Gallian troops stationed there aren't just one squadron. There are two squadrons there! About 300 soldiers, and 10 noble officers!”

That's quite a number.

“I see. Thanks. Well then, we've collected all the information we can.”

Kirche was fully the leader. Indeed, in such projects, there was no chance for Tristainian nobles who were prideful and only knew how to carry out frontal attacks.

“So, how to rescue Tabitha out of that castle?”

“We are mostly mages. A surprise attack against approximately 300 people will work somehow, won't it? At our side, we have Sylphid, Saito who stopped the seventy thousand...”

Guiche said that, but Kirche shook her head.

“No way. If we attack head-on like that, reinforcements would come immediately, and danger might fall onto Tabitha. It's also possible that Tabitha would be carried away to somewhere else.”

“So what should we do? Putting all of the soldiers to sleep with magic?”

“That's right.”

Kirche grinned impishly.

“That's impossible! Aren't we going against 300 people?? Even if we were to recite Sleep Cloud, how can we cover them all in one shot?”

“To make them sleep, we don't just have to use incantations, Montmorency.”

“Whaat?”

“Can you mix the 'Sleeping Potion?'”

“I can, but... how to make them drink it? Even if we mix it into their water, it will be discovered immediately!”

“There's a plan. Just do it! Mix the strongest potion you can. Guiche, please buy some wine sold nearby.”

“Got it.”

Towards them who were about to rush out, Kirche said.

“Hey, if you meet any elves...”

The three of them trembled instantly. A word they did not want to hear. Mustering their courage, they had been driving that word out of their head.

“Run. Don't think about fighting them. The thing which must not be forgotten is, we did not come to fight. The elves are obviously with the Gallian army. We will steal into Alhambra Castle cautiously, and carefully rescue Tabitha and her mother. That's right. We've come 'to save our friends.' That would be putting the cart before the horse. That's why, if you feel danger not just from elves, run. That is cowardly, but harmless.”

''Understood'', The three nodded.

“Thanks for cooperating in this plan to save my best friend. I am grateful for your bravery.”

Kirche bowed politely. It was their first time seeing Kirche being so commendable. Because of that, they changed their frightened expressions to serious looks.

After the three of them exited, Kirche turned towards Saito and Louise.

“Well then...”

“What are we supposed to do? What's best for us?”

“Rest. You guys are our trump card. Please conserve your strength.”

“Trump card, what do you mean?”

Kirche readily answered.

“To fight against the elf. Although we can trick the army, the elf probably won't fall for it.”

“Wh-! What!? You're saying that it's okay even if we're hurt!? We may die, won't we?? You're saying that it's all right if we die?? We're not a trump card, but a sacrifice! You're really a Zerbst! You hate me to that extent!?”

Kirche replied with a straight face.

“You're wrong, Louise. It's not 'hating,' but 'recognizing.' We probably can't win against the elf. The only thing possible, is your 'legend.'”

Louise's eyes bulged.

“You knew?”

“You're the only one who thought that we don't know. You chanted in front of us before, and those chants don't exist, do they?”

Louise blushed.

“I humbly apologize at my impoliteness towards the ancestor. Can you kindly lend your holy powers to this powerless servant?”

Kirche knelt down. As expected, Louise panicked. In the long history of the dispute between La Valliere and Von Zerbst, it was the first time a Von Zerbst apologized.

“L-Lift up your head! What're you doing!? If I refuse this, am I not the bad guy!? I have already cast away my noble name! I'm just Louise the Zero! That's why even if I listen to what you say, I don't really mind,”

Turning aside, Louise said in an embarrassed voice.

“Eh? You threw aside your nobility?”

“That's right! I have returned my mantle and name to Her Majesty.”

“Aah! Well then, after saving Tabitha, come to Germania! I'll employ you as my maid!”

“Stop joking around!”

Somewhat overcome with emotion, Kirche hugged Louise tightly.

Saito looked at the two with a rather radiant expression. After that, to preserve his strength, he headed towards the bed.

He did not have any self-confidence at winning against the elf at all. Or rather, how should he fight to win?

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.

With his anxiety increasing, Saito felt as if being squashed.

''But... friends with Kirche?'' When he looked at Louise who appeared to be trying to bring that up, he became embarrassed at that feeling.

“Well then, I'll follow what you said and sleep for a bit.”

“I look forward to it, Saito. Jean has always been saying. ''Saito-kun is someone capable of changing this world.'' I believe that as well. That's why; please change Tabitha's fate.”

Plucking up his courage, Saito grinned, overdoing it.

“Leave it to me!”

Saito slipped into the bed, and Sylphid who had been sleeping on it until now, opened her eyes wide.

“Kyui.”

“Oh, you're awake?”

Under her blue hair, Sylphid's blue eyes shone again.

“Thanks,” she expressed her gratitude.

“In order to save onee-sama, everyone is working hard for us. I'm very touched. If onee-sama knew that you all are coming to save her, she would surely be very happy.”

“...”

“Onee-sama doesn't speak much, so she may seem somewhat cold, but... in reality, she's a very kind person. I love onee-sama very much, but onee-sama doesn't lose to me- she loves me very much too. Although Onee-sama did not say anything, I know something like that.”

“Uh-huh...”

Sylphid noticed that Saito looked a little down.

“What's wrong?”

“No... I'm just a little envious of you guys.”

''Although we are master and familiar, we can't understand each other at all.''

''Mutual feelings, yet we can't understand each other at all.''

“You don't look well. Let me comfort you. But I dunno how to do it.”

''“Kyui, kyui!”'' Whilst purring, Sylphid gave Saito a tight hug.

Whilst being tightly embraced by Sylphid's soft body, ''Ah, will Louise turn this way to look at me?'', Saito thought vaguely.

''If I were more imposing... she would look at me for a bit, won't she?'' He thought. ''But, looks like that won't happen.''

''Anyhow, at Tristain palace when we were captured, when I was trying to say that I love her...''“Don't say it!”'' She yelled at me, so...''

''Of course I am wrong too.''

''Being spoony over Siesta, my heart throbbing when I see Henrietta's face. As for those, apart from keeping those charms to myself, I can't help it. This is a man's physiology.''

''But, I have been saying “I love you” to Louise all the time, haven't I?''

''Maybe... Louise has no space to fall in love,'' Saito thought.

''Louise who is more serious than anyone else.''

''Louise who is always fixated on her ideals.''

''Saying'' “It's a reward!” ''Kissing me, not being angry even when her breasts are touched, this means... it is not really because of her pride,'' Saito changed his thoughts.

''That's because, just like how this Sylphid does not know what's the best way to comfort this human me... she does not know what the best reward to give me, this teenager at puberty. Because she doesn't know how to express her gratitude.''

''And yet, every time I would misunderstand her...'' Saito wished he could just crawl into a hole. ''Louise falling in love with me? Ha!''

''I'm such a shameful person. Aah, SHAMEFUL!!''

''Ah, Louise.''

''The Louise who would return her mantle to Henrietta in order to stand for her ideals. More serious than anyone else, the noble Louise.''

''Maybe because you're like that, I have come to like you.''

''Among the people I encountered in the world I was born in, at least there isn't someone who would stick completely to his “way of living” like Louise does. And then, in this world too...''

''Someday, when Louise is able to achieve her ideals, won't she start loving someone at that time? At that time, I want to be the one beside her,'' Saito thought.

''To go along with Louise's ideals, I have to be much stronger. Elf or whatever, now's not the time to be frightened.''

Displaying brute courage, Saito spread-eagled and closed his eyes. To measure up to Louise's ideals, he could not show his intimidation to anyone.

Looking at that strange Saito who spread-eagled on the bed while smiling, Louise's anxiety expanded all the more.

''You were told that it's a fight against an elf, and yet, why aren't you afraid?''

''Why don't you hate it?''

''Aah, as I thought, Saito is given the courage as a familiar, huh?''

Louise became deeply miserable.

The next day, in the evening...

Standing in front of the gates of Alhambra castle, a member of the Gallian army who was standing guard gave a big yawn. A soldier standing beside him chided him.

“Oi.”

“Hmm? Aah...”

“If you don't guard the door properly, we'd be scolded by the commanding officer!”

“Baron Misscoeur? That's all right! He's just an idiot.”

“No, it's not him. It's that un-human guy.”

The yawning soldier shook his head frantically as if his drowsiness was blown away.

“Oi, don't refer to him that lightly! Touch wood... O Founder Brimir. Please protect my soul...”

“I don't want to be eaten either! That's why I don't speak out his name...But dunno what the heck is wrong today... I went to the streets to eat during lunchtime, but wine was sold out!”

“Haa? What'cha mean?” 

“Someone from somewhere had bought up all the wine in this inn town. B'cause of that, there wasn’t any wine no matter which bar I went to. What a joke!”

“That's the only pleasure in the center of this boring desert! Geez, which guy did such nonsense?”

As the conversation was going on, a cart could be seen coming from ahead on the road to the inn town.

“What's that?”

There were 7 male and female flashy street performers in the cart. The wagon behind was filled with barrels.

The cart stopped in front of the gate. Pointing their lances at them, the soldiers asked the group.

“Who are you guys?”

A redhead girl dressed in a dancer's costume with a high degree of exposure bowed down elegantly.

“We are a group of street performers, sir.”

It was Kirche.

“I can see that. This is not some highway.”

“We know that.”

Sexily, Kirche threw a flirtatious glance at them. In an instant, the soldiers became as if entranced by succubus.

“We've come to provide entertainment.”

“Entertainment?”

The soldiers exchanged looks. After that, they realized what the content of those barrels stacked up behind was. One of them approached and sniffed the smell of the barrels.

“Isn't this wine!?”

Another glared at Kirche with a hateful look.

“The ones who bought up all the wine are you all!?”

“That's right.”

Kirche leaned coquettishly onto the soldiers. At Kirche's loveliness, the soldiers' expressions crumbled down pathetically.

“Please don't be angry, handsome misters. We are just doing our best at our living. We've come to tour Sahara, but those stingy elves didn't give us any money at all for our performances.”

“How would elves know what dancing is!?”

The soldiers broke out in laughter.

“Right? That's why we need customers who understand our art. Naturally, going together with wine, right?”

“Got it! You guys didn't just come to buy wine huh? Planning anything funny?”

Those standing in the cart stiffened.

“And to sell dances as well while you're at this. Right?”

With a big smile on her face, Kirche said.

“Exactly! Our wine is slightly more expensive than the one in town, but we will provide dancing as a service. How about that?”

“What a nerve this lady has! I like it. I'll help you guys in your business!”

The soldier rushed off to report to his superior officer.

Turning back, Kirche combed her hair back triumphantly. At that brilliant skill, the entire group applauded.

Saito and the others were brought to see the ten nobles who commanded the units stationed in this castle. Apparently, the spare rooms at the right when one entered the castle hall were used by the officers.

The commanding officer was a forty-year-old-plus noble - Baron Misscoeur. He had seemingly taken a fancy with Kirche as soon as he saw her, and had allowed them to hold an exhibition.

“Germanian ladies are good at business, huh.”

Kirche put forth a price with the wine, and Baron Misscoeur smiled.

“We'll present the dance and the performance according to the price.”

''Hmmm...'' Leaning out from his chair, he gazed at Kirche's body as if licking it. With his bald head, Baron Misscoeur caused a lewd atmosphere to hang about in the air.

“Very well. We'll pay the asking price. But, it is necessary to ascertain if you all are having something bad up your sleeves...We are after all, entrusted with valued troops from His Majesty...”

“If you don't believe us, I will present my personal dance.”

Saying that whilst casting a flirtatious glance, Baron Misscoeur's eyes narrowed.

“On the other hand, I have concerns that depriving the soldiers of their entertainment would be demoralizing. After the performance, come to my room. I'll personally investigate you.”

The nearby nobles displayed expressions of dissatisfaction.

“This is also the duty of the commanding officer! Ahaha!”

Facing the commanding officers who broke out in laughter, Kirche displayed a charming smile.

“Well then, we will make our preparations then.”

As Kirche was trying to leave the room, Baron Misscoeur called out to her.

“Before that, how about giving us a cup of the wine you brought?”

Montmorency paled. The sleeping potion she mixed was already mixed into the wine barrels. If the sleeping potion was discovered by him there, their plans would be ruined.

However, not disturbed, Kirche had a cask moved there and poured a glass.

The entire group held their breath.

“Enjoy.”

Baron Misscoeur brought the glass near his nose, and sniffed it. Montmorency was nervous to the extent of collapsing. The potion she mixed was tasteless and odorless, but Detect Magic would just do the trick.

Baron Misscoeur frowned, and shook his head.

The group froze like ice. Were they found out?

“This is some cheap stuff. Not befitting for the nobles. Give it all to the soldiers.”

Saying that, Baron Misscoeur emptied the wine in the glass onto the floor.

At Kirche who had excused herself from the officer's room, Saito whispered softly.

“Close shave...”

“That's only the beginning. The real thing is after this. But no elves were inside, huh.”

“What if none are here?”

“If that's the case, it'll be great...”

Kirche said in a not very hopeful tone.

Three hundred of the soldiers gathered in the courtyard of Alhambra Castle. Although the dance had not yet begun, the soldiers were quite excited already.

In this abandoned castle in the middle of the desert, being ordered with this senseless bodyguard duty, they were totally bored. Because dissatisfaction tantamount to rebellion was building up, almost everyone gathered. With only the minimum guards left behind, it was almost all of them.

The commanding officer, Baron Misscoeur was indignant inside that he shared this guarding duty with the elf. Just like most of the other Gallian nobles, he was contemptuous and dissatisfied with Joseph. Plainly speaking, he hated him.

The lieutenant proposed having the soldiers split in half, taking turns participating. But Baron Misscoeur shook his head.

“That 'king of impotence' drove me to such a situation. Once, the Misscoeur lineage was that of Gallia's prominent warriors. Bestowing me the duty of guarding madame duchess with the elf at such a rural area... He might've done it on a whim! Geez, who would be looking for that child and the old woman at such a time? Never mind, let all soldiers participate!”

Saying that, he thumped onto a luxurious chair he pulled out in the courtyard.

The instant both moons were shrouded by the clouds...

Holding torches, a thin lad and a plump youth appeared. Because the ones that appeared were guys, the soldiers began jeering and booing. The two threw the torches into the bonfire that was prepared beforehand.

After that, the two prepared musical instruments. The plump lad started hitting the drum. The thin and handsome one took out a flute and started playing it. Because it was an extremely horrible performance, the booings grew more intense.

Nevertheless, the instance female dancers appeared from the dark, the jeers stopped abruptly.

Altogether there were four female dancers.

The sexy, flame-haired girl was the leader. Illuminated by the flames, she was smiling sexily. Next was a golden-haired girl. She appeared embarrassed as she blushed.

After her was a pink-haired girl, who again appeared to be a child. The angrily stiffened face coloured.

The last one was a beautiful lady with long, blue hair. She was beaming all over with innocent smiles.

Enthusiastic applause, cheers and whistles could be heard from the soldiers.

The party had begun.

When Tabitha woke up... her mother was on the bed.

Holding the book with one hand, she lay down on the bed.

Beside her, her mother was snoring peacefully.

It looked like she had become sleepy and had fallen asleep whilst reading “The Hero of Ivaldi”.

Her mother's eyes opened slightly.

She thought her mother would start acting violent... but fixing her eyes on her, she did not move. ''Could she have regained her sanity?'' Joy spread out in her heart, as Tabitha called out to her mother.

“Mother.”

But still, her mother did not show any reaction. She merely stared fixedly at Tabitha. But, that was enough.

Looking at the doll on the mirror stand, Tabitha smiled a little.

“I will now read this book.”

Turning the page of the book, Tabitha started reading out loud.

''Ivaldi arrived at the cave in which the dragon lived. His attendants and friends started freaking out at the entrance. One of the hunters told Ivaldi.''

''“Let's turn back. If the dragon wakes up, we will all die. 'Cause you don't know how scary the dragon is.”''

''Ivaldi said.''

''“I am afraid.”''

''“So act according to your feelings.”''

''“But if I lose to fear, I'll become someone besides me. That is many times scarier than being bitten to death by the dragon.”''

Although Bidashal entered into the room, Tabitha did not lift her face from the book. Her mother was not startled by the elf's entrance either. Throughout those 20 days, every day, Tabitha had been reading to her mother “The Hero of Ivaldi”. If she read to her any other books, she would go mad like the olden days. That's why Tabitha had read the same book over and over again. She had read it out loud many times. That's why she had as good as memorized it by heart.

Seeing Tabitha reading a book, Bidashal displayed a small smile.

“Looks like you have taken a great fancy towards that book huh.”

Tabitha did not reply. Although Bidashal had entered now, unless there was anything special, she would not stop reading.

“Seems like a group of performers had come to comfort you. They are carrying out their performance at the courtyard. I have no interest whatsoever, but what about you? If you want to have a look, I will give you special permission to leave this room.”

Tabitha lifted her face and shook her head.

With a slightly stiffer voice, Bidashal told Tabitha.

“The medicine will be completed tomorrow.”

Tabitha's finger which was flipping the page stopped.

“You can only be yourself until tomorrow.”

Giving her special permission to leave this room... In other words, that would be the last mercy before the execution of her sentence.

“Boring entertainment, but it would at least console you a little bit.”

“Sympathy is not needed.”

Tabitha replied shortly.

''I see…'' Whispering that, Bidashal exited the room.

She wanted to at least spend her last few hours with her mother.

Tabitha laid her eyes on “The Hero of Ivaldi” again.

''Ivaldi entered the dragon's cave. Nobody else accompanied him. With light from his torch, the moss-covered wall of the cave was illuminated. Being disturbed by the light, many bats flew about trying to escape.''

''Ivaldi became frightened and close to tears. He imagined that everyone had left him behind in that dark cave. How scary it was!''

''Moreover, a terrifying dragon laid ahead waiting for him!''

''But, Ivaldi did not waver.''

''Ivaldi had told himself many times.''

''“You can do this. Didn't you save many people already? This time you can do it as well. Did'ya hear that Ivaldi? You have power, so running away is cowardly.”''

In those times she reread the book, Tabitha slowly felt the contradiction she had towards the title when she was young, dispersing away.

''“The Hero of Ivaldi”, what does it mean?''

''Ivaldi was not the name of a place- it was the name of the youth in the story. Usually, won't the title be published as “Ivaldi the Hero” instead?''

When she was young, Tabitha once had that doubt in her mind.

But now she understood the meaning of the title.

''The word “hero” is not referring to Ivaldi himself.''

''It is referring to the idea of the impulse or resolution in his heart.''

When she was young... she would read and yearn for it.

In accordance with the “hero” living inside the Ivaldi-like hearts of the readers, they had longed to be the hero, but... she was different.

She was attracted by the lady captured by the dragon. She wanted to become the lady that was saved by the hero. Although it was fun, Tabitha had waited eagerly for the hero who would bring her out of the boredom of her daily life.

Comparing her life with the lady in the story, Tabitha smiled dryly in her heart.

''Didn't I become this girl myself?''

''Now I have become someone imprisoned.''

''The only difference with the book is that, the hero who is to come to save me does not exist.''

''Now, or last time...'

''But, that is good enough.''

''That's because I have been doing things alone all along.''

''Not relying on anyone, not trusting anyone, I have been doing everything on my own... because of that.''

However... after reading this “Hero of Ivaldi”, she started imagining.

About the hero who would rescue her.

About the hero who would save her from this ominous cave, Alhambra Castle...

Because those were the final moments before she was to lose her heart, she might have been feeling such things obediently.

She felt love at her heart that would be lost after the following day. For the first time, Tabitha had felt love towards her heart that was covered by a snowstorm. She grasped her mother's hands tightly.

Tabitha started shivering slightly.

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| Forward to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume10_Chapter10|Chapter 10]]
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</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume13 Chapter3

2011-11-18T16:57:03Z

Error: /* Chapter 13: Aboard the Ostland */

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===Chapter 13: Aboard the Ostland===

"This is an opportunity to recover our honor..."

Yelled Guiche as he ordered the members of the Water Spirit corps to line up.

"Uohhhhh!..." the ten boys raised a scream.

"Our honor has been injured by a sad incident... But God has not forgotten about us! Her Highness the queen has given us a chance to restore our honor!"

Cheers boiled up loudly again next to a kind of complain that was inspired and exhausted who said,

"Then Captain, please tell everybody about this grand mission."

Two nights ago, Reynal had brought a direct order from Her Highness.

"Eh...erm......eh.... today is a shiny day and the sun blesses us in this starting journey..."

"Forget about the greetings and tell us the queen's orders already!"

Nervous from Saito's statement, Guiche continued,

"Well then, I'll speak. Mr. Guiche de Gramont and Mr. Saito Chevalier de Hiraga: Please escort Her Majesty the Princess's court lady, Miss Louise de La Valière, and magic academy student miss Tiffania Westwood to Romalia making use of the empire union force at the double."

"Listen! We are to protect these ladies even at the cost of our lives, understood?!"

Said Guiche in an imperative tone, and the members of the knight corps looking at the sky cried out loud overjoyed.

Leaning against a wall, the very person they were to protect, Louise, looked from afar at the scene, as well as Mr Colbert who was trying to move the Ostland with Kirche glued to him, and also a little blue haired girl, Tabitha, who saw them as well.

"They tell you what to do but they don't tell you how..." said Kirche in a shocked voice.

"They wouldn't stand a chance without the Ostland, wouldn't they?"

The expedition to the east was planned by Mr. Colbert who had already brought the Ostland to the grounds of the Magic Academy.

Of course, it was already filled with wind stones. But even being told "immediately", Saito's party were short on means so they asked Mr. Colbert for help almost cryingly. But... even after Louise said this to Kirche, she looked kind of eager.

It would seem she was remembering something embarrassing and has become nervous.

"Does something bother you, Louise?" asked Kirche, calling Louise back to her senses.

"Eh?.... erm?... what was it?"

"Tss! what are you daydreaming of... I was saying that really, this higher ups are spitting off orders as they feel like then throwing everything away, and the next thing you know you are cleaning their mess."

Louise tried with all of her might to give off a serious look,

"Wo-working over Her Majesty's expectations is my everything!"

Then strange sounds like "shushushushu" resounded behind Louise and the steam-based machine began to move.

"By the way, where is Colbert-sensei?" Louise asked Kirche.

"I don't remember seeing him when we took off."

This machine isn't supposed to move without him, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Jean is having fun with the gift he got from Saito," said Kirche in an angry tone.

"A gift from Saito?"

"Yes, what was it? that 'noto pazo-con' or something? Just what does he find interesting about messing with that garbage I wonder."

Louise had seen it as well, it was the machine Saito brought from his world... Why in the world would Saito give it to Colbert-sensei?

And it came as a shock to her,

''Can this be Saito's decision!? "I'm going to stay in this world, there is no need to stop somebody from the other world to search his way back."''

"Saito..."

Her eyes turned red and she could not think of anything. In her eyes, Saito's shape appeared.

"Ah. I get the feeling that I said some cruel things when I was drunk last night."

''Good... Good. It's good isn't it? I have to take on Saito's decision.'' ...And as she was thinking this, Kirche put a disappointed face and raised her hands, seeing Louise's state she could not say whatever she wanted, thought Kirche.

"Geez, this girl is pitiful, her mood goes up and down every once and then, you are sure getting it hard."

Louise answered coldly,

"It's Her Majesty orders, they aren't hard."

"Didn't you want to go to the east? Jean was disappointed, 'Ahhh, I thought that at last was I going to the east', I think that's why he is really interested in Saito's present. But you said it yourself, that you wanted to find him a way home."

"Yes, I guess..." said Louise with crossed feelings.

"Even then I don't see you very disappointed, is there a reason?" said Kirche with a smile on her lips as she looked at Louise's face.

"Thats not true, I.. am very disappointed!" said Louise with a mad face.

"Eeeh, are you?" she continued teasing Louise. "To me it looked like 'with this I get Saito to stay by my side,' or something like that."

Louise turned away her deep red face and Kirche looked at her over the shoulder.

"Oh my, bullseye?"

"I, I'm just ship-sick!"

Yelled Louise as she headed towards her cabin. As soon as she confined herself on the cabin that was prepared for them she laid herself down in the bed, slapped her face on the bed and exhaustedly stretched her body.

"Ha..." Louise sighed

"I am... I am a coward, I want to hold on to Saito, I don't want him to go anywhere. Even if it's his home."

''That time when he said as a joke he was going to search for a way back, I tried to stop him without a second thought.'' "How selfish," Louise scolded herself.

When starting to think like this, she resolved,

''"Tell him about my feelings in the last minute so his feelings for me don't turn into a ball and chain."''

''Even saying this, it starts to seem to me like a pathetic excuse. In the end isn't it that I just don't have enough courage?''

"I'm just a coward."

Thinking this she felt ashamed and at some point tears started to come out.

Being in this mood the door suddenly opened and Saito appeared before her,

"It looked like you were quarreling with Kirche, is there something wrong?"

Louise pulled the blanket over to her face,

"Wha... what is it?!"

Saito sighed as he sat sorrowfully beside Louise... but Louise didn't move a single inch.

"Damn! For a strong-minded girl like you to be such a weakling..." whined Saito. Probably Kirche said something to depress her again, no doubt about it.

"Sheshhh! This girl would be helpless if it weren't for me," said Saito trying to sound high-and-mighty.

''Probably I am the only one able to help, reassure and encourage her. And thats because she is so damn selfish, anyone would have given up by now.''

''Which means she will be no good without me. Maybe she'd die if I weren't here?'' thought Saito, who did not know about Louise trying to jump from the fire tower.

"Louuuiseee.... c'mon cheer up!..... Mm, eh? Louise?" peeling the blankets showed a red-eyed Louise.

"What the!... Why are you crying!?"

"Saito...... Is it o.k? Really? Really for real? Is it o.k even if you don't go back?" asked a sobbing Louise.

Saito smiled kindly as she peeked over the sheets.

"It's all right, I mean, I've got good friends and comrades here so, I don't feel very lonely. Even that Guiche said to me 'if you have nowhere to go, come to my home.' I don't know how reliable is his statement but, the feeling alone is alright for me."

Because of those words Louise suddenly remembered her family. She always thought about her father and mother being just annoying. But that was a mistake.

By punishing her themselves, they hoped for the country to forgive her crime of desertion and infiltration of a foreign country. Father said that time,

"If you say you are going to use Louise as a war dog I am going to stand against the government as an enemy."

And the Cattleya that will wrap me in a benevolent smile.

''I'm sure even Éléonore loves me. If I were not to see them again I would not be able to answer.''

"No, please do not say that. I am sure Saito's father and mother are, too..."

"It's alright," said Saito laughing.

"Are you really sure?" said Louise with a very sorrowful face. "You might never be able to meet your father and mother again."

Saito thought that Louise blamed herself for bringing him to this world.

He felt sorry about her always worrying about this, because she even wept about it. Therefore he made the decision to lie to her.

"Truth is I have no family."

"Eh?!"

Louise remembered the letter Cattleya sent her, there she wrote that Saito wept like a child on her lap remembering his birthplace.

"Lies, that's a big fat lie. it was on Chii's letter that you cried when remembering your place."

"Ah, ehm, nn, well that's, how do I say it, true I thought about my home, and it made me cry but, its not like I cried because of my family, also true I had friends, there were as well relatives but there were no family."

Saito tried to make it sound as truthful as he could. He didn't want to hurt Louise anymore over something he could not do anything to fix.

"Really, really for real?"

"Yeah, why would I lie, you sure are a strange one."

Even that visible lie from Saito totally fooled Louise. That feeling to not hurt Louise anymore was so serious that it made her believe in Saito's words.

"Is that so? I'm sorry, I said some weird things."

"T's all right," said Saito gently laughing. "So to speak I have no family there but here I do have. I mean you Louise."

"Me!?"

"Yes, master and servant are in some way a relationship that surpass family isn't it?" this words made Louise deep red even to her ears.

"Are you trying to say my existence makes up for your father and your mother? Is that it?"

"Guess I don't know but, how do I say it, its like the sole existence of your loved one makes things different. I feel like it makes up for any and every thing else," said Saito in a very serious fashion.

Indeed so serious that it almost made Louise faint away. Slowly approaching Saito, Louise's eyes started to close numbly.

''Ahhh! Ahhh, the happiness, if we were to say that it has a shape and a concrete form it would have to be this kind of moments, I'm sure of it.''

Louise tenderly held his face with both of her hands and kissed his lips. Their lips met and their tongues began to move. Only the sound of their kissing could be heard in the room, or at least it should had.

PARARI.

"Hnn?"

PARARI.

"!?"

It came to Louise's ears, a sound different to their lips moving and without thinking she opened her eyes.

PARARI.

She faced in the direction of the sound and found a blue haired girl sitting in the bed besides them turning around pages of a book.

Saito faced that direction as well.

"What are you doing Tabatha?"

"Body guard."

Louise's face turned red up to her bones.

"Bo, body guard she says... te... choose when and where!!" next thing she heard was some kind of gossiping behind the opening of door.

"What, you want something?"

"Incredible, they didn't even notice Tabatha was there..." Louise heard Kirche and the members of the Water Spirit corps voices and instantly hid inside the sheets. Saito moved his head slowly.

The members of the Water Spirit's went so far as to take down the door! And tramped inside the room. Guiche was so amused that he started impersonating Saito.

"Its like the sole existence of your loved one makes things different. I feel like it makes up for any and every thing else."

After that Guiche held his belly and laughed loudly, "Those are the most cliché words I have ever heard, you dumb!"

Somehow out of the hoop Malicorne gave out some too, and started to imitate Louise's movements,

"Nooooh, Saito... Louise, Louise, just pissed her undies, aaahhhhhn," up for the moment Guiche followed and held Malicorne's body as he whispered in his ear.

"It's ok because, you know, I will still hold you, Louise."

"Saitooo, Saitoo, aahhn, hold me forever with your sweet wo....." Malicorne couldn't end the phrase.

A raging Louise rose from her slumber with an explosion that blew away every one of the rude boys.

But even then, her anger didn´t diminish the least bit, so, for the time being, she profusely smashed a near-standing Saito

"Idiot!Idiot,idiot! I don't know! Don't know you anymore!"

It was a peaceful exchange, but now the remnants of the "void" were still fresh. The moans of the foolish guys still echoed around the place, and the water elemental force people that gathered were breathless because of the destructive force of violence before them, but even before this war-zone, Tabatha was still peacefully changing her book pages.

Louise and Saito ended up spending the time till Romalia in a cabin with no walls.

At night, even after everyone went to sleep, Louise struggled inside her bed to sleep; The words Saito spoke that day made her so happy she could not help it, and ''that very'' Saito was sleeping like a log right beside her. Speaking of which, for some time now it had become very natural to sleep in the same bed. She tried to get near his lips but suddenly changed her mind; past Montmorency and Kirche advice caught her mind,

"If you forgive men, they become cheaters," or so she heard. In other words, men want to gather women as if they were part of a collection.

there are women like that too; women like Kirche for example.

''Anyways, that forgiving and conveying feelings equals a weakness. This familiar, the moment he conveyed his feelings, he probably thought triumphantly "Yay! Took down Louise!" and was all happy and over himself I guess.''

''Besides that, I can't believe my own lack of modesty!'' Louise thought to herself as she lightly slapped her own head. ''Probably I´m just not used to this endearment; I mean, I'm so weak to love mood. Just a little "I love you" here and there, and then everything does not mean a damn. God, this isn't a joke!'' she scolded herself as she reflected on her own conduct. ''I'm not giving in that easily, not until marriage... Nonono, even after marriage I'm not giving in before three months...... maybe I should make it just one month? Anyway, putting that aside, let's try to be more gentle with Saito. Let's try not getting angry about every little thing. I'll even try to overlook a little. After all, he is a boy. Well, I will even forgive him for a little cheating. But, am I capable of that, this me?'' and after a little self-analyzing time she stopped worrying.

''Well, I guess it´s alright if I do it little by little.'' After that, Henrietta came to her mind, ''Just why did she call us? Is something starting again? After every thing comes to an end, at that time I will convey my feelings,'' she thought. Strangely, when she thought like that it felt like it did not matter how strong an enemy will be, or how hard times might get, she still could try harder. And as she was satisfied with how far she got that night she went to sleep.

Meanwhile, in a little far away cabin, an inhuman-breasted Tifa was spending a sleepless night. The "Ostland" was designed for long term trips, and the large number of cabins was expected of Kirche´s household. It was a small but solid interior. Beds were just as fluffy in every cabin.

After coming out from the Albion woods, this bed was the first thing she liked. It was totally different from the futon she was used to.

Softly, the body started to sink in the bed, ''Halkeginia has some dreadful things, but at least this bed deserves some price.'' She thought.

''Normally I fall asleep soundly and lay, but today is different'' she thought while pulling her own long ears. It was only a month and a little after coming out from Albion, but she was traveling again. This time, the destination was the headquarters of religion-- Romalia. Without knowing the reason she was ordered to get ready for the trip, and before long she was already inside the ship. "Will it be alright? Elven blood flows inside me and we are going to the home town of St. Brimir religion; if my identity were to be found in a place like that it would become a commotion".

She closed her eyes but could not sleep, "Saito had said, 'It's alright, we are coming with you and I won't let anything happen to you,' but am I really gonna be alright?" Not being able to sleep, she slowly got out from her bed and then from her room she headed to the deck. The Ostland moves by the means of a steam based machine making this particular "shushushu" as it moves around the sky. She walked close to the edge and, looking down, she noticed a dark cloud spreading. As if she was gazing upon a dark sea she began to shiver.

The Ostland was a fast ship which made the wind beat strong on her face, and as she thought of the incoming events her heart couldn't be put to rest. Tiffania remembered the children in the orphanage. "Those children should be giving their all. I too must give my all. Whatever my destiny may be, I probably won't be leading a normal life anymore. I was already prepared for this even from the time I left Westwood village. I wanted to see so many things;

I´m sure my incoming experiences should show me the way I must follow. Anyways, I am not going to lose to doubts before even starting."

Tiffania focused her energy and moved away as if she was dismissing the black clouds.

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume13 Chapter2

2011-11-18T16:39:41Z

Error: /* Chapter 2: Saito's Decision */

===Chapter 2: Saito's Decision===

The fifth month of the year, the month of Eir, is already half over as it was the day of Yul in the 3rd week, Aiello. The sun lit all of the Academy’s four central courtyards as the sky was clear.

After school, the students who had finished their classes would go to their favorite courtyard to discuss where to go during their vacation, about Tristania’s new ‘tavern’, about who was dating who, the delayed Frigg Ball which had been scheduled for the week of Tiwaz… hitting up cheerful topics to kill time.

However, the students’ cheerful atmosphere was suddenly broken by unexpected intruders.

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhh! The shameless chevaliers have arrived!”

“Everybody! This isn’t good! Run!”

The girls’ screams went through out the Austri Plaza. The boys raised their eyebrows against these guys who did whatever they felt like (in the end, they received treatment worse than bugs), they couldn’t be forgiven.

Walking proudly with a bunch of scornful gazes were the members of the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit. They had solemn expressions from the beginning to the end, separated in two columns as they walked forward.

Commander Guiche, who was leading them, raised his imitation rose wand. Malicorne, who was behind him shouted.

“Squadron! Stop!”

Their movements shifted to a halt simultaneously. This was the fruit of their training. To the Knight Corps, “marching forward” was an important job. It looks like the one hour training they had every day had effect.

Guiche lowered his raised wand. Then, Malicorne shouted loudly again.

“Squadron! Prepare yourselves!”

The students of the Knight Corps drew something from their backs. Instead of wands, there were brooms. They were using big brooms made of Berala fern leaves.

“Targets! All kinds of trash in Austri Plaza! Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!”

The squadron scattered while shouting “Waaaaaah!” as they started cleaning in a sweeping motion. Since all of the Academy of Magic’s nobles threw food scraps and empty bottles around as they please. It was normally the maids and servants who patiently cleaned after them.

As for why the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit had to clean the plaza after school in place of the servants, it was because of what happened three days ago. It was punishment the Academy gave them for peeping into the girls’ bath.

Malicorne withdrew and approached the area where the school girls were gathered.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaah! The shameless knight is coming!”

Malicorne, his face showing a smile mixed of perversion and joy, flew toward the middle of the schoolgirls.

“How can you, young ladies! Throw trash on the ground as and when you please!"

The girls, who saw Malicorne in this state, fled one after another.

“Don’t come here! Don’t come!”

“But, there is trash there too… on the ground…” Thus, Malicorne, with a mysteriously joyful expression, approached the girls.

“Ma, Malicorne-sama…”

In the middle of the fleeing girls, there was a reserved, black-haired maiden who had come to listen to Malicorne’s poems at some point.

“Hey, Brigitta. How’ve you been?”

Her forehead glimmering with sweat, Brigitta tearily shouted at Malicorne, who had a bright smile on his face.

“Malicorne-sama, you liar! I-I didn’t think that you would actually be the type of person to peep at people when they bathe!”

Malicorne, who was picking trash, said as if he was speaking to himself.

“I’m a man.”

“Malicorne-sama…”

“… sometimes when you know that you will lose, you still have to keep fighting!”

Huu…， Malicorne smiled absentmindedly.

“I don't understand what you mean! Ma, Malicorne-sama is trash among people!”

Ding! Malicorne’s back went stiff.

“Trash…, you said trash…, aaaah…”

“I take it back! You are below trash!”

The overly jolly Malicorne rolled on the ground and started trembling strangely. He really was a troubled fatty.

On the other side, Commander Guiche’s face had a nervous expression while he hurriedly cleaned the ground with his broom. Suddenly, the ground surface broke apart. Guiche’s mole familiar stuck its head out.

Guiche’s tears blurred his vision for a moment.

“Verdandi!”

Guiche quickly kneeled down and embraced his dear familiar’s head.

“… Forgive the shameful me. Forget the fault I’ve committed because of a thoughtless moment!”

The mole Verdandi used his gauntlet-like claws to pat Guiche’s head.

“One thoughtless moment you say? You dare say that when you have thoughtless moments all the time!”

A harsh voice came from behind the gentle Verdandi.

“Montmorency!”

For certain, the girl with dazzling, blond, curly hair standing there was Montmorency. She looked downwards at Guiche, who was kneeling on the ground, and said while looking at him with a cold glare.

“At least now I know～～～what kind of guy you are. Goodbye.”

Montmorency opened the wine bottle she was holding, and dumped it on Guiche’s head.

“You said goodbye! What does this mean? Montmorency!”

Guiche, his head soaked of wine, shouted.

“It means what it means literally. I say, you should have known when I rejected your invitation for the dance.”

“Aaaaaahhh…”

Guiche held his head on the ground. Legend says that couples at the Ball of Frigg will be together forever. Although there isn’t any proof, a myth is still a myth.

But, since the peeping affair, Guiche didn’t have the opportunity to have a conversation with Montmorency. He had planned to use the opportunity of next week’s ball to invite her as a dancing partner. To be on good terms with her, he would hold a giant bouquet of roses and say:

“This bouquet is not yet complete. The last flower… is you.” It was only Guiche who could use this comparison to invite her.

But Montmorency ignored Guiche’s hand, turned her head and left. Guiche, still holding the rose bouquet, stood expressionlessly and didn’t move…

“Then, is it a sign that we are breaking up?”

“Exactly. Don’t speak to me again. So goodbye.”

Guiche hung his head deeply, cursing his own foolishness.

Reynal, who assumed the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit clerical affairs, was working ascetically, picking trash far away.

“It looks like Reynal is really serious… you really can’t judge someone by his appearance!”

“Shh! That kind of guy is the scariest! There has to be unthinkable thoughts running through his mind!”

Reynal, unable to bear the whispers of the girls, looked up and said:

“No! I tried to stop them! I tried at the very beginning! But, But…”

Looking at Tiffania encircled by classmates from afar, Reynal dropped to the ground.

“Aaaaaaah! At that time I was just thinking whether they are real or not… Oh God, Founder Brimir, please accept from your sincere servant, my deep regrets! I shall whip myself to punish the shameless me!”

Reynal chanted an incantation and created an air whip. Slowly removing his shirt, he used the air whip to continuously hit his back.

The schoolgirls on the scene all ran away screaming.

The remaining guys’ situations were similar. Their bodies momentarily shivered. They clenched their teeth, cursing their own situation.

“Really…I don’t like people who know no shame. They are a disgrace to nobility. It’s a wonder why Her Majesty decided to make them part of her Imperial Guard.”

A shocked Louise exclaimed. From the window of her living quarters in the girls’ dormitory, the pitiful scene that stretched out at Austri plaza could be seen…

In front of the pinkish-blond haired girl sat another girl with black hair. In front of them rested a set of teacups. Siesta, dressed in plain clothing, took a sip of tea from her cup and murmured with an expression of slight disgust.

“Tr-truly.”

Siesta recalled the scene from her memory and blushed.

“…but, we were also considerably shameless ourselves. I mean…that time…with that thing from Jessica…and the…”

Louise’s face also flushed red as well.

Louise glared at her, implying that she ‘drop the topic’. Then, she lifted her chin up at the attending maid.

“Seconds.”

The maid’s headband on top of black hair trembled as a low, shaky voice uncharacteristic of the attire muttered.

“…Isn’t putting your familiar in such an appearance quite shameless on your part?”

Dressed in maid attire and serving the both of them was in fact one Hiraga Saito.

And lo and behold, his appearance was a miserable one indeed.

“It’s fine. You like maids after all.”

“That’s not the problem.”

“The problem is that someone caused an incident.”

Louise glared at Saito sharply.

“If you were truly the cause, you would have joined the sniveling, hated bunch out there sweeping the courtyard.”

“Hey, how many times have I said that I was dragged there in the first place without knowing anything about peeking already!”

Saito pinched his maid outfit and yelled.

“If I had known that you were going to make me wear this, I would have been better off sweeping with them!”

Louise slowly finished off her tea and then shot Saito a glare.

“It’s not just for the peeking.”

“Grr…”

“What the hell were you doing with that girl?”

“She was trying to help me! So you go out of your way to pull me out of the cleaning punishment and instead casually turn me into a maid. I am grateful. How’d you know that I always wanted to be a maid?”

Saito said unpleasantly, while wearing a borrowed outfit from the Academy’s largest maid. Somehow, he was the only one who didn’t receive the punishment the others got, but that didn’t mean that he was excused. While he did arrive at the scene without knowing anything…, the fact that he peeked didn’t change. He thought about whether any of the Knight Corps had ratted him out.

On top of that, the cleaning punishment was better than the maid outfit, even with all the belittling by others. Saito still had his pride.

“Anyways, I want another cup. Pour some for Siesta also.”

Saito snatched up the teapot and poured tea for both of them.

“…uh, I’m sorry Saito-san.”

Siesta bowed deeply to Saito.

“Hm? Why are you apologizing, Siesta?”

“…Well, at that time, didn’t I kick you out of my window? Even though it was because of the potion…”

“It’s ok. In the end, you didn’t use the potion.”

Siesta smiled widely.

Louise interrupted Saito with an irritated voice.

“Enough of this now. Anyways, I don’t ever want to hear the word ‘potion’ again. Look, you are a maid right now, so go get us some snacks.”

Siesta stared at Saito absentmindedly.

“…what’s wrong, Siesta?”

“You won’t get angry?”

“I won’t.”

“Uh…Saito-san, as I thought, you are really cute in that. It suits you.”

“This does?”

Saito grabbed the skirt and flapped it.

“Yes…, I think it was the right choice.”

“Right choice…, don’t tell me that you were the one that chose this outfit?”

“Yes, that’s right. Miss Vallière kept going on and on about a suitable punishment for you. Something that was a change from the usual, painful punishment that she inflicted on poor Saito-san. Then, I thought if not painful, what about something cute?”

“So, this?”

“Yes.”

Siesta smile was as wide as it could be.

Saito was disappointed with the people in this room.

In this room, he had no allies. Oh yeah, he had no one anyways.

With that, he really couldn’t help being devious. Although he shouldn’t be, that was part of his nature.

While humming a playful tune, Saito opened the cookie tin that was placed on top of the closet.

Next to it was a jar of cream spread for the cookies.

First, Saito took out the cookies and placed them on a plate in front of Louise and Siesta. Then, while spinning around like a ballerina, Saito brought out the jar of cream in front of them.

“Mademoiselle.” [[Image:ZnT13-051.jpg|thumb]]

“…what?”

“…This, is cream right? If you spread some on your cookies, it will be more delicious.”

Louise’s temple twitched.

“Oh, is that so?”

“The two of you seem to know this well…”

Saito gave a polite bow.

At that point, a small shudder passed through him.

However, Louise calmly took up the jar and uncapped the lid. Using a spoon, she spread the cream on a cookie. But then..., her stoic expression disappeared. Gripping the spoon with all her might, she smashed the cookie into pieces all over the table.

Siesta trembled in fear as she stood up.

“Uh, Saito-san!”

“Y-yes, Madam!”

“I’m sure I said this before, but nothing more than kissing happened! The reason we were covered in cream at the time was because of the potion! Somehow, because the effects transferred many times, they were not as strong!”

“Y-yes.”

“I-I did lick a little bit, but that was all! I’m still pure! Um, I’m saving that part for…, po-”

“Quiet!”

Louise stopped her before Siesta could get any further.

Then, she stood up and stretched. Calmly walking over to a hunched-over Saito, who had sweat and tears streaming down him, she smiled widely.

“Oh really. You are such a dutiful familiar.”

“How very kind of you.”

“…after all, whenever I am about to snap, you know it well. You know it too--- well. You always come up with a good reason for me to vent.”

