"... Ah—!?"
Ryner Lute couldn't help but let a voice slip out as he jumped to his feet.
"Uah... ah... w-what was...?"
However, he immediately realized that what he saw was a dream.
Looking around, he was in an inn room that one couldn't say was of very high quality.
Only the rigid bed on which his tall and lean figure was resting, a table, and a small dresser were in the room.
Similarly, there were sorry excuses for curtains that were unable to stop sunlight from streaming through.
Passing through those white curtains, light shone on Ryner.
Ryner frowned at the glare, speaking in a tired voice as he got up.
"... I hate white curtains."
If they're gonna use thin cloth, they should at least pick a good colour, he thought.
"Judging from the light, it's already noon, huh?"
For the record, it was already past noon.
Despite that, his hair was a mess. His eyes were also eternally sleepy. His entire body gave off an air of exhaustion.
Like that, he yawned loudly, before staring the light coming through the curtains again.
"... Ah, what? What's this? Is that light what woke me up? Is that how it is? Saying that it's already morning. Saying that it's time to wake up. But it's making fun of me. I'm not the master just for show, you know. I refuse to wake up thanks to this kind of sunlight. Just watch my special move!"
Saying that, he had no idea what he was the master of and what special move, pushing off his blanket and lying down again.
And with a triumphant air,
"How do you like that!? Secret technique • Ah~, the sun feels good. With the sun shining down on me like that, I'm getting sleepy again without even tryi... haa..."
Seeing as how he was saying that by himself to the empty air, he stopped talking.
At any rate, since he was lying down again, he closed his eyes.
While it was normally easy for him to fly off to the land of sleep at any time...
He couldn't fall asleep.
Is it because of the dream I had just now?
Or because of what Lucile said yesterday night?
Maybe it's Sion's...
But Ryner laughed at that.
"Haha."
It was an utterly self-deprecating laugh.
And he muttered,
"That can't be."
Right.
That couldn't be it. Something like not being able to fall asleep because of Lucile and Sion's words was stupid.
He remembered Lucile's words.
Monster.
That was what Lucile said about Ryner.
"What manner of unfulfillable dreams... has such a hideous monster seen?"
He didn't have any such dreams.
From the beginning, he knew that he was a monster.
A despised monster that wasn't needed by anyone.
After so long, he wasn't disheartened by that.
Ryner lifted his head.
On top of the wooden table, sender unwritten, was a letter.
In it, given from Sion Astal to Luke Stokkart, were these three orders.
First.
Search and collect any Heroes' Relics that the Alpha Stigma bearer, Ryner Lute, overlooks.
Two.
Observe the Alpha Stigma bearer, Ryner Lute.
Three.
Should the Alpha Stigma bearer, Ryner Lute, go berserk outside of Roland or show any traitorous behaviour—
Erase him...
"......"
It was to be expected, Ryner thought.
He was a monster.
It was to be expected that a monster would be killed.
He understood that.
Lucile had said it.
"You should know this already. The blood-stained hands of a monster like you can't grasp anything..."
But even if he hadn't said such a thing, he knew.
"No matter where you reach, they'll never be able to attain anything."
Such a thing...
"You can't come into contact with anyone."
Such a thing...
Even if you don't say it, I know—!
"... Geez..."
Ryner lightly pressed down on his forehead.
"And that dream on top of it all... I'm an idiot..."
He didn't have any memories from before the age of five.
After so long...
After so long, why...
"My family, huh? Haha. Somehow, that was a seriously embarrassing dream..."
Furthermore, it was his parents.
That he was loved by his parents.
A dream that he had truly been loved when he was born.
"I..."
With tired, vacant eyes and no one else around, he stared at empty space.
"... Don't tell me that that's my wish or something?"
That the dream was a mirror that reflected the beholder's desires.
However, he immediately shook his head, laughing.
"No way. By this point... I... I should know pretty well, shouldn't I? I can't be by Sion and Ferris's... no, by anyone's side...
Even if I like them, I can't be by their side."
Because he would kill them.
Even though he didn't want to kill them, to his friends, he...
Because he would kill the people he claimed to like.
From the beginning, he should've known that very well.
Despite that.
With tired eyes, Ryner laughed.
And,
"... I really am an idiot,"
He said such a thing, to which,
"Mm-hmm. You're always an idiot. Did you only notice just now?"
For some a reason, a female voice strangely lacking in emotion replied.
