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Chapter 4: The Moment to Cut Through the Darkness
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He dodged the light and ran.
This was at one of Roland’s military facilities in the middle of the night. Ryner was running through the hall at a speed one wouldn’t expect from his apathetic expression. He opened his lazy eyes wide to allow for a red pentagram to shine inside them, then looked at the magic circle before him. Three guards on the other side of the hall were casting at him.
Ryner had already dodged the Abstract Phosphorescence of the man who’d finished first.
The guard watched, shocked. “T-to think that someone could dodge Abstract Phosphorescence at this distance…!”
His tone was familiar to Ryner. It was the same tone that people always called him a monster with. “It’s your own fault for missing,” Ryner said.
The next guard finished his magic circle. This one was Crimson. But Ryner cast a spell of his own far faster, finishing when the guard was only halfway through his incantation.
“I wish for a burnt prairie - Crim—”
“I wish for rain clouds - Leveling Rain!” Ryner yelled. Moisture compressed into liquid inside his magic circle, then burst out into a flood aimed at his opponents.
The guard who’d casted Crimson could hardly believe his eyes. “This is crazy…”
The Abstract Phosphorescence guy and Crimson guy were both pushed away by the wave and slammed into the wall behind them. They fell, unconscious.
Ryner had gone pretty damn easy on them so that they wouldn’t die, but that didn’t mean they didn’t break a few bones from the impact. He usually went even easier on his opponents to prevent that, but he didn’t really have the time for that now. He had to knock them out quickly so they didn’t call for backup.
“……”
Ryner’s eyes darted around to check his surroundings. It was dark and hard to see, but he could at least tell that this was a building made with black stone. It reminded him of prison.
It was one of the Roland military’s intelligence department’s buildings. He’d chosen it because it looked like it was the easiest one to break into, but it was still in the heart of enemy territory. So he had to be careful. If he let his guard down for even a second, they could call for help. It was possible that they’d get enough to kill him.
So Ryner fought more seriously than usual.
“……”
But…
Ryner looked at the final guard. “Um, so, I think I kind of overdid it… B-but I have to do this, so uh, can you just endure it? Sorry.” Then he broke out in a run towards the final guard.
The guard was already running, like he meant to call help.
“I won’t let youuu!” Ryner said. He closed the distance between them vigorously.
People who knew him would be shocked to see it. ‘Is this really the same guy who moves slower than a tortoise?’ They’d wonder.
Ryner caught up to the soldier easily. The solider raised his voice in shock, then took a knife from his waist and threw it at Ryner.
“There we go,” Ryner said as he caught the knife like it was nothing, then tucked it into his belt. “Thanks for the tip!”
The guard wavered, his face stricken with despair. “Wh, what… what the hell? Who are you? This is a class II intelligence facility you’re attacking… Sh, shit!”
Apparently the guard didn’t know when to give up, because he began to draw a magic circle in the air. “Too late!” Ryner said, then closed the final distance between them to slam a hand through the magic circle to change it. It messed up the organization a little, and it still needed an incantation, but it was his now. “I wish foooor, uh, something smokey - Smoke!”
Smoke puffed out of the magic circle to obscure the guard’s vision. “I-I can’t see!” The guard yelled, terrified.
“Uwahh, I can’t either,” Ryner mumbled. “This sucks.”
Ryner searched for the guard’s presence. It seemed like he was trying to run.
“S, someone, please!” The guard said.
“You can’t call for help,” Ryner said. He grasped the guard by the back of his shirt, then pressed a hand into a pressure point on his neck to knock him out. That marked the end of the fight.
Ryner looked at the smoke with his Alpha Stigma to see how it worked. “Wow… this is pretty roundabout. I guess because I did it weird.”
Then he raised his hands again to draw another magic circle - the countermagic he’d seen with his Alpha Stigma. “I wish for, umm… What should I call it. I want it to have a cool name. The last one was way too half-assed. Uh, okay. I wish for vanishing clouds - d-disappear!”
In the end, his naming sense was terrible, so it was destined to be half-assed again.
“Well, umm. I guess it’s fine. I mean, it works,” Ryner said, then sighed.
He really felt like strong spells had strong names. But those kinds of spells were made by magic scholars.
“I’m not a magic scholar so it’s fine, right?” Ryner asked. But there was no one left to answer his question. He’d knocked them all out.
His magic circle sucked the smoke inside, leaving the hall dark. The only light was coming from the moon on the other side of the windows.
He was currently on the sixth floor of a class II intelligence facility belonging to the Roland Empire’s military. He’d tried to infiltrate a class I facility first, but it was too heavily guarded, so he decided against going in. From what he saw, class I facilities were protected by those monsters born from human experimentation. Men in Magical Knight uniforms, too, even though Sion was supposed to have disbanded them back when he became king.
Just looking at it had been enough to know that he’d definitely die if he tried to get in. So he decided to go for a class II facility instead. It wasn’t like this place wasn’t guarded at all, but, well.
“……”
Ryner glanced down at the guards collapsed by his feet. He’d already taken out fifty guards and the twenty officials still here so late one by one, without a sound, as he made his way up the building. It was a serious pain that took four whole hours. Four whole hours of picking off soldiers one by one and knocking them out so he didn’t cause a fuss.
He’d started at eleven at night, and now it was three in the morning.
“Auugh, geez, I’m seriously way too tired for this,” Ryner groaned. It’d gotten really annoying once he hit the fifth floor. It wasn’t nearly as bad before then. It took so long that he was sure it’d be bright outside before he was done.
But now he was finished. He was free to do whatever. Everyone was out and Ryner could investigate to his heart’s content. It was the exact thing he’d normally get excited about.
“…Uwaaah, everything that I can investigate here’s gonna be annoying…”
It was the middle of the night. He didn’t have the energy to get excited about investigating. Still, Ryner mustered up the strength to drag his feet into a room.
There were documents everywhere. Ryner turned their pages quickly. He was a fast reader.
“…Guess this is a side effect of Sion working me like a mule for so long…”
Ryner thought of Sion. Of the year that Sion had spent working him.
“…The next time we meet, I’m giving him a good punch before anything else. I’m gonna punch him and ask what the hell he expected to happen while I do it…”
Ryner turned the pages as he mumbled to himself. But it didn’t look like this room had the information he was looking for. So he tried the next one over.
“……”
The second room had the same stuff as the first. So he left for the next room over again. But honestly, he’d figured out most of what he wanted to know even without reading this stuff. He’d spent the whole day in the heart of enemy territory, after all.
He went around listening to people in town in the morning, running when his pursuers caught sight of him, then in the afternoon he broke into a noble manor to hear what they thought was going on in Roland and steal some of their money. Then he got attacked by his pursuers again and sent a bunch of them flying and hit from the rest. Then when things cooled down, he listened to what self-proclaimed experts on the situation had to say in taverns and back alleys.
By then, he pretty much understood the situation in Roland.
The influential nobles were pretty much all purged, significantly limiting the nobility’s power. That probably made the average person pretty happy. Lots of people told him that they were thankful to their hero king Sion Astal for doing that for them. They all saw Sion as an ally to the weak.
Roland had finally dealt with all of the problems that had plagued it over the past year, and it became stronger as a result. Neighboring countries all responded with fear, seeing Roland as dangerous. It was to the point where they had plans to make an alliance with the shared goal of crushing Roland, but Roland ended up invading Nelpha before those plans could solidify. “Look how reliable our hero king is,” they’d say.
Ryner already knew all that. Ryner had been part of why the country accomplished so much in the past year, after all. He’d done his best for it. Well, he hadn’t known that the military had gotten the brunt of the improvement, but that wasn’t the sort of thing Sion would have asked for his help with either way, so…
Ryner wasn’t too happy with Sion’s methods, but now that he understood the context, well, what else was Sion supposed to do? He was a king. He had to respond to the situation his country was put in.
The people believed that they’d become richer the more they went to war. More land meant more money and resources, right?
Ryner wasn’t too sure about that last part. He felt that war would suck their resources up, so the people might not be able to maintain their current lifestyles while their county fought. Besides, there was no way he’d be happy with a lifestyle born of killing others, no matter how rich it may be.