“Then, I shall take my leave. Really, I knew the outcome, which wasn’t good. If you would please, I’ll be careful from now on.”

“Being careful is fine, but before that Saito, you have to receive a light punishment. After all, you were being devious.”

“I see. A light one. Ok.”

“However, I am really nice. Since it is a light punishment, it will not be the usual. I’m going to give you a choice. Well, you better think hard about your choice because it may be the most important decision in your life.”

“Ok.”

“One: You regret that you were ever born.”

“That’s no good.”

“Two: You think that you would be better off dead.”

“That’s also bad.”

With a deep breath, Louise nimbly leapt on top of a chair like a cat. Hooking Saito by the neck with her foot, she tossed him onto the bed.

“Make your choice. Here. Here! What about the cream! W-What did I say about the cream!"

Saito was in the middle of apologizing over and over again as Louise kicked him but her attacks stopped abruptly.

Louise got off him and stood up.

“Hmmm? You love cream, right! Ok, nice cream! Nice cream! From today on, I’ll be ‘Nice Cream’.”

“What the hell is ‘Nice Cream’!”

The party had just begun.

At the same time, in the headmaster’s office…

“I see…As I thought, we were not able to receive permission.”

The one that said that was Mister Colbert, shaking his head with disappointment. In front of him was a large table in which Old Osman was sitting there, puffing his pipe.

“I applaud your enthusiasm. I too wish that we could do something for him.”

“I am thankful for your words.”

“However, Mister Colbert. The royal place is one big issue. Out of Halkeginia’s lands, it has the worst air of unrest flowing through it…Therefore, their reply will persistently be ‘no permission to fly’.”

“It is…as I thought.”

“Jokes aside, your face belies the stubbornness of your character. Aren’t you like a starved thief waiting to prowl again into the territory of a mansion?”

“Mhmm, I surely must be.”

Colbert recalled the earlier adventure that he personally helped with and scratched his head. With such an incident, the affected country shouldn’t have any reason to let something just ‘pass over their heads’. For the soured relationship with the royal castle of Gallia, the request of one nobleman would of course be brushed aside.

“Well, don’t lose hope. At least, take heed of this account. Later on, I’ll give you my support…, I have no choice but to accept your wishes.”

Old Osman handed Colbert a parchment letter. On the letter was Colbert’s signature along with a written resignation letter.

“You are an indispensible person at this academy. I’m sorry, but I don’t plan to let you go.”

“I had not planned on retiring yet. I was simply going to expand my horizons for a short time.”

Old Osman’s eyes narrowed at Colbert. For a moment, a glint in his eyes shone.

“Your forte is in research. I realize that. One of my guilty pleasures is that various people that I come upon become a target of my interest. That is my opinion. Ah, new things to see and hear, and all of the novel experiences I have. I still see your form from that time in the back of my eyelids. I feared that you wouldn’t be able to return. But that choice you made has all but disappeared as a haze in the back of your mind.”

Colbert couldn’t object to this, as it would make the situation worse.

“It’s true that I owe you a debt of gratitude, and I won’t hesitate to repay you…”

“If you would just do this, I have nothing more to say.”

“You are overestimating my capabilities. For twenty years time, I have been thinking about this neglected thing.”

Old Osman coughed as a signal that Colbert was making it worse.

“This is how times of peace are. Boredom causes interests and memories to snatch our attention.”

“Then, even in the ominous clouds that surround present time, I take it that I will be under your service for the rest of my life with no expectations of my own?”

“I didn’t say anything of the sort. Rest of your life? What a grandiose man you are! Didn’t I say? Learn from the situation. Hmph! If the time comes, the only thing I will oppose is your travel expenses. But, for now, no. That is final. Mister…”

Old Osman stood up and placed a hand on Colbert’s back.

“Well, don’t make such a sad face. I know of a great place in the town of Tickton to lift your spirits up. It’s a place called the ‘Charming Fairy Inn’, where your wine glass can be filled by waitresses in skimpy outfits…Let’s go have a glass, my treat.”

“If it’s that place, I know of it.”

“Well, that makes things easy. I will call for some horses. Wait, at my age, riding horses will be tough. For times like this, my dragon is needed.”

“For today…, I think I’ll pass.”

“What’s this, didn’t you love women? Even more so than me? Really? What kind of wind is blowing today?”

With a cough to hide his embarrassment, Colbert put on a serious face.

“I need to deliver this notice to a friend of mine now.”

As Colbert said that, Old Osman shook his head at the party pooper.

“As you get older, it gets harder to enjoy things. To take away such little pleasures from an old man…”

Colbert excused himself with a bow and started to leave the headmaster’s office.

“Wait.”

“Is there something else?”

Old Osman was looking at the sky outside his window. Dusk appeared to be approaching.

“…really, it’s not fun getting old. Even though I don’t want to, I can see the color of the sky.”

“Y-yea.”

A sudden change from before, an empty, solemn expression plastered his wrinkled face as Old Osman spoke again.

“Though the war is over, no sign of the dark clouds hanging over this world can be seen. Sorry, this is a regretful topic…, but we are necessary for these times.”

“What is necessary?”

Colbert questioned with a serious face.

“That boy, his master, his companion and also all of the excellent instructors like you. All your power is necessary. So for just a bit longer, I want all of you to accompany me in my decrepit world.”

Colbert mumbled that it would be fine with him.

“…how is the boy? He is not a person of this world. Despite that, he has repeatedly aided this country. Simply awarding him with nobility would not be enough. Despite that, can he still talk about ‘aiding’ us?”

With a gloomy voice, Colbert softly replied.

‘Are we not nobles? Can we not lift up our own wands and risk ourselves to do something?”

“You are correct. If this was Tristain’s sole problem, I would probably give the same answer. However…with the upcoming ‘crisis’ in our hands, I’m afraid that this is not the only thing to we have to worry about.

Colbert swallowed his breath.

“The price that will be paid to save Halkeginia will not be paid by nobles, but by heroes. People like you. And…like that boy. Please don’t bear a grudge on me. Seeking out these heroes is not a task to be done by others. In this day and age…times are quickly changing. Someone has to look out for it. Please understand, Mister Colbert.”

In Louise’s room, the dreadful party was still storming.

Fearing her own involvement, Siesta retreated from the room. Even after that, the scuffle between Louise and Saito seemed to continue without end.

The furious Louise was nimble. Like a cat pouncing all around the room, she inflicted damage on Saito with accuracy. Saito finally managed to grab onto the bouncing Louise.

“Let go of me! I still haven’t finished punishing you!”

“…hey, this has gotten more out of hand than usual!”

Saito threw Louise onto the bed.

“Kya!”

Covering the yelling Louise with a blanket, he pinned her down.

…………….

With that done, Louise settled down as if a demon was exercised from her. She was too quiet though, so Saito started to worry and flipped the blanket to check on her.

At that point…

Louise looked up at him with swollen eyes.

“W-What?”

Saito said to her.

“…I’m still angry.”

Louise replied in a defeated tone.

“The one that should be angry is me. M-making me wear this of all things…”

Ignoring Saito’s protest, Louise instead fumed about her own dissatisfaction.

“You like maids after all.”

Narrowing her eyes, she stared at Saito. Even though it was a joke, there was a strangely tempting ring to it. For a moment, Saito became flustered like his heart had stopped.

“Well, I like maids, but it’s the person inside that matters. It’s not like I particularly like this piece of clothing, especially more so when I’m wearing it myself.”

Teary-eyed, Louise said.

“If I hadn’t been around, you would have spread cream onto Siesta.”

“I-I wouldn’t have done that! What the hell!”

“L-like a dog, you would have licked the cream.”

“No, I wouldn’t!”

“Yes, you would!”

Louise pouted loudly. Looking at such a face, a grin floated onto Saito’s face.

“What? Are you jealous?”

“I’m not jealous! I’m not, I’m not!”

Louise violently flailed around. Saito tried to hold her down, though it was futile.

“Hey, hey. Calm down~.”

As expected of Louise, she gave a kick to Saito’s nether regions. However…, since Saito was currently wearing a skirt, she couldn’t aim very well, so her foot only managed to hit his thighs.

Triumphantly, Saito stirred up Louise.

“Hey~, you really love your familiar, don’t cha, Louise-chan~.”

With a face dyed completely red, Louise bit his arm. But…, it didn’t hurt him at all. An evil smile drifted instead on Saito’s lips.

“What’s wrong, Miss Vallière? It doesn’t hurt at all? I see! You love me after all. You love your familiar that does nothing but act like a dog, don’t cha. Of course, you wouldn’t bite me for real.”

Louise instantly let go, and yelled loudly at him.

“I-I don’t like you!”

“Well then why?”

Saito glared at her forcefully.

From that, Louise uneasily frowned and looked to the side.

“…be-because you’re my familiar.”

“You’re still saying that?”

“Yes! Yes, I am! Because I’m unfortunate. And…that I have Founder Brimir’s magic. I instinctively get angry when you ignore me when you are supposed to be protecting me. I really am quite unfortunate.”

“Liar!”

“It’s not a lie. It’s the truth.”

Louise mumbled softly with a pout, as if she was telling herself that.

Saito sighed deeply.

“I get it.” Saito said, standing up.

“What do you mean you get it~ ~ ~?”

Louise asked him as she started getting up, with the bedding still covering half her face.

“I’m going to look for a way home.”

“Eh?”

Louise’s eyes got really wide. As if testing Louise, Saito continued speaking.

“Thanks for taking care of me. Goodbye. I will be taking my leave. If I make it back home, you will be able to summon another familiar. Have him protect you from now on. Later.”

“Hey! Wait a minute! Why all of a sudden?! No no no!”

Leaping out of bed, Louise stood in front of the door with her arms spread. Then, she noticed Saito’s expression. He had what looked like a strange smirk floating on his face.

“…Oi!”

Louise’s face was dyed completely red. As if she was going to smack Saito’s cheek, she struggled to hold her hand back.

“How dare you trick me…”

As her angry tone started rising, Saito suddenly stared at her face with a serious expression, which made Louise swallow her next words.

“I love you, Louise.”

That phrase was a surprise attack, such that Louise couldn’t move.

“I-I, someone like you…”

Before she could finish her sentence, her lips were covered.

“Mmh……”

From the sudden kiss, all of her energy drifted away from her body. Saito held her up, as she started melting to the floor. With him holding her tight, Louise couldn’t think of anything at all. She was really such a simple girl.

As their lips parted, Louise mumbled softly.

“…S-someone like you should just go home already.”

“I-it’s not like I don’t want to go home.”

Louise started getting angry again and closed her eyes. Saito embraced her again, and like that, he moved her to the bed and laid her down.

Louise continued to lay there motionlessly with her eyes closed.

Sweat started to run profusely from Saito’s forehead, and he let out a deep breath that he had been holding in. The smoothness of his actions had stopped dead. He could no longer act like one of those suave guys anymore. With panicky, stiff motions, Saito sat down next to Louise.

“………….”

With Louise still blushing deep red, he laid down next to her.

Was it really ok?, Saito thought. Should he take it as a sign it was ok? With all of the usual misunderstandings that made her mad and led to failures, Saito was quite skeptical.

First, he took a deep breath.

A deep breath, which he then exhaled.

But after that, he still had no idea what to do. Instead, he wanted to run away in frustration. If he did that though, he knew that he would regret it for the rest of his life.

As many vague questions danced around his head, his steaming head was certainly overheating.

“Uh…, for the moment, can I see your boobs?”

Louise’s eyebrows rose. Even without Louise’s complex about her size, this was not a question to be asked usually. However, Louise accepted his rather blunt request.

For now, Saito started undressing her. He was extra careful to be gentle and delicate, so that he wouldn’t overstep her expectations. With her eyebrows twitching, Louise bore with the situation.

“I’m undoing the b-bu-buttons.”

Those foolish words that tried to hide his embarrassment bothered Louise a bit. Without thinking, she opened her mouth and glared straight at Saito.

“I love you.”

Although her words were a bit rushed, the pure feeling of them was like a magic spell cast straight into Saito’s heart. Pink flowers were swirling inside of his head as he looked at Louise, who looked away with enchanted eyes and her mouth slightly open.

Basically, the thought of Louise undressing not only affected her, but also Saito greatly.

With shaky hands, Saito unbuttoned the first button on her shirt.

A gust of wind blew into the room from the window, and both Louise and Saito fell to the floor.

“Gya!”

“W-what was that?!”

The two of them rushed to their feet. Outside the window, a wind dragon was floating around. On its shoulders was a blue haired girl who, as usual, had an emotionless expression.

“Tabitha!”

Saito shouted.

“Hey! What are you peeking for?!” Don’t get in the way…er, I mean thanks for stopping him from attacking me!”

Louise’s pride had instantly kicked in, but as she shouted that, the fires of jealousy quickly raged in her.

''Why did she have to butt in?! That girl!

Ah, it must have been the work of that idiot mutt…''

Those thoughts ran through her head.

Then, something hit her. From the back of her mind, the incident at Alvis dining hall that involved a naked Tabitha with Saito on top of her resurfaced.

''What’s this? She was just helping him that time, wasn't it?

That was definitely a lie!''

Really…, that guy…

Forgetting all about the situation, Louise delivered a swift kick to the back of Saito’s head as he stood there dumbfounded still.

“Geh!”

Saito’s head dropped straight forward and to the ground from the kick. Louise barked at him while placing her foot down.

“Y-You, you did lay a hand on Tabitha, didn’t you?”

“Huh? I don’t get what you’re saying!”

“Quiet! If you had been telling the truth, then there wouldn’t have been a reason for her to blow us away just then.”

Louise was kicking Saito everywhere at a speed of 3 kicks per second.

“I’m sure you used the same words with me as you did that time! Now, tell me! Here, here! Like, ‘let me see your boobs?’ I’m not stupid! Being all sweet with me! All sweet!”

Not knowing what the hell was going on, Saito groaned.

“That’s not true.”

Tabitha softly denied Louise’s misunderstandings.

“It’s fine, so you be quiet!”

Then, Tabitha pointed with her wand to something behind Louise.

“A guest.”

Louise turned around. Mister Colbert had arrived at some point. He was standing in the doorway, holding onto the doorknob with a blank expression.

“Sorry for barging in suddenly.”

Colbert said, while scratching his head. Both Saito and Louise shrank in their chairs in embarrassment.
At some point, Siesta had returned to set some tea out for them. Tabitha was sitting on the window sill, content with reading her book. It seemed that she was planning on staying there to keep an eye on Saito.

Then, Colbert, who was also sitting in a chair, let out a big sigh. Apparently, there was something the matter.

“What’s wrong, Sensei?”

Saito looked towards his water with his head down as Colbert sighed. It seems like he didn’t even notice the current maid attire Saito had on. What incredible concentration this teacher had.

“First, I have to apologize to you.”

“Wha?”

Saito looked blankly as Colbert started explaining the details.

It’s about the expedition to the East on the Ostland. We will not be able to head east because Gallia will not allow us to pass through its airspace.

Whether it’s merchant ships or exploration ships, foreigners must have official documentation in order to pass through their territory, in which permission is obtained through allied countries.

Colbert once again let out a deep sigh.

“You couldn’t obtain permission from Gallia?”

Saito asked with a concerned tone. For that matter, something was off. A situation as simple as this shouldn’t cause such a heavy expression. Well, getting permission from Gallia was not exactly something that they knew much about…

“No, first of all I don’t have a permit for that country. I asked Old Osman to arrange for one…”

Colbert shook his head.

A strange silence enveloped them. Then, Colbert slowly looked up.

“…was it that much of a surprise?”, Saito asked.

Saito was a bit confused, which started making him flustered.

“Well, to be honest, it was a surprise...”

Colbert’s expression got sour.

“But, anyways, there are some unsettled matters to attend to, so for now I’m staying here…, no, I want to stay here.”

Louise’s eyes opened wide.

Tabitha raised her eyebrows briefly.

Siesta’s cheeks turned red.

The frankness of his own statement personally surprised Saito. Truly, it was a heartfelt statement. Taking a glance at Louise’s face to the side, he confirmed it to himself.

“You may be giving up a great opportunity. If that is the case, you may never be able to return.”

As Colbert said that, images of his friends ‘performing their services’ in the courtyard floated within Saito’s heart. Practice with the Knights of the Water Spirit. However stupid and short-sighted they were, and how much of simpletons they could be…they were friends that faced the dreaded dragon knights for his sake.

With guys like them here…, it wouldn’t be so bad to just stay in this world.

“Well, when the time comes, I’ll worry about it then.”

At Saito’s carefree statement, Colbert shook his head in disappointment.

“Unlike you, I cannot wait patiently for events to happen. I want to see it for myself! A world that revolves around the principles of technology, rather than magic! A world with different values, different people… Well, if you say so, I suppose we can postpone it for now.”

Shaking his head all the while, Colbert exited the room.

Some time passed between the inhabitants left in the room. The first one to break the silence was Siesta, whose voice was full of glee, embarrassment, and comfort towards Saito.

“U-um! It is really unfortunate for Saito-san~! But, but, I am just a bit glad. I mean, I am glad that Saito-san has decided to stay in this world for us.”, she said.

“Miss Vallière thinks so too!” Louise turned her head away, staring at her water.

“I’m not glad at all.”

Louise replied with an angry tone.

“Since you have to stay here anyways, it can’t be helped.”

“That cannot be true! Saito-san has helped Miss Vallière and the rest of us and saved Tristain from its crises countless times, hasn’t he!”

“Well, I will acknowledge that. But, I did not summon him to jeer at other girls.”

Louise looked at both Siesta and the silently reading Tabitha. At that, Saito casually mumbled.

“A-ah, it was unfortunate for me. After all, I’m such a selfish, undutiful familiar…”

“Then it would be better if you went home.”

“If I could, I would have right away.”

The two of them were heartlessly exchanging verbal blows with their backs turned. Then, Saito put his foot in his mouth.

“But, that’s not all I’m dissatisfied with.”

That statement made Louise red in anger.

Then, Saito made his way to the door.

Louise stared at Saito with a face like that of an uneasy puppy. But, she refused to ask where was he going.

“Saito-san, where are you going?”

“A walk.”

“Like that, you are?”

Saito looked down at himself, still clad in the maid outfit. Saito began changing in a panic.

Siesta ‘kya-ed’ from overload as she tried to hide her face from the scene. But her fingers didn’t quite hide her eyes. Tabitha continued reading her book, completely ignoring the scene. Louise blushed and turned away.

After he finished changing, he appeared to have remembered something and started looking for it. That particular item had ended up on top of Louise’s things. Grabbing it, Saito left the room.

The door closed with a bang, drowning the room in a brief silence. Acting like nothing ever happened, Louise wordlessly grabbed a snack from the tabletop and started eating. Not having any appetite, Siesta started cleaning.

As Louise silently nibbled on her cookie, she looked towards Tabitha sitting on the window sill and the darkness of night behind her.

“It’s getting late. You should head back to your own room.”

However, Tabitha neither replied nor moved. The sound of pages turning, Louise nibbling her cookie, and Siesta sweeping the floor were the only things heard in her room.

“Hey Tabitha, are you planning to stay here tonight?”

Tabitha nodded slightly.

“Why? Don’t tell me because Saito is here?”

Siesta’s broom immediately stopped. Tabitha nodded again.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Somewhat seething in jealously, Louise approached her. Tabitha closed her book and faced her.

“You are going overboard.”

“What? You have a problem with that? I’m telling you that Saito is my familiar. I am free to deliver whatever punishment I see fit.”

“Even so, I cannot allow you to endanger him. Eventually, he will get hurt.”

“What? Have you taking a liking to him?”

“Not a ‘liking’.”

Louise’s eyes narrowed.

“…I’m saying that you are trespassing onto some serious grounds.”

Tabitha looked straight at Louise, who was seething with jealousy and anger.

“So what?”

Louise furiously took out her wand. Tabitha readied her large wand at the same time. Louise’s body swayed from the impressive magical aura flaring around her.

An aura of ‘void.’

The growing jealousy in her heart was fueling Louise’s magic.

Likewise, an icy aura comparable to Louise’s enveloped around Tabitha’s body, chilling the air around her. To onlookers, they appeared as two weak girls locked in a stare down. In fact, an ominous atmosphere spread around them, much like the calm before a confrontation between a dragon and a wyvern of equal strength.

Instantly, Siesta picked up on the bloodthirsty air between them.

“Well! You two! Well, well!”

Breaking the deadlock, Siesta got between the two girls and handed them wine glasses.

“I got ahold of an old bottle of Anjou wine! For now, shall we try some? Well? Well? Please put away those dreaded wands!”

While still staring at each other, the two girls downed their wine.

“Hmph…”

Once again, Siesta filled their glasses.

Louise and Tabitha downed that as well. Emptying the first bottle, Siesta brought the next one out and continued pouring more wine.

While this was going on, Saito had arrived at the neighboring Tower of Fire, where Mister Colbert’s laboratory is. The object that he hastily picked up as he left was still clutched in his arms. After knocking on the door, Kirche peeked her head out. Clad in a skimpy negligee, it was quite a bothersome distraction for Saito’s eyes.

“Ah, Saito.”

“Is Sensei here?”

“He’s here but…He had a few drinks and has been mumbling about something. Is something the matter?”

As Saito got closer, Colbert, apparently drunk, was sprawled on top of the table.

“Sensei, what happened?”

“…Mmhmm. Royalty! And noblemen, blast them! Magic is all they ever think about! Even though there are plenty of undiscovered technical and cultural things in this world…All of these meaningless quarrels for the sake of pride…Blasted superiors, the lot of them!...”

Not receiving permission from the royal court appeared to be a considerable shock to him. Saito had taken a liking to the Colbert before him now.

If it was him…, perhaps he could hand it over, Saito thought.

Saito tapped on Colbert’s shoulder.

“…mmhmm. Wha? Aah, Saito-kun. What brings you?”

His breath reeking of alcohol, Colbert lifted his head up.

“Sensei…, here.”

Saito set the object that he was carrying on top of the table.

“Hm? This is…, what exactly?”

Looking at the silver, rectangular flat object, Colbert’s eyes lit up.

“…This is from your world? There’s no doubt!”

Instantly, Colbert’s drunkenness disappeared from his face.

“Yes. It was the only thing that I was carrying when I arrived here…, it’s called a notebook computer.”

“Marvelous! Truly marvelous! Look at this, Miss Zerbst. It’s like the craftsmanship of Germania!”

Next to him, Kirche had an impression like that of a helper looking over his best interests, as she also marveled at it.

“No, Jean. This is much more elaborate than Germania craftsmanship. Hey Saito, what exactly is this? Is this a jewelry box crafted by someone from your world?”

The words ‘your world’ rang through Saito as he looked over at Colbert.

“…Forgive me. I accidentally let that slip.”

“Isn’t it fine, if it’s me? Hey, I won’t tell anyone. The fact that you are a person from another world.”

Kirche nodded with a carefree smile. Honestly, he didn’t mind Kirche knowing. Knowing that she was in fact an honorable girl with tight lips, Saito simply mumbled ‘oh well.’

“Sensei, this wasn’t crafted to be a jewelry box. How do I put this…, while it’s kind of hard to explain, it can be thought of like a type of library that is packed full of books.”

“A library? This thing? Truly, surprising! This small box being called a library of sorts! This world of yours, just how exactly does it work?”

Kirche’s eyes were also wide open.

“Are we supposed to shrink and enter it?”

“No…, that’s not it. Words, pictures, and sound are made smaller into what is called ‘data’, and that data is packed into this thing. I did say that it was a library at first, but it can really store much more information than what you can find in a library. That stuff appears here. It is like a magical mirror that projects an image.”

Saito opened up his notebook computer to show them the LCD monitor.

“Speaking of which, is information of your world in here?”

“…since I’m the only one that has used it, I don’t think anything important is in here. What this machine can really do is set up a terminal, which can exchange information with various other people.”

“In other words, with other people far away from you. Is this what you mean?”

Saito gave him a nod.

In reality, he had only used his computer to surf the internet, so there really wasn’t much data. Well, even if he were to have some data, whether that would be of any use is another story.

“Then, if you were to use this, you would be able to access the information of your world. Am I correct?”

At this point, Saito mumbled in disappointment.

“Well, if I only had power.”

“Power? What is this power?”

“It’s that thing. Electricity. This machine runs on electricity.”

“Electricity! I see!”

Colbert sighed.

“Hey Jean, what is electricity?”

“In this world, it exists in many forms. Like a flash of lightning or the shock that you get from touching the staircase on a cold, winter day. These are all forms of electricity. However, there are not many scholars that study this…”

Kirche lifted her arms up and shrugged in confusion.

“We also call upon it in magic. It is the branch of ‘lightning’ spells.”

“How strange. I had certainly thought of it as some sort of poison or what not.”

“…there is a battery inside of it. Ah, what I mean by battery is something that stores electricity. Hmm, it seems to be completely empty.”

“I do not really understand that part, but if there is no electricity, it will not be of any use.” [[Image:ZnT13-083.jpg|thumb]]

Kirche fluttered around them.

“But, it may be of some use for research.”

Colbert nodded in agreement.

“Just being able to look at this collection of parts closely…makes my heart pound with excitement.”

Colbert continued looking at the notebook computer with the eyes of a child who had been given a present.

“The least I can do for now, is let you study it as you wish.”

Colbert looked at Saito worriedly.

“But…are you sure? I am certain to be absolutely careful with it, but I may end up destroying it. Is this not important to you?”

Saito shook his head.

“It’s ok. Either way, I can’t use it.”

Somehow cheerfully, Saito replied.

Colbert nodded and buried his face in the notebook computer again. He couldn’t stop himself from taking it apart and analyzing it now.

As Saito turned to leave, Kirche complained to him.

“Really, you’ve done an unnecessary thing. He’s going to be so busy studying it that after a week, he will forget all about me.”

Arriving back to his room, Saito looked around at the ridiculous scene. Tabitha and Siesta, who had somehow got herself drunk, were snoring away.

Louise was the only one who was still drinking wine. Looking up at the returned Saito, the words from her mouth slurred out.

“Wher diya go~~?”

“C-Colbert-sensei’s place. What the heck happened here…, you guys….”

Three empty wine bottles were laying on the floor, which surprised Saito.

“One fer each o’ us, we merrily drank. Wait, wassit merrily? Ahh, wha-ever.”

“You guys… really overdid it.”

It was rather strange for the normally, lightweight Louise to drink this much.

Louise yelled out in an irritated tone.

“…but, Shaito didn’t come back”, she mumbled out weakly.

''Don’t tell me that she was waiting this whole time for me!'', Saito thought as Louise looked more and more cute to him.

“ShaitoShaitoShaito”, she yelled his name repeatedly.

“Wha’s wid Shaito…

Ya reely shink is o-k to na go home?”

She asked whether it was ok for him not to go home. As she was drinking, Louise kept dwelling on the meaning of those words.

“Yea.”

“Whyy?”

“Because you’re here.”

“Riar.”

“I’m not lying. Whatever.”

“Wha er ya gonna do in da few-cha?”

The considerably drunk Louise bounced from topic to topic. As embarrassing as it was, Saito thought that the drunken Louise wouldn’t remember it anyways, so an incredible response came from his mouth.

“Marry Louise.”

“Reely? Wid me? Reely?”

“Yea. I have to be responsible. You called me after all.”

“I wanna hab two childden.”

Louise continued to say unbelievable things.

“I, I guess.”

“Yep, yep. I…hab a requessst.”

Louise suddenly got up and held out her hand.

“What is it?”

As she tiredly talked in her drunken state to Saito, Louise jabbed him with her finger.

“I…wanna hab a bigga chest, so ya should exercise ‘em.”

“Huh?”

“Ya know, da dis and dat chest exercise.”

The air got tense.

As Saito was petrified in confusion, Louise grabbed his hands.

“Like dis, they say it’ll git bigga.”

Louise was encouraging Saito’s hands to rub her bosom.

“Lou-Louise…”

Saito did not know what the heck was going on anymore, as Louise whispered into his ear.

“If dey git bigga, ya may like ‘em. But ya might like ‘em small instead. I’b bin worryin bout zat.”

As the moonlight hit them… all Saito could think about was Louise.

Louise drew close to Saito and started licking his cheek.

How cute she was right now. If this was what she was like drunk, then he wished she would stay drunk forever. He wanted to push her down so badly, but he couldn’t.

She was drunk after all. If he took advantage of her like this, he wouldn’t live it down. Ah, but it was so hard not to. ''What should I do, ah, what should I do?'' his mind screamed…

A shadow flew across the night sky.

At the same time, something twinkled under the moonlight.

Feeling the presence of danger, Saito instantly returned to normal.

“What the?”

He gently pushed Louise back onto the bed.

“Wass wid you, hab a problem wid me afta all?”

“Just go to sleep.”

Saito quickly reached for Derflinger on his back.

Edging his face out the window, he saw a nimble shadow gliding across the sky!

Something shining was heading straight towards him.

An ice arrow.

Noticing it coming at him, Saito quickly back-stepped away. The ice arrow shattered as it crashed into the wall.

The shadow glided around in the night sky…until finally, it lunged at Saito.

A gargoyle?

Dragon?

Whatever it was…there appeared to be a rider on it. The magic that was thrown at him…had to be this person.

Was it Gallia?

…or Myoznitnirn?

While he was pondering this, his battle-hardened body reacted instinctively. As it drew close, Saito jumped from the window, crashing into the shadow’s rider.

As the rider cried in shock and tried to regain his balance, Saito pinned him down with Derflinger.

“Wait! Wait!”

The rider began crying loudly.

“Huh?”

Saito had heard that voice before.

“Please! Put down your sword! It’s me! René! René Vonke!”

“René!”

The surprised Saito withdrew Derflinger. The face that was traced in the moonlight…was the dragon knight that Saito fought with in Albion. It was the plump face of René.

It was a very nostalgic face.

“Since it has been a long time, I thought that I would give you a surprise! But you got the drop on me instead. It was impressive how you managed to stop an army of 70,000 back in Albion! That was quite some feat!”

Dropping to the ground, the two of them gave each other a strong embrace.

“Not really. I haven’t seen you since we parted in Albion!”

“Since then, I’ve been assigned to the Dragon Knight Squadron that guards the capital. Every single day, it’s been tiresome patrols non-stop. It sucks.”

René looked up and down at Saito’s appearance with an amused expression.

“Huh…, I had heard that you became a Chevalier, but you don’t seem to be swimming in gold. You look the same as before. How much are you getting annually?”

“Five hundred ECU.”

“What, that’s better than me. Well, you’re an Imperial Guard after all. Anyways, you should at least buy some new clothes.”

“I bought…or rather I ended up buying a horse. Because of that, I’m broke.”

“What an expensive horse that was, huh?”

René said with a laugh. A forced laugh was Saito’s reply.

“Hey, come in. Let’s have a drink.”

As Saito said that, René shook his head.

“No, I didn’t really come to hang out. I have a duty. It is to hand you this letter and return as soon as that’s done. Since they are making a dragon knight do this, it can’t be any ordinary errand! We don’t exactly fly half-heartedly through the skies.”

“A letter?”

“Oh yeah. For the time being, allow me the formalities. In any case, it is official business after all.”

Saying this, René straighten up and acted like a soldier.

“Vice Commander of the Knights of Ondine, Saito Chevalier de Hiraga-dono!”

“Y-yes!”

Saito instinctively straightened up as well.

“From her Majesty the Queen, I present to you a handwritten letter! I advise you to take care of it!”

The Queen? Henrietta gave me a letter? What does this mean?

From the inside pocket of René’s coat, he took out an important looking envelop bearing a seal. Then, he gently handed it to him like it was made of glass.

“Th-thank you.”

“Please break the seal and follow the instructions contained inside.”

René said to Saito in a serious tone.

Saito nodded heavily and took out the letter inside.

Looking at what was written, Saito’s eyes started spinning.

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| Back to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume13_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume13_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume13 Chapter1

2011-11-18T15:45:50Z

Error: /* Chapter 1: Romalia */

===Chapter 1: Romalia===

The Holy Empire of Romalia.

One of the oldest countries in Halkeginia…often shortened to the “Holy Empire,” was a city-state located directly south of Gallia on the Ausonia peninsula.

The land of the Romalian Empire ruled by a disciple of Founder Brimir, St. Forsythe, was only a single city-state at first. However, this esteemed “holy empire” then sought after expansion, and one-by-one annexed the other city-states around it.

During King Julio Cesar’s reign, his influence finally left the peninsula and occupied half of Gallia’s lands.

However… that king’s reign did not continue for long.

After being expelled from Gallia’s lands, the annexed regions went through a cycle of independence and re-annexation. Finally at the end of the wars, the greatest regions of the Romalian Empire had been scattered.

From then on, each region individually developed its own beliefs, especially towards that of diplomacy for Romalia. In other words, their roots became completely different. It was more similar to that of the Germanian Imperialism of Northern Halkeginia.

Inferior to the other major powers of Halkeginia, Romalia instead applied themselves as the “center of Brimir’s teachings” as their main point as an established country.

Romalia was the resting place of Founder Brimir, so it was natural for St. Forsythe to build a country to protect his grave.

The descendents utilized this historical fact as the biggest reason to turn the city of Romalia into sacred ground. This was how the holy capital was established.

As a result, Romalia became a holy city-state, where a huge temple was erected…which became the Forsythe shrine. For generations, the king was called the “Pope,” and all of his clergymen and followers stood at the top…

“…Really, every time I come to this country, the architecture and themes just jump out at me.”

Queen Henrietta of Tristain peeked out the window of her horse-drawn carriage, gazing at the streets of Romalia.

It was the month of Sol, the week of Freya and the day of Ösel, this world’s equivalent to May 7th.

It was around the time of the huge commotion involving Tiffania’s transfer to the Academy of Magic…

In this religious city of Romalia, priests from throughout Halkeginia “flooded the land with holy light.” These holy servants were wrapped in clothing that shimmered brightly as they walked around, while devout followers exchanged warm greetings with them…

The city was filled with rich smiles as the priests guided the religious followers of Brimir down the right path, in which the Pope passed down the teachings of being a “servant of the people as well as God’s servant…”

This idealistic view, while practiced mainly in this part of the Ausonia peninsula, was held in belief by a majority of the people of Halkeginia, who seldom ever left the city or village they were born in…

“These commoners are flooding in from every land. Aren’t they just acting however they felt like? Instead of “idealistic views,” it seemed more like an example of a city of cave dwellers.”

Henrietta mumbled with a sigh.

On the streets, the followers that flowed in from Halkeginia lined up in front of a pot of soup being distributed by the Salvation knights of the Maltius brigade. These people made their way to this city, but they had no job, nothing to do, and barely any food and clothing.

Behind the followers were numerous stone pillars of Ionic style which led to a luxurious temple in the distance. Fancily robed priests chatted as they passed through the door into the temple…

The new followers had no choice but to sing praises of worship, thought Henrietta. The townspeople were barely surviving on a cup of soup, while the priests were dressed up lavishly and enjoying various forms of luxury…

When she was a child, she had visited this city and had not noticed this. There were rows of grand temples lined up for every religion. Shining stained glass and sculptures, crafted into the greatest of masterpieces, had completely captivated her attention back then…

A movement in front of her caught her attention. In front of her sat an uncomfortable looking Captain Agnes of the Musket Infantry, who shrunk back in her seat.

“What is the matter, Captain?”

“Nothing…I’m not used to this appearance…”

Instead of her usual chain-mail, Agnes was clothed in a dress fit for a noblewoman. Under that appearance, combined with her fair facial features, she looked every bit like a lady from a good family.

However…her sharp warrior-like eyes pierced through the gentle appearance she was dressed in.

Combined with the sheathed blade that adorned her side…the Captain of the Musket Infantry had quite an irregular appearance. Henrietta smiled towards her.

“It suits you.”

“Please don’t tease me.”

With a gloomy tone, Agnes mumbled.

“I shouldn’t be the one to do this. There was no reason for me to wear these fancy clothes and come all the way to Romalia.”

“I need an attendant. You can also double as an escort. Very convenient indeed…”

“I’m only good with a blade. How can I possibly pass as an attendant?”

“As the Captain of the Imperial Guards say, only waving a sword or wand around is not a job. Depending on the time and place, even those of noble standing must lend a hand to a guest. If you won’t do the honor of this, I will be very troubled.”

Henrietta replied with a tone that suggested that her decision was final. However, Agnes just couldn’t accept the circumstance.

“What about Cardinal Mazarin? Usually, isn’t it his role as prime minister to be the attendant…?”

“Besides him, is there anyone that I can trust to be there in my absence?”

‘Well that’s true…,’ mumbled Agnes as she looked uneasy and desperate to continue arguing.

“But if I don’t carry a sword or gun on me, I will feel insecure.”

“There is no way around it. It is the law of this country.”

To pass through the outer gates of the Romalian capital, even military escorts such as Agnes would have to remove their sword. While carrying it inside luggage loaded onto their carriage was permissible, the religious capital did not allow the carrying of weaponry on hand. It was a regulation unique to Romalia. Even the crystal wand that Henrietta usually held onto had also been stored inside of her bag.

“But in the event of an emergency, I cannot protect your Majesty.”

Henrietta motioned to the obviously unsatisfied Agnes to look out the window. Outside, there were knights clad in white robes riding majestic unicorns. On either side of the carriage, they were keeping a close watch on the guest of honor as they escorted the carriage.

Around their necks were sacred charms. Also, a large symbol of the Founder holding out his hand was embroidered onto the chest of the white robes in silver thread.

“The Romalian Templar Knight Squadron will protect us.”

These knights were the only ones who could carry arms in the religious capital. They were the elite of the elites.

The Romalian Templar Knights…they defined the standards to the highest loyalty for various military organizations in each of the major Halkeginian powers.

These men would truly “fight to the death” if the Pope wished them to. To a devout believer of Brimir, their white clothing was a symbol of light. To heretics, it was a symbol of terror. There is nothing more troublesome than an enemy that doesn’t fear death.

Agnes’s face slightly clouded with worry.

“I can’t imagine them going as far as risking their lives to protect a new believer such as myself.”

Henrietta was not shaken by Agnes’s words that contained a bit of self-mockery.

“God more or less turns a blind eye to the concept of discrimination.”

When you listen to the priests of Romalia, their smooth words make you want to swoon.

Behind Queen Henrietta’s carriage were a line of carriages for her personal attendants, family members and members of the government. The very best musketeers and mages were assigned to guard each one of these carriages.

For this particular attendance of the ceremony, these people had to travel across the ocean by boat all the way to Romalia. After sending out an invitation letter to Saito and company when they met up with Tiffania, that letter somehow came back to Henrietta. In the end, she had just barely missed them as they returned from Albion with Tiffania.

While it would take only three days to sail through the skies of Gallia, Henrietta feared that relations with Gallia were becoming sour. Because of this, a considerable detour using a sea route was chosen instead. This resulted in a week of travel before arriving.

However…the ceremony was scheduled to occur 20 days later.

“If it’s ok with you, as an attendant I want to ask you something…”

“Go ahead.”

“Why is it that we arrived for the ceremony 20 days early?”

“The visit for the ceremony is an excuse. We will be holding secret negotiations at this time.”

“With the Pope…, right?”

“Who else?”

Agnes looked down deep in contemplation.

“What is the matter, Captain?”

Henrietta asked with a worried voice, in which Agnes looked up.

“…It is nothing. I was just lost in thought. Please excuse me.”

The old part of Romalia was surrounded by castle walls. The stone paving that was built in ancient times were aligned in an orderly pattern. It was very different from the disorderly feeling of Tristania or the capital city of Gallia, Lutece, in which the aging of their walls showed both periods of prosperity and turmoil. The clean, pearl-like stone walls here seemed to stretch on endlessly. This abnormally clean impression left a feeling of purity in the air.

“It truly is a beautiful city.”

Agnes broke the silence with her thoughts of Romalia. Without any reply, an apparently anxious Henrietta silently fiddled with the ends of her fingers.

Since it was a surprise imperial visit before the actual ceremony, there were no flags flown beside the driver of the carriages to indicate the importance of the inhabitants. Simply with the presence of the Templar knights escorting the carriage, the city’s inhabitants knew that it had to be a person of high societal standing.

On top of that, the three carriages carrying the delegates were taking up the entire width of the main road.

Further down the road, six large towers rose in the distance. The tower in the middle was much larger, with the other five towers arranged in the shape of a five-pointed star around it.

This shape looked very similar to the one at Tristain’s Academy of Magic. This can be expected since the construction of the academy was modeled after the motif of the Romalian holy capital.

All of the Templar knights that were escorting the carriages advanced towards the gate in unison. Along both sides of the gate, they dismounted and formed a gallant line, holding their sacred armaments up like magic wands. The sunlight made them glitter like silver decorations that magnificently adorned the cathedral’s gates.

“…looks like we have arrived.”

Henrietta mumbled. Agnes looked out the window briefly with a sigh.

“Is that the Romalian cathedral? It looks similar to the Academy of Magic…, it could almost be its twin.”

It was certainly very similar in shape, even down to the height of the main tower and its five accompanying towers.

The guards, who were clad in white, approached next to the door of the queen’s carriage, and saluted her by crossing both of their hands across their chests. This meant everything to them in practicing the work of their religion.

However…, despite their arrival, none of the priests or nobles stepped out of the carriages. The guards that were next to the carriages also remained in position without taking a single step.

‘Why was that?’, Agnes wondered. Then, an impressive song of praise began, which started with a wave of the wand by the conductor to the holy choir, who were in front of the entrance.

It was apparently a welcoming for the surprise visit by the queen, Romalian style.

“I guess we are supposed to remain here and listen to the song.”

Agnes muttered.

Young boys, whose pure singing voices had not changed yet, soothed the travel-wearied Henrietta’s heart and body with their song. The song couldn’t have been conducted better even if St. Aegis the 32nd himself did it, Henrietta thought to herself.

When the song ended, the conductor, a young boy, faced towards them.

It was a handsome young boy with whitish-blond hair.

“…moon eyes?”

His left and right eye-colors were different. Odd eyes…, in Halkeginia it was called ‘moon eyes.” Usually, it was a bad omen. Still, to have a boy like him become the conductor of the choir…, what circumstances did he have to go through?

Henrietta stuck her hand out the window and waved at the choir as a gesture of appreciation of their hospitality. The boy conductor placed his hand over his chest and bowed to her. As he remained bowed, he approached the carriage. It was like the gesture of a military nobleman.

Then, he respectfully took her hand, like he was handling a gem, and brought it to his lips.

“Welcome to Romalia. I am your host, Julio Caesar.”

It was the person who saw Saito off in Albion before his battle against 70,000.

Henrietta, who was struck by his charming and refined gestures, spoke from inside the carriage.

“You are a priest, right?”

“That is correct, your Majesty.”

“Despite that, you have the mannerisms like that of a nobleman. No, that was quite rude of me.”

Julio had a smirk on his face.

“It is because I have lived my entire life in the military. During the previous battles, I was but a mere footman in the lowest ranks of your Majesty.”

“Oh, is that so?”

A gloomy expression flashed on Henrietta’s face for a moment. Sad memories that she didn’t want to think about resurfaced, but she pushed them aside and continued the conversation.

“I offer you my thanks. It was a tough battle. You have done well.”

“Thankful words that really touch me. Well then, please come in, my master has been waiting for you.”

As Julio opened the door of the carriage, he took Henrietta’s hand.

Then, he took Agnes’s hand as well. At the other carriages, the delegates were each greeted by guides who took them to meet various members of Romalia’s government.

Waving his hand to Henrietta and Agnes, he guided them ahead. [[Image:ZnT13-025.jpg|thumb]]

As they started walking towards the cathedral…, Henrietta remembered the invitation that St. Aegis the 32nd had given her.

‘Come 20 days before the ceremony. May God’s miracle watch over you.’

What exactly was God’s miracle?

With mixed anxiety and expectations…, Henrietta shivered lightly.

As Henrietta walked into the entranceway of the cathedral, she was bathed in the light of 7 colors, streaming through the gleaming stained-glass windows.

“…beautiful,” Julio let out his thought with a smirk.

Henrietta proceeded towards the inner sanctum, where she was surprised with the scene in front of her. Here gathered a crowd of poor people, many whom she had passed by on carriage, wrapped in blankets and staring up at the ceiling. The first floor of the cathedral was truly like an example of a poorhouse.

“These people are?”

Henrietta questioned, as Julio replied to her.

“They are the refugees who came from the ruins of the Albion war. Until we can find proper arrangements for these people, they are staying here momentarily.”

“Under the orders of his Holiness, the Pope?”

“Of course.”

Henrietta felt admiration for Pope Vittorio for this kind of treatment of the refugees. Even the church representatives were fervent about this. Needless to say, Romalia symbolized a cathedral that had open arms…

Julio spoke as if he was talking to himself.

“Unfortunately, Romalia is nothing like the 'kingdom of light' that these people have come to believe in. The world is full of contradictions. The Pope wishes to somehow sort through all of this contradictions for the truth.”

St. Aegis the 32nd, the Romalian Pope, currently was in the middle of a meeting in his office. While Henrietta had been sitting in the waiting room for quite some time, Julio’s wonderful conversations as her host kept her from being bored.

About 30 minutes later, the door opened and some children popped out, making Henrietta jump. While it wasn’t the most graceful of motions, she did manage to hold onto the portion of her dress wrapped in her hand.

“Chief, thank you very much.”

The child who appeared to be the eldest bowed his head, with the others around him following suit. After the bowing, the children left cheerfully without noticing the Queen of Tristain right next to the door.

“I was praised by Chief for my ‘good memory’.”

“Me too! Me too!”

As Henrietta and Agnes tried to hide their bewilderment, Julio prompted Henrietta to enter.

