Dai Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu

Chapter 2 - The Burden He Shoulders

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Chapter 2 - The Burden He Shoulders

“Why are Ryner and Ferris-san together, and I’m aloneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

Suppressing her heated emotions, Kiefer Knolles walked alone.

With shoulder length red hair, and strong, dignified red eyes.

With a girlish body, feeling a little uncertain to be travelling alone as a girl, having a lovely appearance, and on top of that, wearing a one-piece dress that has a short skirt length.

The truth is, it would have been more convenient for her to wear the light armor made for travelling, but right now, there was no way she would wear that useful armor.

The reason was because, the strongest and worst love rival, peerless beauty Ferris Eris, for some reason, was wearing a one-piece dress for travelling!

For a girl with such an expressionless face!

For a girl who has no interest in fashion at all!

Wearing such a cute one-piece dress!

And if.

And if I don"t wear a few one-piece dresses as well, and because of that,

(Ah-reh, Kiefer doesn"t look very womanly, not cute at all)

Ryner might mock me privately like that, and that is something I don"t want happening, geez,

"Idiot!"

Kiefer let out a soft incomprehensible holler.

By the way, currently, Kiefer was on a wilderness trail a short distance away from the highway of Nelpha.

She had heard from the villagers whom she had dropped by en route to here that there were bandits in the vicinity,

"Hey, hey Miss, if a girl like you wears such "flashy" clothes, you will get abducted for sure! Even if not so, for a cute girl like you, it"s better to be more careful you know!"

The part on "even if not so, for a cute girl like you", however much she wanted Ryner to hear that,

"Why is Ryner never by my side during crucial times like this!"

She ranted loudly all by herself.

And when Kiefer was done with her rants after some time,

"Wait, this isn"t the time for this......"

She retorted at herself.

During these few years.

While Kiefer was travelling alone in search of a way to nullify Ryner"s Alpha Stigma with the hope of saving him, she had acquired a bunch "self-conversing" techniques to pa.s.s the time.

On this day as well, after leaving the village, getting off the highway and while walking along the wilderness trail, she had been talking to herself and fantasizing all this time, and consequently, she did not feel any boredom in the slightest.

"Wait, isn"t it a little sad that I"ve gotten used to talking to myself?"

She muttered and followed that with a chuckle.

And then, she looked up at the clear sky.

"............"

Since morning, the weather had been good, giving off a comfortable air that made her wonder whether the current dark situation in Nelpha was really happening.

But the truth was things had become rather serious. It appeared that the chaos of the war was about to sweep across the country.

During her travels these past few years, she had witnessed such landscapes numerous times.

Attacked by neighboring countries, the people who had neither power, money, nor information to aid them in escaping got swallowed up the ambitions of other countries.

The ordinary people who knew nothing, were the ones who got sacrificed first.

Even the villagers at the village which Kiefer had made a pit stop at earlier seemed ignorant of when the Roland army would reach this vicinity and turn it into a battlefield, but yet, the only thing they were worried about was Kiefer travelling in a one-piece dress by herself.

No, most of the people who could escape had already escaped northwards. The only ones left were those elderly who did not have the strength to run, and they had clearly already given up and continued living here calmly.

"............"

Thinking of those calm faces made Kiefer feel like crying.

Wars had always been like this, she thought.

As always, there was no salvation anywhere.

Only destruction and despair.

It was the same during the time when Kiefer"s sisters got killed.

And there was nothing she could do to change that. No, rather, she had also never have thought about doing something about it.

War is always cruel, but, it"ll be fine as long as the people precious to her did not get caught in it, she would only think.

"...... in the end, everyone died......"

She murmured with a sad looking face.

But, this time, it was different.

Her journey this time was different.

The thing she was going to accomplish this time through her journey, was to stop this unproductive war.

It was a plan thought out by Ryner.

It was a plan thought out after much mulling by Ryner, who was always so kind, and always only thinking about sacrificing himself to save everyone.

It was a wonderful plan.

And the most important part of it was entrusted to Kiefer.

And that gave her a little sense of pride.

"............"

And at that moment, she recalled the words of Ryner.

"Kiefer, I"m leaving the most important part to you though, but, I think you are the only one who can pull it off. That"s why, I"m entrusting it to you."

He had said.

You are the only one who can pull it off. That"s why, I"m entrusting it to you.

That was what Ryner had said.

He had said it with a serious face.

She recalled that moment when Ryner had entrusted this to her, believing in her.

After having betrayed everyone again and again, when she recalled the moment when Ryner had entrusted this to her, believing in her,

"........................ uwufufu."

She laughed again, all by herself.

Despite the fact that her being all alone had bothered her when she thought about it, since this made her happy, it couldn"t be helped, she thought.

That"s why, even when she should be traveling alone enthusiastically, whenever she thought about the fact that the beauty Ferris-san was by the side of Ryner, uwuuu ~, she would get depressed, but whenever she thought about how Ryner was believing in her, depending on her, uwufufu ~, she would cheer up again; anyway she was a solitary busy woman right now.

"But, well."

She looked at her surroundings.

She then spread the map of Nelpha in her mind.

Entered into her head was most of the map, starting from Roland then northwards, past Imperial Nelpha and the Autonomous Holy City of Ca.s.sla, and even further past the central continent, up till the northern continent all the way to Gastark.

She was generally aware of the situations of roughly each and every country.

While she had acc.u.mulated all this knowledge after three years of traveling, she had never thought that this would be something useful to Ryner, but somehow, it was currently the most useful thing to him.

Kiefer looked in front of her.

A hill that was as small as her left hand was ahead of her, and beyond that would be a river.

But, further up the river, it opens up into a plain, and if Toale Nelphi"s ten thousand troops were to hide themselves from the army of Roland, and prepare themselves from surrounding attacks, they might be lurking on the side of the woods there were beyond the plain, and with that supposition, Kiefer had come all the way till here.

Then.

"...... seems like my guess was right."

She looked at the ground.

