/
“……”
How many years had it been since he met her?
That’s what Major Rahel Miller was currently thinking about. His face was wrinkled from frowning and scowling. His physique was well-trained and muscular, more so than one would expect to see on a man in his thirties. He sat with impeccable posture, and the abnormal neatness of the documents on his desk spoke to his rigid nature.
He was in his room in the Taboo Hunters Headquarters. Despite how orderly it normally was, she was making quite a mess of it.
“My god, your rigidity has spread to your room,” she said. She ran a hand across his neatly stacked documents, then looked over them.
Miller looked up. “Those are highly classified documents. I’d like it if you didn’t read them…”
He looked at her with his usual stern face, and wondered. How much of his life had passed since he met her? Ten years? No, longer. And she was just as beautiful now as when they’d first met. She had indigo hair down to her shoulders and a sharp glint in her eyes along with her usual mischievous smile. “Hmm? What could it be? Do you have top-secret lewds you don’t want me to see…? Are you having an affair?”
“…Don’t be stupid. You know best of everyone that I don’t have time for an affair, Ms. Jereme Crysler,” Miller said, somewhat indignant.
Jereme’s expression clouded over. “I’ve told you not to call me by my full name. I’m not even a Ms. Crysler anymore. I married you, so I’m a Mrs. Miller,” she said. Then she brightened up a bit. “Though I still get embarrassed saying that out loud ♡”
“…Yeah. I bet you do,” Miller said and nodded. Then he looked down at her stomach. His child was inside of her now, and it wouldn’t be their first. It’d be their second. He hadn’t thought about marrying her back when they’d first met. Not at all. Instead, he’d been of the opinion that Roland was too mad to have a family in… so he hadn’t imagined this happening at all.
That was why he still thought of her as Jereme Crysler. She’d been his like-minded comrade for so long that it felt odd to think of her as his wife instead.
They’d met back in military school. She had been exceptional. The type who always stood out. She was brilliant after leaving school, too, and before long she was a household name. They called her the water assassin, the beautiful magician, and the frenzied drunk leopardess. Miller could personally attest to the validity of the last of those. She was far too dangerous when she drank, and became uncontrollably violent and mean. She’d almost killed him many times…
But those nicknames were irrelevant.
More importantly, those kids were there back when he’d formed his first impression of her.
Pia Valiere, Peria Perla, Ryner Lute.
“……”
Time passed so quickly. It’d already been over ten years since then. To think that that weak boy, lacking in talent as he was - the Alpha Stigma bearer Ryner Lute - had managed to find himself in the center of their country.
Miller looked up at her. She was sitting on his desk, reading his classified documents at her leisure. She moved her hand to look at the next document.
“Stop that,” Miller said. “I really can’t let these documents leak.” He picked the documents up so she couldn’t read through them.
Jereme puffed her cheeks up. “Augh! You really are having an affair if you’re trying that hard to hide it!”
Miller said. “Like I said, I—”
“—don’t have the time for that,” Jememe finished it. “I know that. I know you better than anyone. Because I’m always, always, aaaalllwaaays watching you, ever since you misunderstood and thought you could jilt me. You’re a horrible guy who only thinks about work. You always have been!”
“M, misunderstood—?”
She cackled, then looked a bit sad. “That’s why I came to get in the way of your work. You’re a bit too hardworking, you know? I understand that this country is in a tough place, but… do you really need to devote your whole life to fixing it?”
“I’m not trying to do it alone—”
“Don’t lie to me. You’re always making that stern face and taking care of eeeverything yourself,” Jereme said. She scrunched her eyebrows up and scowled, but it was a poor imitation of him. It looked more like a cute pout than anything.
He could have sworn that she used to look more stern than she did now. Maybe it was due to her pregnancy?
Jereme gave up on her imitation, leaving a worried expression in its place. “You’re allowed to rely on others too, alright? I can still work, so… how about I do half of your job—”
“Nope. You’re pregnant. I won’t let you work.”
“But we still have a few months until it’s born—”
“No.”
“But—”
“No!” Miller shouted. He hadn’t meant to, but it did quiet Jereme down. “Sorry,” he said, flustered. “I wonder if the kid heard that…”
Jereme smiled sadly. “Geez. You don’t have to worry that much. There’s no way something like that would bother our kid.”
“…I’m sorry,” Miller repeated.
“…I didn’t come here for you to apologize to me…”
Miller looked up at her worried face. He messed up, huh? Was he really so busy that he had to make her worry like this? He thought back on the past several days, filled to the brim with work…
“…You’re right. I need to pay attention to you too, not just work. But my schedule’s packed for today. Can we talk once I get home tonight?”
Jereme’s face brightened up in an instant. “Really!? Really?? Geez, of course I’d have nothing but free time if you shut me up at home without you all day!”
“…Sounds like that’s why you came here,” Miller said with a bitter smile. Still, he understood that she’d been worried about him. “Now go home.”