But didn’t Sion think that, too? Didn’t he know that wasn’t truly happy more than anyone? So he didn’t think that was why Sion was increasing the military’s power.
There was the Gastark Empire to consider. They had weaponized Heroic Relics and conquered down past Stohl, ever expanding southwards. He’d heard that the three great countries of the Central Continent had begun to strengthen their militaries in response to Gastark. Everyone had started to look at war as a real possibility. Everyone had begun to look to expand their territory.
They were currently looking at sparks of a war greater than what anyone had ever seen before. But those sparks were in the far north. Wasn’t it possible for Sion, who ruled a country in the far south, to talk things over with leaders of the other southern countries instead of turning to war first?
That’d normally be impossible. And yeah, sure. It’d be impossible for the other kings. They were stupid. But Ryner believed that Sion had the power to make it happen with words alone. He had the power to get Gastark and the other major countries of the continent to cooperate without needing to fight a war first. And he had the time to talk it out with everyone, too.
But Sion… didn’t do that.
“What’s got you in such a hurry…?”
Ryner turned the pages.
That was it. Sion was rushing into this. He was pushing forward as fast as he could, even if it wasn’t the best way. He was all alone. He didn’t have anyone he could really talk to. He took everything upon himself. But why? Why did he have to invade his allies right now?
He was slaughtering everyone as a sort of performance meant to evoke a quick surrender. It wasn’t just Nelpha. Sion wanted Runa and Cassla, too. He wanted the whole Southern Continent, the Central Continent, the Northern Continent, everything. But why?
To satisfy his own greed? Did he want something bigger the second he got what he wanted? Was he someone who was always left wanting more, more, more?
“…Like hell. He’s…”
He wasn’t like that. Sion wasn’t like that.
Sion had been a wimp ever since they met each other. He was terrified of hurting others. He was terrified of hurting his friends. He thought everything bad was his own fault. And he definitely hadn’t become king due to personal greed.
Back on the first battlefield that Ryner and Sion stepped foot on together, back when they were both students. Sion had said something after Kiefer betrayed Roland, after everyone died, and after Ryner’s Alpha Stigma went berserk. He’d made a horrible face, like he was so, so sad, like he blamed himself for everything.
“Making you my ally was a mistake. The fact that Tony, Tyle, and Fahle - our friends - died is also my mistake. The fact that war broke out… the fact that I’m not currently king…”
Sion hated war. He hated it when people died. So why?
“…What’s got you in such a hurry, Sion…?”
“What a coincidence,” someone suddenly said. “I came here to investigate that very thing too.”
Ryner looked up, surprised. He looked deeper into the room. He’d been so certain that nobody was here, but there was a man sitting on the desk by the window, a book in his hands. His back was turned to Ryner.
He was only five steps away from Ryner. He’d managed to get this close, but Ryner didn’t notice at all.
This was really.
“……”
Really, really bad.
Because it meant that this guy was stupidly strong. He’d managed to get into this room without Ryner ever noticing, after all. No, wait, maybe he was here since the beginning?
Ryner squinted at the other man in the darkness. “Were you here the whole time?”
“Yes,” he said leisurely.
Ryner recognized that voice. He knew this guy. He stared at his back as he tried to remember. He looked like he was still young, but his long hair was pure white. His voice had an airy quality to it, both kind and mature.
That was all Ryner needed to recognize him.
“…Luke.”
Luke turned around. He had a carefree smile on his face. He was lanky and tall, even taller than Ryner, and he wore a Roland military uniform. His face said that he was twenty-four or twenty-five, but his strangely white hair said otherwise.
Either way, it was just as he thought. He was Luke Stokkart. He was a subordinate of Milk Callaud, who Ryner used to know back when they were kids. Luke was always smiling kindly and patiently like he was a preschool or kindergarten teacher, but in this cramped, personalityless room, he held the power to hide himself entirely from Ryner.
Ryner tensed. “So you came here to investigate something too?”
Luke smiled. “As if. I was actually waiting for you.”
“…How’d you know I’d come here…?”
“Haha. Isn’t it pretty easy to figure out? You only have to think for a moment to realize it. You’re incapable of reaching the castle to have a conversation with Sir Sion as you are now. You might be strong enough to break into a class I facility, but you’d likely be injured in doing so, which could compromise your escape from this country. So you figured you might as well settle for a class II, then leave the country…”
Ryner stared.
“…But before you leave, you want to be sure that you understand the situation between Roland and Nelpha, so you came here to read the military’s official documents on the subject. But you haven’t been able to find them… Where could they be?” Luke held the book in his hand up to show Ryner and smiled kindly. “I compiled this so that I could give it to you.”
Ryner glared at Luke’s smile. “So basically, you were sure that I’d come here.”
“Well, yes.”
“…Did you come to kill me?”
“Hmm, what should I do,” Luke said. His tone was light to the point of apathy.
“You must’ve at least set that trap of yours in here,” Ryner said. He looked around. The worst thing about this guy was how good he was at setting traps. It wasn’t that Luke was super fast at magic or super suited to fighting. Well, sure, he was way stronger than the average soldier, but he’d never win in a fair fight against Ryner.
But at the same time, Ryner wasn’t confident that he could win if they fought. Because Luke was smart. It felt like he knew every move his enemies would make before they even thought of making them. It made him feel like he was living in the palm of Luke’s hand.
Ryner couldn’t see any traps, though.
Luke smiled. “I spent two hours doing my best to set a good trap while you were fighting on the first floor.”
He admitted it so easily. So there were traps. Ryner would have to be careful. They’d be fatal. He felt like he already lost…
“……”
No, wait, was that the real trap? Had he actually laid a trap, or was he just bluffing to fluster Ryner?
Ryner’s eyes darted around the room, frantically searching for any trace of a trap.
Luke pointed to his side. “For example, I rigged that spot on your right so a knife will come shooting out.”
Ryner heard a click from behind himself. He looked over. It was a trap to kill him. The sound was just a rubber band that Luke shot at the bookshelf he was standing by, but the second Ryner looked away from Luke, he threw a knife for Ryner’s neck.
Ryner smiled and took a step back. “Thought so.”
“Oh, you managed to dodge,” Luke said, a surprised look on his face.
“Ha. Obviously, for how many of your traps I’ve—”
It wasn’t over yet. Luke pointed to Ryner’s left. “But the real trap is over there.”
“No it’s not. I’m not that gulli—”
He heard a sudden thud come from where Luke had pointed.
“Thud!?” Ryner shrieked. There was no way that was another rubber band. So what was it? He couldn’t look. Luke would throw another knife at him if he did, wouldn’t he? But there was no way he wasn’t going to look. It was a thud! Of course he’d look. A thud was serious!
The two sides of Ryner’s brain engaged in a harsh battle, but in the end, he couldn’t contain himself. He had to look.
It was… a stuffed bear. Slowly falling to the ground after its impact with the bookcase.
“……”
That was it.
“What the hell!” Ryner yelled.
Luke smiled. “What do you think? Do you like it?”
“Like what!?”
“What do you mean, what? The stuffed bear, of course. Isn’t it cute?”
“No, it’s not!”
“Really?” Luke asked. “But I asked the stuffed animal shop’s owner what the cutest and most popular one there was, and it was this little bear. It’s a present for Chief Milk…”
“I don’t fucking caaaaare! Ugh, seriously, what are you even trying to do!?” But despite how worked up he was, he had no intention of fighting. It was just that Luke was full of tricks down to his words and he was sick of it. “Fighting you wears me down both physically and mentally,” Ryner said. “I hate it.”
“I don’t like fighting you either. You’re better at everything, so if I were to mess up even a little, I’d come out of it dead,” Luke said.
“…Your face and personality don’t match. You’re actually terrible.”
“Haha. I’m only nice to Chief Milk.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes,” Luke said, somehow pleased.
Ryner just sighed. Trying to have a real conversation with Luke was tiring. Because he always saw through everything and made Ryner feel like an idiot. Ryner looked back up at Luke. “So what did you want from me? You came to see me, right?”