On the ground were almost faded traces of campfires. If there were bandits, they would not bother erasing the traces of the fires they built. Then, who was responsible for all these?

"............"

Kiefer crouched down and touched the remnants. She brushed off the ashes, attempting to find out how long ago were the fires extinguished.

This was probably the work of scouts sent by Toale to find out the place where Roland"s army was concentrated at, she thought.

Maybe Kiefer and them had just pa.s.sed each other.

If that"s the case, then it might be faster if Kiefer were to just go after the scouts and ask them the location of Toale.

"............"

At that moment, Ryner"s face surfaced in her mind again.

His rare serious, drawn face.

"Before you manage to meet up with Toale directly, avoid contact with any contact with Nelpha soldiers alright? Toale isn"t the type of person who will do anything to a woman without first listening to her, but with regards to the soldiers of Nelpha, due to the hostility posed by Roland"s army, they might act violently, and attack you without listening to your story, thinking that you might be a spy, so you must move cautiously."

He had said.

And Kiefer had laughed at that.

"Oh, Ryner, so you"re worried about me?"

On hearing that, he had made a strange face,

"That"s natural right. I"m sending you alone into the enemy"s base. There"s no way I won"t be worried. Kiefer, please be careful no matter what."

He had said.

Upon thinking about that.

"............"

Kiefer"s face softened again.

However, she was also aware of how dangerous this mission was.

In this current situation, it was certain that the Nelpha soldiers would act hostilely against others. And they were not limited to outsiders, but included past comrades of the this very country as well.

The truth was, Prince Starnel had made use of these ten thousand troops to cover his escape, abandoning them. Before Toale appeared to lead them, the abandoned troops must have felt disheartened, she thought.

That"s why, right now, this place was unbelievably dangerous.

But of course, compared to the plan that Ryner was executing now, which was to beat down the number one monster of Roland"s forces --- Crimson Finger Claugh Klom, and use him as bargaining chip, this was nothing.

"But, my success or failure will also determine the fate of Ryner, so I have to give it my best......"

And she started walking again.

Paying heed to her surroundings, she erased her tracks so as not to set up an unfortunate encounter with the scouts of Nelpha while she advanced forward.

This was a specialty of hers.

Traveling alone, infiltrating other countries.

Alright, she shall do her job properly this time as well,

"In order to get praised by Ryner."

She murmured and at that moment.

"............"

A faint sound riding on the wind reached her ear.

Instantly.

She lowered her body.

It was really a faint sound that could be attributed to mishearing, but still, she tensed herself up and lowered her body.

While crouching down, she moved to a place where gra.s.s grew, hid herself there, and erased her presence. She listened intently.

However.

"............"

She could no longer hear anything. The only thing she could hear were the sounds of the gra.s.s rustling in the wind. Perhaps, she really had misheard.

But still, even so,

"............"

She kept still.

Her sixth sense, that had protected her all this while she journeyed alone, told her not to move.

Something was there.

She could feel it.

No, even if there wasn"t, there wasn"t a need for her to move for a while. If there wasn"t, then so be it.

However, the problem would arise if there was something there and she were to let her guard down and move. That would be fatal.

Compared to Ryner and Ferris, she was not that strong. Even though she could take care of one or two soldiers who have not received a lot of training, but she could not afford to let her guard down just because of that.

She might just die if she even let her guard down one bit.

"............"

That"s why she continued to conceal her presence.

At that moment, she could once again catch hold of a faraway sound riding on the wind.

"......ig.........................re."

This time round, she was certain of it.

It was the voice of a person.

And it was coming closer towards here.

This time round, she was pressed to make another choice. Whether to ascertain who was heading here or not.

Now, which one should she choose?

"............"

Kiefer considered as she held her breath.

In the meantime, the owner of the voice was getting closer. From the sounds, she could tell the number of people.

The hooves of horses.

Three of them.

From the sounds of the hooves, they were moving fast.

Seems like they are in a hurry.

From their hurried motion, the possibility of them being scouts is high, Kiefer thought.

"...... now, what should I do?"

Hidden in the gra.s.s, she peered through the gaps with her red eyes.

She could see the sand stir up from the south.

The sand stirred up by the horses.

Three horses galloping towards here.

However.

However, the people riding on the three horses were clearly strange.

"............"

Without thinking, Kiefer almost cried out in surprise. With her eyes widening, what"s that! She withheld her impulse to almost cry out.

But, the scene that was unfolding before her was clearly a strange one.

There were three horses that were galloping at an extremely fast pace, but yet, only the one at the center was ridden by people.

And for some reason, that horse at the center was ridden by three people.

On top of that,

"Yahorh!!"

The one who was sitting right in front, leading the three horses and shouting loudly, was but, a ten year old, no matter how one looks at it, a bishoujo with golden hair and blue eyes.

On seeing that, Kiefer stood up.

"I-Iris-chan! You can"t be so loud here!"

It was hard to tell whether she had said that in a loud or soft voice.

Following that, Iris turned.

Looking at Kiefer with a happy face, she waved without thinking,

"Wah Kiefer-neechan, here we are!!"

"Dduh, as I was saying, hush! Hush!"

She put a finger to her lip, gesturing to Iris to keep quiet.

In response to that,

"Hush?"

Iris raised a finger.

"Hush hush."

And then, on top of making a "V" sign, she said,

"Yay!"

"Dang, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Somehow, the stupid thing that it had become made Kiefer flare up in anger without thinking.

As the horses reached her, Iris called them to a halt, and dismounted,

"Eh? Eh? What"s wrong?"

On hearing that, Kiefer could only smile.

She let her tension leave her body and patted Iris"s head,

"Nothing. It"s ok. But, Iris-chan, you did manage to come from Roland safely huh."

Iris then made a triumphant face,

"I came back!"

She acknowledged loudly.

With golden hair resembling that of her big sister Ferris, and with her big, round, blue eyes, it seems like she will grow up to become an incredible beautiful woman.

She was wearing a dress with a lot of frills, and carrying a large backpack behind her, like always.

However, for a small girl like her, she was given an extremely mission this time.