“Whaat? But I wanted to spend more time toge—”
“Jereme.”
“…Fiiine,” Jereme said and shrugged. She already looked bored again. She left, then yelled back through the open door, “You better have a real conversation with me tonight!”
“Yeah.”
“And don’t overwork yourself!”
“And you be careful on the way back.”
“Oh, my. Do you love me?”
“……”
“I love you, Rahel ♡”
“……”
“Hmhmhm? Where’s my reply?”
“Just go home already!”
“Alrighty ♪”
With that, she left.
Miller looked back down at the documents that Jereme had tried to take.
Ryner Lute’s return to his home country and the plan for how to deal with him moving forward.
…He couldn’t let Jereme learn Ryner’s whereabouts. Because she was too kind. That’s why he took it before she could see it. To be frank, she’d just get in the way if she stood in the path that Roland was moving in.
“……”
Miller threw the papers about Ryner back down onto his desk, then looked out the window. The sun was descending the horizon. He felt that it was speaking to the direction the whole country was moving.
Their eternal peace was really forced tranquillity. In truth, the future of their country was…
“…No, I’m here to stop that…”
Miller narrowed his eyes.
Kindness, compassion, love… those were all handicaps on the world which needed to move forward. The fact that Jereme had taught those kids… the fact that Ryner was precious to her… meant that she’d be unable to walk the correct path. And the fact that Jereme was dear to Miller meant that she could be used against him, should someone choose to do so. For example…
“……”
Miller looked away from the window and back to his desk. A lone man had appeared there. He had pitch black hair, a perfectly handsome face, and a model-thin build. He was still young. Younger than Luke. Twenty-two or twenty-three, if he had to guess?
But his eyes were what really stood out. They were a cold and deep blue that seemed to look down on everything. Miller looked up to meet those eyes. “I didn’t say that you could enter?”
The man smiled. But it was a dark one, constructed solely with malice. “How rude of me. Seeming as the door was open…”
“Hm. The door was open, so you went out of your way to conceal your presence so you could sneak in like some kind of rat? Is that it? Lieutenant General Miran Froaude.”
Froaude’s smile didn’t fade. “Correct. If I could enter as I am without you noticing, I figured I ought to just kill you,” Froaude said. He looked around the room, his eyes stopping for a moment in each of the four corners, where small magic circles were buried. Then he shrugged. “Magic traps… Sergeant Luke Stokkart did the same… You are quite well prepared. I see that there is no reason for me to raise my hand against you. As expected of the man called the key player in the revolution…”
“Hah. Worthless small talk,” Miller spat.
Froaude smiled faintly. “Ah, you realized? I suppose… Small talk is not really a strong point of mine… it makes it quite difficult for me to get on in this world.”
“I bet. It doesn’t help that you’re so gloomy, either.”
“Haha. Yes, I’ve been told… but I have gone out of my way to answer your call and come here, and you still jab at my expense… you yourself are plenty awful at getting on in the world.”
Miller scowled. “Hm. I certainly wouldn’t say that I’m good at it.”
“You aren’t, are you? Someone who was… would not have shown someone precious to their opponent… would they have?” Froaude asked. His smile deepend. It looked an awful lot like he was looking down on Miller. “For example… a beautiful pregnant woman,” Froaude said and turned to look at the door.
And there it was, Miller thought. This was what happened when people found even the slightest weakness in another. “She’s not my weakness.”
“Really, now?”
“Really.”
“You wouldn’t worry if your wife were suddenly abducted?”
“Not at all.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” Miller said and nodded. He was telling the truth. Even if Jereme were abducted, the result would be just the same as when Milk was. He wouldn’t worry at all.
“You’re cold,” Froaude said in that cold voice of his.
“I don’t want to hear that from you.”
“But it was a compliment?”
“I have no reason to accept a compliment from you,” Miller said.
“I suppose that’s true,” Froaude said. He seemed happy. “You are truly the same type of person as I—”
“Nope. I’m different from you.”
Froaude looked a bit confused. “What exactly is the difference…?”
“You’re more able than I am.”
“You’re only going through with your small talk now?”
“No.”
“Then what do you mean?” Froaude asked. “You said that I am more able than you?”
Miller nodded. “Because if I could be useful to you, then you’d leave me alive even if it meant that I’d kill the people you call important. Right?”
Froaude thought for a moment. “No, I cannot answer that… after all, not a single person in this world is important to me.”
“How impressive.”
“Hahaha. You are exactly the kind of person I expected you to be. Very few people would call that impressive… It makes me happy to hear you say that…” Froaude met his eyes. “And… I do think that you’re a frightening person. If I were to kidnap Jereme Crysler, then you would kill me despite my importance to Roland… that’s what you meant to say, correct?”
Miller shook his head. “You’re not needed in this country.”
“…I am… nonplussed… Are you saying that there is no place for me in the map you have drawn of the future?”
“There isn’t. Because you’re too flashy.”