“…I did. I came to see you, the traitor Ryner Lute.”
“Whoa, I’m a traitor to this country now?”
“You are.”
“But I didn’t betray anyone.”
Luke shrugged. “Traitors who didn’t do anything wrong… are fairly common in this country.”
Ryner looked away from Luke, and down at the stuffed bear. It was a present for Milk. Milk Callaud. She was Ryner’s childhood friend from the same orphanage, Special Institute #307. They were both raised in that horrible place, one of many orphanages that specialized in human experimentation.
All of Roland was shit back then. And ‘back then’ wasn’t that long ago. It had been a horrible place up until Sion took the crown. It had been the kind of place where one could be judged a criminal without ever committing a crime. If a noble was in a bad mood, they could take it out on a village and wipe it off the map without consequences.
But…
Ryner looked back up to Luke. “That happened a lot… back because Sion became king. It doesn’t happen now.”
Luke nodded. “Yes, this country has changed. It took leaps and bounds forward. It’s still moving forward, even now.”
Yeah. It was always moving forward. “But where’s it moving to?” Ryner asked.
“It’s moving towards the light.”
“But what if the light’s wrong?”
“The hero king isn’t wrong.”
“You think? But Sion can be surprisingly dumb sometimes,” Ryner said. “See, recently he was dead tired after pulling all-nighters working and missed the toilet.”
“Ahaha. He did? Really?”
Well, duh. It was recent, too. Just last month. Back before Roland changed. But now, a month later, everything was different. But why?
“What in the world is Sion trying to do?” Ryner asked. “What does he want so badly that he needs all this power for? Why did he decide to expand north so suddenly?”
There had to be a reason. Sion had to have his reasons.
Yes, there was Gastark, and yes, there was the fact that the other southern countries had gotten suspicious of Roland. But this was Sion. He hated blood, hated seeing his friends die, no, even hated seeing his enemies die. Seeing anyone at all die hurt him. So why?
“What’s got him in such a hurry…?”
Luke considered the question for a moment. “As I said before, I’m investigating the same thing.”
“…So you guys don’t understand what’s going on either?”
“…No, we understand the gist of it… but there are bits and pieces that make us wonder. His Majesty has a secret that we aren’t in on. Though he’s always been the type to keep to himself. That, at least, can’t be helped…”
A secret. Yeah, that had to be it.
It had to be about that strange thing inside of Sion that Ryner had seen on that rainy night. That was what made him change. That had to be what was making him act like this. The fact that he put Ryner in prison, too, and the fact that he was hurrying his plans along. That secret had to be the cause of all of it.
But what was it? Ryner couldn’t very well stay in Roland to investigate it now. But what about Luke?
“Do you have any leads?” Ryner asked.
“No,” Luke said and shook his head. “But there’s someone in the upper rungs of the military… ah, actually, you two are acquainted, aren’t you. Sir Sion called Rahel Miller to him to explain a few things.”
“Hmm. So Sion’s gonna tell him about everything.”
“Who knows. He might. It isn’t as though I was called to participate. Truthfully, I don’t particularly care. It’s Sir Sion, after all. Surely his reasoning is correct?” Luke spoke as though he trusted Sion. As though he believed that the hero king wouldn’t make the wrong decision.
“So what would you do if he was wrong?” Ryner asked.
Luke shook his head. “I already told you that he never is.”
“And I already told you that he can be pretty dumb. He makes mistakes, too,” Ryner insisted.
“He isn’t wrong.”
“He could be. I mean, anyone could be… Anyone could be tricked. It’s always possible,” Ryner said. For example, whatever was inside of Sion could have tricked him. Or maybe that monster who appeared and disappeared as he pleased - Lucile could have tricked him.
Ryner felt a light go on in his mind. Yes, that could be it. Someone could be using Sion.
He didn’t know for sure, but he thought it might have something to do with the legends, the Heroic Relics, and the demons. Someone could be using those to manipulate Sion.
Ryner thought it, but he didn’t say it.
“…He’s not the kind of guy you think he is,” Ryner said. “He’s actually a mediocre guy who gets overwhelmed trying to do everything by himself. And you’re saying he’s never wrong? That he can’t make mistakes just because he’s your hero king? That’s stupid. He makes all sorts of mistakes. He’s the type who makes mistakes then regrets them and blames himself for them forever. He’s human. The king is a human being. Of course he can make mista—”
Luke shook his head. “I know that.”
“Huh?”
“I said that I know that. Sir Sion has been wrong before… We absolutely agree with you. But I don’t think that matters. Even Miller and Sir Sion’s meeting is like that. We don’t intend on blindly believing whatever Sion says. No…”
Luke was quiet for a moment. He scooted back on the desk, away from Ryner. Then he continued.
“…We have never trusted him, not even in the beginning. Not even the existence of a ‘hero king’ in this country…”
Ryner glared. “Then why do you follow Sion?”
Luke shrugged like it was obvious. “Well, he’s a great king, isn’t he? Everyone can see that he’s perfect for the job. Roland is happy being blessed with such a wonderful king.”
“Then…”
“But saying that Sir Sion is wonderful is entirely different from saying that I trust him. I can work under him because I want to trust him. I follow him as long as I see that our young king hasn’t made a mistake. As long as he tries to keep the casualties to a minimum, I can work as if I’m his subordinate. But for that…”
Luke held up his book, then continued.
“…I need the facts. Not things that someone else told me. Not information that only portrays a single point of view. I need real and true facts that accurately portray all sides of each problem.” Luke suddenly looked bashful. “I’ve made you listen to a long explanation, haven’t I? But I think this is something you needed to hear before you left. You’re still so young, after all. So I came here to tell you.”
Ryner just glared. So that was it, huh? This Luke guy didn’t trust. He didn’t trust people, or countries, or the world. He didn’t even trust Sion.
That was why Luke was going to let Ryner leave to gather information abroad.
Come to think of it, what about that thought Ryner had just had a minute ago? Looking back on it, it felt like Luka had said all that just to try to get Ryner to consider that someone might be manipulating Sion.
That was how Luke thought, after all. He lived his life extremely suspicious of the rest of the world.
“…What are you trying to get me to do?” Ryner asked quietly.
Luke feigned innocence with another shrug. “Nothing in particular? I just want you to live your life how you want to live it.”
“Don’t fuck with me.”
“I’m not. I just… have some expectations of you. The next time Sir Sion makes a fatal mistake, you’ll stop him, won’t you? You’re planning on searching the world for the power to save him. That’s great. Wonderful. I don’t know how you’ll do it, but… if you manage to amass a huge amount of power… For example, an army, a country, the power to go against Roland… If a massive war is set to engulf the continent, won’t you still call Sir Sion your friend…?”
Luke paused for a moment, then continued.
“And if Sion were to go mad, to suddenly go berserk, and someone has to kill him… well, no, if that were about to happen, we would kill Sion before it could,” Luke said. He said it like he believed it was a definite possibility.
But then Luke shook his head. Ryner didn’t have to say anything. It was as though Luke read the words in his heart.
“No, if we were to raise our hands against Sir Sion now, we’d be the ones to die,” Luke said. The monster Lucile’s hand would need to be the one to deal with him; it’s not something we can do. He’d be dealt with somehow or other.”
It was like…
It was really like… he could just see through everything.
“…You’re the monster here,” Ryner said.
“Haha. I’ve been called that ever since I was a child. But what about you?”
“……”
“Well, it doesn’t matter. It is what it is,” Luke said. “I think I’ve said a bit too much. Please do take this.” He held the book out. “It’s information on Nelpha and Roland’s current relationship. I actually lied when I said that I compiled it myself. A subordinate of mine, Lear Rinkal, stayed up all night doing it last night. He’s exceptional at this sort of thing, so it should be quite easy to read.”
Ryner took it. The front said, ‘A report for Ryner, who is going on a journey.’ “Ha. You’re making fun of me.”
Luke shook his head quickly. “Not at all. We’re actually afraid. We’re so worried about someone as powerful as you going abroad. But we’ve chosen to let you do it… Do you understand why?”
“…Because you feel more threatened by Sion than me?” Ryner tried. “That or you think you’re gonna get me to kill Sion if he goes crazy. I’m your insurance against him.”