That"s how few comrades Ryner has beside him, to the point that even a girl like her need to do her best.

"............"

They have to fix this, Kiefer thought. It would be quite tough to go up against the Hero King Sion Astal. Of course they were not considering about waging a war against him or anything of that sort, but still, they should try to gather a few more allies as soon as they can, she thought.

If Ryner is already determined to carry this forward, then the sooner they do that the better.

Well, this might be too premature to think about now.

In any case, the girl right before her, Iris Eris, little sister of Ferris, was given an important mission just like Kiefer.

That was.

"............"

Kiefer then looked at the two horses which were riderless.

Strapped onto their backs, were backpacks which were similar in shape as the one carried by Iris, but much larger in size.

Looking at that, she asked.

"So, inside those packs."

Iris nodded.

"Yep, I"ve brought the flags. Roland"s flag flag ~!"

Following that, she pointed to the pack behind her,

"But, this one right here is Onee-sama"s dango dango ~"

She said.

Well, who cares about the dango, but with regards to Roland"s flags, it"s an indispensable item for them to carry out their strategy.

Nelpha troops carrying Roland"s flags and attacking Runa.

Of course, it will be best if it doesn"t come to that, but in truth, faced with that possible threat, it"s necessary to hoist those flags.

That"s why, with a slightly serious face, Kiefer approached the horses. Following that, she opened up the backpacks and ascertained the contents.

Inside it, were a few flags which had the symbolization of Roland, a spear with a snake twirling around it, drawn on them.

"Orh ~, Iris-chan, this is perfect!"

She smiled gently and turned around.

Iris then raised both her hands,

"Iris is a perfect kid!"

She said happily.

And that was one of the missions that Iris had to accomplish.

On top of that, there was one more mission that Iris was entrusted with.

"............"

Just by looking at the faces of the pair of young man and girl, she knew that Iris had completed all her missions properly.

She had managed to safely bring along two more of Ryner"s comrades from Roland.

Well, even though she had called them comrades, they were merely seven, eight year old kids.

She looked at the pair on the horse, a cute-looking girl with light brown hair looking a little unsettled, and behind her, holding her as if he was protecting her, a black hair, chivalrous-looking young man who had an air which somewhat resembled that of Ryner around him.

Just by one look, she knew that these were the two who Ryner had left behind in Roland.

Previously captured by the Nelpha military[1] and tortured, Alpha Stigma bearer Arua, and his childhood friend, Kuku.

Arua looked at Kiefer and said.

"...... then you must be Kiefer-san right?"

He used a polite manner of speech unthinkable for a child. While, from the messy black hair and black eyes of an Alpha Stigma bearer, she could feel that there"s some resemblance to Ryner, Arua"s mannerisms also gave the impression of him as an orderly and disciplined person.

His movements, very much un-childlike, also had no openings.

Showing traces that he had clearly undergone some sort of training. According to Ryner, after he had brought them out of Nelpha, they had been putting up at the famous swordsclan house, with the Eris family, and Arua had probably received some training there.

But even so, it was strange for a seven-eight year old boy like him to be that calm. It was as if he had seen through various things in life from his gruesome past.

"............"

Kiefer"s face contorted in sadness for a moment. But immediately after, she shook her head and adopted a gentle smile, and then said.

"Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I"m Kiefer Knolles. I"ve been traveling around various countries, and finally ended up as Ryner"s comrade. And so, you are......"

Upon her saying that, Arua puffed his chest out and said,

"I"m the disciple of Ryner-sensei."

Disciple --- when Arua said that, he had a sense of pride in his tone, oh, Ryner I say, you are loved even by children huh, Kiefer became a little happy.

Following that, Kuku who was in front of him said,

"I"m Kuku, the fiancee of Arua!"

Instantly.

Arua"s face turned red suddenly.

"Eh? Wait, fiancee!? Hey, Kuku, erm......"

"Eh? I"m wrong?"

"No, that aside, we"re not even ten yet......"

"Eeeeeeeehhhhh? Then, then, when we were leaving Roland, when you said that you"re going to protect me for life, was that a lie?"

"No, it"s not."

"Then we"re engaged right!"

"Really?"

"Of course! You did say for life right? When you say for life, it means forever right?"

"Yeah but."

"Then we"ll have to get married right!"

"Really?"

"Of course! So in other words, I"m Kuku, Arua"s fiancee. Pleased to meet you, Kiefer-neesama!"

She said cheerfully.

On hearing that,

"Uwu ~?"

His face turned red.

That face was different from the earlier feeling it gave off, no matter how dark Arua"s past was, right, he"s smiling right from the bottom of his heart; Kiefer could see that, and she smiled.

Then, she thought.

Just like the time when Ryner saved Kiefer, he had saved Arua, she thought.

Around the world, there are other Alpha Stigma bearers, but most of them have a sad face of misfortune and will eventually die in the end.

Kiefer had witnessed those sad faces a number of times.

But Arua was different from them.

Having been blessed with a bothersome-looking sleepy-head teacher like Ryner, right now, he was really smiling cheerfully.

Just by seeing that, Kiefer knew that what they were about to do was the right thing to do.

What Ryner wanted to accomplish was the right thing to do, Kiefer thought.

Because he was always trying to save someone.

And right now, Ryner was attempting to save a comrade who was crying in anguish.

He was trying to save his best friend whom he had walked with all this while.

He was trying to save Sion Astal.

What will happen in the end?

"............"

Kiefer didn"t know.

When Kiefer left Gastark Empire, the king of Gastark, Refal Edia had told her this.

"I"d like you to go save Ryner from the monster of the south --- Sion Astal."

I"d like you to save Ryner from getting devoured by Sion.

If you don"t, the foolish, sad, Lonesome Demon will gladly let himself get devoured by the Mad Dark Hero.

Refal had said that.

He had said that he would like her to prevent that.

The fairy tale which had repeated itself again and again, told to her by Refal, was too large a scale for her to comprehend, but yet, somehow, she understood.