“Well then, please enter. My master awaits.”

The Pope’s audience chamber was in disarray. The office of the Pope, the highest official of the religious order…rather than that, it looked more like the city’s library or the room of an academy professor. The walls were tightly aligned with bookshelves, filled to the brim with collections of books. At a glance of the titles, it was not just titles of religious origins.

Most of them were in fact about historical records, especially those that revolved around wartimes or natural history.

There were even novels about dramas and comical stories mixed in.

On top of the large desk was more of the same type of books piled all around.

Lately, Romalia’s publishing office issued a book of the ‘true translation of the Founder’s prayers.’ It was a book that recorded the exploits of the Founder, making it a sacred text.

Dusting off that particular book, a man with long hair, in his twenties, was there. For a moment, Henrietta mistook the man as some kind of servant. However…, when she gazed upon his noble, fine facial features, she was taken aback.

“…your Holiness.”

At her voice, St. Aegis the 32nd, Vittorio Cervale turned around.

“If it isn’t Henrieta-dono. Please wait a moment. I’m in the middle of tidying up…”

Julio asked in a joyful tone.

“Your Holiness, if I may, hasn’t Queen Henrietta come all the way from Tristain to speak with you?”

“I know I know, Julio. But I promised to teach the children writing and arithmetic during this time.”

Calling the queen of another country to come all the way here and making her wait is pretty surprising… even more so for the reason of educating the city’s children!

Feeling neither respect nor anger, Henrietta was mostly just dumbfounded.

Henrietta stared at the peculiar, but strangely beautiful air that Vittorio held…she wondered just what kind of person the Pope of Romalia was.

Just looking at the sudden summons that she received from him in Tristain, it was no mistake that a person such as him was unprecedented.

“With the tidying, isn’t it better to call a servant over to do it?”

Julio said with a bitter smile as he waved his hands at him. Julio’s attitude towards his retainer seemed to be overly familiar. This kind of relationship between a retainer and servant didn’t occur in Tristain or Gallia, so this also surprised Henrietta.

“I can’t leave this task to others. I have to organize the books myself. Otherwise, I won’t know where it is when I want to read it.”

That statement from the Pope was a bit strange, making a giggle escape from Henrietta’s mouth. After finally finishing the book arranging, the Pope turned towards the queen.

“Sorry for the long wait. I give you the warmest welcomes.”

Words could not describe the charm that was held within his smile. While he was barely in his twenties, his eyes shone with the saintly affection of a much more experienced person.

To claim the role of the Pope at such a young age, how much talent and effort was required?

With that in mind, he certainly had the credentials. If not, he wouldn’t have been able to wear the Pope’s Mitre.

Just how much talent does this Pope hold…?

Henrietta was curious to know what dreams and ambitions he held.

For what reason did he call her out for official government business, such that she had to breathlessly rush to Romalia?

“As a devout follower of Founder Brimir, I have arrived as his Holiness wishes.”

Henrietta deeply bowed her head.

Officially, there were only two people whose position reigned above her. One is King Joseph of Gallia…and the other is Vittorio. Therefore, it was proper etiquette for her to bow lowly.

“Please raise your head. Why, this hat has already been passed to the prime minister of your country. There is no need for such formalities.”

Vittorio quickly mouthed to her. That was the truth. The prime minister of Tristain who was dispatched from Romalia, Cardinal Mazarin, had been recognized as the next Pope. However, during the election assembly 3 years ago, Mazarin had turned down the request sent from Romalia.

For that reason, there were even groundless rumors about the usurpation of the government of Tristain. However, these rumors more or less cleared up after Henrietta’s coronation.

As for the true reason for his rejection, not even Queen Henrietta knew. Mazarin had never said a word about it.

“I am truly fond of Mazarin-dono. Now, your Highness, to make things simple, would you please pardon my request?”

“That being?”

Henrietta glanced back at Agnes, who hid behind her. Sensing that the main topic of the visit was at hand, she contemplated signaling Agnes to leave.

But, Vittorio shook his head.

“No…, ‘Miss Escort’ here should also be present. In any case, it appears that the Miss is aware of the situation.”

Henrietta peered back at Agnes. Agnes, slightly blushing with discomfort, nodded in agreement. It was the first time that Henrietta had seen such an expression on the face of the Captain of the Musketeer Corps, which surprised her.

Not even regarding the pardon for his question, Henrietta was pondering of a good way to break the silence.

“Have you noticed the contradiction of this country’s beliefs?”

Vittorio instead asked Henrietta a question. A shocked expression hung on her face momentarily before she nodded seriously.

“Yes.”

“It is as you see. While it is quite embarrassing, we are far from being the supposed ‘kingdom of light’ that we represent. On one hand, there are people who are lacking their daily bread while life goes on as the priests discuss about their own problems at each meeting. This is a world where faith is left on the ground and people everywhere focus on their own profits.”

“If a may say, your Holiness has the authority to…”

“I realize that. Even so, I am trying my best. Taking into account of each church in every region, I barely have control through the main cathedral. Each sect of the church has a duty to reach out to the poor and construct shelters to take them in. In order for the people to obtain bread cheaply, free cities bearing no taxation should be established. But instead, banter and ridicule from some new followers have not been few. What kind of trash are they spouting! New followers and those claiming heresy are just trying to give their share of complaints. It’s the same as if I was facing the Reconquista.”

The Pope was trying his best. That was not a lie. Henrietta remembered the poor in the cathedral and the children on her way here.

“I have personally received support from an orphanage.”

Julio said proudly.

Vittorio nodded and continued speaking.

“However, I am at my limit. If I force the clergymen to involve themselves any further, it may cause some internal discord. The end result may be the spilling of blood from fellow followers of Founder Brimir. I need to step up and put on the mantle of the Pope that the people have chosen for me. No matter how just the cause…people will not wish to sacrifice their own prosperity. Also, I can no longer remain quiet about these issues. How foolish is it to fight each other over matters such as differences in doctrines and class? Ultimately, all people are the sons of God.”

Henrietta nodded. She felt the same way.

Vittorio spread out both his arms.

“Why is it that our doctrine has fallen so low? Why has our own clergymen excused themselves from God in order to indulge in the benefits of this day and age?”

With a voice full of regret, Vittorio exclaimed. His back trembled. He bit his lip strongly as if the pain were distracting him from his own lack of power.

“…It is because I don’t have enough power..”

“Power…?”

“Yes. It is like the last time I spoke with you about how ‘power is necessary.’ We need to proudly show off the strength of the leader’s authority. To avoid being buried in unnecessary political strife and wars between the nobles and clergymen, we must demonstrate the true strength of God.”

“…is this about recovering the Holy Land from the elves?”

Vittorio nodded in confirmation.

“For the sake of awakening everyone to the true faith, there is no other option than to invoke ‘God’s miracle’ by recovering the Holy Land from the elves…”

“God’s miracle…”

Henrietta gasped.

That one phrase at the end of the letter that she had received earlier came back to mind.

Vittorio, at that point, turned around and faced towards one of his bookshelves. ‘Hump!’, he went with a blank expression, as his fingers grabbed a hold of the edge of the shelf, and he tried to slide it over.

However, he just didn’t have enough strength to move it at all. After sticking his tongue out at it, he motioned for his beloved Julio to come over.

“Julio. Please come give me a hand.”

“You should have requested me to in the first place.”

“Why, it wouldn’t do if I didn’t try it myself first.”

Both of them snickering at each other, they combined their power to slide the bookshelf over.

As the heavy object slid noisily, something behind it appeared…

Embedded in the wall was a large, elliptical-shaped mirror, 2 meters tall and about a meter wide.

“Is this the ‘miracle’?”

Henrietta asked, but Vittorio shook his head.

“No…, the ‘miracle’ that I plan to use is not a material object. But even though you cannot touch it, that doesn’t mean that you cannot see it either.”

Vittorio prompted Julio to fetch his holy wand.

Julio picked up the small box that was placed on top of the table, containing a wand forged with holy materials, and respectfully presented it to Vittorio.

Taking it into his hand, Vittorio chanted a spell in a low voice like a prayer. [[Image:ZnT13-037.jpg|thumb]]

Clear notes of a beautiful ballad that she had never heard before graced the ears of Henrietta.

[Eulu Il Quoqen Sil Mari…]

It looked like the Pope was offering a prayer to God.

How much time had passed?

It seemed to have been quite a while. But in reality, had five minutes even passed since the aria began?

After the spell was finished, Vittorio gently pointed the wand at the mirror, as if offering it a blessing.

As Henrietta stared at the mirror…, it began to shine.

The light suddenly disappeared…, and something was starting to be reflected in the mirror.

It was not the reflection of the current room.

Looking at the scene, Henrietta let out a cry.

“…This is!”

It was the first time that Henrietta had ever been this frightened.

Vittorio muttered with satisfaction.

“This is the founder’s lineage…, the ‘Void’.”

“The Void.”

“In ancient times…, spells were prayers offered to God. Through these prayers to God, we obtained the miracle of magic. With the downfall of faith, God hides from us in these present times. This is an undeniable reality. An ancient spell such as this is appropriate as a prayer connecting us with God.

“Your Majesty.., as for you…”

Henrietta looked at Vittorio as she was still shaking.

“Yes, Henrietta-dono. With my destiny to turn the people into servants of God, I have been give the miracle of the Void from God.”

“Oh…! Your Majesty. Your Majesty.”

Henrietta was hit with the divine glow and promptly blacked out.

“We have to gather them. In order to have a grand ‘prayer’ and then to call upon a grand miracle.”

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume12_Chapter8|Volume 12]]
| Return to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume13_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

User:Error

2011-01-27T22:08:52Z

Error: New page: To be edited and redistributed mercilessly... sometime in the future.

To be edited and redistributed mercilessly... sometime in the future.

Strike Witches:Volume1 Chapter4

2011-01-27T21:20:55Z

Error:

"Weren't any of you ashamed by that at all!?"

Tomoko slammed the desk she was at as she shouted.

The squadron was in the same warehouse as the briefing room before. One of the rooms there had been walled off using spare building materials, forming a makeshift barracks.

Tomoko and the rest of the squadron were eating dinner in the mess hall, which doubled as a rest area.

It was a dreary room, with nothing but a few rickety chairs and tables, all worn from use, set up in the center of the room. Two sooty wood-burning stoves sent irregular drafts of warm wind circulating through the air.

Nine o'clock at night.

It was just before lights-out, so the squadron was off-duty.

After Tomoko's rant, the only one who had shown any sign of remorse was Haruka. Everyone else in the squadron just looked like they could go with the flow, no matter where it brought them.

As usual, Ursula was immersed in some extremely dense book. Katharine was sitting nearby listening to the radio, munching on a piece of bread she had stolen from somewhere. Beurling sat alone in the corner, playing with her dachshund familiar.

Faced by such apathy, Tomoko's tone sharpened.

"We're being labeled as ''misfits'' you know!"

"Now now, have some coffee..." F/O Elma said, as she placed a cup in front of Tomoko.

Tomoko grabbed the cup, and downed the entire contents in one gulp.

"But it was so hot..." F/O Elma whispered to herself quietly.

"Not hot enough!"

Tomoko shouted angrily.

"Um, I used boiling water though..."

"Not the coffee! You! All of you! How can you all be so lifeless!?"

With a loud tsk, Tomoko switched tactics. She headed straight to Ursula, pulled away her book, and spoke to the young girl directly.

"Hey Ursula. They're playing you for a fool, you know? They're saying you're useless! Don't you see that!?"

"Other people's opinions are of no concern to me. As long as it does not interfere with my research, I am fine with it."

She took the book back from Tomoko, and began reading once again.

"Well, Pilot Officer O'Hare."

"Please call me Katharine."

"Well then, Katharine, don't you feel ''anything'' from being ridiculed like that? Doesn't it get that frontier spirit your country is so well known for burning?"

"My daddy always said, 'Let people say what they want to say'."

"They're saying too much here though!"

"Well, me, I'm fine with anything. It's a bit cold here, but I can live with it."

Shaking her head slowly, Tomoko turned to F/O Elma next.

"Y-Yes! What is it, Pilot Officer? Ma'am."

Without thinking, F/O Elma had added a 'Ma'am' while speaking to Tomoko, who was lower-ranking.

"Ma'am, don't you think that the reception we're receiving is unacceptable, after all that's been done to bring our help to Suomus?"

"E-Eh, well... what I want to say is..." F/O Elma stumbled for words.

"We didn't bring the military prowess you were hoping for?"

Tomoko grimaced as if she had eaten a bug.

"I-I wonder why too... ahaha..."

F/O Elma suddenly laughed nervously.

"I hit the nail right on the head, didn't I? Let's not even give food to that useless 'help', huh?"

Tomoko pointed at the watery soup on the table.

"Or rooms!"

She pointed to the walls and the numerous gaps in them next.

"They think it's alright to treat us like this! Isn't that right!?"

Faced by Tomoko's threatening attitude, F/O Elma nodded by reflex.

"So it's not just the commanders on top, even you yourself think that!"

Tomoko shook in rage for several seconds, but then put on a determined face. She started shouting again.

"Hey, all of you! Doesn't this annoy you? We're being treated as unwanted trash by the very country that we came all the way here to help! Show some life! Don't you want to do this?"

As Tomoko finished, Beurling stood up, scratching her head.

"You know, it really doesn't make a difference if we want to or not."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm only here on orders."

"But, you're always insubordinate! And yet, you're saying that because it's an order you can stand this kind of treatment?"

"I have nowhere else to go."

And with that, Beurling resumed playing with her familiar once again.

"There's food, I get a place to sleep, and best of all, I don't get hassled day in and day out. There's really nothing for me to complain about."

Tomoko was shaking again, but she suppressed her rage.

For now, what she had to do was to make sure that the squadron was ready, and ensure that the squadron would not in actual fact be useless when the Neuroi came. She could never live with herself if that actually happened. She could never get back at the Karlslander detachment if that were to happen.

"In any case, starting tomorrow, we're starting flight drills every morning at 0600 sharp! I expect to see everyone ready on the airfield!"

Finished for the time being, Tomoko retreated to her personal room.

The room that had been assigned to her was ramshackle like the rest of the building. All officers were assigned rooms, but given the condition of the room, the enlisted troops' barracks were most likely more comfortable.

Her room appeared to originally be one of the storerooms in the warehouse. Half of the room was occupied by dusty wooden cases. Three of those cases had been set apart and covered with sheets and a blanket.

It was probably meant to be a bed.

Her familiar, Konbei, yawned, and curled itself into a ball on the floor.

Soon, it was snoring lightly. After the long journey, then the sudden mock dogfight, Tomoko was also exhausted. Her entire body felt flushed for some reason.

She stripped from her flight uniform, throwing the miko-like outfit roughly to the floor, and stood there in just her underwear. She unwrapped the sarashi around her chest, exposing her perfectly-sized breasts.

She unwrapped the traditional cloth-wrapped bundle she had brought with her, and removed an old-fashioned padded kimono.

She put that on over her bare body. It was a somewhat peculiar outfit, but that was how Tomoko always slept during the winter months.

She crossed the room, fell into her bed, and closed her eyes, but opened them again soon after.

"It's cold..."

It was hardly an unreasonable complaint. The gaps between the boards making up her floor let a strong draft of freezing air come into the room. The frigid gusts of snowy arctic wind were just cold enough that they could not be ignored. Tomoko broke apart one of the crates in her room, trying to cover the holes as best she could with the pieces, and just as she was contemplating nailing the boards in place to stop the drafts once and for all, she heard a small knock on her door.

"Who is it?"

"...It's me."

Haruka's voice came from behind the door.

"It's open."

The door opened, and Haruka peeked into the room from the gap.

"What is it?"

Haruka was wearing a ''hanten'' jacket for pajamas, which brought back nostalgic memories of home. Tomoko saw that Haruka was clutching an old pillow to her chest, which she must have brought from Fuso.

"Um... well, I was thinking of going to bed after all that, but, I couldn't fall asleep..."

"Come in."

Tomoko invited Haruka into her room.

"There's no helping you, is there? I'll let you sleep with me tonight then."

With a small nod, Haruka crept into the room and slipped into Tomoko's bed.

"I'm sorry."

Haruka apologized. Her short, neatly cropped hair gave her a very young appearance. Even if she was a witch, she was still only a 12- or 13-year-old girl. In an unfamiliar country, it was not surprising at all that she felt uneasy.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. Anybody would feel uneasy in a foreign country."

"No... that's not what I meant."

"Hm?"

"Because of me, even you're getting this way, Anabuki Shou-i... Just because I'm useless junk, you're being treated the same as me, and..."

"It's not really your fault, you know."

Tomoko's words did little to put Haruka at ease.

"No... it is my fault... Even when I was with the Yokohama Flotilla, I was always getting in the others' way. That's why, when it was decided that only I would be going to Suomus, I was a bit relieved. I thought that at last I wouldn't have to pull down everyone else... but, but now..."

A soft sniff escaped from Haruka.

"But now, it's the worst situation imaginable, I'm getting in the way of the one person I respect the most... sniff."

"Like I said, it's not really your fault."

Tomoko spoke gently, trying to soothe Haruka.

"No... a quarter of it is my fault. That definitely counts as pulling you down."

"If that's so, then you just have to try your best. Just get even with those that were ridiculing you."

Haruka gave a small nod. Then, she looked up at Tomoko with heated eyes.

"What is it?"

"Ah, no! It's, it's nothing..."

Then, a tone of determination entered Haruka's voice, as if she had made some sort of decision.

"Um... Anabuki Shou-i..."

"Hmm?"

"People say that once you go to a foreign country, you start to miss miso soup, right?"

"I suppose."

''I wonder what she's getting at'', Tomoko wondered to herself.

"Um, well then... if you want to have some miso soup, then please have me."

"Excuse me?"

Tomoko stared at Haruka. She had pulled the blanket up, covering half of her face, and was trembling slightly. Below her short, cropped hair, she was blushing red up to her eyes.
[[Image:SW_vol1c04_01.jpg|thumb|''Below her short, cropped hair, she was blushing red up to her eyes.'']]
"By 'have you', you mean..."

"I, um... I'm really useless, so I thought that this is the only way I could be of use to you... Um, that is, if you're fine with me."

Seeing how serious Haruka was, Tomoko could not help but laugh.

"Y-You're laughing, that's so mean..."

"Sorry, sorry. That just got really weird..."

"I am serious."

"Now, look here, you're a girl, right? And you know, two girls, well... Whatever the circumstances may be, that's..."

"Then, have you ever done it with a man?"

"Well, no, but... wait, what are you making me say!?"

And, as Tomoko shouted, Haruka pulled the blanket over the rest of her head.

"Then, why don't you try it out and touch me..."

"Wha-?"

"Just try it... you might enjoy it."

With little other choice, Tomoko put her hand under the blanket.

Even if Haruka had said to touch her, Tomoko had no idea what to do, and tried moving her fingers as if she were playing a piano. Under the blanket, Haruka's body began to tremble softly.

Tomoko's finger reached a point close to Haruka's breast, where she started a staccato rhythm, and underneath the blanket, Haruka's figure tightened like a closing mouth. She was gripping the blanket tightly.

"Have you... always done this, with other girls?"

Tomoko asked in a surprised voice, but Haruka did not answer. Tomoko wondered if the navy was always like this... Or maybe because they were always on ships, they never did.

''This is getting awkward'', Tomoko thought, and she pulled away her hand.

She ducked her head under the blanket, and whispered into Haruka's ear.

"Go to sleep."

"Eh?"

Haruka replied, in a somewhat disappointed and surprised tone. So afraid, that she didn't want to see. But, she also wanted to see. That was the unforeseen dilemma that pervaded her thoughts.

"You've got a long day tomorrow."

"Y-Yes, ma'am..."

Haruka was left alone with her thoughts.

''Even if I were to take all of the happiness I had experienced throughout my life, that would be nothing compared to those short, few seconds just now.''

''Ah, she's so magnificent...''

With a feverish expression on her face, Haruka glanced sideways at Tomoko, who was sleeping beside her.

Her padded kimono, her disheveled sleeping posture. She was so pale, and beautiful... Haruka drank in every detail of the perfect symmetry of her figure.

The one person she had always admired was right beside her.

In a voice too small to be heard, Haruka mumbled to herself.

Her tone was dreamy, as if she no longer cared about a thing.

"Aah, Tomoko-oneesama... This body and heart of mine, will always be yours..."

As Haruka made her decision, she thought to herself again. ''Ahh, I can never let her see me like this.'' That　thought welled up inside her becoming bigger and stronger in her heart, as she went to sleep.

"Mhgghhmgmmh, c'mon, ya cows, not thatta way, the coyotes'll come... mhhgmmghhhh."

As Katharine was deep in her dream about her hometown in Texas, the door to her room slammed open with a loud bang.

"It is morning, ma'am!"

"Wha-'s izit..."

As Katharine sprang awake, Haruka walked up to the foot of her bed and glared down at her.

"Haruka? What in the world is happening, now, hmm?"

"It is just as P/O Tomoko said! We will have training first thing in the morning, ma'am!"

"Well, yes, but..." Katharine pointed a finger towards the window.

"There's a blizzard today, so let's all just do it tomorrow, okay?"

"That is not possible, ma'am! Ready no matter the weather is P/O Tomoko's motto, ma'am!"

Katharine sighed, defeated, and slowly got out of bed.

Shivering all the while, Katharine headed toward the airfield, where she found Ursula and F/O Elma already waiting, looking miserable in an arctic weather uniform and matching hood.

Ursula, despite the drifts of snow falling from the sky, was reading a book as usual.

F/O Elma nibbled on her lip, making nervous glances up at the dreary sky.

"So, you're here."

Tomoko said, her miko robes spotless and pleated as if on parade, as Katharine stumbled sleepily onto the airfield.

"Tomoko, ain't you cold?"

"You only feel cold because you ''think'' you're cold. To those at one with themselves, the flames are but a cool breeze."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's a saying from my country. Complaining of the cold when you have training to do is simply proof that you lack focus and the will to improve yourself."

"It's cold if it's cold!"

Katharine shivered.

"At least let me get some hot coffee first!"

Tomoko ignored Katharine's protests, and turned to Haruka.

"Where's the insane island savage?

"Do you mean P/O Beurling? Um, well, she had her door locked, and didn't come out..."

Tomoko's mouth flattened into a grin. However, the look in her eyes made it clear that she was amused. In fact, it was more of a predatory grin.

"OH! My, that smile! You're scaring me!"

Katharine exclaimed.

F/O Elma merely ducked her head into the protective cover of her own arms, shivering in fear.

And Ursula simply continued reading.

Tomoko stomped angrily into the barracks, and pounded her fists on Beurling's door.

"Hey, you! Get up, NOW!"

There was no answer.

Tomoko unsheathed her sword smoothly. The blade arced towards the door with a flash of light.

With a bam, the door was cut in two even parts. Tomoko stepped into the room.

However... the bed was completely empty.

Tomoko gaze darted about the rest of the room.

"Where have you gone now!?"

As she finished shouting, a voice answered from behind her.

"Over here."

As Tomoko turned around, she saw Beurling leaning against the wall of the corridor behind her, staring back at her. Tomoko made two quick and purposeful steps towards the other girl.

A metallic clang came from a point on the wall just beside Beurling's face, now occupied by Tomoko's katana.

"We have training now. Where were you?"

Tomoko glared into Beurling's eyes like a demon.

"I was taking a walk."

Beurling's expression remained as cool as ever.

"Everyone else is already assembled. Now hurry up and get over there!"

However, Beurling just stepped past Tomoko into her room.

"Where are you going now!?"

"To bed."

"To ''bed'', you, you..."

Beurling paid no heed to Tomoko's words, and slowly stripped off her clothes. Then, she crept into her bed, and began snoring lightly within seconds.

With one quick swing, Tomoko positioned the blade of her katana exactly on the other girl's cheek.

"You will get up now, or I will cut you apart."

Beurling mumbled in bored tone in reply.

"Be my guest."

"Excuse me?"

"I've always wanted to end this pointless life of mine."

Tomoko bit on her lip angrily, but stepped back.

"If you want help killing yourself, ask someone else! You better be there tomorrow!"

As Tomoko, shaking in rage, returned to the airfield, Haruka scurried to her side with a worried expression.

"Did you find P/O Beurling?"

"Just forget about her. She is nothing but worthless."

"She's so talented, and yet lets it all go to waste."

Haruka sighed,

Then... Tomoko noticed that a number of people were missing.

"What's this? Where's Ursula and Katharine?"

Only F/O Elma, standing in one spot looking extremely nervous, and Haruka were left.

In a very apologetic tone, Haruka mumbled a reply.

"Um... they left."

"Left?"

"Yes ma'am... F/O Katharine said it was cold. Then, F/Sgt Ursula said there was a book she wanted to read..."

Tomoko collapsed to her knees.

"What is wrong with them! Don't they have any motivation at ALL!?"

"I-I don't think they do...?"

Elma murmured quietly.

Tomoko sprang to her feet suddenly, and shouted.

"Fine then! We'll do the training with just the people here!"

Haruka and F/O Elma were in for a world of trouble, training under a raging Tomoko.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Strike_Witches|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Strike Witches:Volume1 Chapter3

2011-01-27T21:07:53Z

Error:

Dark gray clouds covered the surroundings outside.

It was 5 degrees below freezing. It felt far colder than that.

The squadron lined up in that cold, shivering. Each of them had the Striker they had brought from their home country equipped. Next to them, maintenance crews were on stand-by, warming up the engines.

"Brrrrrr, but wow, it's cold! Hey, Tomoko, maybe we can do this later?"

Katharine shivered as she spoke. On her legs, there was a Striker even larger than the F4F Wildcat she had before... 'Beerster Buffalo' was written on the side. With a volume as large as a keg of beer, it was fitting for the buxom Katharine.

Tomoko took one glance at that Striker, and muttered.

"What ''is'' that?"

"It's a Buffalo!"

"No, I'm not asking for the name. That looks like a clumsy Striker."

"Really? But, when I came here to Suomus, they told me that this is all they had, so I had to put up with it."

Katharine replied in her happy-go-lucky voice.

''This is all they had? In other words, outdated equipment.''

"Do you think you'll be able to dogfight in a Striker as awkward-looking as that? What were the engineers in Liberion thinking?"

"I don't know about that, but this feels really tough! I like it!"

Sighing at Katharine's carefree words, Tomoko turned to F/O Elma, the squadron commander. Elma started in surprise when she noticed Tomoko's gaze on her, and stood as straight as if she were in a parade being inspected by a general. She looked upwards into the sky, trembling lightly and biting her lip. She looked extremely nervous, even though she was only being looked at by her subordinate.

"Commander."

"Y-Yes, ma'am!"

"What Striker is that?"

Tomoko asked, pointing at the Striker painted in white camouflage colors.

"Yes, ma'am! Umm, yes, a Romagnan G.50!"

"Oh?" Tomoko murmured as she looked over the Striker. It did not look like a very maneuverable unit. In Romagna, it was most likely a surplus model, or a leftover unit from an equipment overhaul. But for the Suomus Air Force, desperate for any equipment they could get, this might be the best they could do.

Next, Tomoko turned her gaze to the smallest member of the squadron, Ursula. She had a strange Striker, one Tomoko had never seen before. Tomoko had been expecting a Messerscharf, since Ursula was from Karlsland, but... even after taking a closer look, the Striker looked nothing like the Messerscharfs Tomoko had tested when the Imperial Army had imported some models the year before.

"What is that?"

"A Heinzel He 112."

A Striker Tomoko had never even heard of. Unlike the sharp and agile-looking Messerscharfs, it looked rather crude and blocky.

"A new model?"

"No. A model that lost to the Messerscharf Me 109 during the adoption tests."

"An unsuccessful model? What are you doing with such an old Striker? Why not one of the Messerscharfs your country is so proud of?"

"There were not enough."

Ursula replied haltingly. Of course, the Messerscharf was the mainstay of the Karlsländer Air Force, and intense fighting was taking place against the Neuroi all along the borders of Karlsland. All of the invaluable Messerscharfs had likely to be sent to that front.

Next, Tomoko glanced at the Striker on P/O Beurling, the silver-haired Britannian girl. The brown-painted Striker had a bulls-eye roundel marking its designation under a fur-lined insulating leather cover.

No matter how Tomoko looked at it, it was obviously an old-fashioned model.

It wasn't one of the Spitfires she had seen in some air infantry idol magazines. ''That's...''

"A Hurricane?"

Beurling nodded in reply to Tomoko's question.

"That's a second-rate Striker, then."

"And what about it?"

Beurling glared at Tomoko with cold eyes. Then, she placed a cigarette into her mouth, and lit it.

"We're in training."

Ignoring Tomoko's warning, Beurling puffed on her cigarette nonchalantly. As the tension between the two quickly ramped up, F/O Elma backed away as quickly as she could without drawing attention to herself.

''Shing!''

Tomoko's sword flashed in an arc from its sheath.

Everyone shouted out in surprise and closed their eyes tight.

Tomoko's sword went back into its sheath with a soft clink. The entire stroke took place in a split second. The cigarette Beurling had been smoking had been cut almost directly in the center, and the front half slowly flitted down onto the snow.

However, Beurling had not flinched at all.

In utter calm, Beurling flipped the remaining half of the cigarette around, and lit it up again.

"This side's more even. Thanks."

Beurling seemed to have some guts. Tomoko eyes blazed in anger, but she forced herself to look away.

In a small voice, she muttered to herself, spitting out each word.

''Every last one of them has a second-rate Striker!''

''I might be using the old Ki-27 as well, but... I've got a reason. I'm familiar with it, and I have a lot of faith in it. But them, they just had abandoned Strikers forced on them!''

''I knew from the beginning that nearly every country thinks Suomus is a low priority battlefield not worth focusing on... it just gets worse when each country sees other countries treating it the same way, and this is how it ends up.''

Tomoko sighed deeply, and turned to Haruka next.

Haruka's Striker was put on a bit differently.

The other Witches had their Strikers equipped on their legs, but in addition to that, Haruka's Striker had an extra extension like a saddle on a horse. It was not the Type-96 Carrier Fighter Tomoko had seen before during joint training sessions with the Imperial Navy. It was a sharp Striker, painted a light gray.

"Now that's a Striker I've never seen before."

Haruka's cheeks reddened under Tomoko's gaze.

"Y-Yes, ma'am! It is an Experimental Type-12 Carrier Fighter! Almost all Navy air infantry have been re-issued with this model. Recently, some land-based fighter squadrons have also adopted this, and..."

"Hmm?" Tomoko murmured inquisitively as she looked over the Navy's new model. The engine seemed to be the same as the one in the Ki-43 from the mock battle before. However, taking into account the difficulty in meeting the requirements for carrier-based launches, the Ki-43 might perform a bit better.

"Recently? Then you're not familiar with the unit yet?"

"Yes, ma'am... I'm not familiar with it yet. I'm sorry. Excuse me."

Haruka bit her lip apologetically. Then, Tomoko noticed the heavy-looking autocannon Haruka was holding.

"You've got a big gun there."

"It is a 20 mm autocannon, ma'am."

Twenty millimeter? Everyone's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing those words. Not without reason either, since almost all of the machine guns they were equipped with were 7.7 mm or 12.7 mm caliber. 20 mm was an extremely large caliber.

"That looks powerful, but... can you use it?"

With Haruka's slight build, could she even aim that enormous cannon? From the looks of it, it looked to be too much for her.

"Not, not very well, ma'am."

Haruka answered softly.

"If you can't hit anything with it, than any size caliber is a waste."

"You're right, ma'am. Uuu..."

Haruka gaze dropped in shame.

Tomoko doubted that Haruka could bring out the performance of that new model Striker she had. It did not matter if she had a new model or an old model. In other words, Haruka would also be of no help in a battle.

In any case, the inspection was over.

It was finally time to begin the training.

Tomoko thrust her sword into the ground point downwards, and straightened.

"The main element of an air battle is the dogfight. Come up behind the enemy in a tight turn, and take them down with a single close-range attack."

There were no replies.

Everyone was staring at Tomoko blankly. ''Doesn't this bunch have any motivation at all?''

Annoyed, Tomoko continued.

"Then, we'll start the training session. Follow after me."

Her Ma-1b magic engine roared, and Tomoko began moving along the runway, knees slightly bent. Just as she reached take-off speed, she jumped and straightened out into a flying position, arching upwards into the sky. The Striker released magic energy at maximum power, sending Tomoko into a rapid ascent.

The Ki-27's magic engine was not exactly powerful, but the Ki-27 was light. Although it was an old model, it climbed quickly.

Looking below her, Tomoko saw the other witches begin to take off one after the other.

Following right behind herself was Haruka's Experimental Type-12 Carrier Fighter.

As might be expected from such a new unit, it's climb rate was top class.

F/S Ursula's He 112 was next. Its appearance made it look sluggish, but it seemed it was actually quite a fast unit.

Following behind the He 112 was F/O Elma's G.50. Beurling's Hurricane came right after that. Coming up dead last was Katharine's heavy-looking Buffalo.

Tomoko continued her ascent, piercing through Suomus's frigid sky.

Thanks to the magic field projected all around her body, it was not as cold as might be expected.

Several minutes later, Tomoko leveled off once they had reached an altitude of 3000 meters.

Tomoko toggled the switch on her radio next to her throat, flipping it to ON.

"Ah, this is... Commander, what shall we use for our callsigns?"

Elma's voice, garbled slightly by static, came in through the receiver on her ears.

"Um, that's right... What should we do. Well then, um... erm, use our country names."

"Country names, roger. This is Fuso-1, Pilot Officer Anabuki. Over."

"This is Fuso-2, Flight Sergeant Sakomizu Haruka."

"Karlsland-1, Flight Sergeant Ursula Hartmann."

"Um, this is Suomus-1, Flying Officer Elma Leivonen."

"...Britannia-1, Pilot Officer Elizabeth Beurling."

"Liberion-1, Katharine O'Hare, mh-hmm."

Tomoko continued with her orders.

"Form on me."

"Roger."

The squadron replied immediately.

In order of climb rate, the witches lined up in formation.

They cruised for a short time, then Tomoko tapped her throat microphone twice. The internationally recognized signal for "transmission".

"We'll split up now. For now, I'd like to find out your level of ability, so all of you, come after me all at once."

"Excuse me?"

F/O Elma's asked quizzically

"All of us at once, hmm? Tomoko, you want to fight us 1-on-5?"

Katharine.

"That's exactly right. Now come at me already."

Tomoko replied, and unsheathed her sword smoothly. The Bizen Osafune glittered in the setting rays of Suomus's sun, glowing with an eerie light. However, that was not what she would be using this time. Tomoko switched the sword to her left hand, and instead held up the sheath.

"If I hit you anywhere on your body with this sheath, that's a kill. On the other hand, you can hit me with a machine gun, knife, fists, or anything. If you can put me out of commission, or touch me on the back, that'll count as shooting me down."

"Oh no, Pilot Officer Tomoko, what would we do if you get injured?" Elma protested worriedly.

"I'll be fine. There's no way I'll get injured. You should worry about yourselves instead. Don't crash into each other over there."

Tomoko replied as if she were telling a child going a field trip to be careful. The five squadron members grew sullen and offended, though to different levels.

"Then, let's get this started."

The witches rushed straight towards Tomoko simultaneously.

"I'm going in!" Haruka shouted out, the first to charge in her Type-12 Carrier Fighter.

She was coming in a perfectly straight line. Her back would be wide open.

Tomoko sighed as she faced Haruka's charge.

"Take this!"

Haruka had her eyes closed. There was no chance she would ever hit Tomoko like that.

Tomoko evaded the charge easily, and rapped Haruka's head hard with the sheath she was holding.

"Ow!"

"Okay, you're down."

Ursula was the next one to come.

Tomoko was surprised by the speed of the He 112. Ursula was rushing at a respectable speed.

Tomoko flew off at a speed Ursula could catch up to. Tomoko was in no hurry. It was still a 1-on-4 battle, but there was only a single person in a position to attack.

Tomoko began a wide turn.

Slowly... her path drew a gentle arc through the sky, as if she were inviting Ursula in.

Ursula came up on Tomoko's tail perfectly, and a staccato roar echoed out as Ursula fired the 12.7 mm machine gun in her hands. Mechanized air infantry witches had a unique magic field surrounding their bodies while they were flying. Because of that, they could normally shake off several hits as if it were nothing, but... it was still nerve-wracking to really be shot at.

"Well, I did say you could shoot at me, but you know... don't '''really''' shoot me."

Perhaps she had been too serious. Because Tomoko had said they could shoot her, Ursula was doing just that.

However, Ursula still did not understand the principles of deflection shooting.

Tomoko was flying in an arc at high speed. Ursula would have to predict Tomoko's position in advance and shoot there if she hoped to hit her. The 12.7 mm rounds from Ursula's machine gun chased after Tomoko, but because of Tomoko's precise evasive maneuvers, all of the rounds missed by a hair's breadth.

But even so, Ursula simply adjusted her aim and continued firing. Little by little, like a shower of ice candy, the palely-glowing stream of bullets neared Tomoko......

However, a perfectly textbook maneuver like that would never work in a real battle. Tomoko tightened her turn gradually. The He 112 was quick, but its turning abilities were not as polished. As Ursula tightened her own turn radius, she slowly began to lose speed... and suddenly Tomoko was on her tail.

"......"

Ursula had all but given up. Tomoko hit her on the back firmly.

"At least try some evasive maneuvers."

"I've never learned any."

With that, both Haruka and Ursula were down.

Next was F/O Elma, who had been paired in a ''rotte'' with Ursula.

She was flying straight... away from Tomoko. After just one glance from Tomoko, F/O Elma had let out a startled yelp and began to escape, shivering all the while.

"Squadron Commander, where are you going?"

"Er, erm, just think of me as down!"

"I can't do that! Why are we doing this training? Isn't this all so we ''don't'' get shot down!?"

However, timid F/O Elma flew away to a distant spot away from Tomoko, where she began turning round and round in a circle. It seemed she just could not work up the courage.

''What is this'' squadron commander ''doing!?'' Tomoko felt the irritation welling up, when suddenly ''byun!'', and a single round whizzed by her from above. Tomoko turned, and saw Beurling's Hurricane diving away from her. She was using the momentum from her diving attack to gain altitude again. It was a magnificent display of Striker operation.

It looked like she at least was different from the amateurs so far.

Tomoko nibbled on her lower lip lightly. It was a bad habit of hers whenever she got excited.

"Now isn't this interesting."

Tomoko flipped around, and chased after Beurling.

Tomoko expected Beurling to continue climbing to increase the pressure on herself with more hit-and-run attacks, but she was wrong.

Instead, Beurling changed directions suddenly, and began roaring straight towards Tomoko's position.

"Coming from the front? Planning on shooting at me head-on, I see."

However, Beurling slung her machine gun across her back. Then... she drew a knife from a sheath at her waist. The knife had a bend starting from the center of the blade.

A Gurkha knife.

Tomoko's grin widened.

"Now this is getting ''really'' interesting. She's challenging ''me'' to a melee fight?"

Tomoko attached the sheath back to her waist, and gripped her sword firmly.

Her actions were an obvious sign that she wouldn't be going easy on her opponent.

The distance between the two decreased quickly. One hundred meters, 70 meters, 50 meters, 20 meters... Tomoko dived and shifted to the side. Ducking, she slipped below Beurling before straightening again.

A loop.

However...

Beurling had been thinking of the same thing. Just across from where Tomoko spun around 180 degrees, Beurling was there. She was doing the same maneuver as Tomoko.

By reflex, Tomoko lashed out with her sword.

It crashed against Beurling's Gurkha knife, and sparks scattered where metal clashed on metal.

Tomoko immediately broke off and circled around.

The Hurricane could not hope to follow the second tight turn.

With a quick roll, Tomoko spun into an Immelmann turn.

She ended up right on Beurling's tail. Refusing to give up, Beurling dove downwards sharply.

"You think you can run?"

Tomoko followed Beurling in a dive, hot on her tail.

At that moment.

Tomoko suddenly noticed something approaching from behind at high speed, and spun around.

"Whoooaaaaaaaaa! Please get out of the waaaay!"

It was Katharine.

''What is she doing?''

"What's going on!?"

"I can't stop!"

From the looks of it, after starting a steep dive, she couldn't stop the heavy-looking Buffalo.

"What the hell are you doing!"

Tomoko grabbed Katharine's arm, and tried to lift Katharine upwards. However... they continued to plunge downwards to the ground from the extreme weight of the Buffalo and Katharine, as if they really were the animal the Striker was nicknamed for. Tomoko's efforts did not do the slightest to stop their fall.

"Pull yourself back up!"

"It's impossible!"

Who knew how heavy Katharine and the Buffalo were together... it seemed she could not lift herself back up.

''This is bad...'', Tomoko thought, and at that moment someone's hands clapped over Katharine's left arm. It was Beurling.

Her usual surly voice came in through the headphones.

"Full throttle."

Tomoko gunned her magic engine and began rising. At last, Katharine was able to level herself off.

Somehow, the three of them together were able to regain level flight.

Finally, Tomoko sighed in relief.

She turned to face Beurling.

"I owe you one."

"You owe me? This is training."

Beurling answered in a bored tone, which somewhat annoyed Tomoko.

"You're not very easy to get along with, aren't you... This is why Britannians are all so disagreeable, I'm telling you"

"Shut up. Barbarian."

Tomoko's eyes flared at being called a barbarian.

"Just who are you calling a barbarian now! You island savage!"

"Your own Fuso is an island as well, you know."

Tomoko and Beurling cursed at one another, Katharine hanging in between the two of them.

"Please, pleeeease don't tug on me and fight!"

Tomoko mumbled to herself, certain that she would never be able to get along with Beurling.

Tomoko stood in front of the girls after landing, and began her review.

"Atrocious."

Tomoko expressed her disappointment with just that single word, everyone's shoulders drooped, except for Beurling and Ursula.

"If that's all you can do, then it'll be all over in seconds if the Neuroi were to attack. All over for you."

"Uuu... so what can we do now?" F/O Elma glanced up at Tomoko sadly.

"Training. Training! Starting from tomorrow, I'll put you through training like you never thought possible! In order for you to at least survive and make it back, I'll retrain all of you from top to bottom!"

As she finished, other than Ursula and Beurling, the remaining three began complaining.

"Eeeeeeh!?"

"What!? Where's your motivation? This is ''your'' life on the line here! Can't you be more serious about this!?"

As Tomoko rebuked the squadron... a laugh suddenly sprung up behind her.

"Ohohohohoho!"

"What?"

Tomoko turned around. There were about 10 girls in a line, watching Tomoko and the squadron. They were all wearing matching fur-lined leather jackets. On one sleeve was a patch with a blue cross, the insignia of the Suomus Air Force.

What was more, all of them were equipped with sharp-looking Striker units on their legs.

Apparently they were mechanized air infantry from the Suomus Air Force.

"Kapteeni Ahonen!"

As soon as F/O Elma said the name, Tomoko and Haruka burst into laughter.

"What, just what do you find so funny!?"

The girl in front shouted. She was about five centimeters taller than Tomoko, and her curly blond hair was tied back neatly with a ribbon. Below her wide forehead, her long, blue eyes flashed in anger.

The girl's bossy expression only made Tomoko continue laughing.

"Did she just say 'aho'?"

"My name is Mika Ahonen, I'll have you know! What of it? My surname is not Aho."

"Oh no, don't get me wrong, I don't have any problems with foreign names, but..."

Just as Tomoko finished, Haruka muttered in a small voice.

"Ah... Ah'ma fool."

Bwahahaha!! Tomoko erupted into laughter, clutching her stomach. She slapped Haruka heartily on the shoulder.

"You might not have much talent as a mechanized air infantryman, but you sure have good sense in some things!"

Mika Ahonen, her face burning, walked up to Tomoko, and without a word slapped her across the cheek.

Slaap! The sobering sound thawed the cold Suomus air.

"What do you think you're doing!?"

"Is that the way to speak to a superior officer? You insolent foreigner."

"Did you just call me an ''insolent foreigner''?"

Tomoko raised an eyebrow.

"We're here to save your country, you know! Is that all you've got to say, after we came all the way here to the middle of nowhere?"

Kapt. Mika Ahonen waved a hand through her hair. Her golden curls sparkled.

"It's true we asked for help. For help from people that we could rely on, that is!"

"And that's why we're here."

"Excuse me? Excuse me? In what way could we rely on you? No matter how you look at it, the Strikers you are using are all second-rate models!"

It was a sore spot for Tomoko. She pressed her mouth shut quickly.

"We were watching your training session from the ground just now! I suppose I could say it was ''quite'' an eye-opener?"

The girl's words hit an even more sore spot for Tomoko, who dropped into dead silence, clenching her fists tightly. Kapteeni Mika Ahonen walked up to her, and played a hand along Tomoko's flushed cheek.

"Oh my, such a disagreeable little child we have here. Such an impertinent and unpleasant Oriental! I must ask that you not get in the way of the real fighting forces like us. Could you promise me that? Luutnantti Elma?"

Kapt. Mika Ahonen turned towards F/O Elma. She shrunk away from the other girl.

"It's a fitting task for the number one misfit of 1st Squadron, wouldn't you say? Commander' of the 'Misfits Squadron'. Isn't that right?"

The mechanized air infantrymen assembled behind Kapteeni Mika Ahonen laughed loudly.

Shamefacedly, F/O Elma's gaze dropped to the floor.

"'Misfits Squadron'?" Tomoko asked incredulously.

"That's right. I've read the reports on all of you. It would seem that all of your were dumped by your countries, unwanted junk passed on to someone else just to be rid of it."

"That ain't true!"

Katharine cut in to disagree with the girl.