It was a familiar voice.
The door was flung open. Entering was a woman of unparallel beauty.
Long, glossy blonde hair, clear white skin.
Ferris Eris.
Ferris gazed at Ryner with her typical emotionless expression, and,
"Do you intend to sleep all day? Even though there's an emergency,"
She said that kind of thing.
Ryner smiled wryly at that.
"Emergency? What? I don't like to do troublesome things in the morning, you know?"
Entering the room at her own convenience, Ferris opened the curtains, again at her own convenience.
Bright sunlight shone into the room.
"Uwa, too bright."
Ryner frowned, saying that while glaring at Ferris.
"Are you trying to kill me!?"
To that, Ferris said,
"If something of this degree could kill the notorious sex fiend Ryner Lute, the world would've become peaceful a long time ago,"
At words like those, Ryner...
In an instant, he narrowed his eyes, and,
"Ah... Well, that's right, I guess,"
He nodded.
Again, Ferris stared at Ryner.
"In any case, it happened yesterday evening. As the women and children of Roland shuddered in fear, you did this and that until late at night—isn't that right?"
To that, Ryner also—
"I guess so."
For some reason, Ferris then made a displeased face, before speaking in an emotionless voice.
"You're not denying it?"
"Huh? Do you want me to deny it?"
At that, Ferris nodded deeply with an "uh-huh".
"If you're not unhappy, then it's obviously no fun."
Instinctively,
"What am I, your toy!?"
Ryner shouted, which Ferris, for some reason, seemed to be a bit happy about.
"Correct. If it's like that, then good. All right, my first duty of the day has been accomplished."
"... What duty, geez."
Ryner spoke with an annoyed face.
"... Ah, well, whatever. So? What's the emergency that you were..."
He began, but Ferris interrupted him.
"Ah, that reminds me: it seems that yesterday evening, my brother... You met with Lucile."
Lucile...
Right.
He met with him last night.
Ryner spoke with half-closed eyes.
"... What? You said all that before even though you knew I wasn't attacking women and children last night?"
But at that, Ferris said,
"Mm-hmm. Because it happened, didn't it? Together, you and Lucile went after the women and children in Roland..."
"Wait, whaaaaaaaat!? That guy's into that kind of thing!?"
"Hmm? Didn't you see that for yourself?"
"Eh? Ah... W-Well..."
"So, what did Lucile say?"
To those words.
Ryner—
Laughed and spoke.
"Nothing. Ah, he said to take care of you."
"That's all?"
"That's all. I mean, it was just a chance meeting. Oh, and he also asked for us to accompany Sion to Estabul as his guards."
Then Ferris suddenly—
"That!"
She said, pointing at Ryner.
"That's the emergency we need to take care of right now."
Ryner tilted his head at at that.
" 'We?' Don't involve me in this. I told you, if it's in the morning, I don't..."
But Ferris promptly said,
"It's already afternoon. And what's more, we're already out of time. Like this, we'll be forced to accompany that diabolical, labour-standards-ignoring king, Sion Astal, to Estabul and worked to death."
Ryner nodded in understanding.
"Ah, so you're saying that before then, we should run away?"
"Mm-hmm. So get ready. That Sion gave us some money for our search for the Heroes' Relics. We'll head to Runa, and from there, depart for Cassla. We'll leave Roland for a bit."
"I see. Well, if we're going to Cassla, it's an isolated country. Sion wouldn't be able to do anything about it too soon... So when are we leaving?"
"Tomorrow."
"That soon—!? Seriously? Isn't Cassla pretty far? We need to prepare..."
He began, but was interrupted.
Ferris indifferently said,
"We're leaving tomorrow morning. The meeting place will be in front of the Wynnit dango shop."
"Are you even listening to me..."
However, as usual, he was interrupted.
"It'll be a long trip. We'll have to buy plenty of dango."
In that instant, Ryner grimaced as he spoke.
"Let me guess: I'm going to have to carry all of that dango?"
Ferris easily said,
"Enough for two people."
"Why are we buying that much dango!?"
He yelled, but as expected, he was ignored.
"With that said, go to bed early today. If by any chance you're late tomorrow morning..."
Saying that, she reached for the sword by her waist...
In that instant.
A high-pitched, metallic sound rang out. The sound came from a single swing of her sword, before it was put away in its sheath again...
The half-asleep Ryner's eyes didn't see the sword at all.