The Lonesome Demon who thinks about his friend.

The Alpha Stigma bearer who"s too kind and too sad.

That kindness of Ryner will get betrayed.

But still, even so, Kiefer couldn"t tell Ryner to abandon his friend.

Since I.

"............"

Since I love that part, that kindness of Ryner.

That"s why, she would be putting her faith in Ryner, and try saving him. As to what will happen in the end, she did not know.

With the hope of saving Sion, and the desire to rescue Ryner, she will try moving forward, she thought.

And after that, if something that will cause Ryner to weep happens, even if she needs to sacrifice herself, she will save him, that"s what she has decided. Even if she has to beat Ryner up, and get hated by him, she will take him to Gastark and save him, that"s what she has decided.

But, until then.

Until she has seen it through to the end, she decided that she will devote herself to his cause wholeheartedly. She decided that she will save him from his destiny.

And in order to do that, the plan for the upcoming event must succeed.

Kiefer said.

"Well, now that we"re done with the introductions, let"s get going. It"ll be dangerous if we tarry around here for too long."

On hearing that, Arua nodded and looked around him,

"...... Toale-sama"s troops are probably hiding somewhere ahead."

He said.

In response to that, Kiefer nodded as well.

"Oh, as expected from someone born to Nelpha. I"m also of the same opinion. In terms of terrain, what"s ahead of here would be the best."

"Yeah. But, since it"s too much of a best place, Roland"s troops will probably find them soon. We need to quickly get to the place that Ryner-sensei wants us to move to, but...... if the four of us move together, it may not be such a good thing. More importantly, it"ll be dangerous if we get into contact with Nelpha troops with the Roland flags that we are carrying. That"s why we should split up into two groups here. Iris-neesama, Kuku, and I should first proceed to near the Runa borders."

What he said was exactly the same idea that had unfolded in Kiefer"s head.

This child is really sharp like his teacher.

Kiefer smiled and looked in the direction of Kuku.

"What an awesome fiance, isn"t he?"

She said and yeah!, Kuku nodded.

Arua"s face turned red again.

For some reason, Iris was eating dango while standing on one of her hands.

"............"

Hey, isn"t this girl already ten plus years old, then why is she acting so childishly......

As Kiefer pondered about that, she remembered the cute mannerism of Ferris, who is around her own age, and perhaps this girl is just like her big sister, she thought.

Just when she was thinking about how adorable those two are, once again, uwuu, Ryner you idiot, are you already head over heels in love with Ferris-san huhhhhhhhhhhhhh?, she thought but now"s not the time, let"s get moving, and so Kiefer also has her own troubles brewing.

For a few seconds, those complicated thoughts ran amok in Kiefer.

"Now."

She said.

Once again, she looked towards the north.

A hill that was as small as her left hand was ahead of her, and beyond that would be a river. And upstream along that river, was a plain, and beyond that a forest, and past that, would probably be the place where Toale"s ten thousand army was encamped at.

If she is to ride that distance, it will probably take less than two days.

In order not to get discovered, she had been slowly searching for the place where Toale"s troops were, but right now, she already had a clear idea of where that was, so it would be better if she just head straight there by horse.

Of course, if she rides, it"ll increases the danger of her getting discovered, but, the appointed time with Ryner was getting closer.

The appointed time to move nearer to Runa"s borders and link up with Ryner. And there was not much time left to that appointed time.

At that moment, Arua dismounted and so did Kuku.

Then.

"Please use this horse. We"ll bring the flags and proceed ahead to Runa"s borders first."

Kiefer nodded.

Following that, she mounted the horse. She patted its head and turned around,

"Well then, Arua-kun. Take care of Kuku-chan and Iris-chan."

Upon saying that, Arua suddenly had a bewildered expression,

"Eh, erm but, Iris-neesama is much stronger than me......"

But, at that moment, Iris, who was still standing upside down said,

"Arua Arua!"

"Yes?"

"Please take care of me!"

She shouted cheerfully as if she had understood nothing, and in response to that, Arua looked troubled,

"...... y-yeah. I"ll do my best."

He nodded.

Kiefer smiled, and with that,

"Alright, everyone, take care."

She said and started her horse forward.

File:DDnYnD v03 115.jpg

The scenery started to flow.

The destination was getting closer.

A mission to persuade the Toale Nelphi she had yet to meet, and the abandoned ten thousand soldiers, and to coax them into becoming their allies.

A dangerous mission which could get her killed if she did it badly.

But.

"............"

But, Kiefer merely smiled at that thought.

And while facing straight ahead,

"...... this is something I"m good at."

She murmured softly.

♦

The location shifts to somewhere further north.

Somewhere off the midstream of the Grydl River, inside a small tent erected in a clearing.

"But, no matter how many times I"ve worn this, it still feels tight."

Toale Nelphi said as he loosened the neck of the military uniform he was wearing.

With brown hair and gentle eyes. However, embedded deep within those eyes, a single-mindedness, air of n.o.bility could be seen.

Nineteen years old.

Being born of the current king of Imperial Nelpha, Starnel Nelphi and his mistress, he was abandoned because of his commoner blood, and while living in an ordinary town while his half brothers and sisters were raised within the royal compounds, he was not involved in politics nor given any authority.

"............"

However, right now, he was followed by ten thousand soldiers, as well as over two thousand commoners who had joined up by themselves, and made the king of people.

"...... they"ve gotten me."

Toale murmured.

He stood up, and exited the tent.

Outside, filled to the point where he could hardly see anything else, were people, people, people.

Mixed in the group of people who were wearing the military uniform of Nelpha, were men, women, elderly, and children.

The children who saw Toale come out of the tent shouted,

"It"s Toale-sama!"

Then, all the rest looked at him and waved.

There were also those who lowered their heads.

There were also those who prostrated.

On seeing that, more from just the tightness of his uniform, it became harder to breathe.

However, he couldn"t show that on his face. The people who were gathered here were more unsettled than Toale himself.