Kapt. Mika Ahonen laughed.

"Oh, it is very true, Miss 'Crusher' of the Liberian Navy! Let me ask you, starting from when you were in your flight academy up to now, just how many Strikers have you wrecked?"

"I don't know?"

"Sixty-two. That must make you an ace."

"They were very unfortunate accidents, I know."

"Oh, no, as far as I can tell from the records, they were all 'accidents' caused by human error... your errors."

And, Kapt. Mika Ahonen waved Katharine away, ending the conversation.

"Now, how about the silver-haired puppy over there?"

She turned towards Beurling next. Because she had merged with her dachshund familiar, a pair of cute dog ears had appeared on Beurling's head.

"While with the Britannian Air Force, you have broken 82 military regulations, written 232 official letters of apology, been jailed 54 times, court-martialed 8 times... and nearly executed by firing squad three times... Quite a remarkable trouble-maker."

Beurling began slowly counting something off on her fingers.

"I've been jailed 55 times."

"That's not something to be proud of! I can't believe this! Suomus is not Britannia's prison colony! Honestly... when will they ever put an end to their foolishness. In any case, as for our little Karlslander here...?"

Ursula adjusted her glasses.

"Yes, ma'am."

"I hear you wiped out an entire squadron in Karlsland during one of your 'experiments'."

"I was merely testing a newly developed airborne munition."

"And because of that, an entire squadron was heavily injured... So, I must wonder, what kind of experiments did you come to Suomus to perform? Do be a good girl while you're here."

Ursula did not answer.

Kapt. Mika Ahonen pointed at Haruka next. Before she had even said a word, Haruka started shouting.

"Y-Yes, ma'am! I'm sorry! I've been called junk ever since the Yokohama Flotilla of the Fuso Imperial Navy was created! They call me 'Friendly Fire Sakomizu', so they even told me not to fire my machine gun! I'm sorry, ma'am. Sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm sorry I was ever born."

A wide cat-like sneer appeared on Kapt. Mika Ahonen's face as she watched Haruka.

"Very good. I like honest girls like you."

Kapt. Mika Ahonen briskly walked up to Haruka, and raised her chin with one hand.
[[Image:SW_vol1c03_01.jpg|thumb|]]
"Eh? Eh? Eeeeh? Heeh!? Ngmmph!!"

Haruka had no idea what to expect at first, when suddenly the officer placed her own lips firmly on Haruka's.

"Mmphhhhhhh!!"

Their lips parted, and Haruka let out the breath she had been holding with a huff as she toppled to the floor in a daze. Tomoko rushed up and grabbed the officer's uniform jacket collar, and shouted in her face.

"Whoa, wha-, wait a second! What do you think you're doing!?"

"She interests me, so I gave her a friendly greeting."

"A greeting? Don't you think it's a bit strange to go kissing another girl on the lips?"

"My my, everyone is free to love."

Tomoko felt despair well up inside her. ''Do I really have to fight on the same side as this lesbian pervert...?''

Kapt. Mika Ahonen stepped close to Haruka, who was sitting on the floor in a shocked heap, hugging her knees. She crooned.

"Hey there. Why don't you dump that Misfits Squadron, and come to my squadron? I'll even make you my 'wing-sister'. Oho! Ohohohoho!"

The girls from 1st Squadron all began crowding around at those words, each of them trying to speak to Kapt. Ahonen at the same time.

"How could you, Sister! You're so mean!"

"What are you thinking by taking on more and more sisters!"

Tomoko watched the commotion, shocked. Apparently Kapt. Ahonen treated her squadron as her personal harem.

"In any case, you're free to arrange training, and use the airfield as well... but do make sure you don't get in our way. Is that clear, Luutnantti Elma?"

F/O Elma gave a small, hesitant dip of her head in agreement.

"And right now, we're rather busy with these brand new Messer ''E''s we bought from Karlsland, so if you could please stop wasting our time...?"

At last, Tomoko recognized the smart and sharp Strikers glinting on the legs of all of the girls in 1st Squadron.

"Kuh..." Tomoko bit her lip in frustration.

Kapt. Ahonen, her eyes filled with disdain, took a long, hard look at Tomoko's sour expression.

"You must be Pilot Officer Anabuki Tomoko."

"That's right!"

"Don't get full of yourself just because you managed to shoot down a few Neuroi."

"What did you say?"

"What do you think you can do by yourself? Air battles are about teamwork! After all, your 'squadron' is just a mob. Even if the Neuroi come, please be good little children and play quietly in the base. Otherwise, you would only be a distraction."

Tomoko clenched her fists tightly.

Her feelings of shame steadily ramped up.

Suddenly, as if she had just come to, she thrust a finger at Kapt. Ahonen.

"I-I'm not someone who's going to lose to you lot!"

"Is that so? Do take your time and practice then... so long as you don't get in our way!"

Laughing loudly once more, Kapt. Ahonen left along with the rest of her lackeys.

Left behind was Tomoko, shaking in rage. She shouted after Ahonen's departing figure.

"I'll have you eat those words soon enough!"

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Strike_Witches|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Strike Witches:Volume1 Chapter2

2011-01-27T20:47:20Z

Error:

Suomus was a small country in Northern Europe with a population of 4 million.

In terms of territory, it was a bit smaller than the Fuso Empire.

This huge territory, with its relatively small population, was mostly made up of forests containing pines and other conifers. It was also particularly famous for its many lakes. Those lakes would freeze over during the winter season, and would be used as temporary landing fields. That was the reason why Kauhava Air Force Base, which had invited volunteer troops from several countries, had been built beside several beautiful lakes.

After five long months at sea, the ''Awamaru'' had docked at the military harbor in Brest, Gallia. Tomoko and Haruka had then boarded a transport plane, and had arrived at Kauhava Air Force Base at last.

As soon as they stepped off of the Karlsländer transport plane, they were shivering from the biting cold.

“Brrrrr, brrrr.”

Haruka hugged herself tightly, as she shuffled her feet. The two of them were draped in heavy military issue coats, but the coats did little to help.

It was November 10, well into autumn. However, Kauhava Air Force Base was already completely enveloped in a wintry façade, a world of snow as far as the eye could see.

Tomoko sighed, a frosty cloud forming, as she looked over the place which would be her battlefield.

“A country of snow, huh...”

“Shou-i, it’s cold, but the snow is pretty, isn’t it?”

Haruka, her cheeks as red as apples, murmured happily, even as she shivered. Tomoko scooped up a bit of the snow near her feet, and studied it.

“I wonder if the magic engine of the Ki-27 can handle this.”

“Wow... I was really impressed by the southern seas when I first saw them after joining the Navy, but this country is just as amazing... I’m happy I came.”

Haruka looked at Tomoko, a wide smile on her face. She was hoping that the person she idolized would be sharing her thoughts, but...

“Who knows if the engine will work at the stated performance in this extreme cold.”

Haruka sighed softly. It seemed as if Tomoko did not feel anything at all, even with such a beautiful snowy landscape in front of her.

A snowmobile painted in white camouflage colors pushed its way through the snow to where the two were standing. The door opened, and an intelligent looking woman wearing glasses stepped out of the vehicle.

She turned to face Tomoko, and saluted.

“Welcome to Kauhava Air Force Base. I am Flight Lieutenant Häkkinen, part of the command staff at the base.”

As soon as Haruka heard ‘Flight Lieutenant’, she immediately stood to attention and saluted.

“Fu-Fu-Fu-Fuso Imperial Navy, Flight Sergeant Sakomizu Haruka!”

Next, Tomoko saluted as well, with feigned politeness. Although Häkkinen had a higher rank, there was a touch of arrogance in Tomoko’s actions.

“Fuso Imperial Army, Pilot Officer Anabuki Tomoko.”

F/L Häkkinen’s eyebrow raised slightly at the name.

“We welcome the arrival of an ace like yourself.”

“Thank you.”

Tomoko expressed her gratitude, a touch of hostility etched into her words.

The snowmobile rumbled off, and brought Tomoko on a shaky journey to the briefing room.

It was a dilapidated building, what looked like a former warehouse. Inside were two kerosene stoves, and a number of chairs surrounding them.

There was a large blackboard at the front, and desks which looked like ones that might be found at school. On the blackboard, a message was written in both Suomish and Britannian, which said ‘Suomus Independent Volunteer Air Squadron Command Center’. Tomoko, having received officer training, and Haruka, being a Navy pilot, were both able to read those words easily. It seemed as if the language that would be used would be Britannian.

“Our squadron commander is late, isn’t she.”

Haruka mumbled to herself in her seat. Her raccoon-dog familiar was sitting near by. Next to her, Tomoko was looking bored with her elbows on the desk, a frown set on her face.

The squadron commander of the squadron in the Suomus Air Force that Tomoko and Haruka were assigned to was supposed to be coming any second.

“Don’t you wonder what kind of person our commander is going to be? I hope she isn’t scary.”

However, Tomoko did not reply. She seemed to be somewhat irritated.

Three more young girls were sitting together with them. All of them were Westerners.

Each of them had a different kind of familiar with them, and they were all waiting for the squadron commander in their own way.

Haruka had placed herself as close to the firewood stove as possible. To her right, a young blonde girl was reading a book silently. She was dressed in a Karlsländer Air Force uniform, and a badger was sitting in her lap. Probably her familiar.

She was slightly younger than Haruka. What could she be reading?

Haruka craned her neck around to try and read as well, her interest piqued. However, she gave up when saw that it was written in Karlslaendisch.

“What are you reading?” She tried to ask, but received no answer. The girl had all of her attention on the book, the bright blue eyes behind her glasses never straying from the pages. Haruka’s curiosity increased, and as soon as she tried to repeat her question louder, the badger in the girl’s lap glared at her. Its eyes were telling her not to disturb its master.

Next to the girl with glasses, another girl with splendid golden hair was sitting. She had golden hair just like the young Karlsländer girl, but this girl’s hair reached nearly down to her waist. She was holding a bottle with some black liquid in it. She had been happily taking large gulps from that bottle for a while.

Though she was still a young girl, she had a rather voluminous body. She was wearing a sharp Liberian Navy dress uniform, but her chest looked particularly snug. On her head, there was an animal that Haruka had never seen before. It was covered in brown fur, except for its face which was white. Its tail was striped in black and brown fur.

With astonishment written over her face, Haruka look at what was most likely the Liberian girl’s familiar. As the girl noticed Haruka’s gaze, she beamed a brilliant smile like a Hollywood star. She leaned forward as Haruka returned her smile hesitantly.

“Hey y’all, where’re you from?”

She spoke in Britannian but with a strange accent.

“The Fuso Empire,” Haruka answered. The girl looked puzzled, still smiling widely.

"From where? Where is it?"

“The Far East, I guess you would say?”

“Oh! Next to Florida, right?”

“No.”

The girl laughed out a ‘Sorry!’, and offered the bottle she was holding to Haruka.

“Want to drink some cola?”

“Eh, no thanks,” Haruka said, as she turned down the Liberian’s offer.

Next to her was a girl with silver hair, wearing a black motorcycle jacket. A dog with a long body and short fur was sprawled by her feet. Haruka wondered if that strange looking dog was the girl’s familiar. The girl was pretty, but she looked troubled by something, her forehead covered in wrinkles. The girl left an impression that she was hard to get close to. She had been smoking cigarettes non-stop. The girl turned to face Haruka as she noticed her incessant staring.

Haruka dipped her head in greeting, but the girl went back to staring into the distance soon. Her attitude seemed to being saying that she had no interest in Haruka whatsoever.

“There are all sorts of people here, right?”

Haruka turned to face Tomoko again, but she had her gaze fixed to the front, while she grumbled to herself, deep in her own thoughts.

“Is something wrong?”

Tomoko chewed on her lip at the question. Haruka started in surprise at her behavior. She had never expected Tomoko, who was even known as Tomoe-Gozen of the Fuso Sea, to act in such a childish manner.

A blush crept up on Haruka’s cheeks, when suddenly Tomoko swung around to face her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Eh? No, um, nothing! Yes!”

She shook her head from side to side. She couldn’t tell the person she idolized that her chest was throbbing because of her. To have her chest throbbing because of another woman... Haruka silently told herself off for being weird. It was a matter that she most definitely wanted to avoid.

“Oh,” Tomoko replied, and she promptly fell back into her own thoughts, her muttering starting up once again. Haruka looked up at Tomoko, a bit worried.

In any case, it was late. When would she get here? F/L Häkkinen had told them all just five minutes ago to wait for a little bit, while she brought the squadron commander over, but more than twenty minutes had already passed. It would have been an unbelievable situation in the Fuso Imperial Navy, where everything had to be done five minutes before.

Even though they had been made to wait in such a manner, nobody seemed to have noticed. Haruka thought to herself that she must have come to a place with some amazing people indeed.

''I wonder if something happened?'' As Haruka began to worry... Bam! The door suddenly banged open.

A pretty young girl with golden hair so light it was nearly white came in, balancing a stack of paper. Somehow she had managed to open the door while carrying that bundle.

“Awah, awawawawawawa!”

She overbalanced, and tripped splendidly, the stack of paper she had been holding flying all over the briefing room.

“Hiaaaaaah!” She shouted miserably.

F/L Häkkinen entered the room right after the girl.

“What are you doing?”

She asked, as she stared down at the light haired girl on the floor.

“Both of my hands were full... I thought I’d open the door a bit more, but I lost my balance, and...”

She stood up uneasily, and started to hurriedly pick up the scattered sheets of paper.

“Just leave the documents for now, please introduce yourself first.” The girl nodded in response to F/L Häkkinen.

She shuffled about on her feet for a bit, before suddenly standing bolt upright. She then scribbled something on the palm of her hand, and brought it to her mouth quickly. The girl seemed to be extremely nervous.

She took a deep breath, and stepped in front of the blackboard.

“Welcome to Suomus. Allow me to express our gratitude to you, volunteer soldiers from countries around the world, for coming from so far away to our aid. Eh, ummm, I am Flying Officer Elma Leivonen, and starting from today, I will be fighting together with you. And, so... what do I say now?”

Embarrassed, her gaze dropped to the floor as she trailed off, and she took surreptitious glances at F/L Häkkinen, who waved her away, as if telling her to get on with her introduction.

“That is... well, I’m still wracked by uncertainties about all this, but, well, I suppose I’m the squadron commander? The squadron commander of this Independent Volunteer Air Squadron, ah, which is the name of the squadron that all of you are assigned to. I wish we could have gotten a cuter name, though. Maybe the Penguin Squadron or something. Tehe.”

“Ahaahaa! Penguins can’t fly, I know!”

“T-That’s right!”

F/O Elma brought her hand up to her mouth quickly, as if to say “Oh no!” She had probably not been joking, and had meant that seriously. Her shoulders slumped.

“What am I saying... on the proud day our Independent Squadron is being established too... sniff...”

Haruka watched as the poor squadron commander stood in front of them. She looked like the type who always had trouble and disappointment surrounding her. Haruka felt like the two of them were similar in a way.

F/O Elma suddenly forced herself to smile, as she tried to cheer herself up.

“And there we have it, I’ll be your, well, squadron commander, and um, err... let’s all do our very best to get along!”

She clenched two fists in front of her chest, bending forward at her waist.

Silence.

Nobody clapped, or responded in any way. Tomoko and the silver-haired girl stared at F/O Elma with cold eyes. The tiny Karlsländer girl with glasses had been reading her book the entire time, and the Liberian with the huge chest was humming and doing her nails.

F/O’s forced good cheer went to pieces in seconds, and she turned to F/L Häkkinen with tears in her eyes.

“Flight Lieutenant Häkkinen, I told you I can’t do it~~ Why did they ever choose me to be the squadron commander~~?”

F/L Häkkinen lifted her glasses, and answered coldly in a firm voice.

“There are no other witches available.”

“How could that be~~”

F/O Elma mumbled miserably, and her shoulders slumped. She was shaking lightly. Haruka began to worry that she was crying, but she was not.

“Optimism, optimism. Positive thinking, positive thinking.”

She mumbled that phrase over and over like a charm, and suddenly raised her face.

“Well then, introductions! Let’s try that!”

She seemed to have a very innocent personality.

“Then, let’s start from the left!”

The silver-haired girl stood up without a word, her footsteps echoing across the room.

“Britannian Air Force, Elizabeth Beurling. My rank is Pilot Officer.”

She spoke sourly, and sat down immediately after she finished. In a troubled voice, F/O Elma tried to draw the girl out more.

“Umm, and...?”

“And what?”

“You know, we’re all going to be good friends, so we need to know more about you... Err... like the food you like. Or if you’re dating anyone, or bad habits or special skills.”
[[Image:SW_vol1c02_01.jpg|thumb|]]
F/O Elma began listing out all sorts of questions.

“Your Striker model?”

F/L Häkkinen prompted Beurling.

“The Hurricane.” Buerling answered simply.

“An excellent Striker.” F/L Häkkinen murmured in reply.

“Umm, well then, the next person, please!”

The girl with the huge chest beamed a wide smile, and stood up.

“I’m Katharine O’Hare, from the Liberian Navy! Nice meeting y’all!”

She began waving both hands merrily.

“My special skill is this!”

As she said that, Katharine drew a revolver from its holster at her waist. Holding it near her waist, she fanned the hammer with her left hand, firing round after round.

Everyone in the room dove to the floor.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!'

The loud report of the gunshots echoed out across the room.

“Oh! Don’t be frightened! Those are blanks! I use 'em for greetings!”

Katharine spun her revolver around her finger like in a Western, and put the gun back in her holster.

“There are large holes in the blackboard, however.” F/L Häkkinen answered as coolly as ever, as she fingered the bullet holes in the blackboard.

“Sorry! I must have made a mistake!”

Katharine answered in a sweet voice, and laughed happily.

“Er, errrr... Next!”

Somewhat desperately, F/O Elma pointed to the Karlsländer girl sitting in the chair in the center, who looked like the youngest person in the group.

The girl firmly closed the book she had been reading, and placed it carefully into the bag at the side of her chair. Then, she took out a worn notebook from the bag.

Everyone there was watching her, wondering what the notebook was for. The girl raised the notebook up to eye level slowly.

“I am Flight Sergeant Ursula Hartmann, form the Karlsländer Air Force. The motto of all Karlsländer soldiers is ‘learn everything from your textbooks’. Therefore, I always act according to the guidelines set out in the ‘Karlsländer Air Force Curriculum’ I have here.”

F/O Elma opened her mouth uncertainly into a wide 'O' as she watched the young girl.

“The Karlsländer Air Force Curriculum?”

“Yes.”

“But we’re in Suomus...”

Ursula answered, standing stock still.

“I am a soldier of the Karlsländer Air Force. That will not change, no matter if we are at the South Pole, or at the end of the sky. Therefore, Madam Commander, I would be pleased to allow you to peruse this.”

The girl handed the notebook to F/O Elma.

F/O Elma flipped through the pages quickly, but as it was all written in Karlslaendisch, she could never hope to read it. She sighed, and placed the book on top of the desk nearby.

She looked at the printouts scattered across the floor sadly. It was the Suomus Air Force curriculum, translated into Britannian, but she suspected the girl would never read it.

“Erm, then the next person, please.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!” Haruka stood up nervously.

“Fuso Imperial Navy, Flight Sergeant Sakomizu Haruka! My hobbies are, um, well, I’m not very good at it, but I like to make snacks. Dango... I suppose you don’t know what that is. It’s a snack from the Fuso Empire, which is made up of rice flour and shaped into round balls like this. They are a bit chewy, and very good, so I think I can make some for all of you soon. Um, and then, I also do archery.”

After having said so much... she finally noticed that F/O Elma was crying, tears streaming down her face.

“Did, did I say something wrong?”

“Of course not, I’m just so moved. There’s actually someone normal here...”

Haruka realized for the first time just how unbelievable the place she had come was.

On the other hand, Tomoko was...

Shaking in rage.

''What is this place?''

''They’re just a bunch of worthless fools. I’ll never be able to catch up to the troops in Karlsland, not while I’m with this lot.''

''What can I do?''

''This has to change''

''I will change this.''

These thoughts drifted across Tomoko’s mind.

First of all, she would have to train this group up, so that they could at least be of some use. ''I can’t have them getting in my way during a real battle,'' Tomoko thought to herself.

“Well then, would our last person...” As F/O Elma trailed off, Tomoko stood up briskly, her determination showing in her actions. She had to take the initiative right away.

“Fuso Imperial Army, Anabuki Tomoko. My specialty is dogfighting.”

''Even though we all came here to go to war, not a single one of them mentioned any combat proficiencies. That just annoys me to no end. We’re not here to play around!''

F/O Elma began clapping enthusiastically.

“Oh yes, Flight Lieutenant Anabuki here is an ace who shot down seven enemy craft over the Fuso Sea! It’s reassuring to have you here! I hope you can teach us from your experience!”

Tomoko replied to F/O Elma, who was beaming brightly.

“Then could I interpret that as you allowing me to be in charge of our training?”

F/O Elma started in surprise at Tomoko’s seriousness. She turned to look at F/L Häkkinen worriedly.

“I don’t see why not. It seems she’s the only one with real combat experience after all.”

“Then, we’ll leave it to you.”

F/O Elma beamed at Tomoko once again.

“Well then, with the introductions over, it isn’t much, but we’ve prepared a small welcoming reception for all of you.”

“Wow! When you say welcoming, I hope that means food and drink!”

Katharine jumped up happily.

“We have it all arranged! Then, if you’ll all follow me this way...” F/O Elma said as she started to guide the group, when Tomoko stepped in front of her.

“Yes?”

“Let’s leave the welcoming reception for later.”

“Eh?”

“Do you think this is any time to be having a banquet, when we have no idea when the Neuroi might attack?”

F/O Elma stepped back quickly with a startled squeal under Tomoko’s glare. ''She’s scary.''

“B-But... you’ve come all this way, so...”

“We came here to go to war. We came here to fight back against the Neuroi. And I came here to show the world what I can do.”

“But...” As F/O Elma shuffled about uncertainly, Tomoko glared at her again.

“You did say that you would leave training to me, didn’t you?”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!”

F/O Elma answered immediately, in a way that made it hard to tell just who the superior officer was.

“Then I’ll do as I see fit. Squadron, equip your Strikers and assemble at the airfield.”

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Strike_Witches|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Strike Witches:Volume1 Chapter1

2011-01-27T20:27:25Z

Error: "was exuded" is passive voice. If intentional, then suggest removing "it also" and moving "was exuded" to the end. Otherwise, this (or was exuding) makes more sense.

As she increased her altitude to 3000 meters, Anabuki Tomoko felt grateful for being born a witch. Staring down at the vast scenery below her only strengthened those feelings.

The Fuso Empire... Britannia in the west, and Fuso in the east, could both be placed under similar labels. One look at the landscape below was all that was needed to know why Fuso had journeyed out of its borders so quickly. In the valleys between the mountainous region, numerous villages and towns were nestled closely together.

"This country is cramped, isn’t it," Tomoko said to herself.

However... to compare that crowded land with the openness of this sky!

Wrapped up in the embrace of the blue sky which seemed to stretch endlessly, it felt like it was a completely different world. Tomoko, the Ki-27 she had grown accustomed to on her legs, spoke out to her familiar which had united into her own body.

“Konbei, I wonder what Takeko will try today.”

“Hm, that’s right...”

The familiar’s voice appeared in her head.

As a miko, a witch of the Orient, she had chosen a fox for her familiar.

The signs of that could be seen in the light brown triangular ears she had, and the tufted tail which flapped in the wind. Covered in a soft fur, the ears and the tail gave the girl’s slender, disciplined body a decidedly feminine look.

Her long black hair reached to her waist, and a white headband was tied around her head, where the stern features of a warrior maiden from a country at war were stretched tight.

Below her skirt, shimmering whitely with a soft radiance, was the ‘Ki-27’.

It was a Striker unit which was adopted by the Fuso Imperial Army as the Type-97 Fighter Leg. With the rising trend in producing high-speed units, its top speed would never amount to much, though...

“With her superior speed, Shou-i Takeko will try to gain the initiative over ojou-sama by using a height advantage and repeatedly diving and climbing, won’t she.”

“That would be the normal way of thinking, yes.” Tomoko replied absently.

Her friend, Katoh Takeko would be using the newly adopted Ki-43... designated the Type-1 Fighter. Equipped with a 1000 spellpower ‘Ma-25’, it would have a speed advantage of nearly 30 km/h over Tomoko’s Ki-27.

“...Well then, follow my lead, just like we've always done in our dogfights .”

The new Type-1 had speed, but in a dogfight, nothing could beat the Type-97. That was how much confidence Tomoko had in her favorite machine.

She unsheathed the sword she always had at her side. It was a family heirloom passed down through the generations, a noted ‘Bizen Osafune’ sword forged as a military katana. The sword glowed with a pale light as it absorbed Tomoko’s magic.

“Wawawa, you’re not going to use the gun-camera? Are you really planning on surpassing Tomoe-Gozen?”

Konbei was asking about the gun-camera slung across Tomoko’s back, which was there in place of a 7.7 mm machine gun.

“Well... I’m sure Takeko also wants to find out which Striker will end up superior in a real ‘dogfight’.”

Tomoko replied with a smile. It was a warm smile, but at the same time it also exuded a sense of challenge. At Akeno Flight Academy, where Tomoko was stationed as a test pilot, that charming smile was the cause of the many noisy cries of ‘Onee-sama!’ by female cadets at the academy.

To the west, a small black spot could be seen in the distance.

There was no doubt that it was Katoh Takeko’s Ki-43, which had taken off earlier. The challenge to this mock battle was issued just like that. This was going to go differently from the anti-ship warfare ‘matches’ that had been held.

As Tomoko approached, the black spot gradually formed into the shape of a mechanized air infantrywoman, her Striker shining with a metallic glint.

Facing each other head on, the two increased their pace, like two fencers eager to close the distance between them.

They approached closer and closer––––––––

At a relative speed of nearly 600 km/h, the two passed by each other in but an instant. The Ki-43 zoomed past Tomoko’s side like an arrow released from a bow. The bare duralumin frame of the compact Striker matched well with Takeko’s slim physique.

Takeko’s smile could be seen behind her short, black hair. The next instant, Takeko’s shrill voice came through the radio receiver.

“I may be in a new model, but I won’t be holding back, Tomoko.”

Tomoko raised her voice as well.

“Exactly what I wanted. I’ll show you that nothing can beat the Type-97 in a dogfight.”

Looking behind her, Tomoko watched as Takeko pulled the Ki-43 into a sharp climb, just as she had expected.

It was a bold ascent, just like that of a powerful bird of prey, a nickname Takeko was often referred to as.

“Exactly what I’d expect from you, ‘Hayabusa’.”

She most likely wanted to put pressure on Tomoko by increasing her altitude. Not letting her do that, Tomoko began her own climb a moment later. Like two intertwining dragons, their paths crisscrossed as they shot upwards into the sky.

Tomoko’s engine began to give out with a loud whine first. Compared to Takeko’s Ki-43, the Ki-27 with its Ma-1b magic engine, had only 80% the engine power, and was insufficient for such a steep climb. Takeko stopped her own ascent, and flipped around. She dived.

Tomoko glanced behind herself. Takeko’s Ki-43 did another flip, as if to say that she had been waiting. She had managed to get perfectly on Tomoko’s tail. Using her superior speed, Takeko began closing the distance between them.

“How’s that? Look at the speed of the Type-1! It’s on a whole other level from the 97!”

Takeko’s voice came in from the headphones of the radio.

Following close on Tomoko’s rear, Takeko headed towards the long white streamer trailing from Tomoko’s waist, and flashed her drawn sword. It seemed that Takeko was indeed intent on not using a gun-camera.

Tomoko smiled, not disappointed.

There were two ways to decide who would win or lose in this match.

The first was to use the gun-camera to photograph the opponent. Once the required number of centered shots had been made, that would count as a ‘kill’.

The other method... Use a sword, standard equipment for the Fuso Imperial Army, to cut off the streamer that each of them had attached to their waist. It had been decided that that would count as a victory, even without using the gun-camera.

Takeko did not have her gun-camera ready... in other words, she was also aiming for the second victory condition.

Tomoko licked her lips lightly. Her sparring partner was 17, and the two of them had been rivals ever since they entered the Akeno Flight Academy in the same training cadre. Two years ago during the Neuroi invasion of Fuso, which was most likely a reconnaissance mission, the two had competed in everything from the number of enemies they had downed to promotions, during a small skirmish known as the ‘Fuso Sea Incident’.

They were the most competitive of rivals in the air, but the second they landed they would become the best of friends, who would share all their worries, joys ,and sorrows with each other.

And because of that, neither could stand to fall behind the other.

This mock battle, which was also serving as the debut of the newly adopted Ki-43, was being closely observed by high-ranking officers from the Imperial Army, and top officials from the government of the Fuso Empire. Even visitors from the Imperial Navy had come to watch.

All of them had only one thing on their mind... Could the world’s best fighter, the Ki-27, win against the newly adopted Ki-43?

As ‘witches’, both Tomoko and Takeko were about as skilled.

So, in other words... it was a contest between the merits of the two Strikers. Not only was Takeko’s and Tomoko’s own pride resting on this battle, the very identity of each of their preferred machines was on the line. For two different reasons, this was a match that could not be lost.

Takeko took advantage of her speed, and narrowed the gap between the two Strikers.

The instant they were nearly close enough to hear each other’s breathing...

“I’ve got you now!”

Takeko’s naked blade sang through the air towards the streamer hanging behind Tomoko.

“Not so easily!”

Tomoko rolled to the side, and dodged Takeko’s attack.

“Kuh!”

Takeko swung her sword again. Tomoko dexterously twisted here and there as if she were dancing, keeping her streamer just out of reach of Takeko’s blade.

“Dammit, you’ve got some talent at running away!”

Takeko’s irritated voice buzzed from the headphones.

“Come on now, what’s wrong! New model! If you keep that up, they might decide to just throw the adoption plans into the cellar, you know!”

Tomoko shouted out to Takeko, tauntingly.

“Now you’ve made me angry!”

Takeko drew her sword back.

It was a master fencer’s stance.
[[Image:SW_vol1c01_01.jpg|thumb|''With that, she charged towards Tomoko.'']]
With that, she charged towards Tomoko.

Musoushinden-ryuu, Sora-no-Tachi. (Unrivaled Pantheon style, Sword of the Heavens)

An instantaneous stroke with a katana, cleaving one’s opponent in two...

During the Fuso Sea Incident... Takeko had taken down two Neuroi craft with that secret sword technique.

Shiiing!

The bare blade flashed!

However, Tomoko was no longer there. Even her streamer had disappeared from Takeko’s view.

“Ugh!”

Takeko grunted, and spun upward.

Tomoko was there.

With a complex movement of both legs, Tomoko flipped around in a somersault to face Takeko’s rear.

At the same time as that somersault, the sword in her hand glinted.

“Kuh!”

With no time to escape, the streamer trailing behind Takeko was cut through.

‘Tsubame-gaeshi’ (Turning Swallow)

Using that maneuver, Tomoko had become the ace of the Fuso Sea Incident.

“You got me~~!”

Takeko let out a frustrated sigh. Tomoko, a huge smile on her face, was holding Takeko’s cut streamer in her hand.

“You really are ‘Tomoe-Gozen of the Fuso Sea’, aren’t you?”

That was the name that the newspapers had called Tomoko by after the Fuso Sea Incident, where she took down seven enemies. Reporters had compared Tomoko favorably with that legendary female samurai, after she had shown her skills as a modern-day master, dancing gracefully through the skies that day slaying the Neuroi.

“Ehehe. It’s a mistake to think that there’s anything that can defeat the 97 in a dogfight.”

Tomoko twisted into a barrel roll happily.

“They might even abandon the plans to adopt that Ki-43 now.”

“That won’t happen.”

Takeko promptly refuted that possibility.

“Why? Wasn’t the whole concept of that new model based around making a better dogfighter than the Ki-27?”

“Air battles will be changing from now on. Dogfighting will no longer be the core of fighting in the sky.”

“Oh? A sore loser?”

“I’m not being sore. The trend is shifting towards high-speed, formation fighting. Winning won’t be a matter of individual skill, but instead cooperation will be the key to victory. The results from today... finally confirmed that.”

Takeko said softly, staring off into the distance. Tomoko shook her head.

“No, the one thing that will decide the course of an air battle is without a doubt the dogfight. It’s all about operating Strikers. Only a skilled ace who can maneuver behind the enemy can survive! You know that’s how it was during the Fuso Sea Incident as well!”

Tomoko recalled her memories of the Fuso Sea Incident two years ago as she said that. Wasn’t it all thanks to the Ki-27, with its tight turning radius, that the light Neuroi fighter weapon platforms called the Rallos could be shot down as they fluttered about?

The sluggish Rallos looked like enormous flies with propellers, and it had been impossible for them to target the Ki-27s used by Tomoko’s squadron, which could whirl through the air like sparrows.

“It may be true that the Fuso Imperial Army Air Service puts a lot of emphasis on dogfighting. They rely on top aces like you. That’s one of the reasons why they insisted on this Ki-43 being a superior dogfighter in the design requirements. But, that’s a mistake.”

Takeko fell silent, deep in her own thoughts. Tomoko tried to console her friend, and said,

“Hey, Takeko, c’mon have some self-confidence. You’re not even close to being unskilled. Just wait, once the deployment to Europe starts...”

It had been decided last month that volunteers would be deployed to war-torn Karlsland, which was in ruins after the Neuroi invasion. Tomoko and Takeko were the first to volunteer at Akeno Flight Academy, and rumors were soon flying all over the Army about which of the elite pilots would be deployed. ''I wonder if those rumors are true'', Tomoko would often wonder. ''I want to head towards Europe as soon as possible, and begin serving there.'' That was what she wished with all her heart.

“It’s not even worth thinking about, the two of us will definitely be selected for the deployment. We’ll show those Europeans the skill of the Fuso Imperial Army Air Service in dogfighting!”

No matter how full of energy Tomoko was, her best friend Takeko remained dour.

''Is she really so shocked that she had lost?''

''Was it so surprising that she had lost even though she was using a new model Striker?''

''It may be true that the Ki-43 Takeko had been equipped with was a newly adopted model, but... because it’s a new model there are sure to be a lot of things in a new model that she isn’t accustomed to yet. And I was using the Ki-27, which I know as well as the back of my hand.''

Even if the Ki-43 was faster and had a more powerful engine, Tomoko had had the advantage in that battle.

''It’s nothing to be so down about...'' Tomoko thought, as she shook her head.

Tomoko and Takeko made their approach to the airfield at Akeno Flight Academy side by side.

As they reduced their speed to below 150 km/h, small wheels folded out from a compartment at the foot of the Strikers.

They straightened out to a standing landing position from the standard horizontal flying position, and the wheels screeched as they made contact with the ground. Clouds of dust flew into the air as the two landed.

The first to make their way to the two were not the landing maintenance crews, nor the high-ranking visitors who had come to watch the test, but the throngs of female students clustered about the field.

The flight this time was also serving as the debut performance of the new unit. The airfield was filled to the brim with visitors chosen by lottery, who had come to watch the new Striker and the dashing mechanized air infantry in action. The majority of these tourists were in fact schoolgirls. They crowded around Tomoko and Takeko, each of them pressing dozens of postcards into their hands.

“Ace Tomoko-sama! It’s Ace Tomoko-oneesama! Tomoe-Gozen of the Fuso Sea!”

Tomoko, who had shot down 7 Neuroi craft above the Fuso Sea, was widely known from the extensive coverage of her in the news. Whether she was known as ‘Tomoe-Gozen of the Fuso Sea’ or Ace Tomoko, she was the idol of schoolgirls across the nation.

Not only that, but Tomoko’s was a beautiful young woman like a Fuso doll, and her small and sharp but courageous eyes, coupled with her languid atmosphere, only served to raise her popularity even more.

“Aaaah! Takeko-oneesama is here as well!”

With a face like that of an olden princess, Takeko was just as popular.

With loud cries and shouts, the schoolgirls rushed towards Tomoko and Takeko.

“I made some dango for you!”

“I’ve made ohagi! Please have some!”

“Take this, take this! It’s called ‘Chou a la crème’! It’s a pastry from Gallia!”

Dozens of schoolgirls tried to push to the front to give their own gifts, pressing on Tomoko and Takeko like a stampede.

All the while, cameras flashed with loud snaps, competing with the commotion of the schoolgirls.

Reporters with large cameras had begun to gather around the group as well.

Some reporters began pushing their way through the schoolgirl crowd, pens in hand.

“A word about the European deployment decision, if you please!”

“What?”

Tomoko started.

''I’ve been wondering for ages when the decision would come, but it’s been released at last?''

“Please tell us earlier if reporters will be coming.”

Akeno Flight Academy, office of the Director of Research.

Tomoko frowned at Chuu-sa Washizumi, who managed the various flight-related experiments at the academy. Chuu-sa Washizumi was a middle-aged man in his mid-forties, with a receding hairline. He was dressed in a khaki uniform, which looked uncomfortably tight for his heavyset frame.

“Well, we only just received word from Operations Planning at Headquarters, that the official deployment decisions had been completed. It seems those reporters rushed here the second they received word from Public Relations at Ichigaya, just before noon. Those fellows are always quick to catch wind of any information.”

“So, the reason those reporters are here...”

“That’s right. Akeno will be deploying mechanized air infantry as well. As a vanguard, both of you will be sent to Europe.”

Tomoko jumped into the air happily.

“Yes!”

“You seem quite happy, Shou-i Anabuki.”

Tomoko straightened out, puffing out her chest.

“Of course, sir! This is the perfect chance to show those Europeans that the miko of the Fuso Empire are the best in the world!”

Shou-i Tomoko pointed upwards, a proud look on her face.

“Ohhhhh, I can’t wait! I really really really really can’t wait~~!”

Tomoko was so happy that it seemed she might end up rolling on the floor any second. Chuu-sa Washizumi looked at her uneasily, then shifted his gaze to Takeko.

Biting her lip softly, Takeko gave a small nod.

Chuu-sa Washizumi cleared his throat loudly, and nodded gravely.

“Then, I will give you your orders officially. Fuso Imperial Army, Akeno Flight Academy Testing Squadron, Shou-i Katoh Takeko. You are hereby ordered to report for duty in Karlsland.”

Takeko saluted, a dignified expression on her face, and accepted the written order assignment.

Chuu-sa Washizumi Chuu-sa then turned to Tomoko.

“Fuso Imperial Army, Akeno Flight Academy Testing Squadron, Shou-i Anabuki Tomoko.”

“Sir!” Tomoko vigorously saluted.

However, what came next from the director’s mouth was completely out of her expectations.

“...You are hereby ordered to report for duty in Suomus.”

“''Suomus?''”

Her mouth dropped open in surprise.

“Northern Europe. A country with many lakes. They seem to be afraid of a possible Neuroi invasion, but simply don’t have enough mechanized air infantry, and so have requested support from super-power nations.”

Suomus...

She had heard of the country before, but could not say exactly where it was. In her mind, it was a completely forgettable place.

''Why in the world am I being deployed to some backwater country in the middle of nowhere?''

“Afraid? Then, that means they haven’t been invaded yet.”

“I, I suppose. Yes.”

“‘''Yes''’!? Why am I not being sent to the frontlines in Karlsland, where the hardest fighting is going on!?”

Takeko stepped closer to Chuu-sa Washizumi.

“What in hell am I supposed to do in Suomus!”

“Well... You know? The Neuroi may invade them any day... a precautionary force. With so many other countries sending mechanized air infantry, it would not do for us to completely ignore their request.”

“‘''Precautionary''’! What is this? Are you telling me to go there and play around in a patrol squad? Deployment to Suomus, that’s a job for second-line troops! Takeko’s going to Karlsland, so why am I...”

“Shou-i Anabuki.”

Takeko called her not by name, but by rank.

“It’s an order.”

''Kih!'' Tomoko glared at Takeko.

“Takeko! What are you saying! Didn’t you say that we’d fight the Neuroi together! That you and I would be the ones to chase the Neuroi out of Karlsland!”

Takeko shook her head.

“An order is an order. Accept it.”

Hearing her best friend tell her that in so peremptory a manner, Tomoko was forced to accept the order assignment. However, she would never stand for it. ''What is the meaning of this?''

Without another word, Takeko walked out into the corridor alone. Tomoko chased after her.

“Takeko!”

However, Takeko did not turn around.

“What was with your attitude back there? Hey!”

Tomoko reached out and grabbed Takeko’s shoulder, and spun her around.

“You were acting like it was obvious that I would be going to Suomus. What’s going on?”

Arms akimbo, Tomoko glared at Takeko face-to-face.

“That’s right.”

“That’s right, I’m sure it’s got to be some mistake that I’m going to Suomus... but it’s not!”

“I have to pack my belongings.”

As Takeko tried to walk away again, Tomoko stepped in front of her once more.

“Please move.”

“You... you knew, didn’t you?”

“About what?”

“That I had been deployed to Suomus. ''That’s'' why you weren’t surprised back there. Am I wrong?”

“Yes, I knew.”

“''What did you say?'' Then, you must know the reason, right? Why am I being sent to Suomus!?”

Takeko raised her head resolutely, and faced Tomoko.

“Have you read the details on the Neuroi which invaded Karlsland?”

The report compiled by military observers. Tomoko nodded. ''What does that have to do with my deployment to Suomus?''

“The ‘Neuroi’ which invaded Europe are nothing like the small things that came to the Fuso Sea. With bombers making up the core of its weapons, this time it is an all-out invasion force... These aren’t things that you can deal with through individual skill alone.”

Tomoko began shaking. In her mind, she thought that Takeko was saying that it would be dangerous for her with her skills.

“You’re saying I’m not good enough, aren’t you?”

“No, that’s ''not'' what I meant. I’m saying that it’s dangerous if you don’t change your way of thinking. But, you’re always so stubborn... I realized that you wouldn’t be able to change your tactics so readily. So...”

''What is she saying?''

Here at Akeno... No, in the entire Imperial Army Air Service, there was no who could match her skill in dogfighting.

Tomoko thought back to the match earlier that day.

“Stop making excuses for yourself. You’re planning on just leaving me with the Suomus deployment, aren’t you? You just can’t get over the fact that my shoot-down count is higher than yours.”

At that moment, a loud sniffle escaped from Takeko.

She was trembling lightly.

“I don’t care about my personal shoot-down count.”

Tomoko started.

“Takeko...”

“Become a real ace, Tomoko. I’ll be waiting.”

Her eyes brimming with tears, Takeko ran off. Tomoko was left alone in the corridor, looking hurt.

''Sigh, what is happening?''

''It’s been my dream to fight together with Takeko, my best friend.''

''I’ve always wanted to have the chance to compare our shoot-down counts fair and square.''

''It was always my plan for the two of us to show those Europeans, with their boasts of advanced flight technology, just what the Tomo-Tako combination can do...''

''I had to have been removed from the Karlsland deployment because of some conspiracy.''

Tomoko rubbed a hand across her face. Having the stage for her chance to shine snatched away was so frustrating it was unendurable.

“Why do ''I'' have to be deployed to Suomus!”

One week later...

The ''Awamaru'', which would be transporting the soldiers of the Fuso Empire European Expeditionary Fleet, was preparing to set sail.

There were crowds of people in the street to send the troops off, waving paper flags and cheering.

A joint Army and Navy band struck up a rousing march. The officers and troops lined up behind the railings of the ship saluted as one, and shouts of joy rang out from the assembled well-wishers.

“Go get those Neuroi!”

“Fuso Empire, banzai!”
[[Image:SW_vol1c01_02.jpg|thumb|''The officers and troops lined up on the side of the ship saluted as one.'']]
Those cheers reached their climax as the witches of the mechanized air infantry appeared. As the focus of the European detachment, these infantrywomen were assembled in orderly ranks of Army and Navy troops. They saluted.

“Kiyaaaaaaaah! They’re so magnificent!”

“Wonderful!”

The mechanized air infantry were heaped in the jubilant praise of the crowd, cheered as loudly as if they were stars of a musical troupe.

Not everyone has the ability to use magic. In fact, because it depends on specific genetic factors, it could be said that not very many people at all can use it. Furthermore, the vast majority of those users are female, and it is an ability that disappears with the passing of adolescence. Because of that, young girls who can use magic are seen as ephemeral seasonal flowers, admired by young boys as idols beyond their reach, and thought of by young girls as the ideal paragon of what they want to be.

Numerous reporters were there to cover the event, the flashes from their cameras lighting up the area. However, standing a bit away from the festival-like commotion, on the opposite side of the ship, a girl stood sighing.

“Sigh... The main stars sure are lucky...”

It was Anabuki Tomoko.

While the crowds cheered, the troops lined up in orderly ranks along the ship. They were the infantrywomen being deployed to Karlsland. Tomoko unfolded the newspaper in her hands. The words ‘Fuso Imperial Army and Navy to send troops to gasping Karlsland after Neuroi invasion’ were plastered in huge letters at the top of the front page, and much of the rest of the page was made up of long lists of the names of the infantrywomen who were being deployed. Finally, in small letters below that... a few lines were left to write ‘At the same time, a flight will be deployed to Suomus in Northern Europe’. Of course, the reporters had not bothered to write any names there, including Tomoko’s.

“I guess that means I’m just part of an insignificant ‘flight’...”

She mumbled to herself in a self-deprecating manner.

As she brooded alone... Suddenly, a hysteric cry startled her from behind.

“Uwaah!”

Turning around, she saw a short girl standing there, who seemed to be staring at Tomoko dizzily.

The girl stepped closer, and looked closely at Tomoko’s face. After taking a long hard look...