“…You only think so because you yourself are too slow,” Froaude said. “You moved a bit more quickly in the scenario I had imagined… but you just won’t move in reality. That is why I had no choice but to move in front of you. You understand, don’t you? This country doesn’t have any time left to dawdle.”
He was right. They didn’t have any time, and at this rate their country wouldn’t have a future.
Even so…
“You’re going about it the wrong way,” Miller said, glaring at Froaude.
But Froaude just smiled faintly. “Really, now? Have I not been acting in a way that allows your plan to progress?”
That was true. Everything Froaude had done so far had been within Miller’s realm of expectation. It was almost as if Froaude had been acting with full knowledge of Miller’s plan, and had been careful not to step on his toes.
The same went for the Ryner situation. If Froaude hadn’t done it, Miller’s faction would have. Because Ryner Lute’s presence would soon interfere with their country’s progress. They’d passed on the opportunity to kill Ryner this time because of the possibility that he’d allow for mediation between the many Cursed Eye bearers, but his existence was inherently dangerous. Because he was capable of destroying Sion.
In other words, Froaude had made the right decision. He’d only messed up at the very end.
“Killing Marquess Callaud… was outside the realm of my expectations,” Miller said. “It’s too soon for that, and I think you know that just as well as I do. Why are you rushing it?”
Froaude’s smile disappeared entirely, and his sharp eyes narrowed further. “Ahh… I see… This is quite vexing. We need to integrate our two plans…”
Miller wanted to hold his head in his hands. “So that means the one who killed Marquess Callaud—”
“It was not me,” Froaude said. “I had been certain that it was your doing…”
“Then…”
Froaude nodded. “Yes. It appears that it was someone working behind the scenes… perhaps the noble who had used his power to manipulate the late Duke Staelied. But he…”
“He won’t show himself on the center stage… Any guesses on who the mastermind is with that?”
Froaude shook his head. “No… though I am looking into it…”
This time Miller really did hold his head in his hands. He was searching with all he had. But he couldn’t find him. All he knew was that the mastermind was out there. It wasn’t impossible. After all, this was someone who had enough power to control a significant percent of the nobility. They had to show themself eventually - anyone that powerful would leave traces, no matter how hard they tried to hide. But they still hadn’t found them.
“A shame,” Miller said.
Froaude nodded. “It is disappointing, especially knowing that this country’s days are numbered. If we don’t set our domestic affairs in order…”
“…Another country will invade,” Miller finished. “We need some bait to lure that hidden mastermind out with.”
But what could they use as bait? How could they bait someone who they didn’t know?
Were they one of the nobles who had retained power even after the reforms… or were they even a noble at all?
Froaude turned away. “It appears that our conversation has come to an end… Our shared objective is to drag the hidden mastermind who has shamed us both to the front of the stage. I will try my hand at it.”
With that, Froaude left the room. But he seemed to remember something just as he left and looked back in.
“Ah, by the way, what do you intend to do about the Ryner Lute problem?” Froaude asked. “Personally I believe that he should be killed as soon as possible, but…”
Miller thought of Jereme for a moment. What face would she make when she learned of Ryner Lute’s death? He thought of it, but… he faced Froaude to reply. “Do what you’d like.”
“…Then I will kill him,” Froaude said, then closed the door behind himself.
A comfortable silence returned to the room.
“……”
Miller began to think up a new plan.
---
The room was full of malice. All who entered had their hopes and dreams stolen from them, losing their will to live entirely. It was dark, gloomy, and surrounded by pitch black darkness… okay, that last part didn’t really make any sense, but anyway, it wasn’t the kind of place he wanted to be. It was the plain room the devil himself lived in, inside Roland Castle.
“…I’m gonna die. I’m seriously gonna die.”
That’s what Ryner truly felt. He’d die here, and there was nothing he could do about it now. Because, because… for the past three days, ever since he returned, he’d been pulling all nighters one after another and being forced to work on fucking paperwork, Sion you bastaaard Ryner was seriously going to fucking kill him except he didn’t have any energy left so he was just gonna die instead!!
Ryner glared at the demon king Sion Astal, who was grappling with his own mountain of paperwork at his desk. “Anyway, I’m gonna die now.”
Sion smiled bitterly without bothering to look up from his paperwork. “Hey, you said that five minutes ago too.”
“Yeah, but I’m serious this time.”
“Are you really that tired?”
“I’m literally on the verge of death.”
“So you want to sleep?”
“Yeah.”
“You can’t.”
“What?!”
“You can’t.”
“But, um, I’m seriously gonna die—”
“You can’t. Just keep doing your best. My paperwork will take another four hours or so, and after that I think a half hour power nap would be alright—”
“You fucking idiooott!!” Ryner yelled, then stared at Sion, exasperated. “D, don’t tell me you always work this long without sleeping?”
Sion looked up and seemed to be thinking back on it. “Hmm, let’s see… Honestly, I’m not sure. I lose track of time when I’m working… But it looks like things will be easier now that I have you to split the work with,” Sion said and smiled.