And Ferris spoke.
"If by any chance you're late, that action just now will be dealt to your neck."
To those words.
Ryner imagined the feeling of his neck flying towards the sky...
"... I-I'll do my best not to sleep in,"
He said wearily.
"Mm-hmm. Do your best. Then, I'll be going. After all, before we leave tomorrow morning, it's my duty to devote myself to eating all the dango in this country."
Saying such a thing, she quickly left the room.
To that, Ryner made an annoyed face as he stared at Ferris's back.
"... You're a really interesting person, aren't you..."
He muttered.
Apparently having heard that, Ferris looked over her shoulder.
"What do you mean?"
"Hmm? No, I mean, you're going to eat all of this country's dango in one day, aren't you?"
But Ferris spoke with a serious look.
"To defy the impossible is the true way of the dango."
How someone could say something like that as if it were so magnificent was a mystery.
Ryner laughed at that.
"Seriously... you're a really interesting person, huh? Even though there were a lot of troublesome things about it, going on a journey with you for a while was kind of fun."
To those words, Ferris tilted her head with a puzzled face, and,
"Hmm? Is that supposed to be your way of thanking me?"
Ryner nodded.
"Yeah. That's what it is."
"Then, you're saying that you'll carry all seven backpacks of dango?"
"S-Seven backpacks!? ... Y-You're gonna buy that many? For crying out loud..."
There, Ryner stared at Ferris with his usual sleepy eyes.
She was making a hopeful face that he would carry all seven.
If it were anyone else, rather than that, they'd only see an utterly emotionless face...
Ryner understood.
Right now, she was full of hope.
On top of that, over something as trivial as carrying dango.
He smiled at that.
If something like that made her happy...
Ryner let out a sigh and spoke.
"Okay, fine. I'll carry all seven."
In that instant.
"Oh—!?"
Ferris's expressionless face glowed even further with happiness.
"You must be growing to understand the way of the dango! Then I had best prepare fourteen packs without delay..."
To such words.
"You're buying more!?"
He said, but Ryner's retorts...
Cut through empty air.
Ferris had already dashed out of the room.
Ryner was alone in the room once more.
With the open door.
WIth the open curtains as well.
With it being as bright as it was, he wouldn't be able to fall asleep.
Ryner smiled wryly at that.
And then.
"......"
Without words, he quietly began to mutter within himself.
♦
The following morning.
Ferris stood in front of the Wynnit dango shop.
At her feet were fourteen large backpacks' worth of dango.
She looked once down at her feet, and then again stared in the direction of the inn Ryner was staying at.
As it was still morning, there weren't many people on the main street.
Ferris had already been waiting for twenty minutes.
In the beginning, she'd been chatting with the dango shopkeeper, so she hadn't particularly noticed, but when the shopkeeper returned to do the morning duties, she immediately became aware of how much time had passed.
Staring down the street, Ferris narrowed her eyes.
"Another five minutes. I'll only wait another five minutes."
However, five minutes quickly passed.
Even though she'd sworn to cut off his head if he overslept.
Ferris began to run.
Towards Ryner's inn.
It was considerably far from the Wynnit dango shop to Ryner's inn. Perhaps they missed each other on the way.
If that was the case, then she would forgive him. That was what she thought. As punishment, she would make him carry eight backpacks.
Then she would forgive him.
If they missed each other on the way...
But Ferris easily made it to Ryner's inn.
The room where Ryner was staying was on the second floor.
Ferris climbed the staircase and flung open the door to his room.
"Ryner! Do you intend to sleep all day?"
She said that.
However, those words...
Cut through empty air.
Ryner wasn't on top of his bed. The clothes he'd roughly thrown off yesterday also weren't there.
His luggage, nothing—nothing was there.
Even though it was still morning, his bed had been neatly made.
Staring at that,
"... Hmm,"
Ferris let a murmur slip.
♦
Somewhere, a mountain of paperwork had built up.
Staring at that,
"No, this is... Even I think this is too much work..."
Sion Astal said in an amazed voice.
Silver hair that gave off a noble air.
A symmetrical appearance.
Strong-willed golden eyes that were currently tired from a lack of sleep...
Nevertheless, those eyes didn't lose the strong light that lurked within them.
He was still young at age nineteen, and yet he'd already acceded to the throne of the Roland Empire...
To the surprise of his subordinates and even to the surprise of himself, he was a work demon.