“You really are Shou-i Anabuki Tomoko! I’m so moved, ma’am!”

The girl was a full head shorter than Tomoko. She was wearing a white sailor uniform under a water-proof coat. On her head was a hat with an anchor mark on it.

“...You’re a sailor, I suppose.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am! I’m Ittou Hikou Heisou Sakomizu Haruka, of the Fuso Imperial Navy Yokohama Flotilla!”

“Oh?”

Tomoko studied Haruka from top to bottom. A cute face. Maybe twelve, thirteen years old. She had neatly cut hair, and under her bangs, her big and round black eyes were sparkling. Suddenly, the girl brought a hand up to her mouth, flustered, and saluted once more.

“Ah, excuse me! Ittou Hikou Heisou Sakomizu Haruka, reporting!”

Tomoko smiled at Haruka, as she gave her name in formal Army style.

“It’s fine. We’re on a ship after all... Let’s just do it how the Navy does it. Well, you said that you’re a Flight Sergeant, so that means you’re in the mechanized air infantry as well?”

“Eh? Yes, ma’am! That is correct!”

Haruka was still staring at Tomoko, her eyes sparkling.

“What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”

“Eh? No! Excuse me, ma’am! No, I mean, no excuse, ma’am! Um, actually, I am a huge fan of you, Shou-i!”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Yes, ma’am! You were fabulous during the Fuso Sea Incident! Even when alone and surrounded by five Neuroi craft, you fought your way through!”

Haruka began getting more and more excited, words blurting from her mouth.

“It even became a movie! ‘Flash in the Fuso Sea’! I went to watch that movie! Shou-i Anabuki, you were cast as yourself as well, I know!”

Tomoko recalled that time. The movie had gotten full cooperation from both the Army and the Navy. Even Tomoko had to go all the way to the Tsuburaya Special Effects Studio in Setagaya-Kinuta, in Tokyo, to take up her role as herself. The movie had been a huge hit, raising mechanized air infantry into stars to the people in one bound.

“After watching that movie, I wanted to join the mechanized air infantry! That’s what I wished! Even if it would be hard, there are several witches in our family history, so I put all my effort into training... I actually wanted to join the Imperial Army Air Service, but... everyone in my family has been in the Navy...”

Haruka was explaining her entire history unasked. Since it seemed like it was not going to end any time soon, Tomoko began edging away.

“Really. Well, keep at it.”

However, Haruka started following right after her.

“Um, um! Shou-i, are you being deployed to Karlsland?”

“Eh?”

Tomoko’s face twitched.

That was still a sore subject.

“I’m sure the Neuroi will be kicked right out of Karlsland in one blow, with the aces of the Army Air Service heading there. Some of the elite pilots from the Yokohama Flotilla were selected to head there as well, it seems.

“‘''It seems''’...? How about you?”

“...Ma’am. Well, actually... I’ve been a hopeless member of the Yokohama Flotilla ever since I joined. Marskmanship, dogfighting, navigation... if you start from the bottom, well, you could say I’m number one in all of those.”

“Eh?”

“That’s why I was removed from the deployment to Karlsland, where heavy fighting is expected, and instead assigned to a country called Suomus in Northern Europe.”

“You’re being deployed to Suomus?”

“Yes, that’s right, ma’am. But, I’m relieved~~ If I were sent to some chaotic battlefield, I’m sure I’d get hurt really badly. No, not just hurt, I might even die. Well, unlike me, I’m sure you’re deploying to Karlsland, Shou-i. I would be extremely pleased if you would do your best over there in my stead as well.”

Haruka clenched both her fists in front of her chest as she said that. Tomoko felt miserable at those words, even though there was no malice behind them.

A worried expression appeared on Haruka’s face as she noticed Tomoko’s cold gaze on her.

“Um, I... Did I say too much? I, I’m sorry! I’m not sure why, but I’m sorry! If there’s anything I can do to apologize...”

She had no malice in her words. Tomoko shook her head, as she decided to overlook it.

“I’m going to Suomus as well, you know.”

“Eeeeeeeeeeh? An ace like you, Shou-i?”

Haruka’s expression said that she was shocked to the core. Tomoko smiled stiffly.

“Let’s do our best together.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am! It’s an honor, ma’am! Then, excuse me, ma’am!”

Haruka saluted, a huge smile plastered on her face. She spun around in a sharp about-face, and began to run off with a soft pitter-patter of her feet.

“Ah-ouch!”

However, just seconds later she slammed her head into a pipe extending from the wall, and crumpled to the ground.

Her eyes were spinning. She couldn’t just be left alone, but it wasn’t so bad that she needed to be taken to the medical center. With no other choice, Tomoko picked Haruka up in her arms, and brought the girl to her own room.

Because Tomoko was an officer, she had a personal room assigned to her. It was an extremely cramped room though. With an area of about 2 jyou (35 square feet, or 3.2 square meters), there was a single fold-down tatami bed attached to the wall. Under a circular window, there was a glass on a table, which was really just a shelf.

Tomoko put down the bed, and put Haruka there to rest.

The view of the harbor could be seen from the small window. In another hour, they would be out in the Pacific Ocean. The beginning of the long voyage to Europe.

Tomoko bit her lip softly as she watched her homeland begin to vanish into the distance.

Then... Haruka, who was sprawled across the bed, groaned and opened her eyes.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-Yes... I’m alright, ma’am.”

As Haruka said that, she rubbed the spot where she had bumped her head.

“Isn’t it a bit unbelievable for someone in the Navy to hit her head on a pipe on a ship, and collapse?”

Tomoko glanced at Haruka, who was blushing and looking embarrassed, and she fell deeper into her misery.

If they were sending girls as absent-minded as this...

In other words, it was the Navy's plan to send the girls they didn’t care about at all to Suomus.

For her to be treated the same as a misfit from the Navy...

As she brooded in those thoughts...

Something flashed in Tomoko’s mind.

''Of course! That’s right!''

''There’s no doubt this is some conspiracy.''

''There must some group jealous of my success so far.''

''Otherwise, there’s no way I would have been sent to Suomus.''

Tomoko made up her mind.

''No matter what... I’ll make my mark in Suomus.''

''I’ll accomplish something so important, nobody will be able to get in a word sideways. Then... that’s when I’ll have the last laugh against those that decided to send me to Suomus.''

“Just you watch! I am Anabuki Tomoko. The ace feared far and wide as Tomoe-Gozen of the Fuso Sea!”

Tomoko muttered to herself firmly, as she looked out the small window.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Strike_Witches|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume12 Story2 Chapter2

2011-01-26T21:24:59Z

Error: /* Chapter 6 */ several minor edits.

====Chapter 6====

The next day...

In the hangout of The Knight Corps of the Water Spirit, the conversation flitted. The content of the conversation ran like this....

“Oi, Guiche! What a wonderful bouquet!”

The one who shouted that was the big Gimli from The Knight Corps of the Water Spirit. Rather than a mage he looked more like a warrior and whenever he laughed ‘Ghahahaha’ the muscles on his shoulders bulged.

“Noo, that’s not it! It’s because I’m so popular!”

Saying so Guiche laughed, sinking within the presents from the girls. Being an attractive commander of imperial guards, Guiche was quite popular. And since Guiche was a handsome boy to begin with, his popularity was a given. Oh dear, there was a good reason for Montmorency’s tears after all.

However, it wasn’t just Guiche who was popular.

When you look around – there isn’t a single boy without a present. Not only that, the popularity of The Knight Corps of the Water Spirit rose significantly after the last fight against the dragon knights.

No, there was a sole boy without a present.

In the corner of the room, with his lips placed on an empty wine bottle neck, Saito played a sad tune.

When he got into the fight with Louise, Saito flew out of the room burning with anger… but as time passed, anger was replaced by tiredness and sadness.

Why was she so angry over a silly misunderstanding?

Except for kissing, all other things should not be a reason for such anger.

No, more than that, what does Louise see in me?

When you think about it… sometimes Louise acts like she loves me, but she never puts that into words. Even when her behavior tells, she refuses to mouth it. Surely, there has to be some reason why Louise cannot take another step.

Saito did not know what.

Maybe because familiar relationship is lower than the one between lovers, she refuses to make me her lover…

In other words – I am not Louise’s lover yet.

The more his lips repeated, the more believable it seemed.

Maybe it’s because I am seventeen and thus one year older than her… No, since one year passed, I am eighteen now, right? Well, it doesn’t matter.

Anyway, because Saito convinced himself that Louise doesn’t like him, he became depressed.

The thought that ‘Louise loves me’ was just being caught up in the moment, felt like it pushed him into the bottomless pit. Saito felt like he was sinking in a swamp, in total darkness.

Aah, I’m so jealous of everyone here. Everyone has a sweetheart… except me. I have a selfish mistress… Saito sighed - it felt like there was an empty hole in his chest. Malicorne dressed in a blatant color shirt talked to him.

“Yo Saito. How is this? Does it suit me?”

Saito glanced at Malicorne. It didn’t suit by any means. He saw comedians do something like this in a punishment game on some old television show. Even his plump belly was sticking out through the gap of the shirt.

Still Saito gave a lukewarm smile. He was tired.

“Looks good. Suits you well.”

Malicorne’s nostrils widened and he tapped Saito’s shoulder.

“If you say so, then I will absolutely wear it! Noo, it’s so hard to be popular!”

Haha – Saito laughed dryly. Probably because some students already know that Saito had yet another quarrel with Louise and left the room, they tried to avoid him more, differently from Malicorne just now.

“Good for you, Malicorne! Now, go over there!”

“No, I want Saito to hear it. Listen, Saito. It is unbelievable - I am to escort TWO girls to the current ball! Even this belly is fine. No, in fact it was the girls who said that! The women really think I’m special.
No, really, the word ‘special’ is not good enough to describe me. But I have to express somehow! Unbelievable, right? Now, Saito, tell me – which of the girls you find to be better? The neat brunette or the passionate girl with red-hair?”

Saito’s eyes became distant… and he started humming. Giving warning signs, Guiche approached Malicorne and tried to push him away.

“Hey, Malicorne. Saito now…”

Guiche whispered something into Malicorne’s ear. Then Malicorne started laughing loudly.

“What Saito?! You had another fight with Louise again? It can’t be helped, since you are so thick! Maybe I should teach you how to handle a girl? Naha, naha!”

Malicorne slapped Saito on the back while laughing. Guiche’s face turned blue, but Saito just gave abject smile said thanks and looked unaffected.

Not able to stand Saito being like this, Reynald looked at Guiche.

“Hey, Guiche. Say what you want, but Saito is in a bad shape.”

“Hm? Yeah, right…”

Guiche, who was high, had to consider the not so merry condition of his friend. Not having to bear the unhappiness of Knight Corps of the Water Spirit alone, he sympathized with Saito.

“Somehow, I'd like to make him to feel better.”

“There is not much we can do alone. Because this guy’s curse is love.”

Guiche nodded quickly. Meanwhile… the always lively Gimli, whispered to Guiche.

“Commander-dono. I have a good idea.”

“What is it?”

Wondering Guiche looked at Gimli’s face.

Normally, anything but ‘good idea’ comes to this fellows mind. Could it be that during the fight with dragon knights, the spell hit him straight into the head?

“Who can help a man who has troubles with a woman?”

Guiche answered in an instant.“A woman.”

“Exactly. A woman can comfort a man wounded by another woman… we, men, are sad creatures.”

“What are you suggesting?”

Urged by Guiche, Gimli narrowed his lids. This made him look unusually fiendish.

“You know that large indoors bath? Currently boys and girls sections are separated.”

“Right. Back in our grandparents' days there was no separation between women and men bathing.”

Back in those days, bathing together was a symbol of equality. But you had to wear swimsuits like in Saito’s world.

However, since Romalia’s orders became severe, that custom was forbidden for a religious reason. Since Guiche was born that custom was gone already, and he carried a deep grudge for that. It was changed so that after the bath one had to give bedtime prayers.

The bath in the present Tristain Academy of Magic, was a tower built under the ground, with a huge pool made from white marble. It had two similar passages – one for women and another for men.

“And what does it have to do with the bath?”

“How about using the women's bath as a theater? More so, nothing else would inspire man more. Right?”

Guiche’s eyes opened wide.

“Peeping into girls bath?!”

Gimli pressed his palm against Guiche’s mouth.

Following the insolent remark, boys from the Knight Corps started to gather around.

“Puaah!” When Guiche’s mouth is free he exhales loudly, his face - crimson red.

“D-d-d-don’t you think it’s shameful for a noble?! To peep at girls bathing! Was there anything more shameful than this before? No, there was not!”

“But as a member you cannot overlook the falling of your troop’s morale. Moreover honestly, wouldn’t you like to have a peek? Nono! This is serious! ‘Frigg’s dance ball’ will take place soon. Which girl will you escort? There is nothing more important for a noble than this! And with them wearing clothes you will not be able to tell which girl is most excellent in dancing. You should properly examine all possibilities to decide with which girl you want to dance with. No, it's judging whether you should dance. One could say it is a noble’s obligation!”

Though the reasoning behind it was confusing, Guiche could slowly see a point in it. Well, it was a tempting proposal to begin with. Guiche started trembling.

“Can’t go! We can’t go! Girls bath is severely protected by spells!”

“Heeeh, is that so?”

Gimli gave a composed answer. Guiche looked like he was about to cry.

“It pains me to say, but the first time I entered the academy I investigated this. The girl’s bath takes pride in being defended like a fortress! Though one can do nothing but approach land route to peep into the structure of a half underground… firstly, you are denied to come closer by a Golem. And even if you bypass that, there are still difficulties remaining! There are magical glass windows! You can’t touch them! And you cannot peep from there as you cannot get a full view! To make the matters worse, because it has a strong ‘immobilization’ spell it makes alchemy helpless! Moreover, because it is equipped with magic detection devices, one cannot use spells!”

Seems like ideas like ‘Noble's pride’ was completely blown out of the minds, and nobody worried about it now. Everyone was occupied with one problem.

“Is it possible to peep?”

“It’s a dead end. For a mage it is useless!”

Guiche muttered in a tearful voice and cross-legged plumped down on the floor.

Between members regretful “Damn!” “What to do!” “It’s too much of a risk!” spread.

Gimli tapped his commander’s shoulder.

“Now, if the plans of the bath are same as old plans of the tower, then nobles are blessed with honorable sight.”

Guiche’s eyes sparkled.

“C-can’t be…”

“Lucky nobles.”

Everyone let out a loud ‘Uwoooo” so that windows almost cracked.

“The other day, when I went to the library… I examined the history of the school. The Tristain Academy of Magic takes pride in a long history. In other words, the shelf of the academy’s record books is very long too. What if during the centuries, there is a part that no one touched. When searching there… I found such copy. This paper.”

All members, holding their breaths stared at the paper pulled out by Gimli. On that parchment old plans of the tower were shown. The number of comments were written in faded black ink.

“How is this? The part of "Immobilization" placed on this tower is thoroughly recorded. Perhaps, the engineer who undertook the design or someone who saw it, copied it for keeping. However, it is enough for our plans.”

Gimli showed a fearless smile.

Guiche trembled.

“Once I become a general… I will give you a reward.”

Other members too, one after another, were trembling from excitement – one tearfully looked up into the sky, another grasped the fists and nodded many times..

Meanwhile, one boy, blushing furiously, said.

“Everyone! Aren’t you nobles everyone! Don’t you feel shame?!”

It was Reynald. As he always was a serious boy, he could not permit such a plan. Everybody looked embarrassed at each other. However, Malicorne said looking seriously at Reynald.

“We are nobles. Not to mention Imperial Guards. We are always ready to throw our lives away for the motherland and the Queen. Death is always next to us. Death is our friend, our second half.”

“That’s right! And for such nobles like us… to do peeping…”

“Well now, how can we die without knowing if Tiffania’s things are real or not?”

Facing Reynald, Malicorne continued in a serious tone.

“I can not.”

Reynald seemed to be fighting with himself for a while. But… not able to endure it anymore, kneeled down on one knee. Reynald squeezed the words out of his throat.

“I-I want to check it…”

Malicorne smiled like a saint, and stretched out his hand for kneeling Reynald.

“Let’s go. To our battlefield.”

Everyone crawled through the hole that Guiche‘s Verdandi dug. Following right behind the mole – commander Guiche himself. Gimli followed behind him. Then Malicorne. Saito at the end of the line. Since he was depressed, he considered it to be someone else‘s affair, not understanding where he is going and what for.

One said “I’ll show you something good” and Saito came along.

“The stone walls underneath do not have the ‘Immobilization’ spell placed under them. As far as the plan goes. You are sure right?.”

In an anxious voice Guiche asked Gimli, crawling behind him. Within the darkness, Gimli nodded.

“Yeah. In that plan, design chief of the time, marked the area permitted for the Earl of Elmon. Seems to be genuine. If you think about it, the underground was a blind spot! Indeed, the bath is a half-way underground structure. They only paid attention to the window and not the wall buried under the ground. They protected the head but not the buttocks, just like every living thing.

The digging of Verdandi stopped and it turned around.

(Mumble)

Guiche’s face grew tensed. They seemed to have hit the wall. Then…

“Gentlemen, we reached our destination.”

Everyone let out the sigh of admiration.

“Seems like the earth Golem can sense underground. So keep quiet.”

Guiche lightly waved a wand and a magic light appeared on the very tip. The hazy light enlightened the hole that Verdandi dug.

There where Verdandi’s nose pointed, they could see the grey stone of the wall.

“Verdandi, please make a hole through this wall, so that every member could fit.”

In the blink of an eye, Verdandi satisfied Guiche’s demand.

Meanwhile, the lovely voices of unsuspecting young maidens could be heard behind the wall.

The bathtub was roughly 25 mails in width and around 15 mails in length. So that all the schoolgirls of the academy could fit in together. Like in noble’s bathhouse, the hot water was mixed with perfume.

Louise placing her back against an arc wall, was soaking in the tub. She was casually swaying her slender arms and legs under water, watching the shivering surface of the water.[[Image:ZnT12-175.jpg|thumb]]

Tensed, she looked around. After seeing a familiar face she relaxed again. Kirche, as always showing off her body, sat crossing her legs on the bench, right under the stream coming from the wall.

Next to her, Tabitha who was reading book and brought a cane despite the baths. One could wonder why she always brings her cane with her, but considering her upbringings its not that surprising. The way her life was, one could never know when and where she could be attacked by an enemy. Though she could be more relaxed now, she was still bringing the cane out of habit.

In front of the mirror, Montmorency was shamefully lifting her chest. Removing the ribbon, she let her hair fall freely across her back, making her look younger. Looking at her chest, she pouted unimpressed. Nothing wrong with that. I am better anyway.

Now, when Louise watched that view before her, her thoughts subconsciously brought her back to Saito again.

When she woke this morning, Saito was not besides her.

Just this thing alone was enough to depress Louise a lot. After their heated quarrel he left and did not return this morning. Though she could understand why, her feelings still sank nevertheless. Certainly she was too angry, she thought.

For three days, making him write a remorse sentence in only underwear and having him read it repeatedly – she honestly went overboard this time.

But… she just could not simply forgive.

She was prepared, going for a stroll every night… thus she could not forgive Saito, who did not notice it at all.

And when she goes to infirmary worried, she finds Saito groping Tiffania’s breasts – she could not forgive that.

Excited cheers from the entrance of the bath echoed, Louise lifted her face. There stood the blond, long-eared elf with massive breasts, shyly hiding her body behind the cloth.

However, the chest was just too large.

The size that peeked through the towel, jumped into Louise’s eyes. The size of the chest was unbelievable.

Worried Tiffania looked around, before seeing Louise staring at her and then smiled. A friend whom she could rely on could make her more at ease.

But now, she could not tell such a thing to Tiffania. When she looked at that fairy like figure… she herself felt awfully tiny and inferior being.

Sulkily she submerged her half of her face into the water, blowing small bubbles through her mouth, while Tiffania timidly approached Louise.

“Umm, can I sit beside you?”

“Hot water everywhere anyway, your choice.”

Inadvertently, speaking harshly, Louise was embarrassed. Louise again buried her face under the water, blowing bubbles.

Tiffania scooped the hot water with her palm and looked at it weirdly. Then hesitantly opened her mouth to speak.

“Such a wide bath. I am surprised. The bath that we were using was greatly different.”

“What kind of bath did you use?”

“A steam bath… the bricks were laid out together, like the kitchen range, then sprinkled some water on the heated stone and bathed in the steam. I was bathing in the nearby fountain during summer.”

That’s why Tiffania smiled seeing such a great bath for the first time.

“I really want to thank you.”

Tiffania said abruptly.

“Eh?”

“To Saito and Louise… everyone who came to meet me. Her Majesty Henrietta and people of Tristain… I am grateful to everyone.”

“Why?”

“Because if it were not for everyone I would have never seen such great things. The outside world is wonderful. Like I could not even imagine for such a bath to exist.”

Tiffania lifted both her arms and looked around.

“…Even though bad things happen to you?”

Louise asked recalling the incident with Beatrice.

“It can’t be helped. I have such ears.”

Tiffania laughed touching her ears.

“And thus I could not take a bath with everyone. Secretly at night, when no one was around I used the opportunity. But now I am not scared anymore. I can show them proudly. Due to that accident.”

Louise looked at Tiffania giving a dazzling smile and with a slight sadness in her voice said.

“You are dangerous not only because of Elf blood. You are a “User”. At any moment, one cannot know how this power will be used.

“You see Louise, there is no need to worry. You use your power by your will, so I will do with mine.”

Louise was touched by Tiffania’s carefree attitude.

And I feel like I am getting smaller and smaller, not only the chest, but my whole existence is small, I always felt tiny. Tiffania was allowed to grow up without interference.

On the other hand, as I grew up I was always bound by many things.

Tradition.

Pride.

Honor.

Those things that determine my behavior before myself. Because of that my and Saito’s opinions cross so much.

Some students  saw Tiffania soaking in hot water and sighed. Tiffania was almost as beautiful as a fairy. She looked like a beautiful fairy from long ago, I  read fairy tales come to a child, and looks like a beautiful fairy.

She was like fairy from children books long time ago. While her chest, visible under the hot water… seeing her child-like body, the volume of difference was making Louise sad.

It’s only natural that Saito wanted to touch her.

It wasn’t just the body

Though having a noble’s blood, Tiffania grew up as a commoner, thus she and Saito from another world could understand each other better…

There is nothing I could win against Tiffania. Such inferiority complex wrapped Louise.

“Hey, Tiffania.”

“Call me Tifa.”

“Tifa, Umm, forgive Saito.”

“Eh?”

“He, umm, is a helpless pervert, but he is not a bad person. You probably were surprised from having your chest groped all of a sudden… but he really didn’t mean any harm. I think his hand went out of control. I apologize for him as his mistress.”

Tiffania gave Louise, who suddenly started apologizing, a confused look. Then suddenly her face dyed red.

“I-it’s different. I asked him myself.”

Louise’s eyes opened wide.

“I… thought that not only my ears… but also my chest is weird. Because it is too big, no matter how you look at it.”

When other people could use the sentence as an ironic one, Tiffania was honestly wondering about it.

“Therefore I asked Saito to make sure.”

“Oh, didn’t you find it strange asking such a thing from a guy?”

With a dumbfounded look on her face, Louise asked. Then Tiffania blushed.

“T-true. I was thinking so myself.”

Louise was shocked. Tiffania’s naiveté was beyond Louise’s imagination. Maybe not as badly as a child’s, but the gap was rather significant still.

“Because Saito was a first friend of the same age group… he did not feel as much as a boy. But if for example you were to become his girlfriend, you cannot allow that…”

Dejected Tiffania hugged her knees. Her breasts rose from the water just like two islands.

“It’s no good once you are touched. Such kind of thing.”

Louise coldly stared at Tiffania’s chest. Because her heart was wounded, she could not stop staring.

“Sorry, Louise… You are Saito’s lover.”

When Tiffania said that, Louise jumped up with a gush.

“I’m not his l-l-l-lover!”[[Image:ZnT12-183.jpg|thumb]]

Blushing violently, Louise trembled. Seeing Louise like this, Tiffania too dyed in red.

“L-Louise… umm…what are you doing? You are in a plain view….”

Louise face crimsoned even more. Indeed when she stood up her bath towel fell off and now she was standing completely naked before Tiffania. Louise sank herself in the hot water again.

While being embarrassed, thoughts about Saito crossed her mind again.

What Saito said was true.

Yet I… with my head filled with inferiority complex  towards Tiffania, could not believe his words…

To that degree, Saito was fighting for himself…

Louise became very depressed. What to do if Saito won’t return.

Even so, if it happens, it’s only natural. She did not believe his words and just treated him cruelly.

Louise started shaking.

“What’s wrong? Are you cold?”

Worried Tiffania asked.

“I am not.”

Answered Louise. Tiffania leaned closer and her unbelievable chest and waist filled Louise's eyes again. If there were ten boys… between me and Tiffania, all ten of them would likely still choose Tiffania.

Though we are both Void users… I wonder why we are so different.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the bathroom wall, the men's plan was about to be completed.

Within the tunnel which Verdandi dug, boys from The Knight Corps of the Water Spirit lined up in a row, side by side lying on their bellies, all had their powers concentrated on the wand. And were chanting a spell of their lifetime.

“Alchemy”

A basic spell of earth element.

To make twenty small holes in the thick stone wall of the bathtub.

Tiny holes.

Diameter of one Santo.

All Knight boys concentrated to control the power of alchemy. So that they would not be exposed to the ‘Detection’ and the ‘Immobilization’ in the wall above.

Even though its effect doesn’t reach under ground, it doesn’t mean it cannot detect by a chance either. It would not only mean their plan failing, but also ruin for them as well.

That’s why such careful control of ‘Alchemy’ was demanded. Power should not be too strong. But not too weak either, to keep a hole in the solid stone wall.

It was tough and consumed a massive amount of willpower. A drop of sweat fell from one boys face and he coughed. Then he shook his head mortified.

“No good. I am at the limit. I cannot endure such delicate chant anymore…”

The boy next, scolded his companion.

“What are you saying? Our glorious moment soon will be here. Do you really want to lose in here?!”

He grasped his shoulder and cried out from pain.

“Just imagine! Imagine with your heroic mind! The wonderland that lies behind this wall! The Valhalla where soldiers souls are healed! A lot of holy women and legendary fairies wait for us on the other side of this wall! The glory is right here! Do not give up now!”

With tears in his eyes the boy nodded, picked up his wand and started chanting again.

Between the spells all Knights shouted in unison.

“Imagine the Valhalla!”

Saito watched his colleagues dumbfounded. He had no idea what was happening. Why did these guys go under ground and try so hard to make holes in the wall? Malicorne looked darkly behind, at Saito and gave a thumb down.

“Wait a moment, sub-commander. I’ll let you worship the spring of the world!”

Apparently the holes were directing to the ‘spring’. Just what kind of spring that was – Saito thought warily.

And why they keep on chanting the ‘alchemy’?

In a dark hole, the passage of time passage was hard to understand. It could be five minutes, or even one hour. No, it could be even longer.

Anyway, the efforts of The Knight Corps of the Water Spirit, in a moment came to fruition..

The darkness inside… was lit by the light pouting through the small hole that opened.

Though someone tried to shout from joy, someone else just held his mouth shut. Since opening the holes, loud noises were prohibited.

One after another small holes opened up.

“…can you see the holes from the other side?”

Concerned, Guiche asked. Gimli nodded.

“…unless something unusual happens, it should be ok. As you may know, the bathroom wall is decorated by the colored, curved sculptures. It is of a similar design as the men's bath, so the holes should be of this pattern.”

Guiche nodded.

“You know, I’m thinking about naming this hole a ‘Gimli fort’ The impenetrable fortress has been defeated – a wonderful fort. May your wonderful achievements be honored for ever.”

They both embraced each other.

Malicorne poked Guiche.

“A very level-headed commanding, commander. It was our first campaign.”

“O-of course.”

“G-glorious first lunge?”

“I’ve decided. It should be Saito here.”

Guiche pointed at the Saito who was on his knees behind them.

“Huh? Me?”

Silent applause rang.

“Saito, I’m envious.”

“Do it well.”

Energetic voices came. What on earth is happening? Why are these fellows… giving their all for these small holes in the stone wall? For the light to come in? He could not understand the reason.

However because he was called, Saito crawling faced Guiche. Then Saito moved closer and brought his face to the hole.

“Show the spirit of men, Saito.”

“Y-yeah…”

The first thing he saw was… steam.

Cloud of steam… and steam across a white wall.

Where? Here?

The next moment, something skin-colored passed.

“Eh? Could it be a bath?”

The moment he muttered in an innocent tone, his mouth was pressed shut.

“Sh! You voice is too loud!”

“Y-you… could it possibly be the girl's bath?..”

“Because we wanted to cheer you up.”

“S-stupid. I won't be happy from peeping… hu...”

At that moment air was knocked out of Saito’s lungs. On the other end of the hole was paradise. Naked girls were taking their bath comfortably.

The only barrier was towels that girls wore like clothes, wrapped up around their bodies when they walked. They still seemed to be reluctant to get completely naked even around other girls. Well… the towels could roll down to the waist anyway – Saito thought.

“T-Tifa?”

Beyond the steam, on the other side of girls bath, Tiffania was facing Saito. Next to her was Louise. Both of them were using the hot water from the wall. He could not see lower their breasts due to the steamy water surface.

The moment when Saito uttered that name, all knight corps rushed to the hole.

All rights and wrongs were in an instant forgotten when Saito watched the scene before him. Louise and Tiffania were friendly sitting side by side.

Except for clothes that didn’t cover much, Saito has never seen Louise completely naked before. He did see her underwear a lot, though…

When he was helping Louise to get dressed, she was wearing her underwear already.

The girl he loves was wearing nothing but a hot water steams. All morals were blown off.

But Tiffania.

Any reasons were not needed. Naked Tiffania could be described by a single word – ‘Absolute’. It was a spell that no man could resist.

Saito was glued to this theater play.

Every Tiffania’s word and act burned deep into Saito’s mind. He saw the top of her bust. A small hill slowly pushed out of the hot water surface.

When Tiffania pulled her knees together, the hill rose even more.

Ho-hoa-hoaaaa… every member of The Knight Corps of the Water Spirit found it difficult to breathe.

At that moment Saito, not only saw that spectacle but also recalled that feeling.

Everybody looked.

Though near sides Louise was floating on the water, wearing nothing at all, no one bothered to look at her…

Tiffania saw something and whispered to Louise. The next moment, Louise pushed her body under the water.

Saito did not understand what was the meaning behind Louise’s actions. Its like she was frustrated about something that has been said. Like…

Louise was about to stand up!

For a few seconds in his dizziness, Saito waited and then….

“Look over hereeeeeeeeee.”

Screaming Saito started to roll from left and right.

“W-what is it?!”

“Stop it, hey!”

The boys who lay on their stomachs, lined up shifted their eyes from the spy hole. That moment Louise stood up.

Annoyed by her inferiority complex, Louise kicked the water...

The girls who were bathing by the other wall, for some reason started to stir.

“Now, did you hear a boys voice?”

“I heard it!”

Tiffania’s face clouded with worry.

“Who is it?”

“Maybe someone from Gallia?”

However, apparently, it seems to have been different. Montmorency who was washing her body, noticed a hole made in a wall.

“Hey guys! A hole opened in a wall!”

Though it was hard to see with all the steam, but it seems like in a thick wall under the window small holes appeared with around one mail space between them.

And then from the other side of the wall a voice echoed… like from far away.

Schoolgirls who had been taking a bath shouted together.

“Peeping!”

Montmorency wrapped a towel around her body and ran out shouting.

“Hurry up! Wands!”

“A peep” girls shouted loudly while running to grab their clothes.

“Peeping in this Academy of Magic?! What daredevils!”

“Everyone! Do not let them escape!”

Louise and Tiffania looked at each other and ran out too.

Like rats from poisoned nest, The Knight Corps of the Water Spirit were running away in a haste. The frantically crawled to the exit of the tunnel. There were bushes next to the fire tower.

“Gentlemen! If we stay like this together, they will catch us all at once! Spread out!”

The schoolgirls were reacting quickly – their angry shouts echoed in the courtyard already.

“Which way?”

“I heard a voice over there!”

The boys, with abrupt nods to each other, scattered around

At that time, Saito, who was lagging behind, was still at the hole. Because, once other boys with light spells left, the tunnel became pitch dark.

When he somehow found his way to the entrance, it was already too late.

“They went through this hole!”

“Is there still anyone inside?”

The entrance was completely surrounded by the enraged schoolgirls.

Saito sighed.

Aah, I will be the only one held responsible and probably will be beaten to a pulp…

Someone, using the light spell, entered the tunnel…

Then earth and sand around Saito were blown off.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Girls screams soared.

Saito’s body, together with sand and pieces of earth were sucked in by a tornado… and Saito’s body was thrown into the air.

“Uwaaaaaaaa! What is this?!”

The moment Saito thought he was about to crash into the ground, he was caught by something. A shadow chanted spell.

“Window. Open up

The lock of the tower window is unlocked and the window is opened by ‘Psychokinesis’.

Saito’s falling direction was changed and the shadow caught him in its arms.

It was alviss dinning hall.

The shadow pulled Saito behind the pillar.

With much effort, after his eyes became accustomed to darkness, the outline of the person who secretly pulled him behind the pillar and pressed close against him became clear.

“Tabitha?”

The first thing that caught his eye was Tabitha’s blue hair.

“Shh. Close your eyes.”

Tabitha muttered and for some reason pushed her cane in front of Saito, blocking his view.

“W-why…”

He said and felt that his lids suddenly became very heavy.

“I am protecting you. Whatever the situation is.”

Surprisingly blunt answer came.

“B-but… We peeped…”

“I do not care about the situation.”

Tabitha said plainly. It seems that even though he peeped Tabitha was still on Saito’s side. Perhaps, she recognized Saito’s yell and correctly decided who was the last one left in the hole and helped him out. Indeed, a formidable warrior’s intuition.

“Thank you.”

Saito said in an emotional voice.

Despite peeping during the bathing… Tabitha still said that she will help him. He was moved by that.

“…Thank you. But why I am not allowed to open my eyes?”

“Because.”

“Why? Would something wrong happen if I were to open them?”

“Certainly.”

What on earth could that be?

“You avoid telling me. It makes me feel insecure.”

Tabitha said silently.

“I am not dressed.”

“Huh?”

Saito’s body suddenly grew tensed. Then, Tabitha’s body which now presses tightly against me is…

“Naked?”

“Right.”

Tabitha said.

“W-why?!”

“There was no time to get dressed.”

Then… pursuers entered the room.

“How many people did you catch?”

“Approximately half. Surprisingly it was the members of The Knight Corps of the Water Spirit.”

Some boys apparently got caught. From the distance a few more screams echoed.

“…I yield!!!”

Then sounds of spells. And then sound of something heavy collapsing followed. And then screams again. And pleading voices. Saito trembled in the dark. If I get caught too… I won’t be able to get away with this. That he knew nothing about the plan until Saito went with them was a poor excuse.

The door of the dining room opened and the girls footsteps approached. Pursuers finally reached here as well.

Tabitha pressed Saito’s body firmly against the wall. The tiny body of Tabitha snuggled up to him, her bust rubbing against him. Behind his parka, Tabitha was in her birthday suit. Imagining Tabitha’s young body, Saito felt strangely excited.

When Tabitha excited you are on the verge of losing your humanity… Saito.

No, really?

Though Tabitha’s figure is very childish still, she was only two years younger than me.

Then… it is a safe zone?

Safe or not, such judgment was impure.

The girls got closer to the Saito behind the pillar. Saito’s pulse quickened. As if trying to calm him down, Tabitha placed her palm against his chest. But this, in addition to his thoughts, only made his heart race faster… Saito opened his mouth trying to catch his breath like a goldfish.

One girl came behind the pillar. Saito moved his face away from Tabitha’s cane but so that Tabitha would not be in his sight. The face lit by the moonlight belonged to Montmorency. Monmon, do not come here… forgive me… Saito prayed silently.

The prayer reached the heaven.

Outside a weak Guiche’s cry could be heard.

Seems like he was caught as well.

“…It was a sudden impulse”

Montmorency’s eyebrows lifted.

“I knew it.”

With a brutal smile of a person ready to kill on her lips, Montmorency ran out. The rest of the girls followed her.

“That was dangerous… n?”

When he sighed in relief, Saito felt something move behind him.

It was a sound of something coming closer. Saito’s head cooled off rapidly.

“…Tabitha, did you hear that sound?”

“Un.”

For some reason Tabitha’s voice trembled.

“What sound that could be?”

“Do not know.”

To relax the atmosphere, Saito made a joke with overly light voice.

“Maybe some kind of ghost, huh?”

“Stop it.”

Tabitha suddenly clung to Saito. On his chest and belly Saito could feel the slender lines of Tabitha’s body which occupied his thoughts.

Bit by bit, Tabitha started to tremble.

“C-could it be that you are scared of ghosts?”

Tabitha gave a small nod. Saito was surprised to see weakness in Tabitha. She was cute – he had an irresistible thought.

God-sama… would I be better off dead?

Then his shoulder was tapped.

Obviously not human. Saito thought.

“S-something hit my shoulder.”

Tabitha seemed to loose her strength. Her body became stiff as she fully leaned against Saito for support.

“T-Tabitha.”

Saito’s eyes opened. The first thing that entered his vision was the fainted Tabitha’s slender, white back. A gentle curve leading to the hips. Naked female back was surprisingly attractive and Saito had to force himself to tear his eyes away.

What the hell was that sound just now, he looked around…

A surprising thing was in there.[[Image:ZnT12-201.jpg|thumb]]

“You… you are the alviss from yesterday, right?”

The last night, when Saito was spending a night in the dining hall, he helped a female alviss that was trapped under the vase.

The alviss bowed many times. Seems like it was it’s way of expressing gratitude towards Saito.

“No, it’s alright… I helped you because I wanted to.”

Alviss disappeared in the dark again.

Because Tabitha’s naked situation had to be changed, Saito took off his parka and placed it on Tabitha’s body.

The couple’s eyes avoided looking at each other, as she lay down behind the pillar while he, as if guardian, sat down in front.

The Alviss dance party in the moonlight began.

Surrounded by the moonlight, the Alviss danced silently.

Such a fantastic spectacle brought back the memories in Saito's mind, on the ball in the past.

The one that happened one year ago.

Indeed, it was Frigg’s ball wasn’t it?

That day, when Saito was bored and alone, Louise came into the veranda. Dressed in a dazzling white dress, her hair tied in a pink bundle on her head, Louise looked like a beautiful goddess.

The girl alviss approached Saito, who was emerged in his past memories, again.

The alviss, as if asking Saito for a dance, bowed.

Saito smiled.

“You are going to take care of me? Haha, you are very kind… But my size differs from yours too much. Listen, find a companion to dance with among your friends.”

After a while, alviss turned from Saito, and disappeared into the crown of her dancing friends.

Louise too, asked me for a dance like this…

Blushing Louise was really cute back then.

“May I have this dance, sir?”

She said.

When you think about it, those were the words that made me fall in love with Louise.

And, one year later, those feelings still haven’t changed.

The proud, selfish, short-tempered mistress… but sometimes, Louise sweet gestures spoke volumes to Saito.

Friendship with Guiche and Malicorne, the people he was indebted to take care of - various reasons were stopping Saito from leaving this world…

All in all, the strongest bonds he had, from the whole Halkeginia, were with Louise.

And when she asked Saito for a dance, Louise’s profile was glowing with embarrassment, almost like she was mad at him.

Until now, for this very profile, Saito leaped into various death jaws.

And yet, blinded by the temporary fury, I left Louise’s room.

Really… after all this time, we cannot fall apart just like this.

And when he hugged his knees thinking what to do…

“Saito.”

Having his name called, Saito stood up.

“Is that you? Come out. Just now I saw the moonlight with your eyes.”

“Louise…”

Accepting his fate, Saito pushed his body out of the shadow of the pillar.

Louise, who changed her clothes, was standing there and staring at Saito. It was this look of Louise’s eyes that made Saito to give up. Like Guiche, he might as well receive his punishment from Louise.

Even though he never intended to peep…

“Were you in that hole as well?”

In a tired voice Saito answered.

“Yeah. Do with me as you please. It’s pointless to run away and hide.”

However Louise pushed behind Saito’s shoulder, and faced the darkness.

“Louise?”

Standing alone, Louise said while looking away.

“If you have anything to say – then say so.”

Saito, with resignation on his face, explained the circumstances.

“They said they were taking me to the place to lift my spirits… and it turned out to be the girls bath. But honestly I didn’t notice until I had a peek.”

Louise said no word.

“Haha… even I do not believe it… But it’s alright – you would not believe me anyway. Whatever I would say…”

“I believe.”

Louise said, determination in her voice.

“Heh?”

Saito muttered at a loss.

“I hate it. Really, I hate it. I thought you were lying before, and was angry because how unbelievable it was. I…”

Louise said angrily.

For a moment he was doubtful. With a skeptical expression on his face, Saito opened his mouth.

“You are saying you trust me?”

“I do.”

Louise said.

Then Louise nodded, shocking Saito. Even if whole world shakes, it hardly can change the stubborn Louise, Saito thought.

“Therefore I do not think you were at a fault.”

“Me?”

Louise glared up at Saito with a scowl.

“Yes, you, so do not break my trust…”

Louise said emotionally.

It was mortifying. And sad. Though Saito left the room less than a day ago, she could not bear the thought of not being around him ever again.

With various feelings battling inside her, her eyes became wet with tears.

Louise hit Saito’s warm chest.

“Why are you always so mean? Why am I always so mad? Why? I hate it… waaah.”

Louise buried her face into his chest and burst into tears.

Helpless against crying like this, Saito was at a loss. He felt bad for being the reason for her tears.

When one thinks about it, I was as wrong as Louise.

Louise may still be a child… but she could at least admit her mistake just fine.

“I am sorry.”

“… Stop it. It is pointless now.”

Louise rubbed her eyes.

Not knowing what to do, Saito placed his palm on top of Louise’s head and patted her peach colored hair. Though Louise continued to cry for a while… after a few moments she stopped and glared at Saito, while pouting.

“What’s wrong?”

“We reconciled?”

“Yeah…”

Saito nodded.

“Wrong. If Saito doesn’t say it - it’s not good.”

“Lets make up. Wha-“

Saito held out his hand, but Louise brushed it away.

“Your apply for reconciliation was insufficient. More.”

“In that case, what do you want me to do?”

Louise murmured angrily.

“Kiss me.”

That moment, when Louise turned her face away angrily, she looked dazzling cute. Hesitantly, Saito’s trembling fingers touched Louise’s cheek. Louise’s eyelashes trembled as she slowly opened her mouth.

Pursing her lips, Louise slightly opened her eyes before closing them shut again, feeling his lips brush against hers.

After dozen of long moments, when their lips finally separated again, Louise started to complain again. Mainly, the center of her ramblings, was Saito’s behavior. Not really following her, Saito continued to nod his head. Finally, after a deep sight, Louise asked Saito.

“Tell me the truth.”

“Yeah?”

“After all, you like a girl like Tiffania more, right? You don’t like my child-like body…”

Saito looked deep into Louise’s eyes and said clearly.

“Because I am a man… I cannot deny that I do feel attraction. This is a basic instinct. But you…”

Looking straight into Louise’ eyes, Saito said.

“But you I love, Louise. No… more like I totally lost my head over you.”

That moment, Louise’s cheeks dyed scarlet.

“R-really?”

“Yeah.”

Saito said with a straight face. And gave a refreshing smile.

“So, sooooo…”

Bashfully, Louise’s slender fingers played with the neckline of her shirt. This gesture, for some reason, made Saito’s heart pound madly.

“’So’, what? ‘So’, what?”

Saito sucked in breath as Louise sidled up to him.

Louise took a deep breath. Then she looked up Saito into the eyes. Her cheeks burning red.

At that moment, a small shadow appeared from behind Saito’s back. And that small figures hands clung to Saito’s back.

“… scary.”

In a weak voice, figure muttered. That was… Tabitha, naked as the day she was born. Seems like she was still half-asleep and had a far-away look on her face.

Just because his parka fell – in one moment, hope turned into despair for Saito.

Louise’s eyes moved between the girl with short blue hair, the parka on the floor and Saito.

Every time, Louise’s sweet expression turned more and more grim.

Wide eyed, her shoulders, back, head and legs… started to tremble.

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

Saito said in a resigned voice.

“Hee, heeeeeh…. Sosososoooo…. I-I-I-I seee…. You really like child-like girls like me, huh?”

“Misunderstanding!”

Louise began to utter an incantation. Trying to protect Tabitha from harm, Saito tried to pull her away, but the still dreamy and scared Tabitha, clung to Saito like a child.

“A flaaaaaaaaaat! Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirl! Like meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

The power of Louise’s spell was cracking in the air.

Haha, it may be my true fate to begin with.

With a wry smile, Saito stretched out his arms, accepting his fate.

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| Back to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume12_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| [[Zero_no_Tsukaima|Return to Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume12_Chapter7|Chapter 7]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume12 Story1 Chapter4

2011-01-26T18:18:31Z

Error: /* Chapter 4 */

====Chapter 4====

At that same time…

Siesta, who was currently cleaning Louise’s room, heard violent sounds coming from outside.

“Hmm…I wonder what that could be?”

Siesta walked over to the window, taking a peek outside. However, the tower and the surrounding walls blocked the view of where the sounds came from.

The violent sounds continued for a while. Somehow, the sounds seemed to be explosions of magic. The sound of raging flames, the sound of ice spears smashing, the sound of lumps of earth collapsing, along with various other sounds reached her ears. In addition, cries and roars could be heard.

