Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu

It was entirely as if he were within a dream.

It was something that happened in the recent past.

Sion smiled with a malicious face, and forced him to go on an adventure with Ferris.

Remembering the things that happened during that time, Ryner Lute, without thinking—

"... Seriously, why am I thinking about that..."

He muttered.

A listless tall and lean figure with a bent back. Black bedhead hair.

And, the same colour as his black hair, sleepy black eyes with, in their center...

A thin, vermillion five-star pentacle floated.

With one of those eyes closed, Ryner firmly pushed at it with his finger.

He pushed at it with enough strength to crush an ordinary eyeball...

However, this eye didn"t yield.

No, even when Ryner had once tried to gouge his eyes out with a knife, he couldn"t injure it at all.

With this amount of pressure, he wasn"t able to crush his eyes.

These special eyes called the Alpha Stigma... It couldn"t be removed from him so easily.

Cursed eyes despised by everyone as taboo.

Once they lost control, they would go on a rampage.

That was why, he thought, it was inevitable that people called them monsters who possessed the eyes of demons.

After all, Ryner himself cursed his own eyes.

"......"

Without these eyes.

Without these, I...

"... Idiot,"

Muttering that, Ryner shook his head.

Right.

He truly was an idiot.

Even though he"d resigned himself to it a long time ago.

That he was a cursed monster.

A demon who brought mistery to those around him just by existing...

He"d known that for a long time now.

Despite that...

He still liked people.

Even though he knew it was foolish, he still liked people.

Sion smiled.

Ferris was by his side.

Like that, living completely like a normal human...

"......"

That kind of dream-like place was still...

He hurt people.

Ryner recalled Sion"s expression at the end.

A terribly suffering expression.

Sion had given orders to erase Ryner. However, that was the natural thing to do. Ryner was a monster that killed people. If he went berserk, he could do nothing but kill others.

As king, it was a logical order to give.

But what had Sion been thinking when he gave out that order?

He couldn"t figure that out.

And Ferris.

She...

"......"

There.

Ryner stopped thinking at that point.

Even if he thought about it, nothing could be done.

After all, they would never meet again.

Nevertheless, Ryner remembered the few words she gave him.

Her words.

"You"re not a monster."

Even though he"d gone berserk before her and tried to kill her...

She said that.

"You"re not a monster."

She told him that.

It was nice.

Looking at that figure and yet still saying that, it truly was nice.

And she spoke of his desire.

Her words.

"You are my partner, my manservant, and my tea-drinking companion. You"re no monster. Can you hear me? Ryner."

At that time, he"d honestly wished for those words to be so.

But they weren"t.

In reality, they weren"t.

He was a monster.

Never knowing when he might kill Sion and Ferris.

Hurting the only two people by his side.

Hurting the only important people by his side.

Like that, he couldn"t stay near them.

Now, he couldn"t be with them.

That was why...

Then.

"Say, Ryner. Are you not hungry?"

A voice rang out.

"Hmm?"

At that, Ryner looked to his side.

A man walked alongside him down the road.

Tiir Rumibul.

Dressed entirely like a clergyman, wearing a tight, tidy jet black suit down to his black shoes, his entire body was unified in a single shade of black.

Furthermore, he had the same black hair and eyes as Ryner...

And again, like Ryner, a thin, vermillion pattern floated in the center of his eyes.

But the shape was different.

Rather than a five-star pentacle, his was a cross...

According to Tiir, it was different from what Ryner possessed, the Alpha Stigma, and was called Iino Doue.

Though Ryner had yet to receive an explanation of its abilities, judging by what he"d seen, it was entirely different.

The abilities of Ryner"s Alpha Stigma, beyond going berserk, was that with only one look, he could understand the structure of any magic, no matter how complicated, and duplicate it.

But Tiir"s eyes... the ability of the Iino Doue was different.

His eyes devoured magic and people.

No, strictly-speaking, they devoured what was within people and the power used to create magic—magic scholars called it seirei, or the flow of energy in the air...

At any rate, he devoured people and magic—seirei—and by doing so, his body"s physical capabilities became abnormal.

His movements were to the extent that even Ferris, who boasted overwhelming physical capabilities, and Ryner using magic to enhance his own couldn"t match them.

No, to say nothing of the fact that he alone could wipe out an army.

Devouring people for power, and killing people with that power.

Compared to that monster, the Alpha Stigma was nothing.

That monster,

"After walking all this way without eating anything, hunger will settle in sooner or later, don"t you think?"

Said such things in a smiling, light-hearted manner...

Instinctively, Ryner—

"D-Don"t tell me you mean to devour humans again!?"

At those words.

Tiir"s eyes widened slightly.

Those eyes with the vermillion cross.

Those eyes looked at Ryner, and,

"... Of course not. Rather, Ryner, you don"t devour humans, correct?"

"O-Obviously. Humans aren"t meant to be eaten!"

Tiir laughed cheerfully.