Luke shook his head. “You have it backwards. We want you to help us end it with him alive. If Sir Sion really is being manipulated into doing the wrong thing, then all we can do is kill him. But you’re different, aren’t you? No matter how much he’s hurt you, you refuse to back down. You’ll always search for a way to bring him back, just like on that rainy day… You refused to back down.”
Ryner wanted to sigh. “You bastard. You were watching that?”
Luke nodded. “Because I don’t trust anything. I’m powerless. So I want to see if your power to trust our lonely king leads you anywhere… Your words were so powerful. ‘I’ll never give up on you,’ ‘I’ll bring you back, no matter where you are.’ No matter how scared you were, no matter how serious his betrayal was, you still screamed those words with all your strength. So I’ve come to expect something. To pray for it.”
Luke stood up, picked up the stuffed bear, then moved to leave. But he stopped for a moment in the doorway.
“…I pray that your power can reach Sir Sion before anyone lays a hand on him,” Luke said. “Because I love him too.”
Having said his piece, Luke left.
Now Ryner was alone, the information he’d been searching for in his hands.
He opened the book of documents up and turned the page. What did Luke want him to get from this?
He shook his head after a moment’s thought. No. It wasn’t something that Luke could predict. Neither could Ryner. Sion couldn’t, either. What was Ryner supposed to do for Sion? No… what was he supposed to do for this country? What could he do for the world?
Ryner thought of what the Cursed Eyed boy, Lafra, who died right in front of his eyes had told him not too long ago.
“We Cursed Eye bearers who have fallen into despair at the hands of humans, who live our lives in sadness… we all want you to save us.”
Lafra said that, then died. But he died smiling. A sad smile, the same as what Ryner used to always have on his face. A smile that’d given up on everything after facing tragedy after tragedy for being born with cursed eyes.
“Because you’re kind.”
Lafra had said the dumbest thing.
“So I’m sure that you’ll keep our promise. I’m glad that I got to meet you at the very end.”
Even though there wasn’t anything kind about Ryner. Even though it wasn’t a promise he’d normally keep.
Then Lafra died, and Ryner thought that he’d like to try keeping their promise. He’d given up on life before, but now, he wanted to keep his promise. That was why he did his best to change Roland. But this is how that ended. It didn’t protect anyone. It didn’t save anyone.
Lafra, Pueka, Tiir, Kiefer, Milk, Ferris, Tyle, Tony, Fahle, Arua, Sion…
And, more than anything, he had failed to save himself.
It had to be because he hadn’t been serious enough about it. Because he thought that something would happen as long as he tried a little with Sion.
He had to think of himself as more important.
He had to hurt himself more.
He had to become stronger.
He had to take more responsibility.
It wasn’t someone else’s fault. It wasn’t for someone else’s sake.
He had to think about what he wanted to do and how he was going to do it.
“I want to save Sion,” Ryner said. But not just him. “I want to save everyone important to me.” But not just them. “I want to save humans, Cursed Eyes, adults, children, men, women, countries, the world, everything…”
Everything.
He wanted to save everything he’d ever seen.
“……”
It sounded like a pipe dream. Nobody had ever done something like that before.
Making everyone happy, keeping anyone from getting hurt. That was a pipe dream. Of course Ryner thought it was impossible. Of course he knew that he’d hurt people trying to make it happen. Not just a few, either. It’d probably hurt a lot of people.
Even so.
He decided to take a different path from Sion’s.
He always, always ran away until now, and he lost a lot of things in doing so. But he wanted to move forward this time. Even if sadness slammed him in the face, even if he lost something again, he was going to try to believe in himself, who wanted to save others. To believe in himself who wanted to save Sion, the whole world.
Yes, he was a monster whose mere existence hurt others. But he wanted to do it for the people who believed in him. He wanted to believe in himself, too.
“……”
Words that Ryner recognized caught his eye as he flipped through Luke’s report. They were from back before Sion became king. They were from the report that he’d written while he was in prison for two years in Kiefer’s place. He’d written it so long ago now that he’d already forgotten all about it.
I hate it when people die.
I also hate killing.
I hate crying and I hate being made to cry.
What’s the feeling called when you know you can’t choose your life? When your family dies? What about when the person you love dies?
Nobody wants those things to happen, and yet this world wishes for pointless sadness, laughing all the while.
I’ve never wanted to change things. I know it’s futile. But I’ll keep being sad if things don’t change, and I don’t want to lose anything else…
This is a pain to write, but… I think it’s about time to move forward. I’ve averted my eyes from the past until now, but if it’s necessary, I’ll look at it. For the sake of making a world where nobody will lose anything anymore.
A world where that kid and Kiefer don’t have to cry, where Tyle, Tony, and Fahle don’t have to die, where Sion doesn’t have to torment himself over the state of things.
To a world where everyone smiles and it’s okay if all we do is nap.
Ryner Lute
“…But I didn’t do anything to make that happen,” Ryner mumbled. He hadn’t don’t anything at all.
Lafra and Pueka died, and Sion cried all by himself. And Ryner didn’t do anything at all.
But things were different now. He was going to try so that he didn’t have to lose anything important again. So that he didn’t make his buddy, his friends, family, anyone and everyone who was important to him cry, ever again.
Ryner stood up straight. “I’m leaving the country.”
There were tons of things he wanted to do. He had to leave the country and get a little stronger for them.
“Ah right.” Luke, who should have already left, peeked his head back into the room.
“Whaaaat!?” Ryner yelled. “Y, you should already be back home!”
Luke shot him an apologetic look. “Sorry. I’ve been watching you since I left…”
“Are you fucking kidding meeeeee!!” Ryner screamed. It was the loudest one today.
Seriously? Like, seriously? But he’d said so many embarrassing things! L, like how he was gonna save Sion, and how he was gonna do it all for the sake of the world and auuughhhh just thinking about it was so embarrassing that he wanted to die!!!
Luke smiled happily. “Who would have thought that you were such a passionate fellow—”
“Shut uuuuppp!!!”
“Now, now, no need to get so embarrassed. It was a complimen—”
“I’m begging you to just shut uuuuuupppp!!!”
“Are you really that embarrassed?” Luke asked.
“Um? Well, yeah…”
“Okay, I’ll stop.”
“Really?” Ryner asked.
“Really,” Luke promised.
Ryner sighed from relief in the depths of his heart. He was so, so glad that the person who happened to hear all of that wasn’t his bully Sion, or selfish Ferris, but instead the kind and calm man standing before him…
“But I must say, I was really moved by you saying that you hadn’t done anything at all—”
“I changed my mind, I hate you!!” Ryner said. He felt like he was going to cry.
Luke smiled again. “Should we get to the point?”
“The point?”
“Yes. There’s something I forgot to tell you,” Luke said.
“What?”
“You plan on leaving through the Sennel border crossing, correct?”
Ryner didn’t nod. But Luke was right. The Sennel border crossing was too narrow for a large army to go through, and it wasn’t too heavily guarded. But more than the guards, what was important was that he was unlikely to cross paths with Roland’s military there.
“There’s an ambush waiting for you there,” Luke said.
Ryner had expected that much. “Is it such a big ambush that me and Ferris won’t be able to deal with it?”
Luke tilted his head. “Well, I wonder. I’d say it’s fairly serious. I personally would not choose that path.”
“So it’s no good,” Ryner said.
“Not particularly.”
“…Man, what a pain. Which way should I leave then?” Ryner wondered. He opened a map in his mind. There were two other border crossings, and one was probably being used by the army now, so it was out. That left one for him to use.
“By the way, the Feide crossing is the same,” Luke said.
“There’s an ambush there too?”
“Yes.”
“Man, Sion’s serious about this.”
“I am not sure if it’s on His Majesty’s orders or not,” Luke said.
“Then whose orders are they?”
“I wonder. I haven’t looked into who is issuing the commands to pursue you…”
“Do your research next time,” Ryner said, displeased.
“Haha. My sense of duty towards you isn’t that strong. Besides, if you can’t even take care of this…”
Luke didn’t need to finish his sentence - what he was trying to say was clear enough. Ryner would be worthless to him if he couldn’t even take care of this.