That"s why he smiled and waved his hand. As he did that, the soldiers and people started cheering. He then nodded with a confident expression on his face and murmured,

"...... this shouldn"t be happening."

In response, from behind him,

"This is all because of Toale-sama"s benevolence."

Said a familiar face, the master of the library that Toale had always hung out at, Gainel.

Toale grimaced and turned around.

"That"ll be troubling, Gainel-jiisan. In the first place, I didn"t want you to be following me here as well. To put it frankly, this is a journey of suicide you know?"

He said.

That was the truth.

He had desperately come all the way here to save the ten thousand troops that were thrown away by Prince Starnel as sacrificial p.a.w.ns from getting crushed by Roland"s forces, but for some reason,

"Finally, our star, the true ruler, Toale Nelphi, has decided to rise up!"

"Everyone, follow Toale Nelphi-sama!"

Incomprehensible things like that happened and after this and that, he was set up as king.

And right now, the soldiers and people who were here were filled with hope on their faces.

Even though it should be a situation that was hopeless beyond hopelessness, but yet, everyone was making a face as if they had found a beacon of light.

"............"

However, in response to that, Toale sighed.

The reason was because this light wouldn"t continue for sure.

The life of their beacon of light that they had put up, Toale, would not remain for long.

Right now, the overwhelming large forces of Roland Empire were heading northwards. They were so mighty that the entire Imperial Nelpha had been sent into a panic.

And his father had gone nuts. Without consideration for the people, he took his troops, plundered the people and escaped.

However, that act itself was meaningless.

Roland will probably crush the whole of Nelpha.

When that happens, where in the world will Starnel run to?

Runa?

It can"t be.

There was no way Runa, as Roland"s ally, will accept him.

Then, to Ca.s.sla in the north?

That"s also impossible.

There was no way he can enter with seventy thousand soldiers. Bring soldiers across the borders. That means war. On top of that, Starnel had ma.s.sacred his own people and plundered them. Ca.s.sla will definitely not accept such a fella.

Then, what"s left?

"............"

There is only one answer.

Imperial Nelpha will disappear. The humongous Roland Empire will oppress Nelpha and take her lands.

If you"re weak, you lose.

That was a natural result and his grandpa --- the wise king Gread Nelphi was fully aware of that.

That"s why he wanted to surrender.

His grandpa had thought of how to minimize the sacrifices and move forward to the best conclusion.

"............"

But, in the end, things had taken a turn for the worse.

However, Toale wanted to resume those plans.

He wanted to resume his grandpa"s plans. That was his duty, the duty of a person who is connected to the royal blood, he thought.

That"s why he rose up.

And the first thing he had to do was to save the sacrificial ten thousand soldiers, and following that, send Roland a letter telling them of his intention to surrender.

But, in order to do that, he must not resist the Roland"s forces, and it was necessary to display his intention strongly.

That he was different from Starnel and won"t go crazy. That he had no intention of going against Roland. That"s why, In exchange for my life, can you please stop the war? In exchange for my life, can you please let the ten thousand soldiers and the people of Nelpha off?

He had to proclaim that.

And from his proclamation, a percentage of the seventy thousand soldiers who were following Starnel will probably surrender as well, and that should reduce the number of meaningless killings.

Of course, the remaining soldiers who choose to stay on with Starnel will probably get decimated by Roland in the end, but this should already be the most ideal way to minimize the number of sacrifices.

That"s why, this was definitely a suicidal journey.

A suicidal journey where salvation will start with Toale"s execution.

However, in reality, things were starting to get worse.

Once the rumor that Toale had taken command of the ten thousand troops had spread, people who declared their intention to follow him appeared one after another. Not just the commoners. Even the bandits operating in this area were now in his camp.

On top of that, there were several n.o.bles who had served under Gread Nelphi who had made the declaration as well. As well as soldiers who should have been following Starnel.

Right now, his location had yet to be found out by the people of Nelpha, so not that many were gathered yet, but in due time, this place would be found out.

Toale, who was going to give up his life, might end up having tens of thousands of people a.s.sembled under him.

This state of events can really be described as the worst possible situation.

With this, even if Toale were to proclaim that he has no intention of fighting, Roland will not believe him.

If such a thing were to come to pa.s.s, then the whole country will be plunged into war.

And it will be a war where they have no chance of winning, an all-out war that will only increase the number of sacrifices.

"...... this is troubling."

On hearing Toale"s words, Gainel"s confident, bearded face became agitated,

"Not at all. With this tide, Toale-sama shall become the king of Nelpha!"

He said.

"The people are the allies of Toale-sama."

He said.

"............"

Toale became gloomy on hearing that.

What is the king of Nelpha?

This king is going to die soon!

He wanted to cry out.

However, instead, with his troubled face,

"...... even so, I can"t do a thing like abandoning everyone."

Upon saying that, he looked around him. He looked at the faces of the commoners and the ten thousand soldiers who had a.s.sembled for his sake.

Everyone was smiling at him.

But the scene of everyone smiling happily was the most awful scene to Toale.

The refugees who were abandoned by Nelpha and had been driven off their lands by Roland numbered more than thirty thousand.

The matter on giving out rations and feeding this large number of people was a serious problem.

From hereon, if they don"t resort to plundering, it will be impossible to sustain them.

But if he were to do that, then he will be the same as his father --- Starnel.

But if he doesn"t do that, then over thirty thousand people will not even last two months and starve to death.

Now.

"......now...... what should I do about this?"

As he muttered with a serious expression on his face, he looked intently at the crowd of people who had a.s.sembled for his sake.

The solemn faces of the soldiers.

The still lean, and hesitant faces of the soldiers.

The boys who were running around.

The elderly and the woman who were chasing after them.

And from behind all that, from behind the waves of people, the face of a woman poked out. And she looked at him.

She stared straight at him.

"............"

Toale noticed her.

A pair of charming, red eyes looking straight at him. With red hair reaching her shoulders. A beautiful girl, Toale thought. Her age was probably the same as his own right?

While the somewhat cute looking girl looked straight at him,

"...... you are Toale?"

She said.