The compact office that didn't look as if it belonged to the king was full of paperwork.
However, if it wasn't taken care of, this situation would never end.
The current situation of the country wasn't too good.
There was unrest in the neighbouring Runa Empire and Imperial Nelpha.
Rising far off in the northern area, the Gastark Empire was influencing numerous countries.
In the Menoris continent, the winds of war were about to blow.
Before they were swallowed up in this war, one way or another, Roland had to raise themselves to be the equal of other great powers and the like and not be seen as an inferior challenge...
For that, it was necessary to pacify the integrated military and nobles of the Kingdom of Estabul.
Even if he left Claugh to deal with the military affairs, Sion had to go to Estabul himself to resolve the problem with the nobles.
For that, he'd begun to make preparations, but...
Sion stared at the paperwork, clutching his head.
"If I leave the country, then whom am I going to entrust all this to during that time? ... That's the problem here."
As it hadn't been long since Sion took the throne, there weren't many people whom he could trust to leave this behind to.
Though he was the illegitimate son of the previous tyrant, he'd quickly risen to the top brass as a hero for his achievements in the war against the Kingdom of Estabul.
And then he'd started a revolution, ascending the throne.
However, during the revolution, most of the ones leading it were the commoners. Regarding this country, where nobles monopolized the important posts, the position of Sion, who'd only just taken the throne, wasn't very firm.
As the ones holding the important posts were the nobles, they wouldn't listen to what Sion said. Rather, it seemed that they were ready to stage a revolt at any moment.
There.
Sion remembered.
To his trusted confidant from when he was in the military, Calne Kaiwal,
"All right, Calne. From now on, you're in charge of domestic affairs!"
When he'd said that,
"Ehhhhhh!? S-Sion-san, you're leaving me the duty of dealing with those irritating nobles!?"
While exclaiming that, he made a face like he was about to cry.
However, afterwards, as means of dealing with stress from his rather difficult duties, for some reason Calne began to commit adultery with the nobles' wives.
"I-I swear, I'm serious!"
As Calne said such things to clean up after himself, Sion became just a bit worried...
Ever since Fiole Folkal's younger sister, Eslina became Calne's assistant, it seemed that his adultery ways were calming down.
"... It really is a good thing that Eslina came along,"
Sion muttered such a thing with a troubled face.
Well, at any rate, as one of Sion's first subordinates... More than that, even as someone with authority within the military, he was being worked to death with domestic affairs.
Right now, there truly was no one left whom Sion could rely on while he was absent.
No, it wasn't that he didn't have a capable person whom he could trust the most with this, but,
"... I suppose I can't pull Miller away..."
Sion's headache grew increasingly worse.
It wasn't that Froaude wasn't an option either... but without Sion around, he was liable to slaughter all of the opposing nobles.
"I can't let him run around too freely..."
In the end, it came down to,
"Calne?"
But Sion frowned at that.
On top of his current duties, he would also be responsible for the duties of the king's representative, to which again,
"I swear, I'm serious!"
Troubled, he remembered those words.
At any rate, Sion was doing his best to decrease the amount of work that the person would have to inherit.
The work was being done with unbelievable force.
But why was it that the work kept on increasing no matter how much he did?
"......"
He gazed at the mountain of paperwork that surrounded him, before letting out a sigh.
Over there.
Outside the door, there was someone's presence.
Furthermore, it was also the presence of new work.
Only those few had received Sion's approval to open the doors to his office.
For a moment, Sion closed his tired eyes, before opening them.
At that time, strong light again dwelled within his eyes.
He put on a smiling face.
If it was a duty entrusted to him, then no matter what problems he had to break through, he would smile with confidence to fool the other party.
He raised his head from the paperwork.
What is it?
Just as he was about to ask that...
Zzzban—!
A strange sound rang out.
Furthermore, the door was sliced cleanly into two, as the left half and right half fell to the ground.
It was an incredulous sight.
This was Roland's royal castle. Needless to say, the security was very tight. On top of that, here in this country, perhaps there was nowhere that was safer than where Sion was? One could say that it was that strict.
On that note, there was no reason for someone to suddenly slice apart the door in two in haste like that.
Unless...
With a slightly astounded face, Sion spoke.
"Yes, welcome. It's been a while. Could I ask why, even though we're reuniting for the first time in a while, you felt the need to slice apart the door?"