"Oh, you said something good, Ryner. Correct. After all, humans are inferior existences that aren"t even worth devouring, aren"t they?"

"... No, that"s not what I meant."

Tiir tilted his head at that.

"Hmm? Then, what did you mean? Why shouldn"t one devour humans?"

"T-That"s..."

Ryner said, but then stopped.

Why shouldn"t one devour humans...?

It was simple.

It was something so obvious that young children could understand.

One was human... so one didn"t devour other humans like them.

Even though it truly should"ve been simple...

Tiir continued.

"Hmm. We should first correct this misunderstanding, shouldn"t we? As you, Ryner, were raised among humans and brainwashed by them, you"ve had false knowledge planted in your head... We aren"t inferior existences like those humans. We who possess G.o.d"s Eyes are superior."

Ryner frowned at those words.

"You"re saying we"re not human?"

Tiir looked at Ryner"s expression, and then smiled sadly.

"Yes... Most Alpha Stigma bearers make that sort of face when I tell them, "You aren"t human." Your misfortune starts..."

"Huh? Our misfortune?"

Ryner asked, to which Tiir nodded.

"... Your misfortune starts at birth. Born as a human child, you"re raised as a human child for years. During that period, you"re brainwashed. As a human, you become happy, and so are brainwashed. And you love humans, believe in them, and more... and in the end... you"re betrayed. Scorned as a monster, feared as a demon... and then killed. Am I wrong?"

"......"

He wasn"t.

That was certainly correct.

Most humans scorned the Alpha Stigma as taboo, feared them, and wanted them dead.

In Ryner"s case, he didn"t possess any memories of the time between his birth and several years, so his might be a bit different... but Arua...

A boy who was the same as Ryner as an Alpha Stigma bearer had already gone through that life.

When the Alpha Stigma appeared in his eyes, his parents were killed, and he was treated cruelly as the military"s research sample.

No, Ryner as well had been treated as the military"s research sample.

But...

"... But aren"t you the same too?"

Ryner said.

"You too, before that cross pattern arose in your eyes..."

He began, but Tiir interrupted, shaking his head.

"You"re wrong. I never once liked humans. Rather, I"ve never thought of myself as one. No, from the beginning, your eyes..."

Saying that, he pointed at the vermillion five-star pentacle that floated in the center of Ryner"s eyes.

Then, pointing at the vermillion cross in his own eyes,

"And my Iino Doue... the timing of its opening is different. The Alpha Stigma generally arises approximately five or six years after birth. Your Alpha Stigma appeared around then, correct?"

Ryner had no memories of that.

When the vermillion five-star pentacle arose in his eyes...

Though he remembered the first time he used the power of his eyes... it seemed that the five-star pentacle had arisen in his eyes before that...

In the beginning, he didn"t use the power of his eyes, and without peering into his eyes, they hadn"t been seen by other people.

That was why he might"ve had those eyes from before then, or he might not have, but...

What Tiir said about the Alpha Stigma arising around the age of five or six seemed to be right.

Arua seemed to be around that age.

"......"

Anyhow, this was new information.

Ryner looked at Tiir.

And, as expected, it was worth it to go with him, he thought.

He wasn"t pleased with the man"s mindset of calmly killing and devouring humans...

Nevertheless, this guy had plenty of information that he didn"t know about.

There was merit in going along with him.

Ryner continued to talk.

"Then, the Iino Doue... its opening? Its timing is different from ours?"

"Yes. The Iino Doue"s opening occurs while still within a human woman"s womb."

"Whoa? Really?"

"Yes."

Tiir easily nodded.

But then Ryner had a problem with that.

Tiir knew that the opening of his Iino Doue occurred while within his mother"s womb.

But that,

"Then, you"ve got a human mother? Despite being raised by that mother, you don"t think of yourself as human?"

He began, but then Tiir smiled.

"I don"t. Rather, I don"t even know the face of the human woman that was pregnant with me."

"Eh? Then... you don"t have any memories of your childhood either?"

Staring at Ryner with a curious expression,

"Hmm? Judging by your words just now, you don"t have any memories of your childhood, Ryner?"

Tiir asked that in return.

At that, Ryner remembered.

His very first memory.

It was red.

As far as he could see, spanning across the entire ground, a red memory.

Suddenly, his eyes awakened...

Upon opening his eyes, there was a wasteland.

The evening sky was dyed a bright red.

And the ground as well... covered in corpses, it was dyed bright red by a sea of blood.

Surrounding him was nothing but a mountain of corpses, corpses, corpses, corpses.

That was his very first memory.

And the only thing he remembered was his name.

He knew nothing else.

Why was he in that place?

What was he doing there?

He couldn"t remember at all.

That was why Ryner nodded, looking at Tiir.

"Yeah. When I was five... I don"t have any memories from before around that time. I only remember my name. Is it like that for all Alpha Stigma bearers?"