Ryner looked at Sion like he was a rare species of animal. “This is making it easier? Don’t tell me you would have done all of this work yourself if I wasn’t here…”
“Yeah, I would have,” Sion said way too easily.
“……”
Ryner was at a loss for words. He stared at the mountains of paperwork surrounding him, and the even larger mountains surrounding Sion.
“…I suddenly understand why you’re so mean…”
Anyone’s personality would warp after working like this day in and day out.
Sion smiled meanly. “I guess that means you’ll be getting meaner and meaner from here on out too.”
“I told you, I’m gonna die before then.”
A bold smile rose to Sion’s face. “Heheheh. I’m not going to let you die that easily. In my experience, as long as you power nap ever now and then, you won’t really feel like you’re going to die until you hit the six months mark—”
“A-are you serious!? Y-y-y-you’re going to keep me from sleeping for six months…?”
Sion had gone mad. He had to have. Sure, Ryner had thought that he was a workaholic before too, but this was just… insane.
“Uuuh… I’m gonna die,” Ryner said, shivering uncontrollably from fear. “You’re gonna kill me here…”
Sion smiled happily. “Come on, I’m joking. You’d obviously die after six months without sleep.”
“Y-yeah! I would!”
“You’d be perfectly fine going ten days without sleep, though—”
“You’re seriously fucking insaneeee!!” Ryner cried.
Sion just smiled. “All joking aside—”
“Wait!! Which parts were jokes and which were serious!?”
“Hm? Ahh… I was serious about taking a thirty minute power nap in four hours. I’ll get less efficient if I don’t nap, so at about this point I rest for a little.”
For some reason, Sion looked like a god in that moment. And then he despaired that thought. This was what three days without sleep did to him. Seriously, what spell was Sion using on him right now…? Ryner spoke through his shivers. “Y, you’re actually a demon inside, aren’t you?”
“Obviously. You’re only just realizing that?” Sion asked.
“Ah… You’re not arguing…”
“Heheh. There’s nothing I can do about you figuring out my true form. Now let’s get to work. Our six months without sleep awaits us~”
“…Can you stop saying that? It sounds less like a joke every time…”
Ryner was at his limit. He looked over at Sion, who was doing a pretty good impression of a demon’s face right now. He had bloodshot eyes and dark bags under his eyes from exhaustion. He seriously looked demonic.
Ryner sighed. “You’re seriously gonna die if you keep working like this, you know.”
Sion stopped trying to look like a demon. But he still looked exhausted. “Will you be king if I die?”
“Mm? Me?”
Ryner pictured it for a moment. He’d be buried under paperwork like this day in and day out. His endless work would drive him mad. He’d go without sleep every day, have bloodshot eyes, and walk around in a daze… He looked at Sion, who was currently the living picture of his imagination.
“……”
He wondered if the people who called him their absolutely flawless hero king had ever seen how he truly was. He was so overworked that he looked like he could just keel over dead, but he still felt like it wasn’t enough and forced himself forward. Would he be able to prevent their country from being invaded and save their people? Would he be able to calm Roland’s internal conflicts without sacrifices? Was he really leading their country down the right path?
It wasn’t enough.
It would never ever ever be enough.
“…It’s impossible for me,” Ryner said. That was his honest impression. He wasn’t capable of it.
He’d been struggling just taking care of himself all this time, after all. He was the type of person who got so wrapped up in his own problems that he hurt others.
“…I’m way too lazy… so it’d be impossible for me to be king…”
“…That’s why I think you’d be good at it,” Sion said.
“I’ll try saying it another way then. It’s way too much work. I don’t wanna do it.”
“Ahaha… yeah, it’s a lot of work. I kind of want to quit.”
“Do it, do it. Quit your job and take a nap every single day.”
Sion laughed. “Nap daily, huh… that sounds like it’d be fun. I wonder if I’ll ever get to do that?” He wondered. His voice sounded very weak in that moment…
Ryner’s voice caught in his throat. He looked down at the piles of paperwork covering his desk. It was all information on how the world was closing in on Roland. Lately one of their neighboring countries, Imperial Nelpha, had been acting suspiciously. A significant anti-Roland faction had appeared in their borders since Roland annexed Estabul, and they viewed Roland as a danger even though their two kings had pledged friendship… and soon that anti-Roland faction led a revolution and overtook the throne.
With the change in kings, their previous alliance had ceased to be altogether. Nelpha could invade any minute now while Roland didn’t have the power to fight back.
Roland was still weak from fighting Estabul, and their two countries still weren’t very well integrated. There was no guarantee that Estabul’s soldiers would follow Roland’s orders. Honestly, they couldn’t even be sure that Estabul wouldn’t revolt again.
Fortunately, Nelpha appeared to be misunderstanding the situation and currently saw Roland as a great and powerful country. Should they realize that Roland was actually struggling… they’d surely attack. They were attempting to prepare for it, but… Nelpha wasn’t their only problem.