He said. As he thought, a woman of peerless beauty stood before the broken door.
In response, with an eternally emotionless face, that woman of beauty spoke.
"Because I'm angry."
Somehow, she did seem angry...
Sion made a troubled face.
"Because you're angry, you cut down the door?"
To that, Ferris nodded honestly. And then, entering the room, she looked around, even peering into the neighbouring bedroom.
"... Not here either?"
She said quietly.
Sion tilted his head at at.
"... Ah, um... just what exactly are you talking about? I would prefer it if you could explain the situation."
Ferris looked at Sion.
And then,
"Ryner has disappeared."
She said that.
To that,
"... Disappeared?"
Sion stared back, before looking up at the ceiling.
Like that, he thought over what Ferris just said, before looking at her again.
"... What do you mean?"
However, to that as well, Ferris simply replied,
"It's just as I said. He's not at his inn."
But Sion, not fully understanding, said,
"No, just because he isn't at his inn doesn't mean he's disappea..."
But Ferris cut Sion's words off and continued.
"This morning, he wasn't at the agreed meeting place. Even though I would remove his head if he overslept. So I went to his inn to remove his head. However, Ryner wasn't there."
As she said that, Ferris's voice seemed a bit more annoyed than usual.
He could tell that it was slightly different from the voice she used when she was making fun of Sion or playing around.
In her voice, though not easily heard, some emotion leaked out.
And.
Ryner has...
Disappeared...?
In that moment.
For some reason, it felt like everything in front of him went pitch black. His breathing became rough. Why?
He asked himself that. He didn't know.
What in the world?
What in the world is...
Then, over there.
"Hey,"
Ferris said.
"Eh?"
Sion lifted his head.
Then, just as suddenly, his rough breathing incredulously disappeared.
"What's wrong?"
Ferris spoke in a puzzled tone; however, he honestly didn't know.
In an instant, everything was incredulous.
In an instant, everything went back to as it was before.
Immediately, his thoughts began to whirl around.
Sion was surprised at himself.
"Ah... I'm fine. It's nothing. It's just... from a lack of sleep. More importantly, what was the inn room like?"
"... It'd been neatly arranged."
"The bed as well?"
Ferris nodded.
Sion made a contemplative face, and,
"In other words, Ryner left his room yesterday. He wouldn't do something like clean up his room, right?"
"Mm-hmm. According to the landlord, Ryner cancelled his contract with them yesterday."
"So it was the landlord who cleaned the room..."
Sion said, folding his arms.
"But what's going on?"
"......"
Ferris's face was blank.
As expected, her thoughts were unreadable. However, he knew that she was impatient.
Sion continued.
"You and Ryner were appointed as my guards for my trip to Estabul, correct? However, he didn't want to, and so decided to run away?"
However, Ferris shook her head.
"We didn't want to go through the trouble of following your orders, so Ryner and I had agreed to leave the country this morning."
At that, Sion's expression was astounded once again.
"Your destination?"
"Cassla. To search for the relics. With money from you under that pretext, we were going to buy dango from all around the world."
Sion's expression became increasingly surprised at that, as he let out a sigh.
"The two of you, going on a dango tour? You really have a good relationship with each other,"
He said.
However,
"......"
Ferris, still with an expressionless face, said nothing.
Regarding that, Sion inwardly clicked his tongue.
That was the wrong thing to say just now.
Ignoring the arrangement he'd made with Ferris, Ryner had disappeared.
What she was thinking about all of this, he couldn't tell for sure...
Did she feel hurt?
He examined her expression just a bit. But, as expected, he couldn't read her emotionless face.
Then,
"Yesterday, when we spoke, Ryner... seemed a bit strange,"
Ferris suddenly said.
Sion raised his eyebrows at that.
"Strange? How so?"
"As means of thanking me, he said he'd carry seven backpacks of dango..."
"D-Dango? Backpacks? Just what exactly..."
But Ferris interrupted.
"In any case, he was being strange!"
She said firmly.
In response, Sion stared at Ferris for a while.
"Hmm. If it's you, Ferris... then I believe you. Was there anything else that had changed? Something that was different from usual..."
At the question, Ferris closed her eyes for a moment, as if remembering, and then,
"It seems that with Brother... that he'd met with Lucile."
Sion immediately looked up at the ceiling, and,
"Lucile! What did you do?"
"......"
There was no reply.
