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Fran stared at Sierra’s sword. The appraisal was still ineffective due to the Evil Spirit. However, she could sense the indescribable awesomeness of the sword.
「What’s with the sword?」
「I don’t know if you’d believe me, but…」
Sierra seemed a little hesitant to continue his sentence. I wonder why someone who had said that he had traveled through time would hesitate.
Sierra then stared at the sword for a few seconds and then fell silent. It was as if he was having a conversation with the sword.
Then, as if he had made up his mind, Sierra looked up and spoke seriously.
「This sword… contains the consciousness and power of Uncle Zelos Reed」
Does the sword contain the consciousness of Zelos Reed? That means that sword was―――
「So it is an intelligence weapon?」
「Yeah」
「Hoo―」
It was hard to believe, but Sierra wasn’t lying. It seemed it was really an intelligence weapon inhabited by Zelos Reed.
It was not like they were talking to each other even now, but I guess they were really talking to each other.
「Y-you’re not surprised?」
「I’m surprised. Woah」
No one would know it unless they were me. Fran was really surprised. But she wasn’t so much surprised as taken aback.
Originally, I thought it was a strange sword with many mysteries. To Fran, who was used to using an intelligence weapon, it was just a strange sword that had become a super strange sword.
「Zelos Reed is in that sword?」
「You believe that too?」
「Nn?」
From his point, he was not convinced that Fran would simply believe anything he said.
It was actually because of my Principal of Falsehood and Fran’s wild intuition. But to anyone, she seemed like a strange girl who believed anything.
As Sierra looked at her, Fran raised a question.
「Can Zelos Reed talk to others?」
「Aah, no… He can’t have a conversation with anyone but me. It was because we’re talking with a skill called Synchronization, which allows me to communicate with my equipment」
「I see」
As Fran muttered this, the jet-black sword in Sierra’s hand suddenly emitted a high-pitched squeak. It must have been a sign that it had a will of its own.
「Uncle is trying to say he’s sorry」
「He’s sorry?」
「…You have a grudge against Uncle Zelos Reed, don’t you? I know that」
It seemed that the Zelos Reed from another timeline had changed, just like the Zelos Reed of this timeline.
Fran raised her eyebrows and frowned lightly, but she was no longer enraged. His appearance had changed completely, so she didn’t really feel it.
Besides, Fran, who had already gotten over her anger, seemed to be confused when this Zelos Reed apologized to her now.
Sierra then bowed deeply on the spot.
「But can you wait just a little longer to take your revenge?」
「You’re not gonna tell me to stop?」
「I know how you feel… But there are some things we just have to do. And until we do it, we have to stay alive」
「Revenge on Zelyse?」
「Yes. I’ve been through a lot in my previous timeline too. To me, you were unforgivable too」
I guess that must be the reason why he shot that killing intent at Fran before. Even though there were differences between then and now, it was the same Fran. She had driven Zelos Reed to the brink of death――or maybe she had killed him, considering that he had become a sword for some reason.
Such resentment toward Fran lingered in Sierra.
But it seemed to be small compared to the hatred he had for Zelyse. I was sure Zelos Reed also thought so.
「The reason why Uncle Zelos Reed is in this state must be because of his experiments on him. Besides, if he hadn’t resurrected the great magic beast, we wouldn’t have been involved in the first place」
A dark flame seemed to be lit in Sierra’s eyes as he said so. His eyes resembled those of Fran, who had attacked Zelos Reed.
Maybe they were similar to each other. Even though they were young, they were caught up in a difficult fate, yet they were still strong and steadfast towards their goals. They were also the same in that they had acquired an intelligence weapon and used them as their partners.
「I’ll deal with you when I’ve settled things with Zelyse. So, until then, you’ll have to let me go. I beg you」
I now understood why Sierra told us their secret. Rather than have Fran distrust him and turn against him here, he would rather tell his secret and gain her trust.
Fran, who was staring down at Sierra as he continued to lower his head, nodded her head.
「…Nn. Okay」
「Thanks」
She didn’t really have a direct grudge against Sierra.
So she then decided to ask Sierra a question that had been bothering us.
「I now understand that Zelos Reed has become a sword. But how? Did Zelyse do something to him?」
「Yeah. We don’t know the specifics, but he said he was using a Pseudo Fanatic Sword to seal human consciousness into the sword」
「He can do that?」
「I’m sure he could… After all, here’s the proof of it. It seems that a magic stone was implanted in his body and the magic stone in the Pseudo Fanatic Sword was used as a medium, but I don’t know how it worked. In the first place, uncle was not a sword until we traveled through time」
「Is that so?」
「When I let my power get out of control and was swallowed by the light and sent back to this time, uncle somehow turned into a sword. And he looked completely different from the Pseudo Fanatic Sword. That’s all I know」
So, he’s saying it’s just a coincidence that Zelos Reed became an Intelligence Weapon? If so, would it be difficult to mass-produce?
The worst I could imagine was that the Intelligence Weapon would be mass-produced by Zelyse and it would end up in the hands of the Raidos Kingdom.
But it seemed that we didn’t have to worry about that.
As I was relieved, Fran opened her mouth again. It seemed that there was something that was bothering Fran too.
「Can I ask one more question?」
「If I can answer that」
「Earlier, you said three people had traveled through time, right? Sierra and Zelos Reed, but who’s the other one?」
I’d been wondering about that too. I had a prediction in my head, but my rational mind refused to tell me the answer. Was there really the other one? Such a thing would only cause me a nightmare.
But what came out of Sierra’s mouth were the worst possible names of all.
「It’s Zelyse」
I knew it! I thought so too!
「We didn’t know it until just now too, but that must have been Zelyse from that timeline. Or was it the current Zelyse, who had gotten information from the other one――?」
「It looks like you’re talking about me. Hi hi~!」
Suddenly, Sierra’s words were interrupted by a familiar voice.
「Hello, Romio and Fran. I was waiting for you to come after me, but you didn’t come at all, so I came to you」
I turned my eyes in the direction of the voice and saw Zelyse standing there, holding a Pseudo Fanatic Sword with a chipped tip.
「It’s me, Zelyse de~su!」