"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-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 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.
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. [1] 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. [2]”
“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 [3] 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.
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 [4]......”
“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' [5] 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.
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