But he was there. He should be. Even if his figure couldn't be seen, as long as Sion was within the boundaries of Roland, then Lucile was constantly watching over him.
He should be that sort of person.
"You're here, aren't you?"
He asked again.
"......"
Nevertheless, there was no reply. Regarding that, there was no indication of a response.
No, just maybe, he isn't here?
Sion couldn't tell.
Looking at Ferris with a troubled expression,
"Do you know if he's here?"
He said, but Ferris shook her head.
"I can't tell with Brother."
"Is that so..."
Sion said, sighing, before he continued.
"In that case... did Ryner say what Lucile spoke to him about?"
"No... only that they met. And apparently that Lucile asked for us to be your guards."
"My guards?"
Lucile isn't the type to say something like that, he thought...
Ryner was missing, and if Lucile wasn't saying anything, then they had no clues whatsoever to go off of.
Anyhow, thinking over the information that he did know,
"Ryner has... disappeared on his own will."
It'd turned out like that.
Thinking over this further, Sion narrowed his eyes.
But why now?
Sion couldn't tell what Ryner was thinking.
As they'd been together since their academy days, there was no reason. Furthermore, he'd investigated his past.
According to the descriptions the training facility professors had written about him from the moment he'd entered...
Ryner Lute is utterly despicable towards himself.
A monster that hurt others.
A monster whose existence couldn't be allowed and was needed by no one.
He'd deny himself the right to cry.
But that was in the past.
Sion had wanted him.
From the very beginning, he'd wanted Ryner's power.
For the sake of bringing down the king and nobles.
Even if it was a monster's power that couldn't be controlled, he felt that it was needed.
Furthermore, Sion had felt that that wasn't the only thing to Ryner's existence.
Sion liked the way that Ryner thought.
Changing the country, changing the world—his overly naive way of thinking.
So that nobody's hands would be stained with blood.
Even so, nothing could change.
He understood that.
So that nobody—nobody has to kill anyone.
But even so, nothing could be saved.
He understood that.
However, even so, Ryner's thoughts were fascinating.
The sky Ryner looked at was different from the sky that Sion did.
But even if that was the case...
Despite that, Sion had wanted Ryner.
In that case, there should've been meaning to his existence.
No, Ferris and Kiefer as well.
Ryner had no reason to disappear anymore.
So that he wouldn't leave, I...
I...
"......"
Then, his thoughts were interrupted.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
Outside the room, a voice rang out. It was a familiar voice. A messenger... It was the voice of a young blond-haired man by the name of Robert.
Sion turned his attention towards him.
At the entrance of the room.
However, as Ferris had cut the door apart, he could see Robert's figure.
Robert made a surprised face at the lack of a door, and then stood at attention to Sion, furthermore staring at Ferris.
"Uwah, she's quite the beauty. A-As expected of Your Majesty... P-Pardon my rudeness..."
He said, to which, in order to correct the misunderstanding, Sion hurriedly—
"It's not what it looks like. It's not like that with her. More importantly, what's the report?"
To those words, Robert again stood at attention.
"Understood! The report is from Field Marshal Claugh Klom from the Estabul territory."
"Hmm? From Claugh? Hand it over."
"Understood."
Saying that, Robert entered the room. As he snuck a glance at Ferris and for some reason turned red, he handed the report over to Sion, before again leaving the room.
"Then, I will be going. If you require me, please call for me."
Sion nodded at that
"Understood. You may leave."
Robert simply left the room.
At that, Ferris spoke.
"You're rather commanding, aren't you, Sion?"
Sion smiled wryly at those words.
"Is that so? Well, for the time being, I am king. Moving on, anyhow, I'll send out a search party for Ryner. I'll command..."
While saying that, he also opened Claugh's report. While getting a bad feeling.
From the very start, Claugh was the sort of man who found writing reports to be troublesome. Evem if a problem occurred, as long as it was a small problem, he wouldn't bother with a report.
Despite that, he'd sent a letter.
That meant that whatever problem had occurred wasn't a small matter.
On top of Ryner's disappearance, there was a letter from Claugh.
Honestly, it's one problem after another, he wanted to complain.
However, within the report were soft, careful letters.
It wasn't Claugh's clumsy handwriting. This kind of cute handwriting was evidently a woman's.
Sion was somewhat relieved at that. Though it was sent in Claugh's name, perhaps this was the handwriting of Estabul's former princess who'd gone with Claugh, Noa Ehn.