Their other neighboring country, the Runa Empire, was also acting oddly. And there was always the threat from the Gastark Empire to the far north, which was using Heroic Relics to expand rapidly. There were signs of countries all around strengthening their militaries in retaliation.
The world was changing. Ryner knew that. It was moving towards an age of war, one more chaotic than the world had ever seen before… and Sion was here in the midst of it, fighting all by himself.
Wasn’t there a way to save his country, his people? Would he find it if he worked himself to exhaustion? Could he find a way to save the world with as few deaths as possible?
Wasn’t there something he could do?
And yet… that line of thought left him like this, unable to spend his days napping…
“…It’ll happen,” Ryner said. “Someday you’ll definitely get to nap. So wait for it.”
Sion smiled sincerely. “Right. Then I’ll… look forward…”
He’d gotten too tired. His words faded and he fell asleep just as he was, sitting up at his desk.
“Whoa, hey, you’ll cut into my sleep if you go napping first,” Ryner said.
But Sion didn’t answer. He was fast asleep, the smile still plastered on his face.
Ryner watched him sleep for a few moments.
“……”
He couldn’t help but hope that he had a good dream. Not one about politics or war. Just a normal, feel-good dream. Like… like…
“Augh, I’m so sleep deprived that I can’t think…”
Ryner shuffled over to the door to leave. But then he heard Sion’s voice.
“…No, that plan isn’t… uu…”
“…You idiot,” Ryner mumbled and turned back around. “Don’t work in your sleeeep!!” He yelled and kicked Sion’s chair over.
Naturally that woke Sion up. “Huh? What? What’s happening?” He looked up at Ryner. “H, huh? Was I… sleeping?”
“Yeah.”
“And you of all people woke me up… how many hours was I out?”
“Not even five minutes.”
“Huh? Really?” Sion asked.
“Yeah.”
Sion tilted his head, confused. “Why did you wake me up?”
“Because your face pisses me off.”
“It does?”
“Yeah! Uhh, anyway, let’s see… why don’t you read some porn or something and get in a good mood and then go to sleep?”
“H, huh? P-porn? Why?”
“Just do it! Ugh, I’m so sleep deprived that I can’t talk right… Anyway, I’m leaving!” Ryner said. “I’m gonna take three days to catch up on the sleep I missed and then come back. Don’t look for me!”
“No, wait… Seriously, why do you want me to read porn…? And what are you so mad about…?”
Ryner ignored him and opened the door. He was assaulted by a bright light on the other side. “Whoa… don’t tell me it’s morning? I pulled four all nighters in a row? I’m gonna die. I’m seriously gonna die.”
With that, he shuffled away.
---
“……”
The sun’s rays were far too brilliant. Its light warmed all of Roland.
The world must be peaceful if such a calm and warm light could envelop it.
It was a complete, ideal world.
It was a perfect, ideal world.
Certainly, it brought to mind Ryner Lute’s report.
To a world where everyone smiles and it’s okay if all we do is nap.
“…Heh… heheh…”
Wonderful. Truly wonderful.
A country where no one was hurt. A country where no one ever lost anything.
“…Many people have already died for it…  A country where no one ever loses anything… is nothing but a fairy tale,” Miran Froaude whispered as he watched Ryner Lute’s retreating back. He waited until Ryner was out of sight, then stood by the door. “Do you truly intend to let Ryner Lute live like this? Your Majesty.”
“……”
No answer. But he didn’t mind. Whether Sion answered him or not was of no consequence. The result would be the same.
Froaude continued. “Truthfully… I had wanted Sergeant Luke Stokkart to kill him, but…”
This time there was an answer. “So that you could say that Ryner was killed on my orders?”
Exactly. It was a necessary action if they were to erase the nativity in Sion’s heart.
A country where no one was hurt. A country where no one ever lost anything. Now, wouldn’t that be sweet? If they were going off ideals alone, then yes, that’d be wonderful. It was a dreamlike, storybook country.
‘And thanks to the effort of the great hero king, the country ceased to war, and everyone lived with a smile on their face…’
How comfortable that would be.
But reality. Reality was…
“…Humans and beings which must devour others to live,” Froaude said.
If one person smiled, another would cry. If one person was protected, another would be hurt. If one person lived… another would die. And if Roland were to continue to exist in this world, it meant that it had to destroy another country. They couldn’t stay high on those sweet ideals… on the drug they called Ryner Lute for long.
“…You must understand that by now, Your Majesty.”
That drug had other effects, too. Ryner’s effect on Sion would peak at the moment of his death. And at that very moment…  Sion Astal would become complete. He would become a king who could move forward even if he devoured darkness itself or another. He would no longer shun sacrifice, no longer question his ideals, and become a king capable of dominating the world itself.
If they could just kill Ryner Lute now…
“……”
No, it was already too late. Because Gastark had already begun to move.
At this rate, this country…
At that moment, Sion’s voice rang out from inside the room. “You’re going to kill Ryner?”