As Toale nodded to that, she broke into a cheerful smile. That smiling face disappeared from his view for an instant. She was making her way forward,

"Orhh ~. Somehow, with the large number of children and women, it was easy to infiltrate into here ~"

She said and smiled again. That smiling face was definitely bewitching, a smiling face that seemed to bring happiness to those around her --- but, Toale"s expression hardened.

"............"

The word she just said.

The word "infiltrate".

Toale"s whole body tensed up.

Just a while ago. He had thought that such a person would come, but it was earlier than he had expected.

An a.s.sa.s.sin sent by Roland who had viewed Toale, who had attracted a following of people, as a menace.

Or perhaps, an a.s.sa.s.sin sent by Starnel who saw his son as an obstacle.

Whichever the case, this was no doubt a killer. Since right now, to the factions that were present in Nelpha, Toale was seen as the largest obstacle.

However, right now, Toale could not afford to get himself killed here. Before he could send a surrender proclamation to Roland, he could not afford to be killed.

That"s why, he wanted to retreat hurriedly and shout Guards while doing so.

But, she was faster than him.

With a smiling, beaming face, she was faster than Toale, and took another step forward,

"Aah, aah, wait a minute, don"t run. I"m here to help you guys."

"Liar."

"It"s true."

"Then why are you chasing after me?"

"Because you"re running away right?"

"I...... I can"t afford to be killed here."

"I know. That"s why I"m here to help you."

"Don"t mess with me. Right now, in this country, the factions who will help me......"

Don"t exist at all. Even though he was about to say that, she was faster than him and finished after him.

Staring straight at him with her red eyes.

"It is Ryner, who will be giving you a hand."

Instantly.

Toale"s feet stopped, and following that,

"Eh?"

He uttered.

He knew that name. But, the last time he met him was a long time ago. More than a year ago. However, he remembered clearly.

A strange, sleepy-looking man by the name of Ryner Lute.

He and his partner, Ferris Eris, had rescued his little brother from getting a.s.saulted by some hoodlums.

Following that, they became friendly with him, put up at his place for a while, and after that, they had set off on their journey again.

"............"

Toale looked intently at Kiefer. He stared at her in an attempt to read her, and search to see whether anything was hidden behind her smiling face.

Then, her smiling face became a little nervous,

"...... who on earth are you?"

"Orh, finally, you are willing to listen to me?"

"...... who knows. Well, at the very least, I know that you are not an a.s.sa.s.sin."

If she had wanted to kill Toale, she wouldn"t have started a conversation, and would have stealthily come straight for the kill.

If a single woman like her had wanted to infiltrate a camp full of Nelpha soldiers to carry out an a.s.sa.s.sination, she wouldn"t have time to tarry around like that.

However, she had come here to talk to Toale. Then, perhaps, she"s here to bring a message?

Or is she a messenger who has come to threaten him, if you don"t submit, we"ll kill you?

Whichever the case,

"...... if you don"t have any intention of killing me, I"m willing to listen to you."

She grinned again. That smiling face stole Toale"s gaze.

Then, dangerous, he thought.

Her charm is dangerous. If she is a spy from another country, she is one capable spy.

That"s why Toale tensed up and looked intently at her.

While she continued to smile,

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I"m Kiefer. Kiefer Knolles."

"...... hm. So, Kiefer-san, where did you come from?"

Asked Toale.

Rather, Toale did not even know where the man known as Ryner Lute came from, and where he is now.

For some reason, a year ago, he had told him that he was looking up old legends and fairy tails from across the different lands, and had asked to have access to the national library of Nelpha.

And Toale had no clue as to what purpose and intent he had in doing that.

However, right now, the girl before him said that she had come as a messenger from Ryner to help him.

Who in the world are these people?

What do they intend to accomplish?

There"s a need to see through all of this, and upon thinking that, Kiefer said.

"Er~m, if you want me to talk about where I came from, where I will be going, and why I"ve appeared here, it"ll be a little too long, so, right now, since we don"t really have much time for that, I"ll just pa.s.s you Ryner"s message first."

"Ryner-san"s message?"

"Yeah."

"So, what did Ryner-san say?"

Kiefer then looked up at the sky, appearing to recall something, and following that, she looked intently at Toale, and for some reason, while adopting a sleepy, languid, but yet somehow gentle face resembling that of Ryner, she said.

"Orh ~ Toale, long time no see ~. Seems like you"re in a pinch huh, even though it"s bothersome, I"ll help you out. The reason is because we"re friends. Ok?"

On hearing those words.

The reason is because we"re friends. Ok?

On hearing those light-hearted words.

"...... haha."

Toale couldn"t help but laughed.

Following that, he looked intently at Kiefer,

"...... uwah ~, somehow, that"s very persuasive."

He said while laughing.

As he did that, she then made a relieved face,

"Ah, this really worked. Ryner, you know, had said that if I told you that, it would work, and I was getting nervous about what if it doesn"t work."

"That"s certainly quite nerve-wrecking."

"Isn"t it? a.s.suming it might fail, I ended up thinking out seven types of persuasion methods. But, it"s great that it worked, so, are you ready to listen to me?"

"Of course. Ah, let"s go into the tent."

Toale prompted for Kiefer towards the tent but, she shook her head.

"Unfortunately, we don"t have that time. We need to get moving soon."

"Get moving?"

"Yeah. If we stay here, Roland"s scouts will find us soon. We have to move."

"But, sooner or later, they will find us right? With this many people moving, there"s no way the enemy won"t......"

"Ryner has taken care of that. We"re going to move to a place where both Nelpha soldiers and Roland soldiers wouldn"t get close, allowing us to at least buy some time before getting discovered."

Toale tilted his head.

A place where Nelpha soldiers and Roland soldiers wouldn"t get close.

"Where on earth would such a place be?"

A smile surfaced on Kiefer"s face at that question. Once again, nervousness was mixed into that smile.

Following that, she pointed to the East with a finger.

"To the borders with Runa Empire."

On hearing those words.