“I don’t like this. Did another war start again?”

At that time, the covers on the bed slowly shifted. Underneath was Louise clad in a negligee. She slowly got up, her eyes clearly red from crying. Her hair was all crumpled, and lines of tears had dried over her cheeks. Overall, she was a mess.

“Oh, Miss Vallière. Have you woken up?”

Without giving a reply, she turned towards the window, staring at the sounds of violence outside. With an irritated tone, she mumbled,

“It’s so loud… Even though someone is trying to wallow in sorrow here…”

“Hey, it sounds pretty serious out there. I wonder if a war has started…I don’t like it. Hm? Miss Vallière?”

Louise had wandered out of the room, still wearing her negligee. In her hand, she firmly grasped her wand.

Siesta was just about to chase after her, but a dark aura emitting from Louise’s back made her retreat back in fear.

“Hauu. Somehow, Miss Vallière right now is scarier than any dragon.”

Saito’s breathing was getting pretty ragged. His fists which had been used repeatedly were swollen red, warping their shape. Next to him was Guiche with his blond hair dyed with blood, who was still holding onto his rose wand. Waving his wand, he weakly muttered out,

“Va-valkyrie.”

However, the petals on the rose wand had finally all fallen off, leaving a bare stem.

“Finish them.”

Guiche said amongst his panting. The blown away foe revealed Malicorne behind him, who then came forward to breathlessly inform the commander and assistant commander,

“Our remaining troops are only the six of us.”

Beside Reynal, whose glasses were broken, stood only two people. The rest of the squad had fallen and were lying stretched out on the ground. There was no more water magic to heal them nor did they have the strength for powerful magic.

On the other side, the Luftpanzer Ritter squad still had ten people standing. They were the ones that had cast off their bulky armor. The remaining ten were looking pretty beat up as well. Some of them had blood running down their faces or a broken arm dangling to the side.

Around them, the students all watched holding their breath. Not just to the eyes of the supporting audience, but the Undine knights truly had done considerably well against the much more experienced dragon knights.

“The other side looks like they are also on their last leg.”

Guiche said.

“Ah. This will most likely end with the next attack…”

Malicorne replied. Perhaps…the remaining Undine knights would not be able to withstand the next attack. Since the battle had been long, it was a matter of experience and ability. This fact had become clear to the remaining few.

Saito looked feverishly at his worn down friends. Although his body screamed here and there with pain, he was still feeling bright.

In fact, he couldn’t help having fun.

“Ha…ha…, I can’t believe I’m saying this at a time like now.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t help but find this fun.”

Hearing this, Guiche laughed loudly. Malicorne also laughed. So did Reynal and the rest of the remain boys.

“They’re coming.”

The commander ordering the dragon knights to line-up, they all charged forward.

Guiche waved his wand and commanded in a loud voice.

“Gentlemen! Advance forward!”

Using all of their last strength, the Undine knights dashed forward.

At that moment…

Between the two squadrons, a small ball of light formed.

“Wha?”

As soon as they all noticed it, the light swelled up into a large ball…and exploded.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Higiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”

The flash of light blew away both sides as it gradually brought an end to the battle.

The ground on that spot was smoldering. Plowing her way through the audience of students, a pink-haired girl suddenly appeared. Although it was only a little girl, the aura wrapped around her spoke differently.

The veteran dragon knights and the courageous, high-spirited Undine knights were both sprawled on the ground in a daze as they stared at the girl slowly walking to them. To both of the squads, it was as if a dragon had blown away their fighting spirit.

It had been due to this one girl, that the battle had abruptly ended.

One of the dragon knights staggeringly got up.

“What the hell are you!?”

He shouted.

He only shot himself in the foot for that. The pink-haired girl waved her wand, and an explosion popped right in front of his eyes, blowing him away.

“…You’re noisy.”

Including Saito, the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit shouted.

“Louise!”

“You guys are really noisy, you understand? I’m losing sleep here. When I finally think I’ve fallen asleep, all I hear is boom, boom, boom, boom…”

With Louise’s own words, she was gradually getting more and more irritated.

“If it’s bb-booming you want… Do your ff-fireworks ss-somewhere else…cc-cause it’s keeping me up.”

Louise was clearly biting down on her lips and starting to fiercely tremble with anger. The anger was building up to the point where her body was spasming. An aura of anger floated all around her. The students got really scared. The dragon knights also got really scared. The wind dragons around them also got scared. Louise was really pissed.

“I can’t sleep at all!”

After Louise screamed out, she then began chanting another spell. The Undine knights and dragon knights had both tried to escape in the meantime, but they were not able to make it in time.

Bringing down the wand like before, another bright ball of light formed…and with that the sound of another ear-deafening explosion rang in the ears of all the on-lookers.

After the dust from the explosion settled, the on-looking students that had witnessed Louise’s “Explosion” spell saw that all of the members of both squads had been cleared from the field and had lost consciousness.

The students that had been in the middle of the explosion looked dazedly at Louise who was still standing there half-asleep.

“Louise’s explosion has gotten pretty strong…”

“It has totally become a weapon.”

As to the students who didn’t know “Void” existed, they simultaneously let out their impressions. In no way did they suspect that a legend was unveiling so close at hand.

Beatrice, who had been watching outside of the explosion radius, trembled as she approached the negligee clad Louise standing around. Even still, she tried her best to maintain her pride as she called out.

“Y-You! What is the meaning of this?!”

“Huh? Who are you?”

Louise scratched her shoulder with her wand as she asked in a lazy voice. Beatrice answered with a tone implying that ‘you better listen.’

“I am Beatrice Yvonne von Guldenhorf! The Guldenhorf family that is connected to the Tristanian royal family and owner of a respectable, independent country! I will definitely report this rudeness to her Majesty Queen Henrietta!”

“Guldenhorf? That Germanian born, money grubbing clan is what you are muttering about in your sleep? You say you are going to report what to her Majesty? Don’t make me laugh. I’m telling you that I am in a really foul mood right now. If you keep griping, I’m going to crush that crappy family of yours.”

At Louise’s words, Beatrice’s face got completely red. [[Image:ZnT12-127.jpg|thumb]]

“Wha, wha, money-grubbers, you sayyyyy!”

“You bring up your family’s name so readily, which makes you one, right?”

“I haven’t heard your name yet! Tell me now!”

“Louise de La Vallière.”

Beatrice’s eyes opened wide.

“La Vallière? As in the Duke La Vallière?”

“Is there any other Vallière out there?”

Beatrice was shakedly biting her lip. The words she was told as she left her home popped up. Her father had told her that there were three opponents that they could not go against in Tristain.

One was the Tristain royal family.

Another was Cardinal Mazarin.

And the last one was the family prided with the greatest social status in the history of Tristain, the La Vallières. Other than those three, it was ok to pick a fight with anyone else, her father said.

But the blood had rushed up Beatrice’s head. Who the hell are the La Vallières? Her family also had duke status. History and social status aside, her family had more property and land hands down.

Furthermore, she was also holding a trump card.

Beatrice crossed her arms, continuing to call on her bluff.

“La Vallière-sempai. Do you realize what I am doing now? A heresy inquiry, got that? I was just now in the middle of that inquiry. Because you ruined the ceremony, shall I also consider you in cahoots with that group of heretics? The duke having a heretic for a daughter! What kind of scandal would that be!

But Louise was not affected at all.

“Heresy inquiry? Do you have permission from a bishop?”

Beatrice paled. She didn’t have such a thing. The qualification that her family supposedly had when she had told Tiffania was actually a blatant lie. She had thought that Tristainian nobles would not question the matter, but Louise was sharp.

“Uhhh, it’s at my family’s place!”

Louise’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re lying about having one.”

“Eh? It’s not a lie! I don’t know what you are saying…”

“To perform a heresy inquiry, not only do you need permission from a bishop, but you also need an approval form from the church of Romalia. Why is it that you don’t know of this?”

At Louise’s words, the surrounding students looked at the situation differently. With the cries of ‘heresy inquiry,’ many of them had blanked out, but what Louise said was definitely true. Most of Beatrice’s statements were far too suspicious.

“Oi! Beatrice! Using the Founder’s name to torment a girl you don’t like, is that how nobles do things!?”

“For impersonating a bishop of Tristain, you will get burnt at the stake, you know!”
The students sidled up to Beatrice. They were by nature highly-prided nobles of Tristania. Having her prided dragon knights blown away, the now defenseless Beatrice was being cornered.

Beatrice was trembling as she dropped to her knees. Her trusted Luftpanzer Ritter couldn’t be reached. It was a dire situation for her.

It wouldn’t have been strange if she were to be hung from this atmosphere, but a golden-haired fairy scurried her way to Beatrice.

It was Tiffania.

One of the students called out to Tiffania.

“Miss Westwood. You have the right to judge this girl. Deal with her as you see fit.”

Tiffania walked right up to Beatrice. With a moan, Beatrice turned away while still on the ground. Behind her, the students formed a wall, blocking her retreat.

Biting her lip, Tiffania looked down at Beatrice. Then, as if she knew what to do, she looked up.

The blood drained from Beatrice’s face. Preparing for the worst, Beatrice shut her eyes.

Everyone present was waiting for Tiffania’s judgement. That would be the price Beatrice would have to pay. Normally for this kind of situation, Beatrice would not complain even if she were killed…

However, Tiffania’s next words were out of everyone’s expectations.

Tiffania had taken the hand of the kneeled down Beatrice.

“L-Let’s be friends.”

She said.

All the students there were speechless. Such an unexpected event was anti-climatic.

“Miss Westwood? You have the right to judge this girl, you know?”

One very shocked student said to Tiffania. They thought that there was something strange about her head. But, Tiffania shook her head.

“This is an academy, right? It’s strange to judge someone at a place of learning.”

“But…but still! No matter how you think of it still!”

“Also, I…came here to make friends, not to make enemies.”

Tiffania said with a determined look.

With those words, no one could say anything further. What broke the silence was the sound of Beatrice crying,

“Hi…hick. Hick.”

With the string of fear and anxiety cut, the moment Beatrice knew she was safe, tears spilled from her eyes. As if she were a child saved by a hair from falling off the edge of a cliff, Beatrice cried,

“Uu, uuu, uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunn.”

Only the sound of her defenseless crying rang across the now empty field. Turning towards her crying voice, the students scratched their heads. It was only the selfishness of a child after all, so they lost the will to further denounce her.

“Is it over?”

Squeezing through the wall of students, the headmaster, Old Osman, appeared. Old Osman rubbed his beard as he grinned.

Then, in front of just about all the students, he placed a hand on Tiffania’s shoulder and informed everyone.

“Ah. Just now this girl said that she would stake her life to learn here. There is a lot to learn from these words. Do you understand, everyone? Originally, the will to learn is not a matter of life or death. Sometimes though, sticking to one’s own beliefs will turn the world into your enemy…don’t forget that.”

The students had a look on their faces wondering just why Old Osman chose this time to come out, but they just nodded for now. Content with the nods, Old Osman continued,

“However, taking matters to the extreme every time is stifling. While a fight here or there is expected, when someone dies, it’s too late. Furthermore, it becomes very bothersome, so I would like for this bickering to end now. This girl is under my guardianship, understand? In addition to that, Miss Tiffania is a guest entrusted to me by her Majesty the Queen. From now on, if there are students that wish to insult this girl’s lineage, be prepared to make enemies with the monarchy, understand?”

Entrusted to him by her Majesty the Queen?

The students all became nervous at once. This transfer student who had elf blood was a person connected to her Majesty the Queen.

From these words, they came to the realization that even though it was rather peculiar, instead of being something feared, they felt that her elf blood could even be something most admirable.

On top of that, the students, for the most part, had never seen a descendant of an elf. Because of Old Osman’s statement, they became more curious than afraid. Soon, they were favoring her dazzling appearance, disregarding the ill-feelings for man’s supposed mortal enemy.

The students approached Tiffania, requesting to shake her hand.

“Pleasure to meet you. This is the first time I’ve met an elf, but you are quite pretty.”

“I had imagined that elves were something along the line of orcs.”

“You had such an earnest composition that thought only of how to look ahead. It makes you seem nobler than us human nobles.”

With a moved expression on her face, Tiffania shook hands with each person one by one. Looking at such a scene with satisfaction, Old Osman looked around and said.

“Well, now that you have made up, please transport the injured to the infirmary and clean up this area. It looks like a storm blew through here.”

The students face-faulted, and then proceeded to transport the all but forgotten Undine knights and dragon knights.

Old Osman nodded at this scene and turned towards Tiffania beside him,

“I apologize for helping you so late. If I had helped you normally, it would have been hard for you to make true friends. Especially since it’s you, a person descent from an elf.”

The shy Tiffania hung her head with an expression that implied, ‘not at all…’

Old Osman coughed as if clearing his throat, and then put on a serious face.

“Well then…one last thing. There is something that I want to ask you.”

“Yes?”

With an uncertain look, Tiffania tilted her head.

“It is a question of utmost importance. Understanding this is a matter of life and death… This is a question that I ask with all of my being, so properly answer me.”

“Ok.”

With a serious look, Tiffania nodded.

Old Osman pointed nobly.

Right at, for the lack of better description, Tiffania’s huge chest…

There wasn’t even a speck of hesitation. Even giving off a dignified, calm aura, Old Osman gave his question.

“Are those real?”

Tiffania’s face was completely dyed red. Since it had seemed to be such a serious question, Tiffania couldn’t help but answer it, yet weakly.

“…Yes. They are.”

Old Osman put his hand to his ear and got closer to her face.

“More clearly, please. Say it such that this old man can hear you. Being this old… well, my hearing is going.”

Tiffania’s face got even redder. Drooping her head, she bit her lip.

“Th-They are real!”

“O-Once more.”

Old Osman mumbled with a slightly flushed cheek. Mrs. Chevreuse, who approached them, gave Old Osman’s stomach a taste of her fist.

‘Guh!’ went Old Osman as he rolled his eyes back. With a teacher each lifting the unconscious, old headmaster by an arm, they dragged him away.

For the moment, Tiffania was still looking down with her face deep red. As the wind blew around the field, as if beckoning her, she lifted her head up.

The wide field stretched on endlessly. Looking back, many fine towers were seen, giving the location of the Academy of Magic. This was the place she would study for the next three years.

Tiffania touched her ears. They were the proof that her mother’s blood ran through her body. These long ears…

Somehow feeling really bright, a smile floated on Tiffania’s face.

The infirmary of the Academy of Magic was built on floors 3 through 6 of the Water Tower. On the fourth floor were the Luftpanzer Ritter members laying in bed side by side, while the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit were on the third floor beds.

Saito woke up from the voices of some girls.

“Guiche-sama! Will you allow me to change your bandages?”

“Nooooo! I’m in charge of taking care of Reynal-sama! Please let me take your glasses.”

‘Huh?’ Saito thought as he shifted the curtain to look. In the adjacent beds, Guiche, Reynal, and the rest of the Undine knights were being doted on by the ladies.

The reddish-brown haired Katie appeared and called out to the rest of the girls.

“You girls, the assistant commander over there is in need of care!”

Saito’s heart skipped, but the next statement made him depressed.

“Ehhhh, but Saito-sama was kind of pathetic. I was completely disillusioned.”

“That’s right. When he suddenly begged, I was really disappointed. The thing about him stopping an army of 70,000 must have been some kind of misunderstanding.”

“Yeah. Looking closely, he seemed rather weak…”

In any case, because he begged in front of Beatrice, it seems that Saito’s popularity had hit rock bottom. On the other hand, Guiche and the others that fought bravely went up in popularity. ‘Honestly, what a simple bunch of people,” Saito thought.

Turning his eyes in the other direction, a completely wrapped up Malicorne was there with his index finger pointed right at Saito.

“Friend.”

Malicorne muttered happily. Apparently, the only presence around Malicorne was that of a cuckoo-ing clock. It was kind of sad that both of them were like this, but there was a slight warmth in his chest.

There was not really any deep meaning to it, but Malicorne’s simple utterance of ‘friend’ strangely made him happy.

Also, they had helped him by standing against the feared Luftpanzer Ritter squad. Although there was the simple reason that ‘everyone was watching,’ it wasn’t just that.

Ahh, at that time…, when Guiche asked him ‘what he would do if stayed in this world?’ he noticed that the strange pang in his heart was the same as it was now.

Basically…they had become his friends.

Friends that he laughed with together, talked with about dumb things, and stuck his neck out for…that kind of touching feeling. Abruptly, the curtain was drawn back, and the golden-haired fairy poked her face in.

“Saito.”

“Tiffa.”

“I’m glad…it didn’t become too serious.”

Saying that with a relieved face, Tiffania sat on the bed.

“Thank you.”

Being thanked by such a beautiful girl like Tiffania made Saito blush awkwardly.

“No, I’m not the one you should be thanking. You should say that to Guiche or Malicorne over there. If they hadn’t got rough…”

“No, of course I am very grateful for that, so I plan to thank them properly later. But first, I wanted to thank Saito.”

“Why?”

“Because, Saito, you begged for my sake, didn’t you? Even though Saito had done nothing wrong… That was something very difficult. You know, that made me very happy.”

“Th-That’s a given! It’s because we’re friends.”

Tiffania was smiling widely, a smile that was gentle and warm like basking in the rays of the summer sun.

“But Tiffa, you surprised me.”

“I did?”

“Yeah. I mean, you suddenly gave away your secret.”

Then, Tiffania said shyly,

“Saito, you told me, right?”

“I did?”

“Yes. Saito, didn’t you tell me at Westwood Village? ‘To have more confidence.’ I remember those words. And when I do, I think about how embarrassing it was to hide the truth about the blood running through my body…”

‘I see,’ Saito mouthed. Recalling that, he had casually said those words. But Tiffania had treated his casual statement as something dear to her.

“But I still do not have enough confidence.”

Tiffania muttered, looking a little lonely.

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Saito said surprised as Tiffania lowered her voice. Her cheeks were flushed as she timidly stared.

“There are still many things that seem strange.”

“Like what?”

Tiffania bit her lip as she pointed to her own chest. The material of her academy uniform top was stretched to its limit. Two humongous melons were pressing against the top button, which looked like it would pop off any moment. Ahh, Tiffania’s chest was truly frightening. Instinctively, Saito clamped a hand on his nose so that he would not lose any more blood, thereby endangering his life.

Certainly if one had a chest like that, it would be easy to monopolize the popularity of her class… As he wondered what she was thinking, Tiffania started talking in a sad tone.

“Just now, Old Osman had asked me, ‘Are those real?’ I must be strange after all. I mean, there is no one else in the academy with breasts like these.”

Saito panicked.

“Th-That’s…”

“Do these things seem that unreal?”

As Tiffania asked with worry on her face, Saito shook his head fiercely.

“N-No. I think they’re real…I mean, they look real. Yep, real.”

“Saito is a friend, so you’re just saying that.”

“No, not at all.”

Tiffania was still worrying for the moment, but then she looked like she decided on something. She grabbed Saito’s hand tightly.

“I think that there is certainly some reason as to why they don’t seem real. So can you check them a little for me?”

Saito didn’t really understand, as he replied with a ‘Huh?’

“I can only rely on a friend about this. So please, Saito.”

“Wh-What do you mean?”

In a faint voice, Tiffania muttered,

“…ch them and check.”

“Wha?”

Taking a deep breath, Tiffania said seriously,

“Touch them and check.”

Although Saito fully understood what she said, there was a pause. At the moment he understood, feelings of joy, confusion, and fear attacked him all at once, leaving him on the verge of tears. No, he was indeed in tears. As the tears flowed, he was left not knowing what to do next.

“Miss Tiffania?”

“You know? Because I was thinking that there was a reason that they didn’t seem real, I thought about asking you in this way. Since I don’t understand it myself, I was hoping you could check and tell me.”

“I-I can touch them?”

Tiffania nodded quickly looking embarrassed.

The Tiffania that would allow this simply because they were friends was dazzling. From the bottom of his heart, Saito was glad that he was alive. After all his patience and hard work, God had finally awarded him in this manner. If there was a god that threw him into a pit, another god was there to lift him out of it.

Saito’s whole body was trembling…trembling with excitement.

“W-Well, rather than anyone else, it’s better for me to check. Or rather, if it wasn’t me that was here…”

“I-I think so too.”

As if Tiffania had readied herself, she stuck out her chest. Having never seen any this big before, the superbly humongous melons were right in front of him. Saito raised his hands up, slowly reaching forward. His fingers touched her shirt. Then, he was not able to go any further… If he continued, he thought he would die. Tiffania moved a bit.

Gunyo…

The palms of his hands squished the melons.

They were soft, but firm. Due to the nervousness and joy he felt, the palms of his hands got numb, so Saito couldn’t fully enjoy the feeling. But this was enough. If he were to enjoy this feeling fully, Saito would most likely drop dead from shock.

“…H-How is it? Is there something strange?”

“I don’t know. In any case, I’m about to die.”

Saito’s prediction had hit the mark.

As he replied straightforwardly, the curtain was pulled back.

Turning his eyes in that direction, Saito saw Louise and Siesta standing there. Louise had changed into her academy uniform. Siesta was in her usual maid outfit.

Seeing Saito groping Tiffania’s melons with both of his hands, the two of them continued to stare with a blank expression. Louise then called out to the infirmary nurse.

“I would like permission to move the patient on this bed.” [[Image:ZnT12-143.jpg|thumb]]

Siesta then said to Louise in a slightly shaken voice.

“He needs treatment. What do you say, Miss Vallière?”

Louise replied with a tone that oozed with malice from her very core,

“There’s too much to deal with...I can’t begin to count them. For now, we’ll start with his…”

“Life.”

Both of their faces were stiff as the same word left their mouths.

Saito’s body ached in pain as he used the last of his energy to forcefully spring out of bed. As he jumped through the window next to the pillow, shattering the glass, he suddenly realized that he was on the third floor.

Due to the sound of glass breaking, the screams of the people in the infirmary resounded.

Although it was the third floor and he was heavily injured, Saito decided that it was much safer than staying in that room.

He thought this as he watched the ground quickly getting closer.

If he only broke a bone…

If he were to miraculously be able to greet tomorrow…

‘Tiffania, we just need to find a way to hide your ‘miracle’ (her chest), like finding a loose enough shirt for you to wear.’ This was what Saito thought about telling her.

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| [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume12_Chapter3|Back to Chapter 3]]
| [[Zero_no_Tsukaima|Return to Main Page]]
| [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume12_Chapter5|Forward to Chapter 5]]
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</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume12 Story1 Chapter3

2011-01-26T16:13:55Z

Error: /* Chapter 3 */

====Chapter 3====

The first class of the next day, the Suen class of first year students began lessons about the earth element.

The teacher of this class was Mrs. Chevreuse.

Known also as ‘Chevreuse the Red Clay,’ she unfolded a list of names to take attendance.

“Miss Westwood.”

Tiffania’s name was called.

Yet, there was no reply.

“Miss Westwood?”

The name was repeated, but the result was the same. Looking around the classroom, Tiffania’s trademark hat could not be seen anywhere.

“Miss Westwood seems to be absent…does anyone know the reason for this?”

No one in the classroom answered.

Sitting in the back row were Beatrice and her followers with spiteful grins plastered on their face as they watched Mrs. Chevreuse look around the room.

“Your Highness. It seems that that girl isn’t around today.”

“Instead of a hat, perhaps she is busy preparing a mask for herself?”

Giggles spread across Beatrice’s group at her wisecrack.

“Doesn’t anyone here know the reason for Miss Westwood’s absence?”

Going back to the original question, it still remained unanswered.

Mrs. Chevreuse shrugged her shoulders with a troubled look. Just arriving from Albion, was the missing student suffering from anxiety? It would appear that she had yet to make friends whom she could turn to. Because of a lack of exposure to society, her character must have made it hard for her to make friends. Mrs. Chevreuse decided to pay her a visit after class, but for now, the lesson would have to continue.

“Well everyone, let’s start where we left off last week on the topic of ‘alchemy’. Last week, we looked at synthesizing brass…”

At that moment, the door opened with a creak. The gaze of the entire room fell upon the girl standing there. It was Tiffania.

“What’s with that appearance?”

One of Beatrice’s followers remarked.

Tiffania’s appearance was certainly strange.

Instead of her normal academy uniform, Tiffania was enveloped with a tan-colored robe with long flowing sleeves. This particular design was rarely seen in Halkeginia. With her face shrouded by a hood, Tiffania hesitantly creeped into the classroom.

“Miss Westwood. You are late.”

Tiffania clasped her fist over her chest in order to gain some courage.

“What happened to your uniform? Take off that ridiculous robe. Now is not the time for a costume party.”

“Replacing that hat of yours with a strange robe? You look like a some kind of fool!”

Lisette chimed in. The girls that held ill feelings for Tiffania all laughed.

Amidst the laughter, Tiffania’s face peeked out from underneath the hood.

“Th-This is not the robe of some fool! This was my mother’s robe!”

The class was taken aback by Tiffania’s outburst.

Mrs. Chevreuse edged closer as she inspected Tiffania’s robe.

“It is a strange design indeed…the sewing method looks like that of the desert inhabitants and…hm? Hmm? Ah! Th-This is!”

Mrs. Chevreuse trembled slightly.

“This can’t be? Your mother was a…, if I’m correct, an e-e-el…”

Understanding Mrs. Chevreuse’s next words, Tiffania removed the hold covering her head.

Seeing her long ears appear from underneath the hood, the class got into an uproar.

“Elf!”

The students fell into a panic. Meanwhile, the students closer to the front moved away from Tiffania. Mrs. Chevreuse’s legs gave out as she dropped to the floor. Waddling away towards the wall, her large body weighed her down such that she hardly got anywhere.

Tiffania approached Mrs. Chevreuse as she was frantically crawling away on all fours.

“Ah! H-Help!”

“I-I won’t do anything to you! Please calm down!”

Tiffania told her with an assertive face. The sunlight beaming from the window illuminated Tiffania’s dazzling face. Her golden hair sparkled making her appearance shine with beauty like that of a fairy. Like a religious painting from ancient times, her divine appearance had struck the hearts of the students for a moment. But then, her long ears invoked fear as the scared faces returned.

“Everyone, please don’t be scared and listen to me. As you can see, I have the blood of an elf running through me. But I don’t have the slightest intention of causing harm to anyone! Rather, I left the forests of Albion so that I could learn here with everyone!”

“Don’t take us as fools!”

Lisette shouted. Many students nodded in agreement.

The boys in the class at this point were caught between worshipping and fearing Tiffania. These mixed feelings confused them such that they didn’t know what to do. Mrs. Chevreuse was still trembling.

Beatrice abruptly stood up.

Her face was trembling with anger.

“Everyone! Don’t let her fool you! Halkeginia has had a long history of dispute with elves! No matter what situation, her kind has been our sworn enemy!”

Drawing a deep breath, Tiffania shouted with a shaky voice.

“It’s true that Halkeginians have opposed the elves! My body flows with the blood of my mother who was an elf and my father who was a human, both of whom I loved!”

“What, you’re a half-elf? The daughter of a human who sold their soul to an elf? That kind of person is worse than any elf!”

Tiffania’s face paled, and then she started trembling. Never in her life had she held such strong anger before.

“Don’t insult my father!”

At that point, something happened.

Breaking through the classroom windows, around ten knights flew in from outside. The class was once again enveloped with screams. Faced with so many happenings, Mrs. Chevreuse finally passed out.

The knights were equipped with bulky, shining blue armor. Even in the military it was rare to see mages wearing armor. There was only one exception to this rule…

Seeing the shining breastplate and the crest of the yellow dragon, one boy in the class shouted.

“The aerial armored brigade ‘Luftpanzer Ritter’!”

Seeing that Halkeginia’s strongest brigade was here, the students gave a cheer.

One knight, assumed to be the commander, got in between Tiffania and Beatrice, as if to protect the latter. Pulling out a short, military-type wand from his side, he pointed it towards the surprised half-elf.

“Do not come any closer to her Highness.”

The rest of the brigade, with the appearance of being trained from head to toe, shuffled quickly to surround Tiffania.

Tiffania was hugging both of her arms to her chest, trembling slightly.

“It is better for you not to move. I wouldn’t want to have to cut those cursed ears off your head. I know that you elves can use ‘ancient’ magic. Even without a wand, they are able to cast that evil magic!”

“I-I don’t know how to use ‘ancient’ magic. I’m telling the truth. Also, ‘ancient’ magic is not evil. My mother told me so. Every magic is the same. Depending on the person’s intentions, magic can be used for good or evil.”

“Shut up! No one is going to be believe your delusions.”

“But, I…want to get along with everyone! It may be hard to believe me, but…”

“Ha. If you say that you ‘want to get along with everyone’ and prove that you aren’t a vile desert dweller, then you should believe in the same god as us, right?

Like that would really happen. Beatrice questioned with a very smug look on her face.

“When I was on Albion, there was an alter that I offer my blessings to every week. My mother did so as well. I don’t know whether she strongly believed in that religion though. For the sake of getting along with everyone, I am willing to convert.”

“Well then, you are going to need to provide some proof.”

“Proof?”

Beatrice’s face flashed as if saying, ‘this was her chance.’

“Like, like—Ah! Let’s have a heresy inquiry! I will represent the ancestor of Founder Brimir. For the day of the baptism, I will bear the role as a bishop from the Guldenholf religious sect. The validity of the ceremony will be enough with that.

‘Heresy inquiry.’

At those words, a clamor started in the classroom.

At around the same time…

Saito was in the third-year class with his elbows on the desk thinking about what to do next. Louise was not around him. Because she said that she felt a little unwell, Louise was absent from class.

Saito was, however, not concerned about Louise’s condition, but rather that of Tiffania’s.

He was only worried about whether she was being bullied right now. He thought about some gossip he heard from a girl a while back.

It was about a skill so called ‘wringing out your tea napkin.’

What that really meant was for a pretty girl to lift up her skirt tail, so that she can entice her prey.

Th-The image was not good…if Tiffania were to do that to me, I would…, Saito thought. Saito held his nose. This image naturally made blood trickle out his nose.

Crash! From a classroom on a lower level, the sound of glass breaking could be heard at that moment. The classroom got noisy.

‘What was going on?’ thought many of the students as they approached the window. Many wind dragons, equipped with breastplates and helmets, were hovering outside.

“That is Miss Guidenholf’s dragon knight squad isn’t it?”

One of the students said. Apparently, it was the dragons that were stationed in the field outside of the academy that Saito saw the other day. They had the same flags as seen on the tents, and the crests on their shining armor was the same.

Looking down, many knights were seen riding the dragons out of the window. Seeing that one of the knights was holding Tiffania, Saito’s eyes got wide.

“Tiffa!”

The dragons flapped their wings towards the direction of the tents. Saito chased after them. Growing tired of the dull class, the students also joined in the chase. They all seemed to value a good show over that of any food or drink.

Tiffania was thrown down harshly in front of the tents outside of the academy. The knights formed a circle around her, pointing their wands.

“…What do you plan to do with me?”

With a scared face, Tiffania looked around her. The scary looking knights clad in blue armor were all around her. Around the knights were even scarier looking wind dragons that were roaring threateningly. The situation was enough to make any normal person faint.

There was nothing that could be done in this situation.

Even casting her ‘Oblivion’ spell would not work, due to being restrained by the knights. If she were to risk casting a spell, she would most likely be on the receiving end of a volley of magic.

Tiffania cursed her own carelessness.

She should not have revealed her true identity after all. She had greatly underestimated this level of treatment. Meeting Saito and his friends and they not becoming scared at the elfin blood in her, she had carelessly expected that other people of Tristania would be the same.

However, that was a misconception. Tiffania realized that elves were feared and hated by the people of Halkeginia.

The image of her mother’s death, just for being an elf, floated in the back of her mind.

Wanting to see the outside world, how foolish of a thought was that!

The image of these knights surrounding her now overlapped with memories of that day in the mansion at Saxe-Gotha, where her mother was killed by mages.

Was she also going to be killed like her mother simply for being an elf?

Tiffania trembled. The trembling got worse and wouldn’t stop.

Breaking through the circle of knights, Beatrice appeared. While playing with her locks of hair, Beatrice questioned Tiffania with an amused tone,

“Do you know what a heresy inquiry is?”

Tiffania nodded shakily through her trembling.

“You said that you would ‘believe in Founder Brimir.’ You, with the blood of an elf, say that you would believe, believe in the god of the people of Halkeginia. That’s why we will need proof. To prove that you are not a ‘heretic’, you will have to show that in front of the ancestors and agents of the church. That is what the ‘heretic inquiry’ is.”

Tiffania noticed the look in Beatrice’s eyes.

Even if she were an elf, there was no reason to torment her this much.

It was because she didn’t like her that she was tormenting her.

After all, those eyes did not hold any hatred. Those knights that killed her mother because ‘she was an elf’ had an unforgettable fire of hatred in their eyes.

However, the glow in Beatrice’s eyes was that of amusement.

Having found a reason to torment Tiffania, Beatrice was having fun.

Instead of being afraid, Tiffania was now enveloped with anger. With a firm look, Tiffania glared up at Beatrice.

“…What an unfortunate person.”

“What did you say?”

“If everything doesn’t go your way, you aren’t satisfied. You act like a child.”

Beatrice’s face flushed red.

A dry sound rang through the air.

Beatrice had slapped Tiffania’s cheek.

“Well then, let’s begin. You are going to have to get in a pot of hot water. If you are truly a servant of Founder Brimir, then the water will feel just right to you. However, if you are a detestable non-believer, your body may end up roasted.”

One knight giving a signal, a large pot, that appeared to be used for cooking food, was brought over from a nearby tent and placed onto the fire. Using strong flame magic, the water inside the pot was quickly brought to a boil.

Of course, there was no way anyone could survive being in that boiling water regardless of being a believer or non-believer. This ‘heresy inquiry’ was simply another way for the church to carry out their executions.

At that time, the students who had followed after the earlier commotion had arrived. Not fearing the dragon knights, the students formed a large circle around Beatrice and them, glaring at them.

Having gathered an audience, Beatrice shouted with pride.

“In the name of the Guldenhorf family, the heresy inquiry will now commence! To all the devout followers of Founder Brimir, please witness this trial!”

‘Heresy inquiry!?’ many students murmured.

Breaking through the circle of students, a boy trembling with anger flew in.

It was Saito.

“What the heck are you doing, you guys!”

For a moment, Tiffania’s face brightened, but it soon returned to gloominess.

“Heresy inquiry.”

“I don’t know about heresy or what not, but let Tiffa go! Do you understand what you are doing?”

Saito stepped towards Tiffania, but was soon restrained from behind.

Looking around, the one holding Saito back was Malicorne. Behind him was Guiche, Reynal and the rest of the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit.

“What the hell are you doing!?”

“Stop it, Saito.”

“Stop what!”

“Doing this will put you in a really bad spot.”

Saito looked over to Guiche for support.

“What? You… just because your family borrowed money, you’re going to overlook this?”

“No…that’s not true.”

Guiche said with a serious face.

“Then, you’re afraid of those dragon knights? How despicable!”

“Do you really understand? It’s a heresy inquiry!”

Malicorne had suddenly shouted seriously.

“What about it?! Those guys are all picking on Tiffa! How can I not save her?!”

“If we protect her, we will also be treated as heretics! You can’t even joke about something like that! Not only us, but our entire family will get sucked into it!”

Saito’s face paled at those words.

“Seriously?”

“It’s the truth.”

Guiche said in a low voice.

“…Damn it.”

Saito dropped to his knees and pounded the ground with a fist.

Glancing at Saito’s reaction, Beatrice smiled widely. She once again turned towards Tiffania.

“Miss Westwood. I envy you. You have even won over those Undine knights. I’m going to be merciful and offer you one chance. Leave right now, and go back to the countryside you belong. If you do that, I’ll forget about all of your rudeness.”

A moment of silence passed.

Everyone, from the gathered students to the Undine knights, had their attention on Tiffania. It was unmistakable what everyone was thinking.

Accept the chance.

However, Tiffania did not agree to this.

Tiffania lifted her head with confidence, saying to Beatrice.

“No. I will not leave.”

“…Wha!”

“Seeing the outside world has always been my wish. Due to Saito and his friends, that dream has been granted. That’s why I won’t return. If I were to go back because of a cowardly person like you, I would never be able to face them again.”

At Tiffania’s words, the surrounding students erupted in cheers.

They had been really surprised at her long ears, but somehow they couldn’t see Tiffania being a vile desert elf that should be feared.

At that earlier statement, some progress was being made!

On top of that, besides the boastful first-years who were hiding behind authority, there really were not many that had hostility towards Tiffania.

“Let her go!”

“That’s right! Let’s properly hear the situation from Old Osman!”

Being showered with these statements, Beatrice’s face twitched.

“Luftpanzer Ritter…! As you wished, I will start the inquiry!”

As the aerial brigade approached Tiffania, a hand stretched out.

At that moment, Saito had shaken free from Malicorne’s grasp and dove towards Tiffania. The aerial brigade quickly got in front of Beatrice, pointing their wands at Saito.

Again, cheers erupted from the students.

“Saito-sama! Beat up those lowly, dragon knights! After all, Saito-sama is the hero who stopped an army of 70,000!”

Saito was truly the man who stopped the advancing army of 70,000 during his side’s withdrawal at Albion.

Not only that.

Through rumors, he was also known to have many other accomplishments. Everyone had remembered when he, as a commoner, defeated Guiche in a duel. Saito would certainly be able to defeat this feared squadron by himself!

Everyone was expecting this outcome from Saito, who exploded with demonic rage.

However…Saito’s next action was completely different.

With both palms on the ground, he was bowing down all the way.

“Umm. Your Highness Guldenhorf. I beg you. I was the one who brought Tiffa. It is my responsibility, so please forgive her.”

“So you plan to oppose me?”

“Ha! I have no intention of opposing you! I’m just pleading to the devil. Just like this!”

With a pleasant smile, Saito bowed down deeply again.

“Even if I request like this, is it no good?”

“No.”

“Even with my head down?”

“You’re pestering me.”

Saito let out a quick, deep sigh. He should’ve been violent in the first place, he regretted. Saito reached for Derflinger on his back.

“Partner…too slow…”

‘That was completely reckless of me,’ Saito thought.

The wand welding knights reflexively let out a burst of magic. Saito had both arms pinned to the ground with ice arrows.

“Grr…”

“Hey, hey! What do you plan on doing with that sword? You fool!”

The surrounding students, all let out a sigh of disappointment. Hearing those sighs, Saito was at that moment quite occupied.

I couldn’t help it… If I got rough, then I would become a heretic, right?

If that happened, Guiche and the rest of the knights would be in trouble. Saito’s master, Louise, would be in the most trouble. That’s why he bowed down to them for now.

But, his arms hurt. First, he would need to stand up and somehow grip onto Derf. He would think about what to do after he dragged Tiffa away. While he was thinking about what his success rate would be, he drew some strength to his arm and…

Clank! Splash! The sound of the large pot flipping on its side could be heard.

As for the reason of the noise, a bronze valkyrie-shaped golem had overturned that large pot. The boiling water had washed over the fire, putting it out with a loud hiss.

A bronze valkyrie?

Struck dumb with astonishment, everyone turned their eyes toward Guiche. There stood a very nervous Guiche, trembling all over while still gripping his rose wand tightly.

“Guiche!”

All the students yelled at once.

“Mister Gramont, what is the meaning of this? Are you planning to oppose the Guldenhorf family?”

“No, well…”

“Well?”

“This hand just…moved on its own. Ha ha.”

Guiche smacked his hand loudly a few times.

“Don’t take me as a fool.”

“No, well…”

“Tell me clearly, already!”

Guiche let out a huge breath from the bottom of his heart. Then, he started mumbling incoherently.

“I’m at a loss… Even though it’s a heresy inquiry…ahhh, I’m at a loss. Even though my opponent is the Guldenhorf family…ahhh, ahhh, I’m at a loss. Not only that, but I would have liked to stay away from that aerial armored division…I’m done for… With such a large audience, I’m really done for. I couldn’t be satisfied if I didn’t do something cool. I’m an idiot. A big idiot.”

“Mister Gramont?”

Hearing his name being called, Guiche was gradually preparing for the worst.

When he was ready, his next actions went by quickly.

Guiche straightened his collar and stood up straight.

Bringing up a face bursting with energy, it was as if he just woke up now.

No matter what happened, Guiche was a noble of this world. He was a descendant of a military family who were trained with a mentality for giving and taking lives as an everyday incident.

“It shames me to ignore a lady and a friend. This heresy inquiry is a disgrace to my family’s honor. Because of this, it is clear that I have to settle this with my wand.”

There was no hesitation in his voice, as he pointed his imitation rose at the dragon knights, who were said to be the ‘strongest squad in Halkeginia.’

“Guiche, fourth son of the Gramont family, I respectfully accompany you.”

Seeing Guiche in such a manner, Malicorne shouted next to him.

“Gooooooo! Knights of the Water Spirit! Follow the Commander!”

All at once, the Undine knights had pulled out their wands. Truly, all of them were filled with confidence. Looking ready to fight, none of them carried fear on their faces.

Beatrice was shaking fiercely, her anger and frustration at its peak. With a loud cry, she gave her orders.

“Go, Luftpanzer Ritter!”

Clank! Loud sounds rang as the dragon knights stepped forward a step.

The largest knight then advanced forward first, pointing his wand at Guiche and the Undine knights. It seems that this dragon knight was the leader. In the opening of the face mask, a Kaiser-style mustache stretched across his stern face. The dragon knight opened his mouth, making his mustache shake.

“Students playing knights. You’re only going to get hurt.”

A smirk floated on Guiche’s face. It was not his usual smirk. It was an atrociously heartless smirk, like the time when he unforgivably tormented Saito when he first got here.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Well then, tell me where you would like to be pierced by my valkyries.”

Under the face mask, the knight’s face turned red in anger.

Chanting a spell, several ice arrows were sent towards Guiche, but the bronze valkyrie crossed its short spears, blocking the ice arrows from hitting Guiche.

Clang! The spear made a noise, as it bounced the arrows back.

Quickly, Malicorne chanted and let out a wind spell. Lost in anger, the leader of the aerial brigade was hit squarely with Malicorne’s ‘air hammer,’ which promptly made him taste the ground as he was blown away. Under the weight of the armor impacting the ground, it was wrung with dents.

The leader gave out a cry.

The rest of the aerial brigade roared as they began to cast one spell after another, creating a chorus of incantations.

The Knight Corps of the Water Spirit also unyieldingly unleashed their magic.

Amongst the chaos of enemies, allies, and onlookers, a splendid battle of magic had started.

If the Luftpanzer Ritter had been any normal brigade, the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit would have overwhelmed them already. That goes to show that there was quite an ability gap between the two sides, the Luftpanzer Ritter supporting their claim as Halkeginia’s strongest dragon knight squadron. In contrast to these veterans, as the dragon knight leader said, the Undine knights may as well be students ‘playing knights’ as they haven’t been around long enough to ‘grow hair on their chins.’

However, if the dragon knights had actually ridden their dragons, their true abilities would be shown. By riding their dragons, they could make full use of the defensive ability of their heavy armor, while on land their armor only became boulders chaining them down and hindering their movement. Yet, to use dragons against school children was demeaning to the pride of the Luftpanzer Ritter, so this land battle made for a large disadvantage for them. Overall, the dragon knights weren’t even able to pull out half of their normal strength.

Looking at the other side, the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit was full of fighting spirit. Having used the field of this current battle as their normal training ground also worked as a bonus for them, as being the ‘home team’ was a great advantage.

However, the best aid to them was something else…

“Guiche-sama! Keep going!”

“Malicorne-sama! Right! To the Right!”

It was the cheering from the on-looking students. Being in a situation where one’s girlfriend or girl that he secretly liked cheering him on, a man’s ability can become several times greater.

Combining all of these factors from both sides, the battle became fairly well matched.

Malicorne, who had blood trailing down his head, still kept a smile as he was blindly shooting blades of wind. Some of those blades managed to slip in between the crevices of the armor, slashing the legs of the dragon knights.

The usually calm Reynal was giving a beastly cry as he brandished his flame magic. The knights that were being roasted couldn’t bear it as they tossed and turned on the ground.

Guiche’s bronze valkyries were nimbly dancing around like the movements of Gandalfr as they speared into the slow-moving knights one after another.

Of course, the Undine knights were not without injury. Eventually, everyone on both sides began shouldering injuries as wounds and blood covered them.

One by one, members of each side fell down to the ground, unable to move. Quickly, the surrounding audience got into action, casting water spells to heal members of both sides.

As if possessed by the god of war, both sides continued the fierce battle with no end in sight. Whichever side’s troops fell, water magic would heal them, only for them to carelessly dive right back into battle.

It couldn’t be helped as both sides would not give in even an inch of their pride.

The audience comprised of nearly all students that accompanied them, the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit.

The protectors of their lord Beatrice, the Luftpanzer Ritter.

Saito, who had a very dark look on his face, lazily watched the seemingly endless battle between the two. Since both of his arms were injured, he couldn’t draw his sword, so he couldn’t join in the fight. Completely forgetting about Saito, no one cast any water magic on him. Even if his arms were somehow alright, he would still hesitate to dive into this dreadful battle because the area seemed to be engulfed in madness.

Not wanting to keep his eyes open, various magic spells whizzed above his head, hitting some unlucky noble who cried in pain. That cry was soon replaced by the sound of a roar from another person.

Besides the chanting of runes, there were cries of ‘There!’ ‘No, here!’ ‘Now you’ve really done it!’ ‘Idiot, that was an ally!’ ‘Firing from behind is cheating!’ “Shut up, you just popped in from the side!’ could be heard all around. Frankly speaking, the battle was a mess.