Ryner was being chased down by the hero king of the strongest power in the south, the Roland Empire. If he couldn’t take care of this smoothly…
“……”
Even if Ryner didn’t take an official border crossing, he could try using an animal trail through the mountains and into Nelpha. But that was a major pain. It’d take days to enter Nelpha that way. And his pursuers would probably keep at it, so it wouldn’t be easy.
“Either way, I’m gonna have a look at the borders myself before deciding what to do,” Ryner said. He looked up. “Wait, he’s gone!”
Luke had left again, leaving Ryner alone in the dark room once more. But Ryner didn’t trust like that now. Luke was definitely still here, waiting for Ryner to say something embarrassing again.
Ryner opened the door and looked out to see if Luke had really left. It looked like he was really gone this time…
Or so he thought, until he heard a voice from the hall.
“You aren’t going to say goodbye?”
“So you were still here!”
“Heheh. You trust too easily so I thought I’d give you a reason to be suspicious… So which is it? Am I really going to leave, or will I stay~?” Luke asked happily, like he was enjoying quizzing Ryner.
“Like I care, dumbass! I’d rather you die! Just die already!”
“Ahaha. Now you’re wishing death on me? You’re horrible. But I really am leaving now. You can’t stop m—”
Ryner closed the door so he didn’t have to hear the last of what Luke had to say. But he could still hear the sound of Luke descending the stairs… if that was really what that was, and not just Luke pretending to do it. But that was whatever. He didn’t care anymore.
Ryner sighed and sat down at the desk. Then he put his feet up on it in a wonderful display of bad manners. He glanced up at the room’s clock. It was nearly four at night.
“…Or rather, four in the morning…”
The sun didn’t rise all that early this time of year though, so it was still pitch black outside. But the darkness wouldn’t last forever. They’d be on their journey out by the time the sun was up.
He’d agreed to meet Ferris at Asolude Dango and Tea, a shop by the northern road out of the city at eight in the morning. It was four in the morning now. If he considered the time it’d take to reach their meeting point, then he only had an hour or so left to gather information on his own.
Ryner looked up and out the window. The window faced west, so it gave him a perfect view of Roland Castle in the northwest, and the castletown in the southwest.
He gazed at the country he was born in, and the sights that were so familiar to him. He looked at it enough to make him nauseous.
He was going to leave the country today. He wouldn’t see this again for a long time. Maybe he’d never be back again. He might never come back to this place where he met his friends - Milk, Kiefer, Sion, Ferris, everyone.
It was different from last time, when he’d left the country with Ferris on Sion’s orders to search for Heroic Relics. Because today, Ryner was saying goodbye to this country. It wasn’t that he was feeling sentimental. It was just…
This was where he was born, harassed, tyrannized, loathed. He used to wish that Roland would just disappear. But at the same time, he’d made friends here. He found something real. But it was destroyed, so now he had to leave in order to make it right. He had to leave to save his buddy.
He felt that it was an amazing thing. He, who had always lived without doing anything at all, finally found something to light a spark in his heart. It felt like he finally found something to live for.
“……”
A sad smile rose on his lips as he stared out the window.
“…But I still feel like being away from here is gonna kinda be lonely.”
There was so much here, after all. Yes, there were countless terrible things. More than there were happy things. But the happy things were powerful enough to blow the bad things out of his mind.
Ryner never would have thought that would happen to him. He’d spent so long wanting to die. To think that the dawn would really come for him… but it did.
Looking back on the days he couldn’t get back now was lonely. He wanted those happy days to last a little longer. He only ever realized how precious stuff like that was to him until after he lost it. He regretted it. He wished he would have realized it sooner.
If he was going to go lose it anyway, then he wished that he would have tried to make it better while it lasted. He would have tried to laugh more and make everyone else laugh more. He would have told everyone that he loved them. He would have told them that he wanted to help them in return for how they saved him. He wanted to say it even if it was embarrassing. He’d never be able to go back, so he wished he could have said the things that he wanted them to hear the first time.
Yeah, it was dumb, but he’d never get those days back. He’d never live those times again. He could regret it all he wanted, but those days would never come a second time.
It made him want to make a better tomorrow. But even when he was focused on that, when he remembered the fun days he’d left behind, he couldn’t help but feel just a little… a little, tiny bit lonely.
And he was sure that…
“…You feel the same, don’t you, Sion?”
No answer came. Ryner continued to gaze out the window. The castle seemed to look colder and farther away than ever before.
He could try to reach his hand out to it, but even if he stood up as tall as he could and stretched his arms out as far as they’d go, he still wouldn’t be able to reach it.
But even so.
“……”
Ryner tore his gaze from the window. His eyes settled on the book in his lap. The documents Luke had given him. He flipped a page. He needed to get a better grasp on the situation with Nelpha before leaving in an hour. He’d have trouble with his next move otherwise - he still didn’t know if he was going to go to Nelpha or to Runa, after all.
He read at an impressive speed, stuffing the information into his mind.
Roland was going about this even worse than he thought. They really were slaughtering women and children. Ryner understood why, but he still scowled.
Then there was Nelpha. They surrendered, then their king was murdered, and now they were in chaos. The successor to the throne sent an army of 10,000 to the front lines to give himself time to escape. With the king dead, there was no one left in Nelpha who would surrender, so the war would continue until Nelpha’s complete annihilation.
But there was still a spark of hope…
“…Hm? What’s this?” Ryner mumbled. “That damn Luke…”
Ryner suddenly understood what Luke wanted him to do. He was trying to get him to do the absolute worst, most annoyingly difficult and effort-requiring thing ever.
Nelpha’s king was killed and his idiot son sent 10,000 soldiers to the front lines to die. But they never reached the front lines. Because someone appeared and began to lead them elsewhere. He was a member of the royal nobility who carried the blood of the dead king - an illegitimate child of the prince, popular and exceptionally able, he changed the course of the army and led them west before they could be sent to their deaths.
And the name of the leader who saved 10,000 lives…
“…Toale, huh?” Ryner said, tired. Toale Nelphi.
Ryner knew that name well. A little over a year ago, back when Sion was in Nelpha on a courtesy call, Ryner was there too. He met Toale then. Toale’s little brother and sister were being harassed by some hooligans, so Toale tried to save them. But he was weak and just ended up getting punched around. So Ryner and Ferris stepped in. Then Toale went with them to the library, and while they were there, they learned that Toale was an illegitimate son of the county’s one and only idiot prince…
Toale offered them a place to stay, so they lived together for a while. With Toale and his fourteen younger siblings. From what Ryner had seen, Toale was a pleasant guy with a good head on his shoulders who did his best to protect his younger siblings. Toale was popular with the people in town, too, who were vocal about how they thought that Toale should succeed the throne instead of his foolish father, the prince.
Yeah, Toale was popular alright. To the point that it summoned monsters. Ryner had met an incredibly strong demon there, who came to kill Toale.
“…Miran Froaude.”
That was where they met. With a wave of his hand, Froaude could use his black ring to send beasts after his enemies. The ring was probably a Heroic Relic, and its user was probably a descendant of the Holy Knight Halford Miran. But a dark guy like that really didn’t seem like he’d be descended from a holy knight of all things.
He looked like a demon if anything. And he tried to kill people like it was just another Tuesday. Apparently his job was to go around killing anyone who might get in the way of king’s domination.
“…Man, that guy was seriously cutthroat…”
Ryner thought back to something Froaude had said - words that had seemed to shine from inside of a dark place.
“Earlier you asked me… what would be left if I killed everything that bothers me. I personally feel that what is left is a world that is convenient to me. From your point of view, that may be a world where all humans are killed so that Alpha Stigma bearers can live in peace… and that would be peaceful for you, wouldn’t it?
People cannot live without fighting. We fight to eat, for the sake of our pride, to live better than others, and to protect those we love… People fight.
‘A peaceful world where everyone can grow up smiling’… is nothing but a platitude.”
People fought, he said. They killed so that they weren’t the ones who were killed.