On hearing those words of hers, Toale started to tense up.

Then, he gradually understood roughly what Ryner Lute"s plan entailed.

Indeed, if they were to do that.

If they were to do that, there might indeed be a slight chance that they can break free of this worst case scenario.

However, that was way too dangerous.

An overly dangerous gamble.

A gamble that could put the lives of the commoners into danger, a gamble so dangerous that he hesitated.

However, his tension seemed to have reached Kiefer, and her initial smiling face disappeared, replaced by serious expression as she spoke to him.

"...... I can understand your hesitation, but there"s no other way that can reduce the number of sac......"

Cutting her off,

"I understand."

Said Toale.

Indeed, it was so.

Right now, even if Toale gets executed, there is still a high chance that Roland won"t stop their ma.s.sacre.

If whatever he did wouldn"t help the situation at all, sink or swim, perhaps, it wasn"t that bad an idea to ride on Ryner"s plan.

That"s why Toale looked up and said.

Glaring at Kiefer,

"But, if there"s any indication that you are going to betray us......"

Kiefer cut him off again.

"There"s no merit for us to betray you."

"But there"s no merit in helping us as well right?"

"That"s true but...... but, Ryner is idiotically gentle, so he"ll help you. Do you believe that? Well, if you don"t believe, I will have to unveil those seven types of persuasion patterns."

"............"

On hearing that.

Toale waved his hand as a smile floated on his face.

"No, it"s fine. I believe in Ryner-san."

There isn"t any other way I can take anyway --- he couldn"t say that.

But Kiefer smiled and nodded.

"Well then, I hope you can start moving your soldiers immediately though."

Once again, she looked around her.

"But, the situation"s kind of different from what I"ve thought. I"ve heard that you have ten thousand troops following you but...... there are clearly more than ten thousand...... and on top of that, more than half are commoners......"

Toale looked around him. He scanned the crowd of commoners who had come following him.

And then.

"...... if you"re telling me that they can"t follow along, then, regarding this plan......"

But, immediately, Kiefer said,

"It"s fine. Ryner will definitely keep complaining, what a bother what a bother, and in the end, he will save each and everyone."

On hearing that, Toale recalled.

He recalled the time when he first met Ryner.

When Toale"s little brother and sister were being a.s.saulted by hoodlums, Ryner pa.s.sed by and while he kept complaining how bothersome things were and how he didn"t want to get involved in it, in the end, he still saved them.

"............"

So as to speak, perhaps Ryner is just that kind of person.

While he didn"t know what has Ryner become right now, perhaps.

Perhaps, it might be interesting for him to entrust what may be his final suicidal fate to a friend, Toale thought.

"Well then, let"s get moving."

After saying that, he turned to face the several commanders of the ten thousand strong army who had been looking at him inquiringly with nervous looks on their faces.

He then nodded,

"Get your b.u.t.t moving. Get up. Don"t move like a slug!"

He started yelling.

After ascertaining their responses, Toale turned to look at Kiefer. She smiled and nodded.

Once again, that smile took his eyes away.

He gazed at those red eyes in which embedded a strong will, but yet in which surfaced a fleeting shade of weakness.

I have never met such a beautiful girl, those words floated in his mind.

At that moment, she returned his gaze with a curious look on her face and said.

"What"s wrong?"

"Eh? Ah, no ~...... erm...... I was just thinking it"s going to be tough from here."

She then nodded with a straight face.

"Yeah. But, for the sake of the people gathered here, we need to manage somehow."

"Erm, ah ~, yeah."

Toale made an appropriate response and turned his gaze away from Kiefer.

And then, he became exasperated with the strange feelings that had been born inside of him.

Fool, he chided himself.

No matter where I run to, in the end, I"ll just get executed, what the h.e.l.l am I thinking about?

"...... aah, d.a.m.n."

He shook his head, and started moving.

He really didn"t have time to think about foolish things.

He had to move.

Carrying the lives of tens of thousands of people, he had to move.

He had no time to wrestle with strange feelings.

"Commanders, tell this to Major Selues. Set up a vanguard of five thousand troops and move towards the Runa borders. But, make sure they don"t get too close to the Runa borders. Otherwise, we"ll end up fighting Runa. And we have to avoid that at all costs. The commoners will follow next, and with the remaining five thousand troops will follow me and we"ll erase our traces here and follow along. We"ll disappear from here steadily but rapidly. Get it?"

On hearing that, the commanders bowed and left.

After a while, the soldiers started moving. And following that, the commoners also started moving.

With that, the over thirty thousand people led by Toale started moving in ma.s.ses.

Looking at that,

"...... I pray to G.o.d that this decision is a right one......"

He murmured and Kiefer smiled,

"I thought that there"re no religious groups in Nelpha?"

She said.

On hearing that, as much as possible, without looking back at her, Toale replied.

"Indeed. That"s why I just prayed to the G.o.d of Runa. I prayed to that G.o.d of the religious country of Runa Empire...... I prayed for the outcome that even as we get close to the borders of Runa, it won"t result in a war."

While saying that, he looked to the front of the moving crowd. The commoners were moving at a slow speed. With this pace of movement, it will probably take them three days to reach their destination.

Three days.

"Three days huh...... that"s long."

He groaned.

And if they were to be discovered by Roland forces in these three days, everything would come to an end.

And that would be a very tough fight, he thought.

But, even so,

"...... I have to make this work......"

While murmuring that softly, with a bitter face, he looked up to the southern sky above the Roland forces which were making their way northwards here.

♦

He knew that the world was moving.

In a completely different direction than before.

He could hear the sounds of the moving world, giving birth to a completely different scenery.

"............"

In the whirlpool of the sounds, Sion Astal bent over slightly.

With silver air that has an air of n.o.bility, and golden eyes in which a strong determination was embedded.

Those eyes were not now looking at his throne room but at a completely different world.

It was a dark, dark, scenery which was completely dark in its entirety.

Occasionally, a light would be given off but it would disappear immediately. In the overly dark world, the dim light would disappear immediately.