“I am.”
“Even if I tell you not to?”
“…After I’ve killed him… I will accept my punishment.”
“Are you saying that you don’t listen to my orders?” Sion asked.
“…I wish to exist as faithful to Your Majesty as possible.”
“Then—”
“And I believe that in the depths of your heart, you believe that killing Ryner Lute is what you ought to do,” Froaude interrupted.
And if that wasn’t the truth, then it meant that Sion lacked the resolve needed to be king, and there was no value in following him.
Froaude watched the door… and waited for his orders.
‘Kill Ryner Lute.’
If His Majesty could just order him to do that, then he would show him that he could do it in an instant. There were countless reasons to kill him.
It was a grave sin for one who knew Roland’s magic to leave Roland without permission. It wouldn’t be odd to give him the death penalty. The fact that he was a ‘Cursed Eye bearing monster’ was also a reason for which he could be killed. They couldn’t just leave someone prone to going berserk by the king’s side.
‘Kill Ryner Lute.’
If he’d just say that, then this country could finally begin to move.
‘Kill Ryner Lute, then force the Runa Empire to surrender, then violate Imperial Nelpha. Then, with the entire Southern Continent united—’
“…I won’t kill Ryner Lute,” Sion said.
Froaude felt his face warp with his disappointment, to the point where he surprised himself. To think that he’d come to expect so much of the king.
“…Your Majesty… Your Majesty, what are you trying to say—”
“Come in,” Sion interrupted.
“……”
Froaude didn’t answer.
“Didn’t you hear me?” Sion asked. “I’m telling you to enter the room,” he said, his tone stronger than before.
“……”
Froaude sighed softly, then opened the door.
The room was overflowing with paperwork. There had only been one desk before, but now there was also a second. It was probably put there for Ryner Lute’s sake.
For Ryner Lute’s sake.
“……”
He was fed up with it. So this was how blind his king was…
Froaude raised his head to look at Sion, who stood against a wall. He tapped his head lightly against the wall again and again, countless times. Froaude watched him for some time, then spoke.
“I have entered the room, just as you ordered.”
Sion hit his head against the wall one more time before stopping. “I will not kill Ryner Lute. I’ve already decided. It’s not something you can change.”
“…But—”
“Shut up.”
“I will not. At this rate—”
“Shut up, you worm. You’ll prove your incompetence if you keep jabbering.”
“……”
Now Froaude was quiet. The fact that Sion had told him to shut up didn’t bother him. It was because Sion’s remark just now made him uneasy.
A small smile rose to Sion’s face. “Kh… hahaha… what do you mean, ‘kill Ryner Lute’… even though you don’t understand a thing. Even though you’re blind to the facts… you still somehow believe that the world could move on your own shallow plan, don’t you?”
Sion turned to face him.
Froaude was frozen in place.
Willful eyes bore into him.
“……”
He shivered. His whole body shivered. This was…
The man before his eyes cut into Froaude’s thoughts. He rose his hand high and spoke. “Fine. Light. And darkness. I’ll show you the truth. The truth of the world… and the true form of our enemy.”
He held his hand out to Froaude.
Froaude couldn’t move. He could only shiver. But it wasn’t from fear. It was from pleasure. At the sight of what had appeared before him.
“……”
---
He was horribly tired.
“…Uuuh…”
But he had so much to do.
“Augh… I’m gonna shrivel up,” Ryner, lit by the morning sun, mumbled with a voice on the brink of death. He was currently battling exhaustion as he walked through Reylude’s castle town. He didn’t have any energy at all even though it was early morning. Everyone else was still asleep.
“…But I didn’t get any sleep at all!”
He felt more exhausted the more he complained. He was seriously at his limit. He felt like he could just lay down and sleep here… but he didn’t. He had to get as far away from the castle as possible. Then he had to find somewhere that Sion and Ferris didn’t know about to stay.
“…I can’t let them abuse me like this…”
They’d bring him the final inch closer to death. They’d make him return to those days of pulling all nighters one after another with Sion, that pervert who got off on working, where Ferris hit him from behind the second he reached his limit and began to doze off.
“…And then, after she gets bored for the day that traitorous bastard Ferris says she’s gonna go home and eat dango and sleep!”
Honestly, he didn’t really have the free time to be yelling about that now. He had tons of things he had to do instead.
For example, he had to get Arua to do an experiment with him to find all the differences between their powers. To do that he had to open his eyes up all the way and get his Alpha Stigma to activate. But he was too tired to do that now.
“Aww, I can’t do it… I can’t get motivated when I’m this tired… I’m so exhausted that I feel like I’m gonna barf… but I haven’t eaten either so I don’t have anything to throw up…”
He was tattered and battered, just barely shuffling along. He could collapse at any moment. Even so, he forced himself to walk with his last remaining strength as he thought about where to start.