Maybe there was some truth in that. But that didn’t mean that Ryner had to agree with his logic. Because to him, those things weren’t static. Sometimes people got in the way for a while, and sometimes he found them unpleasant or wanted them to leave, but then a few minutes later he thought about how dear they were to him.
Even if someone really bothered him, he thought it’d be awfully lonely to just get rid of them like that.
So Ryner was sure that there was only one path for people like that, who thought they had to get rid of everyone who got in their way. If they killed and killed, eventually they’d be the only one left. They’d be the only person left to get in their own way and end up killing themself.
It was just so clear to Ryner that the way Froaude went about things was wrong. The proof was already evident.
If he recalled correctly, Froaude said that he was from the militaristic country to the north, Stohl, or something…. but nowadays Stohl didn’t exist anymore. It had been destroyed by Gastark. Ryner didn’t know what’d happened to Froaude, but, well…
“…I guess it’s okay if he’s not worried about ending up lonely, though.”
Ryner smiled, then returned to his thoughts. Toale was capable enough for someone like Froaude to target him, and now the prayers of the Nelphan people were finally answered - Toale had a chance to become king.
“…But… his chance couldn’t have come with worse timing.” Maybe Toale was just born with terrible luck.
Ryner didn’t know the details of Toale’s situation, but he could guess what Toale was thinking.
First, he’d try to surrender. ‘Won’t you forgive our soldiers and people if I surrender?’
But Roland would turn him down. Because Toale’s idiot father was king, not him. And Nelpha couldn’t fight Roland as it was now. The only way they’d have a chance was if they got Cassla and Runa to help. But he couldn’t very well get that to happen, either. They’d never listen to his proposal. Because Toale wasn’t king.
Toale would need to kill his father to become king, but that was impossible. Because he only had an army of 10,000. The new king had 68,000, nearly seven times as much as what Toale had. It wasn’t a battle he could win.
Even if Toale managed to get the main army’s soldiers to have a change of heart and join him, it was still meaningless as long as his father was alive. Nelpha’s people would still be slaughtered.
“…So is he telling me to help them?” Ryner wondered. He looked towards the door that Luke had left through. “Sneaky bastard.”
Luke probably knew that Ryner and Toale knew each other and predicted that Ryner would run to Toale’s aid if Luke gave him these documents.
Ryner thought about what Luke had said.
‘If you ever gain some great power… et cetera.’
‘If you ever get an army… et cetera.’
‘If you’re ever able to stand against Roland… et cetera.’
‘If that time comes, I’d like it if you could still call Sion your friend… et cetera.’
When he thought back to all that now, he couldn’t hear it as anything but ‘go help Toale and Nelpha.’
“…Geez. He only came here so he could use me,” Ryner grumbled. But it wasn’t like he had any other choice. A ton of people would die if he didn’t try to help. More than he wanted to see die, that was for sure.
Wait, then again, even if he didn’t help, Roland would almost certainly have a secret operation to support Toale and kill the king. That would be their best course of action. And then… after that, once Toale stopped being useful… they’d kill him.
“……”
They’d kill their excellent prince Toale and his stupid father and end the royal bloodline as an example to their neighboring countries.
Did Nelpha see this as their end? Their punishment for their hostility against Roland?
Now was the time if they wanted to surrender. Roland could still guarantee the lives of their royalty and nobility. But if they didn’t surrender right this second…
“You guys will be destroyed…”
Ryner closed the book Luke gave him, then tossed it on the desk and crossed his arms. Then he looked up at the ceiling.
“Man, this sucks,” he grumbled.
He had so much to do once he left the country. No, it was more like he had tons of homework piling up that was about to be late… Every second he dragged his feet was another second that Nelphans died. And even more of a pain was the fact that Toale’s head was gonna fly at this rate.
So what if he managed to save Toale? Then what?
They’d need to get the army to move and somehow capture Toale’s father. But what about after that? Should he take Toale and run for it? Would Roland still forgive Nelpha if he did? No, what if they commanded Nelpha’s army to fight Roland in order to protect Toale…?
“……”
Ryner stared at the ceiling as he thought it through.
That was impossible. At the very least, Sion as he was now would never come to that conclusion. He was the type who’d rather kill Toale, to end that one life, in order to keep the casualties to a minimum.
It was a delicate balance on a scale that weighed human life.
They had to watch a few people die in order to save the rest. They had to calmly kill 1,000 people in order to save 10,000. That was how a king thought. A righteous king who carried the weight of a country on his shoulders had to consider what was best for the majority of people.
“But is that… something that I could do?”
Was it alright for him to do something like that?
That would mean killing each and every one of the few Cursed Eye bearers in order to protect the many humans of the world. It would mean sacrificing Sion with tears in his eyes in order to protect everyone else.
“……”
No. There had to be another way. He wanted a world where nobody lost anything. A world where nobody had to cry. There had to be a path that’d lead him there, right?
People would laugh at him if he said that out loud. Wait, actually, someone already had. Froaude did. He said that a country where everyone could smile and nobody had to be sacrificed was just a platitude and laughed. He said the world wasn’t as sweet as Ryner thought it was. That it was better if Ryner quit before the world hurt him.
Ryner’s face twisted with sadness. “It’s hurt me plenty of times already…”
But even so. Even if everyone told him to just give up, he still thought it. Even if Sion cried that he himself had given up on it…
“……”
Actually, fighting Roland’s army was way too much of a pain. He didn’t want to do it.
Ryner thought of the name that Luke had written down as the commander of Roland’s campaign in Nelpha - Marshall Claugh Klom. The redheaded muscle-for-brains. Ryner knew him. They got in a fight when they first met, but Claugh was super strong, so it was really annoying.
Crimson-Fingered Claugh Klom was synonymous with a grim reaper on the battlefield.
“…Man, am I really supposed to go all out with that monster? Seriously?”
The worst part was that Ryner’s life wouldn’t be the only one at stake. There would also be all the people in Roland and Nelpha’s armies. Could Ryner really make an enemy out of Claugh without sacrificing more than the bare minimum of people?
“……”
Luke had so very kindly provided Claugh’s profile inside of the documents.
A grim reaper of the battlefield.
A demon who has never before lost a battle.
A genius of war, overflowing with ability.
“What should I do?”
He really wanted to turn tail and run.
“Ugh, this is gonna be such a pain.”
But he couldn’t help but think that at least he didn’t have to fight Luke instead. Ryner wouldn’t be able to compete with Luke if he were in command of an army. He was way too smart. Ryner wouldn’t be able to keep up.
Ryner had been trained for a battlefield… but his training had been as a soldier, not as a commander.
“…And even though they taught me tactics, I seriously doubt that those tactics could win here,” Ryner said to himself. He could hear the weakness in his own tone. “It’s not like I think I’d die if we met on the battlefield or anything… I’ll have to outsmart him, right? Uwah, is that really possible?”
He was already kinda feeling the despair. He was at the point where he wanted to sigh and call his whole life a pain again.
“……”
Ryner glanced back up at the clock to see that it was already past five.
“…Oh, shit.” He’d gotten lost in thought and stayed longer than the hour he’d allotted for. The sky would normally be brightening at about this time, but it looked like today’s weather wasn’t going to be great, because it was still dark out. That was why he hadn’t realized what time it was. “I better hurry.”
Ryner stood and ran out the room, then down the stairs. When he made it out of the building, he looked up at the sky to see a number of dark clouds. It looked like it was going to rain.
“Geez, on the day we’re supposed to leave, too. That can’t be a good sign,” Ryner said. Contrary to his words, he didn’t look all that bothered by it as he ran.
He thought about stopping at the library on the way to borrow some books on strategy and tactics, but decided against it. They’d be leaving the country, so he didn’t know when he’d be able to give them back, and he didn’t know what Ferris would do to him if he was late to their meeting.
Ryner quickened his pace to make sure he wasn’t late.
---
A little earlier, she realized she was running late.
“This is bad. Looks like I’ll be late,” Ferris said to herself and began to run through the castle town. She had two backpacks and a large drawstring bag with her. The bag on the left had the cute clothes with a dango logo that she’d picked out for herself in them. She was wearing a set like it now, too.