On top of that, fist fights began to occur here and there. With a demonic expression, Malicorne bit one knight on the head. At this, Saito got really sad.

One knight had finally noticed the inactively observing Saito and jumped over to him to fight without using magic. He had for some reason stopped his chanting.

Saito took a deep breath and vigorously made a fist with his injured arm. Although he was feeling quite tired, his fist flew out as he too joined the battlefield controlled by madness.

The battle continued for quite some time. While the commotion had already caused the teachers to gather around, none of them could do anything amongst the chaos. The teachers had informed Old Osman about the incident, but he only replied coldly to ‘leave them be…’

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| [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume12_Chapter2|Back to Chapter 2]]
| [[Zero_no_Tsukaima|Return to Main Page]]
| [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume12_Chapter4|Forward to Chapter 4]]
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</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume11 Chapter6

2011-01-26T13:18:27Z

Error: /* Chapter Six: Private Lesson */

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===Chapter Six: Private Lesson ===

Now, in the middle of the huge uproar, Saito managed to slip away and found himself in front of a library. The library was located in a tower. At the entrance, a librarian wearing glasses sat and checked the students and teachers who went in and out. Books were heavily guarded in there because they had the components of magic potions written in them, and couldn't be handed out to a simple commoner.

A young librarian girl glanced at Saito and confirmed his mantle, then returned to reading a book.

''Hm, knighthood is useful after all'' – thinking so, Saito entered the library.

“Wow. It’s amazing.”

The size of the library's bookcases was overwhelming.

Some were as much as thirty mails in height. It was an incredible height. Apparently, the library occupied the larger part of this tower. Anyways, facing such a huge amount of books, Saito hesitated.

It was somewhere around 8 PM. A whole eternity – thinking so, Saito took one book in his hands. The characters of Halkeginia’s alphabet were written there.

Though he stared at them for a while, he was not able to understand any of them.

“Dang, pretty tough…”

Saito came to look at the books in order to memorize what characters mean. ''There is a new enemy - the king of a large country. It is absurd to only swing a sword. Being a knight, one cannot just rely on talking, but needs to write as well'' - he thought.

“I wonder if they have a Japanese dictionary.”

Of course, there was no such thing.

But how could he talk?

When he asked Derflinger some time ago, he answered, ''“Though I do not understand it well, I guess it’s something you gain when you pass the gate to this world.”''

Well, seems like magic anyhow. And thanks to this magic, everyone can communicate by speech.

Flying and jumping, putting out fires, healing injuries, making strong love potions – considering all that, Saito was not surprised by such magic.

Possibly, it may be related to Louise's "Void."

Being in charge of Louise, he did not understand what the magic exactly was, but it was not hard to assume that there was some kind of translating magic as well.

''However, I want learn the characters in any case'' - Saito thought.

Wondering what to do, he turned his head, and at a distant table saw a familiar face.

“Tabitha.”

It was the girl with short blue hair. Since the rescue, they had hardly talked. She had that atmosphere of not being easy to talk to, then there was going to Louise's family, thus it was too hectic.

However, why, after leaving her mother in Germania, did she return to the Academy of Magic again? - Saito approached Tabitha and said.

“Yo.”

He thought he would be disregarded as usual, but this time it was different. Tabitha shut the book she was reading and looked up at Saito.

“Yes?”

Tabitha answered looking at Saito with round, puppy-like eyes. Saito was somewhat at a loss by such a surprising attitude.

“No, that…it’s not like it’s my business, but are you alright...?”

“I’m alright.”

“I-I see… Aah, I have something to say. Seems like Guiche, well, blurted out who you really are. You are a Gallian princess… r-right? That was stupid.”

Tabitha shook her head.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s the truth anyway.”

“I-I see. But didn’t you want to hide that? You were using a false name…”

“It does not matter now. I do not mind.”

Tabitha said as a matter-of-fact.

“Is your mother alright?”

To this question, Tabitha hesitated a little bit.

“Her mind is at peace in Germania.”

Whether it meant what it meant, he hesitated to ask any further. Surely, Tabitha’s thoughts were Tabitha’s after all.

Besides that, she was a reticent girl to start with, Saito thought the flood of questions would be pitiable. Even now it may still be impossible to answer.

“I see, understood. Sorry for disturbing your reading.”

He turned to leave while laughing.

“Do you read as well?”

She asked.

Because it was the first time that Tabitha asked about something, Saito was confused.

“Eh?”

He instinctively asked back.

“Did you also come to read?”

“Aah, it’s different, different. Far from reading, it would be difficult as I am not even able to read the letters of this world…”

“This world?”

When being asked back, Saito panicked.

Tabitha didn’t know he wasn’t a human from this world. It was Henrietta, Louise, Siesta, Cattleya, Tiffania, Osman and Colbert…who knew. That was pretty much it.

Even his colleagues from The Undine Knight Corps do not know.

“Hey, because I am a former commoner, I cannot read the characters. However, because I became a knight, I thought that I could learn a little. However…it is impossible after all. It’s just gobbledygook.”

Then, Tabitha abruptly stood up and left the book she was holding.

“Ah, oi.”

Though he called her to stop, Tabitha flew up to the high to the bookshelf using the spell. Not being able to fly and her being about twenty mails off the ground, Saito could not stop her.

And just when he started to think that they may disturb the readers and that he should get out of the library, Tabitha suddenly landed right in front of him.

“Uwaa!”

Tabitha abruptly thrust out the book to the surprised Saito.

“…eh?”

“If it’s this book - it should be easy.”

Apparently, this book was for learning the letters – just the book he was searching for. However, the really surprising thing was the usually indifferent to others Tabitha. He took it while thinking what on earth was the matter with Tabitha, when she said surprising words.

“I’ll teach the characters.”

“Yes?”

“If you just stare at the book you won’t learn anything.”

“No, well, that is right, however…is it alright? It would be pretty difficult I think. I'm not the brightest student.

“Don't care.”

Then Tabitha took Saito's hand and walked him over to sit at the table.

The characters of Halkeginia were a little bit different when looking at the alphabet. Slowly, Tabitha taught him the pronunciation of the characters.

“A, B, C.”

Though he heard the sounds somewhere, it was not possible to recall them well. Maybe it was because he only heard them.

Tabitha continued to point at each one of the characters, patiently teaching him the meaning.

But somehow, the words started to mysteriously turn into… "Prologue" and "August" and "I."

Once he heard them, they were converted to Japanese again.

Probably, Tabitha pronounced them in Halkeginian. However, when they reached his ears, they turned back into Japanese.

But, as Tabitha continued to teach the meaning of the words little by little, sentences that he had seen only as a random mess of characters up till now, slowly gained an understandable meaning just from his watching alone. As if they were translated inside his head.

[[Image:ZnT11-133.jpg|thumb]]

Once he got the hang of it, it started to run more smoothly.

And after one hour, he could already read basic sentences. So Saito, using an easy book as a textbook, was able to read out.

“What does it mean?”

Not changing her usual tone, Tabitha asked.

“Eh?”

Tabitha pointed at one sentence.

“Here, it’s written ‘No use crying over spilt milk.’ However, you read it as ‘An irreparable event happened.’”

“No, that’s just the way I read. Sorry, is it a bad thing?”

Tabitha shook her head.

“No. You are not wrong. Sentences like ‘No use crying over spilt milk’ are idiomatic expressions. Their meaning is certainly ‘An irreparable event happened.’”

Tabitha continued to speak.

“It's subtly different the way you read written sentences. But it is not wrong. It is often summarized instead, to give an expression adequate to the context. Entire sentences can be grasped by just a few words. Indeed, it is like dog or cat familiar being able to speak human language. However, the summary does not explain the reason. In such cases you cannot read like you did just now.”

Tabitha looked at Saito with clear blue eyes.

In these cold-looking eyes, Saito felt a faint glimmer of curiosity. ''Tabitha wanted to learn the truth. Of who I am…''

“…that’s how it is. No, I mean, what I am doing is not exactly ‘reading.’ The reason why I learn Tabitha’s thought's words…is because I understand the ‘meaning’ of the written thing directly.”

“Why?”

“I think it’s because I am not a human from this world. Maybe it’s because my words are different from Tabitha’s and others. In other words, a word is already directly translated in my head…maybe that’s why there are those subtle changes? Aah, that’s how it is!”

Unnoticed to Saito, he started to shout.

“For the book – it is translated in my head at once, just like the words of this world are translated after they leave my mouth.”

''Just like when sentences written in Japanese are translated to English. And when that English sentence is translated back to Japanese again, there are some subtle changes from the first sentence. That’s what happens when I read a book'' Saito thought.

Indeed, it must be so, yes, he realized, and then was asked by Tabitha.

“This world?”

“Damn!”

Because of such turn of events, Saito had to explain the circumstances to Tabitha. Since Tabitha was sharp, he couldn't hide it from her any longer.

“So… A person from a different world.”

Hearing Saito’s story, Tabitha narrowed her eyes a little.

“Do you believe me?”

“You do not tell a lie.”

Tabitha said, looking straight at Saito.

These words made Saito’s heart beat faster. Embarrassed for some reason, Saito turned his face away from her. Being looked like this by this small young girl, his heart throbbed and it was hard to meet her eyes staring straight at him.

“Do you want to return?”

“Eh?”

“To your home…to your mother, do you want to return?

“I want to return.”

Saito said.

“Then why…”

Do you not return? That’s what she was probably wondering.

Saito shook his head.

“It’s because I cannot find the way to return.”

“You just have to look for it.”

“I don’t have a clue.”

“You do not seem like you are looking for it.”

Tabitha said. Hearing that, Saito lowered his head.

“No…rather than not wanting to return, I cannot afford to leave.”

“What do you mean?”

“There is a fellow who is aiming for Louise's power…”

“Void?”

“You knew?”

“I understood when I saw it.”

Tabitha said calmly, leaving the other world issue behind. Indeed, it might have been useless to keep any secret from this girl who was extremely knowledgeable.

“Anyway, since I have someone to protect, I cannot leave the place. Besides…”

“Besides?”

“I was gifted with Gandálfr’s power. Having such power, I may be able to do something for this world…that’s another reason.”

Tabitha said with conviction. “It is unreasonable.”

“Eh?”

“Inside, you feel like you belong to this world’s people and you say what you feel."

Saito was shocked. Then Tabitha whispered silently,

“…you are a hero of this land.”

“What?”

It was so quiet that he could not hear it well. Tabitha lowered her eyes and shook her head.

“Nothing.”

After these two questions, silence settled in. Somehow, the atmosphere became awkward.

The librarian stuck her head into the reading room, and informed them that the library would soon be closing. Saito happily stood up.

“Thank you. You helped me a lot. Now I can study alone.”

Tabitha shook her head.

“I will supervise it till the end.”

“Eh?”

“There are difficult words. Runes too. It’s impossible to study alone.”

It might have been the way she said it. However, he thought that it would be bad to make her help him any further.

“No, I’d feel bad for hogging your reading time…”

“Don’t care.”

When Tabitha said so, she took yet another book out of the same bookshelf.

“Next textbook.”

“Now? Isn’t it already getting late?”

Showing no hesitation, Tabitha nodded.

After providing the hangout with food, Siesta and the others went back to clearing rooms and cleaning tables. When they returned and peeped into the hangout again, they could see drunken apprentice knights and students, but there was no Saito. So they never found out whether their dishes or the noble girls’ were more delicious.

''I wanted to ask Saito for his impression,'' thought Siesta while going back to her room.

“Miss Vallière?”

Siesta looked at the pink-haired girl who was Saito's master. No, the girl in there was…

“A bad imitation of Madam Butterfly?”

Louise walked towards Siesta with her hands crossed in front. For some reason she was swaying her hips with each step. Noticing Siesta, she let her arms drop to her sides - though she looked like the usual Louise, something was amiss.

“Who are you calling a bad imitation?”

“S-Sorry! But why are you dressed like that — is this some kind of costume party? But I haven't heard of one…”

“Why costume party?”

Louise stared intensely at Siesta.

“B-Because, for Miss Vallière to wear that…”

Shocked, Siesta looked at Louise's clothes. Usually Louise would wear a long, cute camisole.

Yet, what Louise wore today was a black babydoll.

Louise, with a composed expression on her face, sat down on the bed and crossed her legs.

“Hmph...”

“Ha—”

Siesta tried hard to suppress her laughter. Louise quickly stood up and took out the riding crop from the drawer behind Siesta.

“Tell me. What are you laughing for?”

“I'm n-not laughing at all!”

Louise, as if remembering something, moved away from Siesta.

“I should not. A mature woman wouldn’t be angered this easily.”

“For an adult, your chest pretty much still falls behind…”

Said Siesta pointing at the chest area of the babydoll. Louise’s cheek started to twitch.

But Louise shook her head and said:

“Breast size is unrelated to the charm of a lady. The important part is behavior, education, and…”

“And?”

“Atmosphere.”

She said lazily, curling her hair with her fingers.

''Hah, seems like someone convinced Louise to wear another strange outfit. Black cat, maid…and now a mature woman'' Siesta guessed.

“However, somehow I think it should be a much stronger atmosphere…”

After hearing what was said, Louise turned around.

“It is different. You are mistaken. Don't you know? Saito is crazy about me.”

“Eh, then you don’t think Saito is drawn towards the Queen? Do you know Saito so well? Can Miss Vallière reach his deepest feelings? I think it's a difficult thing to know.

Louise stopped triumphantly curling her hair.

“It’s stupid — I was chosen.”

“Eh.”

“The Princess said so herself. Right now, Saito sees only me. What a bother! For me, even though it’s love, it is…t-troublesome. Well, I feel sorry, so I go along with those feelings.”

Louise said with glee, striking a pose in front of the mirror. Siesta coldly watched Louise.

“You look awfully happy about that, though.”

“A-Anyway, I do not value it but I do not disregard it. But it would be hard to be valued when you don’t dress well. It’s not just big breasts and the empty head of the maid, it’s different here. How about that? Does it suit me?”

Calmly, Siesta said,

“Poorly.”

After a long silence, Louise took out her wand, and started poking Siesta with it.

“What was that? What was that? What was that?”

“Because! Miss Vallière’s body is far from an adult’s in every respect. So, only cute clothes suit her body!”

Then Louise stood up and turned her back towards Siesta.

“Sooner or later, the atmosphere will come out.”

“Come out?”

“Come out. It’s what I said. Mood is important.”

“B-Being an adult is nice but…as promised before, could you loan me something to wear for one day?”

“Something you like? I don’t mind.”

“Really? Is it alright?”

“It's alright. Can’t break a promise that’s made by a mature woman. I’ll diligently keep the promise.”

“If that's so, I'll take it then. I wonder what dress to wear. Hmm.“

“If you like, I can lend you any of these clothes.”

“Truly?!”

Then Siesta danced with joy and opened the closet.

“I can actually wear them, how about this dress? Hey, this!”

Louise had once worn it — it was a black dress. The neckline was pretty deep and it was sleeveless.

“You like something this plain? Hm, I have a lot that are similar to that one.”

Siesta gladly put on the black dress.

“Uwa…great! And this fabric stretches too.”

Siesta, wearing Louise's dress, struck a happy pose in front of the mirror.

“Uwaa, it shows the body lines well. No, it is perfect. Don’t say this dress is plain♪. Bit embarrassing though… This…”

While saying so, with a smirk on her face, Siesta bent over. Certainly, the black dress emphasized the wonderful chest of Siesta that threatened to burst out at any moment, and with each movement it sunk lower.

The white valley between her breasts, stretching the opening further, seemed to empathize her words.

Siesta displayed her arsenal to Louise.

“How about it? Do you get a mature atmosphere from this?”

“It is different. He likes tiny girls like me. Therefore, the Princess and you should not have false hopes.”

“Tsk, but he sure watches cleavage with a great interest.”

“Only because they are unnaturally big. Surely it’s just a biological curiosity. Alright? I do not need clothes to make a mature atmosphere. I, myself, am a small lady who has a mature atmosphere around her. Moreover, that’s why I am generously not getting angry. Yeah, because I am unrivaled.”

“Is that so?”

“It is so.”

Louise hit another pose while humming. Siesta, on the other hand, did not look convinced by Louise’s performance…and when she glanced over the window, she shouted,

“Saito!”

“Saito? The door is still closed.”

“Not there, outside the window!”

“Yes?”

Louise pushed her head out of the window.

“W-What’s the meaning of this!?”

It was Saito and Tabitha, who was leading him by the hand, walking together up the moonlit stairs to Tabitha’s room. In an instant, Louise dashed out of the room, stormed up the stairs, jumping two steps at once, and, with a loud ''Bam!'', tore Tabitha’s room’s door open.
　
The small, dark figure of Tabitha sat at her desk and Saito stood beside her. They both turned around at the same time.

“What, Louise? What’s the matter?”

Saito asked with a blank look on his face.

Louise was boiling with anger. However, she firmly held that anger down.

''Control yourself, control yourself.''

''A mature woman would not be getting angry. ''

''Besides, it's still not clear if he had an affair to begin with…''

Looking around the room, Louise started curling her hair.

“Um, you. What are you doing in here?”

“Well, learning the words.”

“Words?”

“Yep. Wouldn’t it be convenient to read the words of this world?”

It seemed like Saito was learning the words from Tabitha.

Louise’s cheek twitched. ''Why you couldn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you ask me if you wanted to learn how to read?''

However, Louise swallowed the pain.

''Today I am an adult. Today I am a lady. '

Louise touched the place of her palm where she had written "lady."

In her mind, the mature Louise calmed down the raging child Louise.

''Alright? Child Louise. You are a mature woman, right, so do not forget that attitude.''

Pretending to be all cool and calm, Louise asked Saito,

“You didn’t consider asking someone else to teach you?”

“Because Tabitha offered to teach me.”

This reticent girl started a conversation by herself?

Louise stole a glance at Tabitha. However, Tabitha seemed to be expressionless as usual. No feelings could be read from her eyes. But...her holding a romantic interest in Saito still seemed impossible.

''Maybe she just expressed her gratitude for the help.''

Feeling relieved, confidence boiled up again.

''At any rate, the current me emits a lot of charm…''

“Eh?”

Louise saw Saito averting his eyes in embarrassment.

Augh. Not good.

''I just burst in here wearing nothing but underwear!''

''Dressed in this, I dashed wildly through the corridor and intruded into someone's room.'' Though she was ready to die from shame, Louise tried to endure it. And she was so close to dying.

For something trivial like learning words…

''I have to appear like the mature me again.''

Coming to see the room like this would have a big impact, wouldn’t it?

Hmm, her mind started to work furiously.

''Whatever, I’ll just use this mature attraction to completely turn him into my slave forever — Louise finally decided triumphantly.''

''Fuun'', Louise nonchalantly placed her hand against the wall and thrust her hips to the side.

To fascinate Saito, in an act that she herself thought to be sexually charming, she started to lightly suck on her finger.

“W-Wait. W-What’s this. This look…”

''Get it. Not get it. Stupid dog.''

''Do you finally notice the attractiveness of the mature me?''

Caught in the moment, Louise placed her right hand behind her neck, turned her hips, and threw a tempting glance to Saito through the corner of her eyes. Louise’s slender limbs created a tense atmosphere.

Saito's face reddened more and more. The expressionless face of Tabitha, sitting by his side, was not fazed at all.

“It’s ridiculous. That…”

''Ridiculous?''

''This is my power.''

''Hey, dog.''

''Do you notice, dog?''

''Have you noticed your mistress’s unexpected charming side?''

''Now then, why don’t you swear your eternal servitude to me?''

Louise pulled out her final trump.

Guiding her right hand from her hair onto her breasts, she let her left hand slip down and slightly lift her babydoll’s hem up.

“Hey, stop doing this embarrassing stuff in front of me!”

Saito finally erupted. To Louise, it sounded like a loud hymn of her triumph.

“Not picchibichi!”

Eh? Picchibichi?

“Siesta, is that Louise’s dress? Do not wear it! It's not your size! I can see all your parts, all your body lines clearly, so I do not know where to place my eyes anymore! What if someone else sees that!”

''I see.''

Louise’s triumphant song broke with a loud ugly noise.

Siesta, who stood next to Louise, tried to cover herself.

“Don’t stare at me this much, it's embarrassing!”

“You are the one who is embarrassing! Hey!”

Saito blushed and turned his eyes away.

Louise asked Saito in a tiny voice.

“W-What about your mistress?”

“Ah? No, Louise, you look kind of awkward wearing this. Is this a curtain?”

Curtain?

Louise's shoulders began to tremble.

Tabitha politely coughed.

“Doesn’t suit.”

At the same time, Saito burst out laughing.

“Uwaa, Louise! What’s this! Could it be a babydoll dress?! No, it hung so loosely on you that I thought it was a curtain!”

Then, Louise silently drove both of her feet into Saito’s plexus with a skillful flying kick.

Once Saito hit the wall and fainted in agony, Louise aimed her wand.

“Die you, then resurrect, and then die again — you need to die at least twice for this!”

But Tabitha, with her staff readied, blocked her.

“What?! You?!”

“I won’t allow you to lay your hand on this person anymore.”

Though her words were purely defensive, Louise took them in a different meaning.

“So, you already laid your hands on her? No, it wasn’t just hands.”

“That…”

“A c-child who is smaller than I, s-s-smaller than I! Smaller than I!”

Thinking that her only advantage was denied, trembling, Louise aimed and lowered the wand.

“Uwaa!”

Saito covered himself.

However...nothing happened.

The sound of the explosion that he feared did not come.

“Huh?”

Louise’s surprised voice rang instead.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“It doesn't work. The ‘Explosion’ spell doesn’t work!”

“Narrow escape from death.”

Saito sighed in relief, while Louise was already half-frantic.

“Eeeeeh!? How!? Why doesn't it work!?”

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume11_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume11_Chapter7|Chapter 7]]
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</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume10 Chapter9

2011-01-26T09:14:13Z

Error: /* Chapter 9: Alhambra Castle */

===Chapter 9: Alhambra Castle===

Alhambra Castle was a citadel the elves built on top of a small hill in the desert.

The incident of the Halkeginia Holy Land Recovery Allied Forces who regained it at the price of countless sacrifices, could be traced back to thousands of years ago.

During that time, the Holy Land Recovery Allied Forces fixed the country border, and told the elves, “This is our land.” Consequently, that became the country's borders.

The elves who had formerly lived in the desert did not have any concept of “country borders.” Just that, the elves knew that humans are living beings who would greedily treat anywhere as their land and fight for it, if “country borders” were not established. So, they reluctantly recognized the line those humans drew as the country border.

Because that citadel became the point from which the elves' land was attacked from many times, they received the elves' attacks many times as well. Every time, this process of trying to remove and being removed repeated...until that battle hundreds of years ago, in which the Holy Land Recovery Allied Forces became its present master. Since the citadel was small, it was left aside as a military base and became an abandoned castle... because of which, it conversely flourished.

At the foot of the hill on which Alhambra Castle was built, an oasis was formed. A small inn town started growing from around that oasis... Because the area surrounding Alhambra Castle was a military base, travellers who passed through the desert would stop by, and it became a small trading area.

With the skills of the elves, the walls of Alhambra Castle were exquisitely constructed, adorned with a fine engraving of geometric patterns. Reflecting the moonlight from the twin moons, the walls shone brightly, providing a fantastic view to the desert travellers.

To the Halkeginians, the area surrounding Alhambra Castle was an exotically beautiful place.

Well then, in a small pub called “Father Joseph's Desert Doors” Inn, in that beautiful inn town, the hot topic was a recent rumor about Alhambra Castle.

A unit of the king's army arrived, and was stationed in the castle.

The merchants who bought ceramics and porcelains in Sahara said to the shop owner in a whisper.

“The troops came to Alhambra Castle lately... but do you know why those guys came, Father?”

Travelling from one place to another, the wise father who had set up a pub here, tasted the stew whilst shaking his head.

“Dunno.” 

“''“Didn't those guys come to this area to dig up some treasure?”'' There was a rumor like that, but... I feel that the truth is different.”

“Is it?”

The father reacted indifferently. He knew that not poking his head in unnecessary affairs was the secret to longevity.

“Hey. I'll treat you a drink, so tell me more about that rumor?”

“Not interested.”

Missing out on getting some wine? The male merchant snorted. Beside him, a lady clothed in sand-warding robe with a hood sat down.

“Isn't that a wonderful conversation?”

The brown skin and red lips peeking out from the openings of the robe gave the impression of a befitting beauty. The merchant gulped nervously.

“Dear, shall we offer up a cup for this man?”

The man's cup was filled with ale to the brim.

“Thanks! Hihi.”

“Well then, can you tell me more about it?”

The whole group greeted Kirche who returned to the table with applause. On top of their street performer costumes, everyone was wearing the same robe used in the desert.

The group had finally arrived at this Alhambra place the previous night.

It took them a week of transferring between stagecoaches travelling through footpaths and highways to reach there from the Orleans mansion. Apparently, Tristain did not issue any warning to Gallia, and the performers were not suspected by any people as they walked down the road. No. On their journey, they were suspected by the patrolling knights several times, but managed to escape by the tactfulness of Kirche who knew the area very well.

“Geez, you guys...always letting me get information by myself, what's your intention?”

“But aren't you the best? Just the person for the job.”

Guiche nodded solemnly too.

“Awesome...cuz you managed to collect information one after another,” Saito said in admiration.

“Really, just do it. Guys, if you all are still Tristain nobles, with a high pride- no wonder you can't gather information.”

Montmorency turned her face aside in embarrassment, but Louise lifted up her eyes.

“Oh, yes we can! I went as far as being a waitress in a bar in Tristania last time!”

“That pathetic fella?”

Louise's cheeks swelled. Come to think of it, she had let herself be seen a few times by Kirche. But now was not the time for such things, so she had no choice but to keep quiet.

“So, did you get anything?”

The merchant to whom Kirche gave an extravagant treat had told her everything he knew, after which, he became drunk and wasted, lying down on the counter, and fell asleep.

They changed their strategy meeting location to a second floor room. That's because there were people there.

After entering the room, Kirche started telling the news she heard.

“As I thought, looks like it really is this city.”

“Which means?” Saito urged.

“Apparently, that merchant heard about it from the troops stationed there. The reason they came here was to protect a “noble” they brought here. According to the story, they seemed to be fallen royal family members. And then, the crux is that those nobles are 'parent and child.'”

“In other words, Tabitha and her mother?”

“Can't we conclude that?”

Everyone's faces turned solemn.

“I'm back.”

Opening the door of the room, Malicorne entered.

“I used the 'Distant Vision' spell and examined the castle!”

Being a Wind element mage, Malicorne had been using magic to examine the castle from afar. Even Sylphid was not used, since it would be conspicuous. She had remained in her human form until then, and probably due to tiredness, she was asleep on the bed, snoring. It looked like taking the form of a human consumed her willpower more intensely.

Calmly, Malicorne spread a sketched parchment on the table. On it, a rough sketch of Alhambra Castle could be seen. Obviously, the internal structure of the building was not known, but the courtyard, walls, towers, keeps - all of them were drawn accurately.

“Good job!”

“Spendid...”

Guiche praised him.

“The Gallian troops stationed there aren't just one squadron. There are two squadrons there! About 300 soldiers, and 10 noble officers!”

That's quite a number.

“I see. Thanks. Well then, we've collected all the information we can.”

Kirche was fully the leader. Indeed, in such projects, there was no chance for Tristainian nobles who were prideful and only knew how to carry out frontal attacks.

“So, how to rescue Tabitha out of that castle?”

“We are mostly mages. A surprise attack against approximately 300 people will work somehow, won't it? At our side, we have Sylphid, Saito who stopped the seventy thousand...”

Guiche said that, but Kirche shook her head.

“No way. If we attack head-on like that, reinforcements would come immediately, and danger might fall onto Tabitha. It's also possible that Tabitha would be carried away to somewhere else.”

“So what should we do? Putting all of the soldiers to sleep with magic?”

“That's right.”

Kirche grinned impishly.

“That's impossible! Aren't we going against 300 people?? Even if we were to recite Sleep Cloud, how can we cover them all in one shot?”

“To make them sleep, we don't just have to use incantations, Montmorency.”

“Whaat?”

“Can you mix the 'Sleeping Potion?'”

“I can, but... how to make them drink it? Even if we mix it into their water, it will be discovered immediately!”

“There's a plan. Just do it! Mix the strongest potion you can. Guiche, please buy some wine sold nearby.”

“Got it.”

Towards them who were about to rush out, Kirche said.

“Hey, if you meet any elves...”

The three of them trembled instantly. A word they did not want to hear. Mustering their courage, they had been driving that word out of their head.

“Run. Don't think about fighting them. The thing which must not be forgotten is, we did not come to fight. The elves are obviously with the Gallian army. We will steal into Alhambra Castle cautiously, and carefully rescue Tabitha and her mother. That's right. We've come 'to save our friends.' That would be putting the cart before the horse. That's why, if you feel danger not just from elves, run. That is cowardly, but harmless.”

''Understood'', The three nodded.

“Thanks for cooperating in this plan to save my best friend. I am grateful for your bravery.”

Kirche bowed politely. It was their first time seeing Kirche being so commendable. Because of that, they changed their frightened expressions to serious looks.

After the three of them exited, Kirche turned towards Saito and Louise.

“Well then...”

“What are we supposed to do? What's best for us?”

“Rest. You guys are our trump card. Please conserve your strength.”

“Trump card, what do you mean?”

Kirche readily answered.

“To fight against the elf. Although we can trick the army, the elf probably won't fall for it.”

“Wh-! What!? You're saying that it's okay even if we're hurt!? We may die, won't we?? You're saying that it's all right if we die?? We're not a trump card, but a sacrifice! You're really a Zerbst! You hate me to that extent!?”

Kirche replied with a straight face.

“You're wrong, Louise. It's not 'hating,' but 'recognizing.' We probably can't win against the elf. The only thing possible, is your 'legend.'”

Louise's eyes bulged.

“You knew?”

“You're the only one who thought that we don't know. You chanted in front of us before, and those chants don't exist, do they?”

Louise blushed.

“I humbly apologize at my impoliteness towards the ancestor. Can you kindly lend your holy powers to this powerless servant?”

Kirche knelt down. As expected, Louise panicked. In the long history of the dispute between La Valliere and Von Zerbst, it was the first time a Von Zerbst apologized.

“L-Lift up your head! What're you doing!? If I refuse this, am I not the bad guy!? I have already cast away my noble name! I'm just Louise the Zero! That's why even if I listen to what you say, I don't really mind,”

Turning aside, Louise said in an embarrassed voice.

“Eh? You threw aside your nobility?”

“That's right! I have returned my mantle and name to Her Majesty.”

“Aah! Well then, after saving Tabitha, come to Germania! I'll employ you as my maid!”

“Stop joking around!”

Somewhat overcome with emotion, Kirche hugged Louise tightly.

Saito looked at the two with a rather radiant expression. After that, to preserve his strength, he headed towards the bed.

He did not have any self-confidence at winning against the elf at all. Or rather, how should he fight to win?

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.

With his anxiety increasing, Saito felt as if being squashed.

''But... friends with Kirche?'' When he looked at Louise who appeared to be trying to bring that up, he became embarrassed at that feeling.

“Well then, I'll follow what you said and sleep for a bit.”

“I look forward to it, Saito. Jean has always been saying. ''Saito-kun is someone capable of changing this world.'' I believe that as well. That's why; please change Tabitha's fate.”

Plucking up his courage, Saito grinned, overdoing it.

“Leave it to me!”

Saito slipped into the bed, and Sylphid who had been sleeping on it until now, opened her eyes wide.

“Kyui.”

“Oh, you're awake?”

Under her blue hair, Sylphid's blue eyes shone again.

“Thanks,” she expressed her gratitude.

“In order to save onee-sama, everyone is working hard for us. I'm very touched. If onee-sama knew that you all are coming to save her, she would surely be very happy.”

“...”

“Onee-sama doesn't speak much, so she may seem somewhat cold, but... in reality, she's a very kind person. I love onee-sama very much, but onee-sama doesn't lose to me- she loves me very much too. Although Onee-sama did not say anything, I know something like that.”

“Uh-huh...”

Sylphid noticed that Saito looked a little down.

“What's wrong?”

“No... I'm just a little envious of you guys.”

''Although we are master and familiar, we can't understand each other at all.''

''Mutual feelings, yet we can't understand each other at all.''

“You don't look well. Let me comfort you. But I dunno how to do it.”

''“Kyui, kyui!”'' Whilst purring, Sylphid gave Saito a tight hug.

Whilst being tightly embraced by Sylphid's soft body, ''Ah, will Louise turn this way to look at me?'', Saito thought vaguely.

''If I were more imposing... she would look at me for a bit, won't she?'' He thought. ''But, looks like that won't happen.''

''Anyhow, at Tristain palace when we were captured, when I was trying to say that I love her...''“Don't say it!”'' She yelled at me, so...''

''Of course I am wrong too.''

''Being spoony over Siesta, my heart throbbing when I see Henrietta's face. As for those, apart from keeping those charms to myself, I can't help it. This is a man's physiology.''

''But, I have been saying “I love you” to Louise all the time, haven't I?''

''Maybe... Louise has no space to fall in love,'' Saito thought.

''Louise who is more serious than anyone else.''

''Louise who is always fixated on her ideals.''

''Saying'' “It's a reward!” ''Kissing me, not being angry even when her breasts are touched, this means... it is not really because of her pride,'' Saito changed his thoughts.

''That's because, just like how this Sylphid does not know what's the best way to comfort this human me... she does not know what the best reward to give me, this teenager at puberty. Because she doesn't know how to express her gratitude.''

''And yet, every time I would misunderstand her...'' Saito wished he could just crawl into a hole. ''Louise falling in love with me? Ha!''

''I'm such a shameful person. Aah, SHAMEFUL!!''

''Ah, Louise.''

''The Louise who would return her mantle to Henrietta in order to stand for her ideals. More serious than anyone else, the noble Louise.''

''Maybe because you're like that, I have come to like you.''

''Among the people I encountered in the world I was born in, at least there isn't someone who would stick completely to his “way of living” like Louise does. And then, in this world too...''

''Someday, when Louise is able to achieve her ideals, won't she start loving someone at that time? At that time, I want to be the one beside her,'' Saito thought.

''To go along with Louise's ideals, I have to be much stronger. Elf or whatever, now's not the time to be frightened.''

Displaying brute courage, Saito spread-eagled and closed his eyes. To measure up to Louise's ideals, he could not show his intimidation to anyone.

Looking at that strange Saito who spread-eagled on the bed while smiling, Louise's anxiety expanded all the more.

''You were told that it's a fight against an elf, and yet, why aren't you afraid?''

''Why don't you hate it?''

''Aah, as I thought, Saito is given the courage as a familiar, huh?''

Louise became deeply miserable.

The next day, in the evening...

Standing in front of the gates of Alhambra castle, a member of the Gallian army who was standing guard gave a big yawn. A soldier standing beside him chided him.

“Oi.”

“Hmm? Aah...”

“If you don't guard the door properly, we'd be scolded by the commanding officer!”

“Baron Misscoeur? That's all right! He's just an idiot.”

“No, it's not him. It's that un-human guy.”

The yawning soldier shook his head frantically as if his drowsiness was blown away.

“Oi, don't refer to him that lightly! Touch wood... O Founder Brimir. Please protect my soul...”

“I don't want to be eaten either! That's why I don't speak out his name...But dunno what the heck is wrong today... I went to the streets to eat during lunchtime, but wine was sold out!”

“Haa? What'cha mean?” 

“Someone from somewhere had bought up all the wine in this inn town. B'cuz of that, there wasn’t any wine no matter which bar I went to. What a joke!”

“That's the only pleasure in the center of this boring desert! Geez, which guy did such nonsense?”

As the conversation was going on, a cart could be seen coming from ahead on the road to the inn town.

“What's that?”

There were 7 male and female flashy street performers in the cart. The wagon behind was filled with barrels.

The cart stopped in front of the gate. Pointing their lances at them, the soldiers asked the group.

“Who are you guys?”

A redhead girl dressed in a dancer's costume with a high degree of exposure bowed down elegantly.

“We are a group of street performers, sir.”

It was Kirche.

“I can see that. This is not some highway.”

“We know that.”

Sexily, Kirche threw a flirtatious glance at them. In an instant, the soldiers became as if entranced by succubus.

“We've come to provide entertainment.”

“Entertainment?”

The soldiers exchanged looks. After that, they realized what the content of those barrels stacked up behind was. One of them approached and sniffed the smell of the barrels.

“Isn't this wine!?”

Another glared at Kirche with a hateful look.

“The ones who bought up all the wine are you all!?”

“That's right.”

Kirche leaned coquettishly onto the soldiers. At Kirche's loveliness, the soldiers' expressions crumbled down pathetically.

“Please don't be angry, handsome misters. We are just doing our best at our living. We've come to tour Sahara, but those stingy elves didn't give us any money at all for our performances.”

“How would elves know what dancing is!?”

The soldiers broke out in laughter.

“Right? That's why we need customers who understand our art. Naturally, going together with wine, right?”

“Got it! You guys didn't just come to buy wine huh? Planning anything funny?”

Those standing in the cart stiffened.

“And to sell dances as well while you're at this. Right?”

With a big smile on her face, Kirche said.

“Exactly! Our wine is slightly more expensive than the one in town, but we will provide dancing as a service. How about that?”

“What a nerve this lady has! I like it. I'll help you guys in your business!”

The soldier rushed off to report to his superior officer.

Turning back, Kirche combed her hair back triumphantly. At that brilliant skill, the entire group applauded.

Saito and the others were brought to see the ten nobles who commanded the units stationed in this castle. Apparently, the spare rooms at the right when one entered the castle hall were used by the officers.

The commanding officer was a forty-year-old-plus noble - Baron Misscoeur. He had seemingly taken a fancy with Kirche as soon as he saw her, and had allowed them to hold an exhibition.

“Germanian ladies are good at business, huh.”

Kirche put forth a price with the wine, and Baron Misscoeur smiled.

“We'll present the dance and the performance according to the price.”

''Hmmm...'' Leaning out from his chair, he gazed at Kirche's body as if licking it. With his bald head, Baron Misscoeur caused a lewd atmosphere to hang about in the air.

“Very well. We'll pay the asking price. But, it is necessary to ascertain if you all are having something bad up your sleeves...We are after all, entrusted with valued troops from His Majesty...”

“If you don't believe us, I will present my personal dance.”

Saying that whilst casting a flirtatious glance, Baron Misscoeur's eyes narrowed.

“On the other hand, I have concerns that depriving the soldiers of their entertainment would be demoralizing. After the performance, come to my room. I'll personally investigate you.”

The nearby nobles displayed expressions of dissatisfaction.

“This is also the duty of the commanding officer! Ahaha!”

Facing the commanding officers who broke out in laughter, Kirche displayed a charming smile.

“Well then, we will make our preparations then.”

As Kirche was trying to leave the room, Baron Misscoeur called out to her.

“Before that, how about giving us a cup of the wine you brought?”

Montmorency paled. The sleeping potion she mixed was already mixed into the wine barrels. If the sleeping potion was discovered by him there, their plans would be ruined.

However, not disturbed, Kirche had a cask moved there and poured a glass.

The entire group held their breath.

“Enjoy.”

Baron Misscoeur brought the glass near his nose, and sniffed it. Montmorency was nervous to the extent of collapsing. The potion she mixed was tasteless and odorless, but Detect Magic would just do the trick.

Baron Misscoeur frowned, and shook his head.

The group froze like ice. Were they found out?

“This is some cheap stuff. Not befitting for the nobles. Give it all to the soldiers.”

Saying that, Baron Misscoeur emptied the wine in the glass onto the floor.

At Kirche who had excused herself from the officer's room, Saito whispered softly.

“Close shave...”

“That's only the beginning. The real thing is after this. But no elves were inside, huh.”

“What if none are here?”

“If that's the case, it'll be great...”

Kirche said in a not very hopeful tone.

Three hundred of the soldiers gathered in the courtyard of Alhambra Castle. Although the dance had not yet begun, the soldiers were quite excited already.

In this abandoned castle in the middle of the desert, being ordered with this senseless bodyguard duty, they were totally bored. Because dissatisfaction tantamount to rebellion was building up, almost everyone gathered. With only the minimum guards left behind, it was almost all of them.

The commanding officer, Baron Misscoeur was indignant inside that he shared this guarding duty with the elf. Just like most of the other Gallian nobles, he was contemptuous and dissatisfied with Joseph. Plainly speaking, he hated him.

The lieutenant proposed having the soldiers split in half, taking turns participating. But Baron Misscoeur shook his head.

“That 'king of impotence' drove me to such a situation. Once, the Misscoeur lineage was that of Gallia's prominent warriors. Bestowing me the duty of guarding madame duchess with the elf at such a rural area... He might've done it on a whim! Geez, who would be looking for that child and the old woman at such a time? Never mind, let all soldiers participate!”

Saying that, he thumped onto a luxurious chair he pulled out in the courtyard.

The instant both moons were shrouded by the clouds...

Holding torches, a thin lad and a plump youth appeared. Because the ones that appeared were guys, the soldiers began jeering and booing. The two threw the torches into the bonfire that was prepared beforehand.

After that, the two prepared musical instruments. The plump lad started hitting the drum. The thin and handsome one took out a flute and started playing it. Because it was an extremely horrible performance, the booings grew more intense.

Nevertheless, the instance female dancers appeared from the dark, the jeers stopped abruptly.

Altogether there were four female dancers.

The sexy, flame-haired girl was the leader. Illuminated by the flames, she was smiling sexily. Next was a golden-haired girl. She appeared embarrassed as she blushed.

After her was a pink-haired girl, who again appeared to be a child. The angrily stiffened face coloured.

The last one was a beautiful lady with long, blue hair. She was beaming all over with innocent smiles.

Enthusiastic applause, cheers and whistles could be heard from the soldiers.

The party had begun.

When Tabitha woke up... her mother was on the bed.

Holding the book with one hand, she lay down on the bed.

Beside her, her mother was snoring peacefully.

It looked like she had become sleepy and had fallen asleep whilst reading “The Hero of Ivaldi”.

Her mother's eyes opened slightly.

She thought her mother would start acting violent... but fixing her eyes on her, she did not move. ''Could she have regained her sanity?'' Joy spread out in her heart, as Tabitha called out to her mother.

“Mother.”

But still, her mother did not show any reaction. She merely stared fixedly at Tabitha. But, that was enough.

Looking at the doll on the mirror stand, Tabitha smiled a little.

“I will now read this book.”

Turning the page of the book, Tabitha started reading out loud.

''Ivaldi arrived at the cave in which the dragon lived. His attendants and friends started freaking out at the entrance. One of the hunters told Ivaldi.''

''“Let's turn back. If the dragon wakes up, we will all die. Cuz you don't know how scary the dragon is.”''

''Ivaldi said.''

''“I am afraid.”''

''“So act according to your feelings.”''

''“But if I lose to fear, I'll become someone besides me. That is many times scarier than being bitten by the dragon to death.”''

Although Bidashal entered into the room, Tabitha did not lift her face from the book. Her mother was not startled by the elf's entrance either. Throughout those 20 days, every day, Tabitha had been reading at her mother “The Hero of Ivaldi”. If she read to her any other books, she would go mad like the olden days. That's why Tabitha had read the same book over and over again. She had read it out loud many times. That's why she had as good as memorized it by heart.

Seeing Tabitha reading a book, Bidashal displayed a small smile.

“Looks like you have taken a great fancy towards that book huh.”

Tabitha did not reply. Although Bidashal had entered now, unless there was anything special, she would not stop reading.

“Seems like a group of performers had come to comfort you. They are carrying out their performance at the courtyard. I have no interest whatsoever, but what about you? If you want to have a look, I will give you special permission to leave this room.”

Tabitha lifted her face and shook her head.

With a slightly stiffer voice, Bidashal told Tabitha.

“The medicine will be completed tomorrow.”

Tabitha's finger which was flipping the page stopped.

“You can only be yourself until tomorrow.”

Giving her special permission to leave this room... In other words, that would be the last mercy before the execution of her sentence.

“Boring entertainment, but it would at least console you a little bit.”

“Sympathy is not needed.”

Tabitha replied shortly.

''I see…'' Whispering that, Bidashal exited the room.

She wanted to at least spend her last few hours with her mother.

Tabitha laid her eyes on “The Hero of Ivaldi” again.

''Ivaldi entered the dragon's cave. Nobody else accompanied him. With light from his torch, the moss-covered wall of the cave was illuminated. Being disturbed by the light, many bats flew about trying to escape.''

''Ivaldi became frightened and close to tears. He imagined that everyone had left him behind in that dark cave. How scary it was!''

''Moreover, a terrifying dragon laid ahead waiting for him!''

''But, Ivaldi did not waver.''

''Ivaldi had told himself many times.''

''“You can do this. Didn't you save many people already? This time you can do it as well. Did'ya hear that Ivaldi? You have power, so running away is cowardly.”''

In those times she reread the book, Tabitha slowly felt the contradiction she had towards the title when she was young, dispersing away.

''“The Hero of Ivaldi”, what does it mean?''

''Ivaldi was not the name of a place- it was the name of the youth in the story. Usually, won't the title be published as “Ivaldi the Hero” instead?''

When she was young, Tabitha once had that doubt in her mind.

But now she understood the meaning of the title.

''The word “hero” is not referring to Ivaldi himself.''

''It is referring to the idea of the impulse or resolution in his heart.''

When she was young... she would read and yearn for it.