Setting the experiment with Arua aside… he was also interested in searching that malicious dojo in Ferris’ house. He also had to look into what Lucile meant by ‘cursed blood’…
“…That could be pretty fast if Lucile would tell me himself…”
Ryner recalled Lucile’s face. He was absurdly handsome, just like Ferris was. He’d smiled coldly and strangled Ryner as he spoke to him.
“What kind of impossible dreams do you ugly monsters have?”
And like, talking to a guy who’d say things like that was kind of…
“…Umm, okay… so how about I leave Lucile for later,” Ryner said, his exhaustion easily reaching his voice. He crossed his arms. “And then, uhh. I also have to look into the other Cursed Eye bearers’ behavior… “ But that sounded like a pain, too.
Ryner looked up to the sky on his right. Tiir had said that far to the north of here, in the Central Continent, a great number of Cursed Eyes had gathered. And even farther north than that was Gastark, which was always growing south. Basically, the Cursed Eyes were closer to Gastark, which hunted them, than Roland was.
So there were a few things that had to happen. First, Roland needed to become the kind of place that accepted Cursed Eyes. Then they had to search for the Cursed Eyes who were hiding in the Central Continent, and then they needed to make room for them in Roland and auuughhh just thinking about it was impossible, much less doing it!
“First of all, they’ll get offended if I call them Cursed Eyes! Second of all, the sun is way too bright! And I’m tired! But I’m also hungry! I feel like I’m gonna throw up! I’m literally gonna start crying!”
He felt so horrible that he didn’t want to do anything at all. Maybe he should run away from home again…
“…Ferris would definitely kill me this time if I did…”
He thought of Ferris’ face after she followed him all the way to Nelpha. She hadn’t looked angry. Honestly, she’d been more anxious than anything.
“…I don’t want to see her make that face ever again… huh? Wait, am I gonna live the rest of my life with those two pushing me around? Uwah… seriously? Y’know, I’d rather just die now.”
Nothing good had happened since he returned to Roland.
“I mean, I’m super elite when you rank it in terms of ‘people who most hate effort and determination,’ right? You can’t make a guy like me…”
His head was starting to hurt. He clutched it with his hands.
“The fuck am I supposed to do my best at when I’m this tired,” Ryner muttered, exhausted. He idly wondered where his life went to hell as he walked.
Was it when he first met Sion? Maybe it was when he first met Ferris. Or maybe before then… maybe it was when his master, Jereme, first started training him? Maybe none of this would have ever happened if he’d left the country with Peria and Pia back then. Or maybe it was because he took Tiir’s hand and left Roland, then met Lafra. Maybe things would have been better if he’d continued to avert his eyes from the world, full of his own despair but refusing to look at the despair of the whole world…
But Ryner had looked at it. At the despair-filled path where Sion smiled and where Ferris waited for him. They reached their hands out to him… and he wanted to take them. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to run away anymore if he did. But he didn’t want Ferris to make that face anymore. It almost felt like someone needed him…
“…This is getting to be a real pain.”
Ryner sighed… and looked up. The castle town’s exit was just up ahead. But it didn’t look like he was going to get to leave. Not because it was under construction or anything, but…
“I’m seriously tired of exerting effort, okay?” Ryner said.
A man wearing the exact same armor as Ryner was standing in his path. It was a special outfit with white armor and robe. Only the strongest corps in Roland’s army, the Magical Knights, were permitted to wear it. Sion had given it to him and he was only using it because it was easy to use, though…
The man in front of him - actually, they used a black mask to hide their identity so for all he knew it was a woman, but anyway, Ryner spoke to the person in front of him.
“So, great Magical Knight of Roland, is there anything I can do for you?”
“……”
The Magical Knight didn’t reply.
Ryner shrugged. “Guess we’re not talking then. I’m getting some serious murder vibes from you, too, so I assume you came to kill me?”
No answer again.
Ryner smiled bitterly. “So, umm… do Magical Knights have a new rule where they can’t talk to strangers or something?”
“……”
Yep, no answer. The Magical Knight was filled with a killing intent strong enough to paralyze anyone who hadn’t been trained to deal with it. Ryner moved his eyes to survey his surroundings. He verified that there wasn’t an ambush waiting for him. This wasn’t the place for that kind of tactic anyway - it was a wide and level street made for pedestrian travel. Not for hiding.
Apparently this guy planned to attack Ryner alone.
“…You really think you can take me alone?”
“……”
Silence again. Might as well give up on the questions if his opponent wasn’t in the mood to talk.
Still, it wasn’t like he didn’t know anything about the situation. He knew that whoever had sent this Magical Knight didn’t know very much about him. Because if they did, they would have known that one Magical Knight wasn’t enough.
“At the very least… it means that Sion isn’t the one who sent you,” Ryner whispered. He felt himself relax. But if it wasn’t Sion, then who?
Wait, come to think of it, hadn’t Sion disbanded the Magical Knights around when he became king? Ryner could have sworn that he heard something like that.
“Mmgh?”
Didn’t that mean this guy wasn’t a Magical Knight?