If it were Noa, then it wasn't strange that she'd be sending frequent reports.
In that case, perhaps it wasn't really a problem that'd occurred...
"......"
That was what he thought, but as he read the letter, he grimaced.
Ferris, at that—
"Is there a problem?"
While frowning,
"... In Estabul, an Alpha Stigma bearer has appeared..."
He said, groaning.
In response,
"Let me see,"
Ferris said, snatching the letter away from Sion as she began to read.
This was a summary of its contents.
An Alpha Stigma bearer monster was acting violently in Estabul.
Furthermore, it'd awakened.
Claugh had gone to exterminate the Alpha Stigma bearer, and if he were able to do so, he should be able to gain a hold over Estabul's military—things like that.
Estabul's remaining soldiers were currently under the command of a man named Bayuuz White, and other such details were written.
At any rate.
It seemed that Claugh had gone after the Alpha Stigma bearer.
Once she was finished reading the letter, Ferris spoke.
"Don't tell me that Ryner is..."
However, Sion rejected that.
"That can't be it. This letter was delivered from Estabul. Ryner went missing this morning. The times don't match."
"But here, it talks about an 'awakening'... The Alpha Stigma bearer in Estabul right now seems to be different from an ordinary Alpha Stigma bearer, don't you think? And if it's a different type of Alpha Stigma bearer..."
Sion interrupted Ferris's words there.
"Hold on for a moment. I don't know what this 'awakening' part means. There are different types of Alpha Stigma?"
"......"
Ferris became silent again at that. Once more, she was silent as she appeared to be thinking over something, before,
"... At the very least, Ryner's eyes are different from normal."
Sion nodded.
That had been written in the investigations Sion did on his history.
Ordinary Alpha Stigma bearers couldn't return to normal after going berserk.
But Ryner came back.
That was why the Roland army had kept Ryner as a research subject.
Sion had personally seen Ryner go berserk once.
Before Ryner's power, the Estabul Magic Knights had been annihilated in instant.
That power had deviated from normal.
The strongest force in each nation, given the name of Magic Knight, had been nothing more than toys to be played with and destroyed before Ryner's power.
With power that no one could hope to resist, a demon king that dealt out despair.
That was what had been reflected in Sion's eyes.
An ordinary Alpha Stigma bearer would likely be completely different.
An ordinary Alpha Stigma bearer, even after going berserk, would only be able to kill about one unit.
And after going berserk, they wouldn't be able to return to normal.
But none of that applied to Ryner.
Nevertheless, as several accidents had piled up, then perhaps...
What was the "awakening" part in Claugh's letter?
If this Alpha Stigma held the same power as Ryner that time he went berserk...
Then Claugh could be killed instead.
No, if the Alpha Stigma bearer was the same type as Ryner, then he couldn't allow for them to be killed by Claugh.
It could lead to a clue about Ryner's Alpha Stigma...
"Honestly, where has Ryner gone to now of all times?"
Sion said, grumbling.
"Immediately for Ryner..."
He shook his head, standing up.
"Ferris. I'll be going to Estabul straightaway. I can't allow Claugh or the Alpha Stigma bearer to die. I'll leave commanding Ryner's search party to you. As soon as you find him, bring him to Estabul."
"Mmm."
Ferris nodded.
But after confirming that, Sion moved to leave. As he was about to exit the room, he said in a loud voice,
"Robert!"
Then,
"Yes!"
A reply came back immediately. Confirming that, Sion spoke.
"Call for Calne and Eslina!"
"Understood!"
And then Robert ran off.
However, as soon as Sion said that, he regretted it slightly.
It seemed that one way or another, as Ferris had been assigned to commanding the search party for Ryner, that the one who'd take care of things in Sion's absence would have to be Calne.
If Calne's old habits start acting up again, he'll be scolded by Eslina...
While thinking such things, Sion immediately began preparing to go to Estabul...
♦
Incidentally.
Unrelated to Sion's worries, as soon as Ferris, Calne, and Eslina met, they had this exchange.
"In other words, from now on, I am the almighty ruler of you two."
"Uwa!? What a beauty! I have no problems with working with a beauty like this, Sion-san. Hurray. I love you, Sion-san!"
"Ehh—!? Ah... wha... that may be true... b-but... r-right now, I really hate you, Calne-san!"
"......"
Sion clutched his head.
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