They were easier to move in than her old armor, and lightweight to boot. But her massive sword was a bit at odds with her cute new clothes… but the look suited her oddly well.
The backpack on the right had Ryner’s clothes inside. She had the shop’s owner choose exactly one outfit that was genuinely suitable for him first, then Ferris picked out some panties for him that only perverts would ever wear.
“Oooh,” the shopkeeper had said. “So that’s what you’re picking out for your boyfriend? You two must be close!”
Ferris shook her head. “No, it’s the other way around. I’m getting him this to humiliate him!”
“Uwah, so it’s for roleplay!?”
“…Roleplay? What’s that?”
“No, no, nevermind. I see. Yes. I really admire your dominance, ma’am. How about this one? Do you think he would wear it?”
“Hoh. I’ll take it.”
“How about this one?”
“I’ll take this one, too.”
And so they filled the bag with clothes that Ryner would hate. He’d most likely spend their journey half-naked. Half-naked and with joke glasses on his face. She thought of his despair-stricken expression.
“…Hehehe. I’m looking forward to it.” Ferris’ expression didn’t change even as she ran.
There were actually a few normal outfits for Ryner inside of the drawstring bag, but that was a secret. She was thinking of giving them to him after he cried.
Ferris raced past the castle town, then the residential district. Eventually she reached the road that’d lead out of the city. Then she pulled away from it. Asolude Dango and Tea was on that road, but Ryner’s pursuers had been swarming the city since yesterday. So she couldn’t very well stand in front of the dango shop to wait for him.
Ferris might not be on the wanted list herself, but she had no real way of knowing now. So it was better to be on the safe side. It’d be a pain if they tailed her to find Ryner.
So Ferris left the main street, then looked back to ensure she wasn’t being followed.
“…Mm. Should be good.” She slowed down her pace.
She had found Iris last night while she was taking a walk and told her that she’d be going on another journey. Ferris told her that she and Ryner would be leaving the country, and that Iris needed to bring Arua and Kuku and leave once things cooled down enough for her to. She told Iris to bring eight backpacks to this place by the road leading north.
“…It should be right here,” Ferris said as she stopped at her dango-receiving-location.
She looked around. It wasn an open field that’d been left to seed a little ways away from the road. The weeds were thick and tall, and it was a bit difficult to walk through. That was why they thought it’d be a good place to meet. The weeds would probably trip up their pursuers.
“…The weeds are taller than Iris is. She’ll be hard to find,” Ferris said to herself. She looked around, searching for her sister’s presence. But she couldn’t find her. “Iris. Are you here?”
“……”
No answer.
“…Hmph. Is she not here yet?” Ferris wondered as she pushed grasses aside. “Iris, where are you?”
“Sister!” Iris yelled from a ways away.
Ferris looked towards her voice. She saw her on the other side of the weeds. She had the same blonde hair, pale skin, and thin limbs as Ferris, as well as a cute face. She wore a frilly dress and a small red backpack, just like always.
“……”
But her whole body was covered in blood. Her arms and legs were tired, and she was suspended upside down. “Sister, don’t come any closer!” Iris screamed, tears in her eyes.
“……”
Ferris looked up to the man who was holding Iris. He had long black hair and cold, deep blue eyes, and a dark, devilish smile. Ferris recognized him. His name was Froaude, if she recalled correctly…
But why was he here? Why was Iris looking at her like that? Why… what was…
“…Youuu!! What the hell did you do to Iris!?” Ferris yelled. She unsheathed her sword and threw herself towards him faster than the eye could see. No normal human would ever be able to catch her sword at that speed.
But Froaude just smiled. “So you fly into a rage and bear your sword at me… How foolish. You should know that you are incapable of winning against me by yourself.” He waved his right hand, the hand that carried his black ring. “O darkness, appear.”
Froaude’s shadow grew and burst up from the ground to take the form of a monster. It was a black beast that bore a certain likeness to wolves.
The beast sprung up to attack Ferris.
She held up her sword to cut through it. “Kgh!”
But her sword didn’t slice through the beast. Instead, the beast caught her sword in its mouth, stopping it with its teeth.
Froaude shrugged. “Oh? Have you lost ability since we last met? Last time you were able to slice through a couple of my shadow wolves with ease… Is this making you flustered?” Froaude asked and raised his left arm, which held Iris by her left foot.
Iris was crying. Iris, who always smiled to the point where Ferris was sometimes jealous of her, was sobbing and crying loudly.
“…You.” Ferris swung her sword back, took a step back, then jumped forward even faster and sharper than before. The beast disappeared with another slash.
But more had already appeared. Three wolves were circling Froaude and Iris.
“……”
She concentrated on the gaps between the wolves. He’d kill her if she slipped up.
This guy’s shadows were eerily powerful. Ferris had been at the end of her wit the last time she fought him. The only reason she made it out alright was that she’d been fighting him with Ryner - he found Froaude’s weak point and made him retreat.
How could she get Iris back alone?
“……”
It’d be difficult. But she didn’t think it was impossible.
She was a lot better of a swordsman now than she was then, and she knew that the shadows came from his ring now.
She needed to defeat all the shadows, then cut Froaude’s ring finger off.
“…No.”
She looked to Iris, covered in blood. Her forehead had been sliced open. So had her shoulders, her feet… Blood was trickling out of her no matter where Ferris looked. It was easy to see what had happened - Froaude had toyed with Iris as she tried to escape. He had his shadow wolves chase her and bite her wherever they could. Iris was shaking with fear, more terrified than Ferris had ever seen her before.
He brought her little sister, someone extremely precious to her, all the way here to hurt her.
“……”
Ferris wouldn’t let him off easily. Forget just cutting his finger off. She’d slice his whole arm off.
Ferris lowered her sword, tensed her body, and heightened her senses.
“No, Sister, no!!”
“……”
“You have to run. He’s stronger than anyone I’ve ever seen—”
“I’ve fought him before,” Ferris interrupted. “So don’t worry. I’m going to save you.”
Froaude smiled. “Are you trying… to show me some heartwarming sisterly love? That’s not the smartest thing to do…”
Ferris didn’t answer. She just focused her power into her sword as she searched for an opening.
“…It appears that you really aren’t capable of posing a threat to me by yourself,” Froaude continued. “You flew into a rage and attacked me with a sword despite the fact that victory is impossible… I do not think that Sir Ryner would have done that.”
Ferris didn’t answer. She could win this. He was looking down on her, believing that her ability with a sword was the same as before. She was going to make it hurt when he realized he was wrong. She was going to swing her sword faster and harder than ever before and cut through everything, even his slight smile.
She was ready.
“Put your sword away,” Froaude said. “I am not fond of wasting perfectly good time—”
“Then I’ll end your time myself,” Ferris said. She jumped forward twice as fast as before. The wolves moved to chase her, but she cut through the first one, then attacked the next two with one slash. She hit one and missed the other.
The one she missed moved behind her to attack. She ignored it. It could chase her all it wanted.
Ferris moved as fast as she could, her eyes and aim on Froaude’s arm—
“…Gah.”
Ferris was the one who made a pained sound. Her sword didn’t reach him. A massive black snake had risen from Froaude’s shadow and buried its fangs in her right thigh. Sharp pain shot through her, and when she tried to move her leg, it felt slow.
Then the wolf bit her left arm from behind.
“……”
It hurt too badly for her to raise her voice in pain anymore. All she could do was grimace in anguish. But she didn’t let it stop her. She raised her right arm, which held her sword, and took a step forward towards Froaude with the leg that the snake wasn’t tearing into.
Froaude’s vague smile finally looked a bit troubled. “How vexing. You are aware that I’ll tear your limbs off if you come any closer?”
“I’ll kill you,” Ferris said with a glare.
“But you aren’t capable of doing that.”
Froaude moved his hand, and another snake sprang from his shadow. It buried its fangs in her left leg.
“Sister!?” Iris screamed.
Ferris couldn’t reassure her. Another wolf jumped from his shadow and attacked her right arm, her final free limb.