Ryner took a good look at the Magical Knight or whoever they were.
“What are you?” He asked.
They finally responded in a hoarse voice, so high pitched that it grated on his ears. “Ry-ner Lu-te.”
“Huh? That’s my name, yeah.”
“…Ry-ner Lu-te…
“Umm, yeah, that’s my name. I asked who you were—”
They grabbed their head and talked over him. “Gy, a, a, a, hu… k-k-kill, ki-ki… aaahh hyaaa yaaaaiiiiii!!” They yelled, distressed, and their body began to break, limbs cracking and turning in ways they weren’t meant to go… and then they rushed forward.
In the next moment, their hand was reaching for Ryner’s neck.
“Uogh!”
Ryner tried to dodge. But he couldn’t. The Magical Knight was far faster than he’d expected. The hand that’d reached out for him grabbed him by the jaw and pushed him to the ground.
“Ggh… Shit, I let my guard down…”
Ryner tried to stand, but his brain was fried. His body wasn’t working like he wanted it to.
“F, fuck.”
His stomach was gurgling. He frantically pushed the urge to throw up down and tried to stand again. But a lightning fast fist came for his head.
“This sucks.”
He thought he’d be able to make it, but he didn’t. He couldn’t dodge, and he was sure he’d die if it hit.
“Auugh, just do it!” Ryner shouted. He stepped up… and the fist didn’t hit his head. It hit his chest.
“…Gahagh…”
His body heaved as the wind was knocked out of him. The hit had definitely broken some bones. He began to fall backwards from the force, but his enemy wasn’t done yet. Their hand straightened out and came for him like a sword. This time he was definitely gonna die.
But Ryner’s nerves chose then to wake up. He steadied his body as the feeling returned to his limbs. It was like his body was moving completely irregardless of Ryner’s will. It was the training that Jereme Crysler had drilled into him forcing him into action. His body twisted in the air, allowing him to stand upright. He didn’t dodge the hit entirely, though. It still cuffed his shoulder.
Ryner grabbed his opponent’s neck with both hands, forced them back down to the ground, and squeezed hard.
But then he came back to his senses.
“Shit…”
At this rate, he’d kill… augh, he couldn’t stop now… His opponent was raising their hands up to try to twist Ryner’s neck, too, and…
The horrible sound of bones cracking rang out below him.
“…Huh?”
And then… his opponent’s neck jerked until it was back in place.
“Huh!? Why? I broke your neck…”
They ignored Ryner’s surprise and sent a hand right back at him.
“W, waiiiitt!!” Ryner yelled. Breaking their neck was out, so Ryner went for grappling instead. He grabbed his opponent by the head and threw them as far as he could. The impact broke their mask, exposing their face.
“Wh, what the hell,” Ryner said.
It wasn’t human. It had rotting, festering skin and sunken eyes dark eyes that rattled about in its head. Its mouth had huge, beast-like fangs.
It was a monster. A monster like one heard about in legends.
“Y, you’re…”
But what was it? Why was it wearing a Magical Knight’s uniform? Why was it attacking Ryner?
It didn’t look like it was going to give him the time to think about that stuff.
Despite appearances, the monster moved with great dexterity. It quickly drew a magic circle in the air.
“Whoa, whoa, now you’re casing magic?”
Ryner immediately started drawing in the air, too. He knew what it was going to cast the second it started even without using his Alpha Stigma. He could tell by where its hands had started and the direction it first began to draw light.
“I’ll just cancel it…”
Ryner finished his spell. He was both faster and more accurate when drawing his magic circle, compared to the monster.
“You’re too late,” Ryner said. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to beat me—”
“You’re the one who’s late, Ryner,” someone suddenly said from behind him. He hadn’t even sensed that someone was there… there wasn’t even anywhere to hide. To top it off, it was a voice that he recognized.
He recognized it… he really did… but who was it? He couldn’t recall. All he knew was that he knew it. He could tell by how his heart clenched up.
He knew that voice. But he couldn’t remember where he knew it from.
He just had the sensation that he was forgetting something horribly dear to him… but… what was it? What…
“Who are you…?” Ryner asked. He almost turned to look, but he stopped when he heard something in his chest. He looked down.
Something strange had happened. There was a knife there in the left side of his chest.
“Ah…”
That was all he could say.
Blood spurted from his chest. It was clearly a fatal wound.
“…Ah.”
He couldn’t speak. Blood. Was spurting. From his chest. Even though he finally… finally…
Then he… was gonna die here.
He hated that. To think he’d die here of all places.
“……”
He lost the ability to think. His consciousness began to fade, and his body rapidly lost its strength. He fell to his knees, unable to support himself.
All he could feel was a terrifying cold… and loneliness.
And then… Ryner’s life faded.
---
The man slowly ran a hand through Ryner’s dark hair. He pet it slowly, slowly, as if it was something dearly nostalgic to him.
“Welcome home,” the man said with a tired voice. A kind smile rose to his lips. “Ryner.”