That was the scenery that he was looking at now.

It was a scenery seen by the former hero.

It was a scenery seen by the former demon.

Recently, it has overlapped with the real world.

"...... most terrible."

Muttered Sion.

Most of the madness inside him was about to awaken.

Most of the ecstasy within him could no longer be suppressed.

Change.

Everything will.

Be changed.

The world.

It starts right from here.

The door starts from here.

Looking at that door.

Looking at the door that connects to the darkness on the other side.

What"s left is to open the lock of that door with a key.

Key.

The sacrificial demon.

If Ryner"s life becomes mine......

"............"

And at that moment.

"Your Highness."

He was called.

Sion dispelled the darkness before his eyes. His consciousness returned to reality and he turned his gaze to the front.

A man stood there.

With long beautiful black hair, and frozen, dark, dark blue eyes.

Before him, was Lieutenant General Miran Froaude.

Those dark eyes looked intently at him.

"Your Highness."

Sion answered.

"What is it?"

"...... no, it"s because you didn"t seem to notice me when I entered the throne room...... are you tired?"

To that question, Sion replied.

"No, no problem at all."

But, Froaude had a worried look, which didn"t seem to suit him, on his face,

"Is that so? When I"m not around, it"s good to get some sle......"

But, Sion cut him off,

"Did you come here just to talk about that?"

He said.

Froaude stopped his words. With a troubled looking face, he looked intently at Sion,

"No. I have a few reports to make."

"Then speak."

"Yes. Firstly...... regarding the capturing of Ryner Lute......"

But, Sion said instead.

"You want to tell me he escaped? I know that. He went to Nelpha."

Froaude"s eyes widened in slight surprise.

"I see. Your Highness is aware of that. Was someone a.s.signed to spy on me......"

But, Sion shook his head.

"No."

"Then, how is it......"

"I"d know if Ryner leaves the country. Since he"s the key to open the door. If a thing of necessity disappears from this country, I"d know. Aah, besides that......"

Sion turned to face his back, looking up at the empty s.p.a.ce,

"Lucile has also praised you. He"s a wonderful p.a.w.n, so treat him well, he said."

While saying that, he looked at Froaude once more.

A thin smile formed on his deep red lips.

"...... well well, I"m really honored at his praise. Then, I presumed you"ve heard from him with regards to the matter?"

Froaude said, but the truth was different.

It was really as what Sion had said earlier.

That"s the extent to which the Mad Hero inside of Sion had started encroaching on him.

He was starting to get dominated by the Power inside of him to the effect of attaining awareness of whether the target he wanted to devour was still nearby or not.

Occasionally, his consciousness would get blended in.

Really, by now, he should have already opened the door with the key, and become True, but because of the delay, the Power has started meandering off into a strange direction.

For some reason, Lucile had said that it was interesting.

Moving forward without devouring Ryner, without repeating that screwed-up past; that is an interesting development, he had said.

"............"

No, now"s not the time to think about that.

Sion looked at Froaude.

He was once again looking at him with a worried look on his face.

Sion smiled wryly.

He could tell that he had returned slightly to his former humanity with that wry smile.

"...... no...... aah, I"m sorry, Froaude. I was paying a little too much attention to another place. I haven"t slept a lot in this place. Like you said, I"m a little tired."

Froaude nodded and said.

"...... there"s still a long way to go. No, it might be more apt to say that your domination journey has just started. You have to take care of your body."

"I understand."

"Perhaps, you"d like to take a little rest?"

"...... you"re right. But right now, I can"t rest yet. Before that, let"s hear about the situation in Nelpha."

"It"s going well."

On hearing those words,

"Hah."

Sion laughed.

If it was going well, that means the war should come to an end soon. Nelpha will surrender soon and everything should end smoothly but.

"...... I"ve heard that Gread Nelphi died."

Sion said, to which Froaude nodded.

"He was killed by his son."

"It couldn"t be prevented huh?"

A cynical smile then surfaced on Froaude"s face.

"Nelpha"s upper echelon was foolish beyond our expectations, it seems......"

"So, it will become an all out war?"

"Yes."

"Is Claugh agreeable?"

"...... no. Field Marshal Claugh has sent another message."

Upon saying that, Froaude handed over a piece of paper that he had held in his hand.

Sion took it and let his gaze fall onto the paper.

It was yet again another message from that fella. From the one who had escaped from this country, Ryner ---

A message from his best friend.

"............"

And in that message, was written a plan which he had come up with, on how to break through this worst case scneario.

"............"

Sion squinted his eyes.

Furthermore, at the end,

"Because Sion Astal is my friend, I won"t abandon him, that"s the disgusting message that the sleepy-headed man gave, now, what will you do, Sion?"

Such a line was scribbled by Claugh, in his not so beautiful handwriting.

"............"

Sion looked at that message.

Following that, he looked up at the ceiling once as if to consider the words.

Ryner"s plan is a pretty interesting one, Sion thought. It might be interesting to go along with it, he thought.

Ryner has come up with this plan for my sake, isn"t it? He thought.

Just as he thought, Ryner had moved to save Roland --- to save Sion, without Nelpha surrendering nor having Roland move backwards to where it has been before, he thought.

Because they are friends.

Because they are best friends.

Even though I have betrayed him in the worst possible way, Ryner still said that.

With his usual kind and sleepy face, he had said that.

"............"

However, in response to that.

Sion crushed the piece of paper in his hand.

And said.

To the man with a devil-like smile before him.

"Froaude."

"Yes."

"What do you think of this message?"

"...... a cowardly prank."

On hearing that,

"That"s right."

Said Sion.

"The Roland now is not a country that can stop at this juncture."

He said.

"We have proclaimed that we"ll conquer the world. With the least number of sacrifices, in the shortest possible way, in the fastest amount of time, we"ll reach the center, central Menoris. For that reason, we need to show our absolute might here. Save the life of Toale Nelphi? To reduce the number of sacrifices, even if it"s only a little? Fool. The gears are already spinning. It"s no longer possible to stop them. If we do

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