“……”
It made a disgusting noise as its teeth cut into her flesh and sloshed blood out through the fresh punctures. It hurt so badly that her consciousness wavered and she felt like she’d drop her sword.
Ferris shook her head and tried to overcome the pain. She wouldn’t be able to save Iris if she lost consciousness now.
“…Ghh.”
Ferris rose her sword up, up, to Froaude’s neck…
“…Just stop… Please! Please, Sister! It’s okay, so please don’t move!” Iris shrieked.
Ferris smiled. She wanted to tell Iris not to worry. She wanted to tell her that everything would be alright, so she didn’t have to make that face. Had she ever seen her big sister lose? Of course not, right? It’d be okay. So be calm and wait.
She wanted to tell Iris that, but she couldn’t find the power to speak. All her power was going into raising her arm…
Iris was crying, shivering, and shrieking through her tears. “J, just stop. If you move… He’s gonna cut your arm off…”
Ferris knew that. But she had to do it. She had to save Iris…
But Frouade raised Iris higher. “Do you really want to save her that badly? Then I’ll kill her first.” He raised his free hand. “O darkness—”
He meant to kill her. He meant to kill Iris.
Ferris pushed her arm up. She had to swing her sword. She had to save Iris. But it wasn’t moving. She couldn’t move it.
Wh, what should she do? What should she…
“……”
She couldn’t do anything.
Someone… someone help her.
She screamed for help inside of her heart. Please, someone! Someone!
“……”
And then… something unbelievable happened. Her prayers were answered.
Ferris noticed someone in the corner of her vision - a man running along the road. It was a man she knew well. He was always sleepy and never had any motivation. He lived a dazed life of unproductivity, but from time to time, he came in handy. Like now.
When she wished he was here, just when she needed someone’s help, here he was to reach out and offer his hand.
“…R-Ryner…”
Ferris called his name. The name of her partner in crime.
But Froaude quickly covered her mouth with his hand. “Oh, no… I can’t let you do that. I went through far too much effort to find Ryner’s weakness for you to ruin it now. He is a bit more troublesome than you are, after all…”
Ferris tried to pull his hand off of her mouth with a thin arm, but he was holding it too firmly to budge.
“…Even if there were two of you, I am confident that I would win. But that confidence crumbles the second he appears. Even though you two are equally as able, it becomes possible that I will lose with him here. Mysterious, isn’t it? He uses you so well that he is able to completely change the outcome of our fight. It is as if he casts some strange spell… That’s why he was called Roland’s strongest magician, isn’t it?”
Ferris hardly heard him. She was too focused on Ryner’s back as he moved farther and farther away. Idiot. Why wasn’t he looking back? She was right there.
“……”
Ryner was running uncharacteristically quickly. He didn’t notice her at all.
But she knew why he was in such a hurry. It was because he was running late to their meeting. He was running so that he didn’t make her wait.
She couldn’t do anything but watch.
Froaude only removed his hand once Ryner was out of sight.
“…Were you able to believe some idiotic fantasy that he’d come and save you for a moment?” He asked, as if he enjoyed the thought.
Ferris looked up and glared at Froaude. “I’ll definitely kill him for this later.”
“Haha.”
“…Ryner will come,” Ferris said. “I… we won’t let you get away with looking down on us like this.”
“He’s already left, hasn’t he?”
“But he’ll still come. We’ll kill you…”
Froaude smiled. He was truly enjoying this. “Ooh, how scary. But he is incapable of killing me. Because… You will only get in his way…”
Froaude rose his hand, then continued.
“He will allow himself to fail as a mage because he doesn’t want to hurt you. He’ll scream that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone anymore and lose the ability to use his magic with you right by me. Certainly, he is a clever and sensible fighter, which makes him a difficult opponent… But he is not so wonderful that my master should be worrying about him.”
He bared his black ring.
“…His weak heart hesitates when his allies are held hostage. When he hurts those he feels are important, he freezes. When they die, he weeps … It’s a problem, isn’t it? He is weak. Obviously, painfully weak. Someone like that is not suitable for my master… I have no desire to acknowledge him as a friend of the Hero King Sion Astal.”
Ferris’ mind went blank. She couldn’t comprehend what Froaude just said.
What did he just… He just…
“…It can’t be… Sion is… Sion is your…”
Froaude nodded as if he felt he had nothing to hide. “‘I was ordered to do this.”
He moved his ring-bearing hand in an arc. A dozen beasts sprung from his shadow, and sprung towards Iris, fangs bared—
“W-wait! Stop!!” Ferris screamed. She pushed every muscle in her body, urging it to move to save Iris despite the searing pain. “Please, stop!!”
She just wanted Iris to be safe. Someone, save her!
But no one came. Instead of getting better, things only got worse.
“What the hell…”
Her mind was a mess.
“What the hell is happening!?”
Iris would die. She’d be killed. On Sion’s orders.
What the hell? Why? She couldn’t understand.
What should she do? What could she do?
She was overcome with the feeling that the world was a horrible place. It was the same as what she felt two weeks ago, on the day Ryner disappeared and Sion started acting weird.
The world had changed on that day. She felt anxiety and fear like never before. Every day it was strong enough to make her shiver.
But that was supposed to be over. It should have ended when she found what she;d been searching for inside a jail cell. She should have found the world’s light once again, topped with bedhead and the world’s sleepiest eyes.
“Why… why aren’t you coming for me! Ryner! I’m right here, hurry!”
But light wasn’t shining on this world. There was only darkness.
Froaude laughed. His devilishly red lips opened just so with the motion.
“……”
Ferris screamed so loudly that it felt like her throat would burst from the sound.
---
Ryner was waiting in front of Asolude Dango and Tea, alone. It was early morning and the shop wasn’t open yet. A dango goddess like Ferris could probably make it open just by walking by, but Ryner wasn’t that powerful.
“…And there’s not even anywhere to sit,” Ryner whined, then turned back.
It was 8:30 now. He’d arrived five minutes early so that she wouldn’t be able to complain about him being late, but over thirty minutes had passed and there was still no sight of her. And he had to stand the whole damn time.
“…You better hurry up…”
Ryner patted his sore back, then stretched his legs and rolled his shoulders and twisted his waist.
Still no sign of Ferris.
“Wonder if I got the time wrong?” Ryner wondered to himself. He thought back to their conversation about it, but he was pretty damn sure they’d decided on eight in the morning. So where was she? Hopefully she wasn’t…
“……”
He felt a drop of water on his face. He looked up to see rain beginning to fall through the dark sky.
“Uwaah, this is the worst…”
He hurried under the eaves of the dango shop for shelter.
“Geez, gimme a break… We’re gonna have to travel after this. At least give us some good travelling weather.”
The rain answered his prayers by getting even worse.
Ryner sighed quietly, then looked south where he’d come from once again. The rain was soaking the ground. He watched it for a long moment. It looked like it was going to rain pretty hard. Travelling was going to be draining in this weather. He’d ask Ferris what she thought about staying in an inn until it cleared up when she finally arrived.
“……”
Ryner stared absentmindedly through the rain as he waited. Still no sign of her. He wondered if she was even coming.
A flash of lightning raced through the sky, then the rain fell even harder.
He looked back up at the sky. This was a full blown storm alright.
He sighed again. Travelling in it was gonna be hard.
He looked back towards Roland’s capital, the direction Ferris would come from.
“…She’s gonna be pretty pitiful if she got caught in this rain.”
The sky flickered once more. It was soon followed by the crash of thunder. It was like the sky itself was angry.
“—ner!”
Ryner felt like he heard someone from far away. It was hard to be sure with the rain, though.
“Ryner!”
That time he heard it properly. Someone called his name. “Did the princess finally arrive?” Ryner said and looked down the path.
But Ferris wasn’t there.
“Geez, Ryner!”
Someone was calling his name.
But not from the south. Their voice was coming from the north.
“Huh?” Ryner said and turned to look.
It wasn’t Ferris. It was a different woman altogether. A smiling woman, standing in the midst of heavy rain. Even though she was smiling, she looked a little like she might cry.
Ryner’s eyes widened with surprise. “Kiefer.”
Kiefer ran towards him… and caught him in a tight hug.
---