In accordance with the “hero” living inside the Ivaldi-like hearts of the readers, they had longed to be the hero, but... she was different.

She was attracted by the lady captured by the dragon. She wanted to become the lady that was saved by the hero. Although it was fun, Tabitha had waited eagerly for the hero who would bring her out of the boredom of her daily life.

Comparing her life with the lady in the story, Tabitha smiled dryly in her heart.

''Didn't I become this girl myself?''

''Now I have become someone imprisoned.''

''The only difference with the book is that, the hero who is to come to save me does not exist.''

''Now, or last time...'

''But, that is good enough.''

''That's because I have been doing things alone all along.''

''Not relying on anyone, not trusting anyone, I have been doing everything on my own... because of that.''

However... after reading this “Hero of Ivaldi”, she started imagining.

About the hero who would rescue her.

About the hero who would save her from this ominous cave, Alhambra Castle...

Because those were the final moments before she was to lose her heart, she might have been feeling such things obediently.

She felt love at her heart that would be lost after the following day. For the first time, Tabitha had felt love towards her heart that was covered by a snowstorm. She grasped her mother's hands tightly.

Tabitha started shivering slightly.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume10_Chapter8|Chapter 8]]
| Return to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume10_Chapter10|Chapter 10]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume10 Chapter6

2011-01-26T07:51:28Z

Error: /* Chapter 6: The Imprisoned Six */ several minor edits... any verb that refers back to a word like furniture always takes the singular form.

===Chapter 6: The Imprisoned Six===

Saito noticed the sunlight shining through the gap between the metal grills. Beside him, Louise's head rested on his shoulder as she was breathing gently. Guiche and Malicorne laid down side by side on the bed, snoring.

“It's morning, huh...”

In the end, because he was worrying too much, he did not manage to sleep at all.

''Funya funya'', with her mouth half-opened, Louise was muttering something.

“What... a... pity... the Princess was lonely, after all. Funya...”

''What on earth is she dreaming about? Being trapped within these grills, now is not the time to oversleep. We have to leave to save Tabitha quickly...''

“Aren't you stupid? Being rejected by the Princess, we can't face our opponents...”

Saito nudged Louise.

“Funya...”

Louise, who was not fully awakened yet, probably could not differentiate between her dream and reality. She saw Saito and yelled angrily at him.

“Treating me as a spare tire for the Princess! You're cruel! Or, whoever you want is fine! That's right! Who is the best?! S-ss-say it!!”

“...What're you talking about?”

Saito asked astonished, and she realized that this place was not a dream, but the real world.

Her face crimsoned, and began hitting Saito repeatedly.

“It's only something I dreamed! A dream!”

“Don't hit me!”

“Even if it was dream, it was still you! So take responsibility!”

Continuing in her state of embarrassment, Louise turned away. Because he couldn't, Saito let out a huge sigh.

“You... you are still in the mood to dream, huh...”

“What?”

“Surely, if you had persuaded the Princess cleverly, we would have been heading towards Gallia to save Tabitha by now...”

“So you mean to say that I am bad?”

“You are the one who said we had to come here to report to the Princess, ''weren't you''?”

“Ain't it obvious?”

“We are trying to save someone! If we hadn’t come here to report and instead rushed there straight away, this wouldn’t have happened!”

Upon which, Louise gazed at Saito with a solemn look.

“Saito. That is wrong. Precisely because we are trying to save someone, we must go through the proper procedures.”

“Why!?”

“Say, if we lose. What would we do then? Gallia would think that we are Tristain's spies, right? Because I am the Princess' court lady, and you're an Assistant Commanding Officer of the Imperial Guards. It would be terrible if that were to happen. Gallia would strongly protest against Tristain right? It would probably become the excuse for a war. That's probably their objective.”

“How could this be...”

“What did you want to say? Although we don't know if that would be the case, above not discarding this probability, we must think that it is certain and act accordingly. How much more cruel than this would be the method employed by the kingdom of Gallia to capture us? We don't know what they would do. After that, we would probably cause trouble for the Princess, if not all of Tristain. Because of that, it is possible for people unrelated to us to get hurt. Even I want to save Tabitha. But, I cannot cause problems for everyone. That course of action is exactly what someone who had lost their head would take.”

Embarrassed, Saito cast his eyes down.

“Sorry... But I still have to do it! Logically, I know what you said is true, but... because of that, what I can probably do, I naturally can't do it at this rate... Aaaah, damn it! I am really anxious!”

“Yeah, huh... I thought the Princess would probably understand, but... it looks like I was too naïve.”

“We really can't get out of here?”

Absent-mindedly, Saito gazed at the metal grills.

“With your “Void,” is it possible?”

“Impossible. I don't know if 'Dispel' would work, but in the first place, I don't have my wand.”

“You can't use it, huh...”

“If you don't have your sword, you are just an ordinary human, right?”

“I can't use it...”

This time, he said so to himself. However, with a look as if he hadn't thrown away his will yet,

“...Anyway, when we escape from here, I intend to go to Gallia, but don't worry. What you said about bringing trouble to Tristain - it won't happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“Yesterday, didn't I quit being the Assistant Commanding Officer? I'm just a normal person now.”

“You are really naïve, huh...”

Whilst sighing, Louise said.

“What do you mean!?”

“You're thinking that the enemy would believe us? Quitting being a knight alone is not enough! At least until you become a wanted person, then only you can be said to have cut all connections!”

“But can you actually stop being a noble? At least until you are the same as me, your cheekiness...”

At that point, Saito noticed Louise's appearance for the first time. Because she was uneasy, he didn't know, but...

“Your mantle and your tie clip, what happened to them!?”

“I have returned them to Her Majesty The Queen.”

“Returned... you...”

“Shaddap! With this, I'm just the normal Louise! Same as you, a commoner! Com-mon-er! Thank you very much! I have thrown away both my family name and my pride! So don't just show off like that!”

Saito was very touched, more than he had ever been ever since meeting Louise.

''This pink-haired female magic user whose pride is supposed to be so high; my master... She had been so obsessive over the “noble” title, and now she had thrown it away easily.''

''For a girl like Louise, that was probably something which needed a huge amount of courage.''

''If she hadn’t the determination to throw away the life she had built up until now, she could not have done such a thing. That's because, as far as Louise is concerned, her status as a noble was her everything.''

“Y-You...”

“What-a-waste! You like high-class women very much riggghhhtt? Becoming the familiar of an ordinary girl, you're really disappointed right!”

“N-No way... I... I'm really touched... You would do something as far as that...”

“LIAR! Yesterday night, you stole glances at the Princess and your face turned red! I don't believe you! You like nobles and princesses right! Even though you're a dog! That's so funny!”

As she was yelling that, Louise felt the anxiety Siesta talked about expand within her heart.

''What if the “like” he has towards me is but his feeling as a familiar?''

''What if Saito's real feelings are towards Henrietta... but are stopped by this “like” he has as a familiar?''

''Then Saito's shaking off Henrietta's request yesterday night can be understood.''

''The contract I have given him has probably distorted Saito's true feelings...''

''Anyway, Saito's feelings now are probably towards Henrietta. The thing which is stopping him, are the fake feelings I gave him....''

“I don't really fancy nobles or princesses!!”

Saito said disappointedly.

“I dunno such things!” 

To shake off the indescribable anxiety, Louise raised her voice.

“Why are you so mad? I have already said it, haven't I? I like...”

“Don't say it!”

Covering her ears, Louise crouched down. Saito withdrew his hand as if it had been stung.

“Okay, okay. I won't say it any more.”

If she didn’t want him to say such things, he couldn't do anything else. Louise became tearful.

Hearing someone clearing his throat, both of them looked forward.

In front of them, Guiche and Malicorne had woken up without them noticing; and weren't they staring motionlessly at the sensitive conversation between Louise and Saito?

Louise's ears became red.

They were seeing everything of the conversation right now.

“N-No! It's not what you think!”

“Err, I don't really mind, but Malicorne...”

Beside Guiche, Malicorne was trembling all over with anger.

“Heeey, Guiche... I'm already at my limiiiiit... Such an envious love game in front of my eyes...?”

Malicorne leaped towards them, and at that instant, Louise pushed Saito forward. Both of them tumbled over and wrestled with each other.

“If it's gonna end like this, you win. Hug me.”

Having given up, Malicorne said that with a faraway look. Saito became sad.

“Hug me!”

“Aaah, haiz.... now is not the time to be doing such things!”

The moment Saito let out a sigh and said that...

From outside the window, a flash of light and a loud noise could be heard.

“...Huh?”

Guiche and Louise leaped up and stretched their heads at the window. Outside, a surprising scenery was unfolding.

With the huge wings gleaming, the ''Ostland'' was flying at a low altitude, and was scattering something.

“Wh-Why is that thing....”

From the ''Ostland'', they could hear a voice magnified by the showy music and magic.

“To all ladies and gentlemen of Tristain. To all ladies and gentlemen of Tristain. This is the debut of the latest steam-run vessel of the Von Zerbst family of Tristain. Everyone walking through the streets, or those in the palace, please come to have a look.”

“Isn't that Montmorency's voice!?”

Sure enough, that was the voice of Montmorency, who was supposed to be waiting for the group's return on the ''Ostland''.

In the courtyard of the palace, be it the escorting knights, the soldiers, or the nobles who were walking at the streets, everyone was looking up to the sky.

A few dragon knights approached them, and flew around the ''Ostland''. '”Do it somewhere else! Get back!” They were warning them. Yet, without the slightest indication that they were worried, the ''Ostland'' continued circling it.

The sentinels who were standing outside the prison in which Saito and the rest were locked up were exchanging glances, worried by the spectacle outside.

“Those guys... what do they plan to do?”

“I wonder what they're thinking about...”

As she revealed her feelings, from outside the door, *Donggg!* They heard the sound of the sentinels falling over. Turning back, Saito and the others gulped.

“Kirche!”

Sure enough, the figures which could be seen from between the lattice of the narrow window, were the red-haired dazzling Kirche and...

“Teacher! Teacher Colbert!”

With his bald head gleaming, it was Colbert. Towards the imprisoned four who had rushed to the door, Kirche lifted a finger.

“Shh, quiet.”

Colbert took the bunch of keys from the waist of the defeated sentinels, and inserted them into the keyhole of the door.

Not being able to find the right key, he couldn't make any progress.

At that moment, ''clack!'' With a sound, the door opened.

“Kirche, teacher!”

The four of them stepped out onto the corridor, and Colbert smiled.

“Exultation and explanation after this. Hurry!”

Because this tower was built to lock nobles up, there was a small room right beside to specially safeguard their personal belongings. Colbert moved as if he was very familiar with the layout of this tower, and located Saito's Derflinger and the others' respective wands inside the small room.

Kirche spread a robe over each of the four who were grasping their wands tightly. Putting that on and following Colbert and Kirche, the group ran down the staircase.

On their way down, every guard was already defeated.

“Did you both do this as well?”

“They're just asleep.”

Kirche replied as if she was having fun. ''How on earth did they manage to do that?'' As he was thinking how strange it was, with mage guards as their lead, some soldiers came up from below. It was a group of soldiers who noticed the anomaly in the tower.

“You bastards! What are you doing!?”

As soon as he said that, Colbert who was leading them, reacted. Within a short time, he recited a spell, and held his wand out. A torrent of wind blew away the guard who looked like the leader.

“Wh-!?”

Another guard almost rushed at Colbert's chest, but he delivered a blow into the guard's stomach with his wand. The group of guards who came up could not reach Colbert because of the previous two who were knocked down.

Whilst rushing head-on, Colbert recited another spell. From above the guards who tried to flee, a cloud-shaped green fog broke out. Because of the cloud of slumber, the guards dropped one by one like puppets whose strings were cut.

Saito and the others were shocked at Colbert's deftness. ''Could it be that Colbert is so strong...?'' As for Louise and Guiche who would have surely thought Colbert as being someone insignificant, they merely stared at that flabbergasting turn of events.

Using his wand itself to hit the enemy, reciting spells so fast as if his lips could not be read, it wasn't the fighting skills of the usual nobles.

“The quality of the guards at the palace had dropped, huh...”

Murmuring that, Colbert broke off into a run again. When they exited into the courtyard, the people there were watching the flying ''Ostland'' in a daze.

Apparently, it was a rescue mission matching with the ''Ostland''.

The security check for the people entering and exiting the palace was loose. Colbert showed them his Academy of Magic identity card, and they easily passed the gate. The group rushed to the castle town.

“T-Teacher, you're awesome...” Saito said, barely managing to calm himself down.

For some reason, a melancholic expression was on his face.

Under Kirche's guidance, the group that sneaked out of the palace headed towards the “Charming Fairies” Inn at which they had worked before. Surprisingly, horses and traveling equipment were already prepared there.

“You're going to save your friends right? I want to help<nowiki>~~~</nowiki>.”

Bending his body forwards, the owner of the “Charming Fairies” Inn, Scarron, smiled at them.

“The preparations are great.... Who on earth informed you that we were caught?”

The moment Saito asked Kirche, from a corner of the bar, a somewhat embarrassed Reynal and the other members of the knight corps who he thought had gone back, came towards him.

“You guys. Didn't you all go back to the Academy?”

Lifting his glasses unconsciously, Reynal responded,

“We thought that you would be refused and would give up after that, and waited secretly for your return at the courtyard. And then, after seeing you all being arrested and taken away...”

“They told us who were waiting on the ship. Then, Jean and I devised a plan, and sought help from this Charming Fairies Inn.”. Said Kirche triumphantly.

Saito was overjoyed. The knight corps did not disperse just like that. They were comrades who would help them in times of need.

Saito bowed at Kirche and the rest.

“S-Sry.... Getting caught when we said we would go to rescue Tabitha... Guess that can't be helped, huh...”

Colbert tapped Saito's shoulder.

“As for the apologies, leave it until Miss Tabitha is rescued. There is no time to be relieved. Well then, the real thing is after this.”

Colbert then spread out a map on top of Derflinger. Everyone present became anxious, and looked at the map.

Colbert traced along one of the streets.

“We go to Gallia via a land route.”

“Can't we go using the ship?”

“Once your escape has been discovered, the first thing they would suspect is the ''Ostland'' which is sailing in the air now. Anyway, we came here to Tristania using that ship. The pursuers would probably think that we would escape in the same way. That's why we will use it against them. The ''Ostland'' shall attract enough attention and then head towards the opposite direction, Germania. The people in the royal palace will then think we are trying to enter Gallia via Germania.”

“I see.”

Kirche explained the remaining rationale.

“Besides that, if we crossed the country frontier in such a huge ship, wouldn’t we be discovered by the Gallian army immediately? After landing at Gallia, what would we do then? Wait aboard in the skies on standby? If we are discovered by the Gallian dragon knights, we would just be sunken like that!”

“Anyway, I don't want to use the ship for dangerous things. After rescuing Miss Tabitha, we will use the ship to travel east. Right?” With a teasing-like smile on his face, Colbert looked at Saito.

''Yes!'' Touched, Saito nodded.

“Because of that, we should cross the country border on horses, and head towards the old Orleans residence at the shore of Ragdorian Lake, which Miss Zerbst knew about. That is where Miss Tabitha's home is. Maybe there is some clue over there. Well then, for the time being, this is the plan. Everyone, any questions?”

“Can I ask one thing?”

“What is it?”

“Why do you help us so much? As a teacher, you should have your own stand right?”

''Why do you ask such a thing?'' Colbert showed a strange look. “Miss Tabitha is my student. A teacher helping his student. Isn't that natural?”

When Tabitha woke up, she was in a dream country.

She was on a bed with a canopy, right at the center of a spacious room.

She was dressed in luxurious pyjamas that she had never worn before, not even during her times as a princess.

Tabitha looked for her glasses, and then noticed a pair of glasses studded with precious stones on a small table beside the bed. They were lying there on the table.

“............”

Putting that on, she checked her body. She could not feel anything strange at all. Looking around, just like the bed and the accessories, the furniture around her was luxurious as well. It was the furniture of the previous Capet dynasty. The generation during which Gallia had thoroughly achieved the artistic, military, greatest splendor.

“Have you woken up?”

Tabitha turned towards where the voice came from, and there was the tall elf. Sitting on a couch near the entrance to the room, he was reading a book. Instantly, she looked around for her wand, but it could not be found anywhere. ''If this is the case, I have no way to fight against him.''

Tabitha got down from the bed slowly. ''This place is definitely not a dream country. Since the elf who defeated me so easily is here, this is but the prolongation of the fact.''

“Who are you?”

“Member of the Old Council of Nephthys... no, right now, I am but the Bidashal of Sahara.”

“Where is this place?”

“Alhambra Castle.”

The knowledgeable Tabitha knew the name of this castle. An old castle near the national border with Sahara, the elves' land. Its position was at the direct opposite of Ragdorian Lake. It looked like she had been brought there whilst she was still unconscious.

“Where did you put my mother?”

Tabitha repeated the same question as the other day. The tall elf replied her instantly.

“She's in a room beside here.”

Tabitha rushed out. Although she had run up to the door, the elf did not stop her. The room in which Tabitha was sleeping at was apparently a room designed to give shelter to nobles. Opposite the door, there was a small room for servants. Her mother was lying on a bed there.

“Mother.”

Whispering that, she rushed up to her. Her mother was snoring softly. Although Tabitha called out to her, she did not wake up. Evidently, she was deeply asleep.

At the mirror stand at the corner of the room, there was the doll Tabitha's mother thought to be her daughter. A doll she once bought for her. During that time, she named that doll “Tabitha”.

Mentally ill now, her mother called that doll “Charlotte”.

Since then, she called herself “Tabitha”. The doll which was like her other self, was lying casually on the mirror stand.

With great loathing, Tabitha glared at Bidashal who had peeked in from the door. In a crystal-clear voice, he said to Tabitha.

“You're creating a ruckus, please let her sleep.”

“What do you plan to do with us?”

As if he was looking at a desert rat he captured for experimental purposes, with eyes that contained little pity, Bidashal gazed at Tabitha.

“There are two answers to that.”

With Bidashal's words, Tabitha understood that her fate would be different from her mother's.

“What are you going to do with my mother?”

Firstly, Tabitha asked how her mother would be dealt with.

“Nothing at all. I was only ordered to 'guard' her.”

“What about me?”

After hesitating for a moment, Bidashal continued in the same tone as before.

“With the power of the Water Spirit, I will let you part with your heart. After that, I am ordered to 'guard' you.”

Tabitha understood instantly. This elf was saying that she would be made to be just like her mother.

“Now?”

“It is a special drug. Its preparation takes about ten days. You better enjoy the time left for you to the fullest.”

“You people made the drug which drove my mother crazy?”

Bidashal nodded.

“That drug which is so strong; we are not able to prepare it. <!—So did or didn’t he?-->Well then, although I pity you, I am also a captive-like being as well. I think this is the will of 'The Great Purpose' too, so give up.”

Tabitha stood up, and went towards a window in the room.

Under the radiant sun she could see the collapsed castle walls. Alhambra was supposed to be an abandoned castle, but when she looked at the furnished noble room, she thought that Joseph had probably renovated it.

Blocked by the castle walls, she couldn’t see the courtyard until the outside of the castle, but she was able to look down at the huge entrance protruding from the castle keep. Soldiers wielding lances and rifles were standing there. Although she did not know how many armed soldiers they were, since she did not have her wand, it was impossible to escape with her mother.

“My familiar?”

Realizing that Sylphid was not anywhere there, she asked.

“That rhyme dragon? It escaped.”

Apparently, he was able to see through Sylphid's true identity with just a look. It should have been a piece of cake for that tall elf.

''It escaped''. Tabitha was relieved that she was told that, but... Sylphid would surely inform those people at the Academy of Magic that Tabitha was captured.

Tabitha bit her lips.

Kirche and Saito's faces came to her mind.

She did not want them to think of things like trying their best to save them. Because she did not want to be a bother, she did not tell anyone about her departure at all.

''But... it should be okay not to worry about that.'' Anyhow, the one who had captured Tabitha was Gallia. Coming to save her would be the same as looking for a brawl with the whole country. ''Kirche or Saito would not think of taking such a risk. Especially Saito, isn't he a knight of the Imperial Guard now...?''

''But, if it's Saito, he probably wouldn't mind taking such risks. Anyway, when it comes to that Saito, during that time when we fought to the death, he let me off without considering the risk to himself.''

At her straying thoughts... Tabitha shook her head slightly.

''Thinking about things like coming and going in such a way, huh...''

''Perhaps, I want them to come to rescue me.''

''How could it be?''

''I have always been doing things alone.''

''Besides... it is useless, whoever it is. The time left for me is only a little. After that, I will lose my heart due to the elf's drug. The Ancient Magic of the elves; humans can't do anything about it.''

Although she was about to lose her heart, Tabitha was strangely calm.

''No matter how I struggle against this elf, I definitely cannot win. Even when I had my wand, I could not succeed, so being unarmed now... our difference is probably like that of an ant and an elephant.''

Having gone through countless battles until then as a Knight of the Northern Parterre, Tabitha excelled in analyzing battle abilities. Her excellent sense as a warrior told her the foolishness of resisting. Tabitha's cold heart was enveloped in a sense of helplessness she had never felt before. That sense of helplessness ripped off even the last bit of emotion she had- Anger.

Wearing this soft, resigned garment in her heart, Tabitha softly bit her lips.

''“Being controlled by the feeling of such strange things, she could go to the same place as her mother.”'' She felt this small bit of relief.

Then, Bidashal told Tabitha.

“If you are bored, read a book. I have brought a few here.”

Bidashal pointed at the few books stacked in a row, which was apparently brought from the mansion of Orleans.

“This ''The Hero of Ivaldi'' book is really of great interest.”

Taking the book he was indulged with at the old mansion of Orleans, Bidashal murmured.

''The Hero of Ivaldi'' is the most popular epic tale in Halkeginia.

Receiving the divine protection of Founder Brimir, Ivaldi the Hero used ''swords'' and ''spears'' and defeated various enemies- dragons, demons, demihumans...Because the original script no longer existed, besides the plot and the characters, it had branched off into innumerable variations - folklores, traditions, poems, plays, puppet shows...

Because the main character wasn't a noble mage, it was a popular work mainly among commoners.

“We elves have a legend which has a similar hero. Saint 'Anubis'. He is considered to have saved our land, Sahara during the 'great calamity'. According to this book, the hero Ivaldi's left hand could shine. Our 'Anubis' had a sacred left hand as well. Elves and humans are different, but this is a deeply interesting similarity.”

The tale of “The Hero of Ivaldi”, which was meant for the commoners, was not properly accepted in Halkeginia. Those who researched it were labelled “heretics” and “fools”, and it could not stand at the public stage of either theology or literature. There was even a period when it went through the painful experience of book burning. After all, this fairy-tale was said to have been made by the commoners who were then not pleased with the nobles' reign. It did not mean that all the “Hero of Ivaldi” stories which were conveyed had a left hand which could shine. There were some in which the hero was a female, and some, male. There were also times when he was the son of god, or when it was his wife instead. He was also said to be just an ordinary human. It was a group of vague stories.

Bidashal handed “The Hero of Ivaldi” to Tabitha.

Obediently receiving the book, Tabitha sat down at the bed on which her mother was sleeping. Bidashal nodded, and left the room.

After sitting down by the bed and gazing at her mother's face... Tabitha recalled her childhood days. ''To lull the fretful me to sleep, my mother had read a book to me at the bedside, just like this.''

''During that time, the book she read most often, wasn't it the “Hero of Ivaldi”?''

Slowly, Tabitha started flipping the pages of the book.

Although this would never be her object of research, “The Hero of Ivaldi” was interesting. Because of that, it was popular and widely read. She would not choose a moral and straightforward story. When she was small, Tabitha had engrossed herself in reading it before as well. Her interest would shift to other things eventually... Although she did not open the book after that, that which had taught her the fun of reading was this “Hero of Ivaldi” book.

The sounds of pages of a book being flipped could be heard in the quiet room.

While she flipped the pages, Tabitha read it out.

Just like how her mother did it in the past.

''Ivaldi was stopped by Choment and other villagers. That is because he said he would go to the dragon's cave to save the feudal lord's daughter who had been harassing the villagers.''

Casually looking at her mother, she noticed that she had awakened without her realizing it. And yet she had not awoken when she called out to her just now... Tabitha tried to go and get the doll which was on the mirror stand. If her mother did not have the doll, she would be very upset. However... she noticed that her mother's behavior was different from usual.

She was staring at Tabitha with an astonished face. Usually, she would start making a fuss about “Return my daughter to me!” Yet, showing no interest at the doll on the mirror stand, she stared fixedly at Tabitha.

''Maybe this passage from “The Hero of Ivaldi” made mother recall a little about the former days.'' Tabitha had given up, but now, within her heart, a small ray of hope shone through. Perhaps it would just be a hope that would lead to disappointment. But still, that hope was just like a stick of candle in the dark, glowing gently.

Tabitha continued reading out.

''Choment asked Ivaldi,''

''“Oh, Ivaldi! Why are you heading towards the dragon's den? That girl had harassed you so much!”''

''Ivaldi answered,''

''“I don't know. Why? I don't know either. Just that there's something inside me which kept pulling me there steadily.”''

<noinclude>
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| Forward to [[Zero_no_Tsukaima:Volume10_Chapter7|Chapter 7]]
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</noinclude>

Zero no Tsukaima:Volume10 Chapter4

2011-01-26T06:51:13Z

Error: /* Chapter 4: The Queen and the Knights */

===Chapter 4: The Queen and the Knights===

“Why did you go alone...”

Having just finished his words, Saito muttered in a miserable voice.

With the news Irukukuu brought, a serious atmosphere started hanging in the air.

Guiche and the other knights knitted their eyebrows, and were thinking about it.

''Regrettable'', Saito thought. Because Tabitha went there alone. She probably did not want to impose further inconvenience unto Saito and the others.

While thinking that, Saito became embarrassed.

When he was stopped by Henrietta, he felt relieved for a moment, it was unforgivable.

''I had thought about doing what I could in this world, and yet when it comes to times like these, I who hesitated, I cannot be forgiven.''

''Maybe that could not be helped.''

''At any rate, Gallia is a large kingdom... the people who defeated the powerful Albion forces with one blow.''

''Until yesterday, I did not know how to fight such a people.''

''I definitely cannot win by just swinging my sword around recklessly. Because I was stopped by Henrietta, I did not have to make an enemy of those people I had no idea how to fight against. That's why I was relieved.''

''But, if I do not know the way, can't I just think about it?''

''Surely there's some way.''

''Now, I have finally determined. A determination to think about it, and to take action.''

''My relieved self is unforgivable. Instead of thinking about the best way, the part of my heart which gave up, saying that it is no use, is unforgivable.''

He felt that the thing which had been bugging him until now, had flown somewhere else. Cheerfully, Saito said to Irukukuu,

“It's great that you informed us. Chill, we will surely save Tabitha. Right, guys?!”

Saito said that, and half of those present nodded.

“Of course! As a knight, we cannot let this pass!”

“No matter what happened, taking a girl into captivity is unforgivable! I'll do it! I wi-!”

Clenching his fist tightly, Malicorne shouted. He would react when it comes to girls.

However, having brought forth such a brave idea, there was hesitation as well.

“But... if we were to think rationally, those guys are still impossible.”

The one who said that was Reynal who shoulders the responsibility of managing the external business of the Ondine・Knight Corps of the Water Spirit. While everyone was fooling around, he was sitting in a corner, quietly sipping his alcohol but... now that trouble had turned up, he stepped forward as if it was his turn.

“What's your problem? You scared?”

Saito drew closer, and Reynal said calmly.

“I am not afraid. Just that, we are already the queen's knights right? We cannot do as we like, isn't that so?”

“Yeah, that's true,” a male student agreed.

The Ondine students' opinions were split directly in half. “If we don't go and save our classmate, what kind of knights are we?” This group which was with Saito.

“The enemy is outside the country. We cannot poke our head into their affairs.” The other group which was with Reynal.

A noisy quarrel ensued, after which they turned to the corps leader in unison.

“Hey Guiche. You are the commanding officer right? Decide!”

Caught in between the two factions in such a way, Guiche became flustered.

“I-I decide?”

“Isn't that obvious?”

“A-Ah I see... whatever it is, this, that! The opinions are quite good. The girl, or the duty of the knight corps...”

“Don't 'quite good' about, decide now!”

Irritated, Montmorency urged Guiche. "Gulp", Guiche swallowed his saliva. After that, he hugged his head again, and started agonizing.

“Geez! You...” whilst Montmorency was saying that...

Louise shouted in quite a mad voice,

“What are you all doing right now!? If that's it, only those who want to go should go. Isn't that good enough!? We don't need every member to go right!? Those who want to go and help, let's go!”

Taken aback, everyone present stared at Louise.

“About that... but we are still the knight corps...”

When Saito said that in a sullen voice, Louise kicked him between the legs.

''Guuu...''Placing her foot on the head of Saito who had fallen down, in a pose which seemed to have become her routine, Louise shouted.

“If you all can't agree on a opinion, what kind of knights are you! Or rather, if you really want to go to save her, you would have rushed out by now, wouldn't you? You won't be talking meaninglessly here right!?”

At her words, from under Louise's foot, Saito sighed.

“Y-Yeah...”

''Obsessed in the knight corps, looks like I had forgotten the fundamental thing. Just a little while ago, wouldn't I just rush out to save her?''

''I had become prudent, this sounds better, but... maybe there is this part of me as well which doesn't want to part with the title I was bestowed?''

''Being stopped by Henrietta, because of my relief, I had become embarrassed. Geez, fretting over the title I have over here, what should I do...''

Saito stood up, and nodded.

“Allll right! Those who want to save Tabitha, follow me!”

''Ooohh!'' Cheers went out.

Nevertheless, Louise frowned all the more.

“Wait right there. We can't go WITHOUT a proper plan!”

“Plan?”

“That's right. To properly inform the princess, to ask for help or cooperation, and then to embark on the journey to Gallia. We're not going against some band of thieves or some monster over there. Our opponent is the Kingdom of Gallia!”

Dazzled, Saito looked up to Louise who declared that with her arms akimbo.

Under her, Louise saw Saito looking up at her, captivated, and thought.

''Tabitha.''

''The petite, blue-haired girl...''

''That honest child, although I don't know what she has been thinking, but hasn't she been helping us all the time? That's why I will go. I must go.''

''If it were during those days, I probably wouldn't have thought like that.''

At that instant, she was astonished at herself who thought that way.

''Tabitha and myself, I had no idea that our relationship would go to such an extent.''

''But... Tabitha has always helped us, without any reason whatsoever.''

''Just like this fellow...'' Louise stared at Saito who was under her feet.

''Saito as well, helping me without any reason.''

''That's why, for Tabitha who had always helped us without any reason, I will go and save her as well.''

''Yeah, I am probably changing.''

''Until yesterday, I had been blindly accepting Henrietta and my country; I had been thinking about the honor of a noble. However, truthfully, that's not the case. At that time, I started to realize. That was probably why I could strike Henrietta the other day.''

''In exchange for Henrietta and my motherland, I still do not really know what I should believe in but... my heart is telling me to take action, I think.'' Louise could sense that it was right.

''Gumm'', Louise glared at Saito.

''Although it's me, when I have to do it, I'll do it.''

''I have tried to be a hero and self-important by myself! Idiot! Idiot idiot!''

“Alright! Let's go to the palace now!” Gazing at Saito who had stood up, Louise thought.

''Saito who had always helped her in that way, his feelings...''

''What if it is as Siesta has said, his feelings for me are as a familiar?''

As if denying the indescribable anxiety, Louise shook her head, and went after Saito.

The Ondine members and Louise walked until they reached the ''Ostland'' which was anchored outside the academy. Running up the ramp, she pointed at the captain's cabin.

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Donk donk!* She knocked the door, and Colbert creeped out with a sleepy face.

“Wh-t? Anything?”

From the room beside, with the habitual habit of yawning, Kirche stepped out as well.

“Whatttt... so late at night...”

“Please go to the palace now!”

“What on earth... what's wrong?”

“Tabitha was captured by the Kingdom of Gallia!”

Saito said that, and Kirche's eyebrows shot up.

“What the hell!?”

Colbert frowned as well.

“Is this true?”

“Yeah. We were told by Sylphid and Tabitha's dutiful sister.”

“So, we're going to Gallia now?”

In a calm voice, Kirche asked.

“No... before that, we go to princess-sama's place to seek for help, authorization and cooperation.”

After staring motionlessly at Saito, as if consenting, Kirche nodded.

“So, we'll depart now! Miss Zerbst, I'll leave the steam engine to you.”

“Ya-!”

Kirche nodded, and vanished to start up the fire in the steam engine. Colbert rang the bell which was installed in the captain's cabin, and over the whole ship, bell rings reverberated. The crew the Zerbst family employed, flew out from every corner of the ship.

“Everyone! We're departing now! Drop the rope!”

The rope which was used to fix the ship onto the ground, was quickly cut off, and the ''Ostland'' rose.

Although the ''Ostland'''s instantaneous highest speed is far inferior to that of dragons, on average it displays a cruising speed which can be compared to dragons. Roughly three times faster than sailing ships. In just less than an hour, they arrived in the skies of Tristainia.

Leaving the ship in the sky, Saito and the others landed in the courtyard of the palace with “Levitation”. The guards on duty as usual were the Manticore Corps.

The Commanding Officer who had a good look with his bushy eyebrows, shouted in surprise when he saw the human figures.

“I thought it was someone suspicious, but it is you all huh... This time, what is it?”

“De Cesaire-dono. We wish to be admitted into Her Majesty's presence.”

Louise said that, and the Commanding Officer of the Manticore Corps frowned.

“An unreasonable request so late at night, if you were ordinary people I would have refused you directly but... if it is you all, I guess that can't be helped.”

Having heard what Saito and the others said, Henrietta became silent for a while.

After that, she lifted her face...

“I cannot permit all of you to go directly.”

Thinking that they would acquire the help of being issued with the passage permission document to Gallia, and above that, being granted escorts to the country border, the group was splashed with cold water.

“I will summon the ambassador and conduct a full inquiry into this incident. Together with the incident of Louise's attack, I will strongly protest it.”

“No way. Well then, what should we do? You would order us to watch quietly?”

Henrietta became troubled. After that, she gazed at Saito,

“Once you get there, what would happen next?”

“But! But!”

“Isn't this the first time Tabitha-dono became part of the conspirators who attacked you and Louise? Why do all of you go to such lengths so save such a person?”

“If she did not betray them halfway, we could not have saved Louise. She is our... lifesaver. Isn't Louise's lifesaver the country's lifesaver as well?”

Pleading desperately, Saito drew near to Henrietta.

“Well then, though unwilling, I would declare Tabitha as our lifesaver. However, Tabitha-dono is Gallia's Chevalier. At best, whatever was done to her, isn't it Gallia's right? If we meddle in this, wouldn't it become an interference in their domestic affairs?”

“The ones going are us. It is not Tristain's secret messengers or army.”

“All of you are now my household troops. Whatever your intentions may be, you would be perceived as “the actions of the Kingdom of Tristain”. If you go over there and save someone who committed a crime, it would cause serious opposition from them.”

At the gravity of the situation, Saito and the rest were at loss of words.

“It would probably turn into a war. All of you are going despite that?”

They were clearly told that... and sighs could be heard from the students of the Ondine who gathered.

“What Your Majesty said is true.”

“It would be terrible if a war occurred.”

With Reynal as their head, they started dissuading Saito together.

“Understood,” Saito replied.

“You guys go back to the academy first.”

“Saito. We have said many times, it is not because we're afraid...”

Reynal directed his eyes at Saito, in persuasion.

“I know. I don't think of you guys as cowards. What Her Majesty said is quite right, your feelings know that as well. Just that, I have a bit more to say.”

A relieved atmosphere flowed through that place. Everyone of the Ondine retreated to Her Majesty's office. The ones left behind were only Guiche, Malicorne, Saito and Louise.

“Can you please give this up?”

As if appealing, being gazed at by Henrietta's eyes, his feelings wavered at once.

When their eyes met in such a manner... it was not the grim and stern queen's expression, but the defenseless one, just like when they exchanged kisses previously.

Not as a queen... but as someone intimate, wanting him not to go.

That was what her expression told Saito.

Staring at Henrietta's countenance, Saito's determination started swaying.

But still... as he thought, he could not accept it. Although he is appealed to by her feelings, he could not desert the person who saved him.

He could not consent to it.

Slowly, Saito removed the mantle he was wearing.

“Wh-What are you doing?”

Guiche said in a panicked voice.

Respecfully, Saito handed the mantle over to Henrietta.

“...Wh-”

With a shocked look, Henrietta stared at Saito.

“I am returning it. Although it had been a short time... thanks for all your help.”

“Y-You...”

Henrietta trembled all over.

“With this, there won't be any trouble for Tristain. Isn't that so?”

Henrietta trembled for a moment, and in a small, tearful voice:

“Idiot...” she muttered.

The young queen rang the pre-installed bell.

“Is there anything?” Quietly, the Manticore corps of the bodyguard group rushed in.

“Disarm these people of their weapons, and arrest them.”

Looking at Henrietta who had pointed at Saito and said thus, Guiche's expression turned pale. Louise paled as well.

“Princess!”

“Err, but... but...” The Commanding Officer of the Manticore corps shook his head. That's because he could not digest the current situation properly.

“Quickly.”

Being urged by Her Majesty The Queen, he straightened his collar and turned around at Saito.

“It is because of the command. Don't hold any grudge against me.”

Saying that, he confiscated Saito's sword, and tied his hands behind him. ''What should we do?'', Guiche and Malicorne exchanged glances, but since Saito had obediently let himself be arrested, they followed him helplessly. The other corps members confiscated their wands, and tied them up as well.

“For a while... please cool down your head.”

Henrietta informed them in a sorrowful face... and the magic guard corps dragged Saito and the others away.

After that, Louise was left with Henrietta. Now becoming just the two of them, Henrietta laid her body down onto her chair.

“Why! Why couldn't they understand! Wishing to put their lives in danger! What would happen if they went to Gallia! To locate an arrested knight in such a big country, isn't that just like locating a pebble which was dropped into a lake? Besides that, couldn't they understand that they cannot move freely in a foreign country! To make things worse, Gallia is targeting the Void! Louise, your Void! Have you thought about how much danger that is awaiting you! What... on earth...”

Gazing at the distraught queen, Louise could guess something which is fairly close to her feelings. Above the souring of the relationship with Gallia... Because of her woman's instinct, Henrietta probably did not want Saito to go.

Upon seeing such Henrietta... the former Louise would definitely be as frantic as her.

Weighing her feelings and Henrietta's on a scale... Would she not give up and compete until the end? Or else, would she give in because of her faithfulness? Louise would become distressed.

Nonetheless, the present Louise was strangely calm.

''Now is not the time to worry over such a thing.''

''The thing which I must do... is to help Tabitha.''

''For that sake, I must do what I must.''

''That is the duty of I, who was born a noble.'' Louise thought.

Louise gently placed her hand onto Henrietta's shoulder.

“What Princess said is quite right. For an Academy of Magic student, if she were to be weighed against a foreign country's chances, the latter would win.”

“That's right, Louise. I did not make a mistake. Yeah, for the time being, I want them to think over it calmly in the palace.”

“Just that... It is beyond me to agree to everything which is correct.”

“...Eh?”

Henrietta moved the hand which was concealing her face, and lifted her face.

“As for us, there is this reason that we must stick to.”

“What's the matter? What are you talking about?”

Dumbfounded, Henrietta stared at Louise.

“I have always come to believe that serving Princess is that reason. But... somewhere within my heart, it is saying this. Blind acceptance towards Princess is not my path to progress,”

“Louise...”

With a troubled look, Henrietta gazed at Louise.

“This time, I have already resolved to go to save Chevalier Tabitha-dono. I believe that is the reason I must stick to. At the same time, I am aware that I am probably opposing Princess. Princess-sama has her own position. The position as a queen...”

“Even you, what are you saying?”

“While I know that... I have come to report to Princess. Why? Whilst knowing I would be opposed, why did I come to inform your Majesty? That is because I have felt sort of like the same “reason” I must stick to as well. To persist in the “reason” I believe... I am losing, but my spirit as a noble is somewhere here.”

Both the ladies which shared the special, childhood days together, were now confronting each other as a queen and a noble.

“Louise, have you forgotten? You are my court lady! You mean you are going to disobey my intentions?”

Silently, Louise removed her mantle, and presented it onto Henrietta.
[[Image:ZnT10-103.jpg|thumb]]
“...Louise. Louise! Do you know what you're doing now!? Taking down your mantle would mean...”

“Yeah. With this, I am no longer a noble of Tristain. I am just Louise. Your Majesty, please treat me as part of the rebels who want to go to Gallia. After our departure, please proclaim this to the whole of Halkeginia. 'Inform the neighbouring country governments. Rebels are at large, there is a possibility for them to cross the country frontier. Upon discovery, please punish them according to your country's laws.' If your majesty does that, Tristain would not have any troubles.”

Henrietta trembled for a while... then, shaking her head, she called out to the remaining guards.

Facing the imperial guards who bowed down humbly, Henrietta told them.

“Arrest this person. Until I say otherwise, do not let her out of the palace.”

“Ha, ha...!”

The guards obeyed respectfully, and bowed once at Louise.

“Please hand over your wand.”

Staring at Louise, Henrietta said.

“The things you said are not wrong. I think they were splendid.”

A short pause.

After a quick bow, Louise surrendered her wand to the imperial guards.

At the back of Louise who was brought out from the room, Henrietta said in a sad voice.

“I don't have the self-confidence, I do not think that I can carry it out properly. But, I am still the queen, Louise.”

Saito and the others were all confined within a room in a tower at the west side of the palace.

In the ten tatami mat wide room, beds and desks were prepared. Probably this was a room built for the use of nobles. Yet, even though it was for the use of nobles, it was as if the fact that it was used as a prison did not change.

The windows and doors were barred with thick metal grills. On the other side of the thick doors, two sentinels carrying huge halberds were standing there.

Sitting on the beds, Guiche and Malicorne were looking out from the window, rather miserably. Light from the twin moons which shone in, cast a shadow of the metal bars. Seeing that, Guiche murmured in a miserable voice.

“Haaa... damn. If my father and elder brother knew about my current condition, they would probably feel so sad... And they had felt so happy when I became a commanding officer of the Imperial Guards... They had even called me the pride of the Gramont family...”

Malicorne sighed deeply as well.

“How could Her Majesty become so angry...”

Saito felt sorry for the both of them, which had no fault in this matter at all. Reflexively, he bowed his head quickly.

“Sorry. Because you all have accompanied me...”

''Well, isn't that fine?'' Whilst shaking his hand flutteringly, Guiche said to Saito.

“Don't worry about it. Not being able to coordinate the knight corps, I am at fault as well. Oh well, because I'm the commanding officer, siding with the Assistant Commanding Officer is probably my duty as well.”

“As I thought, going to save the girl who was abducted by a foreign country, hunting down the foxes in their territory, going on a conquest against robber bands; these things are wrong. We had made someone angry.”

With a face which had become completely sober, Malicorne muttered.

“But, why did you all stick along with me? It would have been better if you all go back together with the others.”

“That's because this is more fun!”

Guiche answered readily.

“So is it being imprisoned like this the same as well?”

“Yeah. Going along with a girl is fun as well, but... ever since I was born a noble, I have not gotten involved in such heart-thumping adventure! Being imprisoned in the palace! My father and elder brother would surely be sad, but they don't have such an experience!”

"Ahaha", Guiche broke out in laughter. ''Ummm, as I thought, this guy is quite a big shot. It's probably right for him to become the corps leader,'' Saito thought. ''But obviously, the possibility that he is but a complete idiot cannot be put aside as well.''

“I want to become braver,” Malicorne said.

“Braver?”

“Yeah. In times of danger, I want courage. Although I want to try to participate in a war... I could only tremble, become frightened and start crying. I want courage so that I won't escape whatever time it is.”

"I see..."

Saito and Guiche became solemn unintentionally. However, immediately after that,

“If I have such courage, I would probably be more accepted right?”

Malicorne said shyly, because of which the solemn atmosphere dispersed.

“Hey, Saito.”

“What?”

Guiche looked at Saito with a serious expression.

“You should have some plans, don’t you?”

“Plans?”

“Yeah, didn’t you just crazily let yourself be captured without any resistance? Obviously, you would have some plans to escape from here, right?”

With a blank face, Saito answered.

“No.”

Guiche and Malicorne bulged their eyes.

“Ehhh?”

“There is no way for me to have any plan. Derf was confiscated as well. What should I do?”

“You idiooooottttt!! Aaaaahhhhh! Weren’t we arrested…?? Of all the things, adoration and respect to Her Majesty The Queen???”

Hugging his head, Guiche started babbling.

“What’re you talking about!? And yet I had said just now that 'I am glad I can experience such things'!?”

“That and this are different thingsssss!!”

Dejected, Malicorne’s shoulders drooped. Looks like they had became worried suddenly.

“Her Majesty The Queen, would she forgive us, I wonder… Could it be, that we have to be hanged?”

At that, Saito laughed.

“Hey, what are you laughing at?”

The door opened, and Louise showed her face. For some reasons, her mantle was not put on.

“Aren’t you late? We’ve been waiting!”

However, Louise did not reply. With a straight face, she walked in determinedly, and *don!*, sat beside Saito.

“Eh? Louise… didn’t you come to get us ou…”

The guards who escorted Louise inside closed the prison doors again. *Gachang!!* With the sound of the magic lock being locked, Saito, Guiche and Malicorne understood that their fate wasn’t going to change after all.

<noinclude>
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</noinclude>