At the question,

"... Hmm. I wonder,"

Tiir crossed his arms, as he began to seriously ponder this.

After contemplating like that for a while,

"... No, the Alpha Stigma bearers I"ve found weren"t like that. For most of them, when the fact they possess an Alpha Stigma is revealed to society, they"re persecuted together with their parents or otherwise killed by them... That"s how it often is..."

Like Arua.

Unsurprisingly, it was just about like that.

Then, what was he...

His thoughts began, but then Tiir gazed at Ryner with sorrowful eyes.

"... Perhaps you were dealt with a heavy burden to your emotional state. Something that, without thinking, you sealed away your memories for, Ryner. After all, humans truly are despicable, aren"t they? Saying that they love you while discriminating against you, laughing while they easily kill their own family. That"s why I believe them to be such inferior existences. They"re the insane monsters..."

At those words.

"... Can"t deny that."

At Ryner"s expression when that was said, Tiir smiled again.

"So you don"t need to make such a painful expression, Ryner. You aren"t human. You have no connection to the things that humans do. After all, you"re different from them."

With Tiir saying that... Ryner"s feelings became increasingly complicated.

As Tiir wore an affable, smiling expression, it seemed that his praise came from his true feelings.

"... Saying I"m not human, even if you praise me..."

Muttering under his breath, Ryner again frowned.

He wasn"t human.

He"d never considered that possibility.

But could it be true?

Certainly, he possessed the eyes of a monster.

Thinking about that, Ryner looked at the palms of his hands.

Those hands looked like the same as a human"s.

Skin. Nails. Thin, transparent veins.

They looked just like a human"s.

No, it wasn"t only his hands.

Eyes aside, there"s nothing different from a human... he thought.

That was what he thought.

Always, always thinking that was how he lived.

He was a monster.

But if he didn"t have these eyes.

Without these eyes...

"......"

That...

Again, those same thoughts went around in his head.

Again and again, the same things went around and around.

And... those words echoed in his head.

The words that Ferris"s brother, Lucile, had given.

"What manner of unfulfillable dreams... has such a hideous monster seen?"

He was a monster...

He knew that.

"You should know this already. The blood-stained hands of a monster like you... can"t grasp anything... No matter where you reach, they"ll never be able to attain anything."

He knew all that.

But, nevertheless.

Nevertheless, if it was possible...

But then, as if seeing straight through Ryner"s thoughts, Tiir spoke.

"Incidentally, to continue the previous topic of how I don"t know the face of the human woman who was pregnant with me..."

At that,

"... Eh?"

For a moment, Ryner couldn"t respond.

But Tiir paid that no heed and continued.

"It was in the final month of her pregnancy that, within that woman"s womb, my eyes opened. My Iino Doue awakened. And what do you think happened after that?"

At that question.

Ryner—

He stared at Tiir.

And,

"... N-No way."

Without thinking, Ryner trembled.

He could infer and make a conclusion based off what Tiir had said just now.

But that...

That can"t...

In his mother"s womb, Tiir had been a human child.

Despite that, he didn"t know his mother"s face.

Why was that?

Why...

"... There"s no way you... devoured your mother from the inside?"

At that, Tiir"s expression became unabashedly sullen.

"... Could you not call that my "mother?" "

"You..."

But already, Ryner couldn"t continue his words.

After all, this topic...

It definitely wasn"t a topic he was expecting.

This kind of fool.

It was impossible.

After all, in that case...

In that case...

While staring at Ryner, Tiir spoke cheerfully.

"Correct. It seems that you"ve finally realized it, Ryner. A child within the womb... a fetus generally doesn"t possess awareness, their own will, or things like that. Despite that, from within that woman"s womb, I devoured her. Something like that..."

Ryner trembled further.

Something like that.

In other words.

Tiir...

Iino Doue bearers were such an existence from the beginning.

Without being taught anything from anyone, they were like birds who knew how to fly from the start.

Iino Doue bearers were existences who, in the beginning, were born by devouring and killing their mothers.

Not human, but a different...

"N-No way!"

Ryner reflexively said.

But in response, Tiir continued to speak in a gentle and calm tone.

"Are those... words of contempt? If you"re born through devouring and tearing apart your mother"s womb, you"re a monster... is that what you wish to say about me?"

"... Ah, uu—"

Again, Ryner didn"t say anything.

But to the very end, Tiir spoke in a gentle tone, as if completely worried about Ryner.

"... You shouldn"t speak too ill of me. After all, those words could come back to you. But it"s all right. Don"t be afraid. You"re not alone. You"re not human. Rather, you"re one of us."

And gently, he moved to hold Ryner"s shoulder...

"D-Don"t touch me."

Ryner shoved Tiir"s arm away.

But regarding that, Tiir unsurprisingly spoke in a sympathetic voice.

"This is... the Alpha Stigma bearers"... your misfortune. Because of the order... while within the fetus, because of the order that came to me..."

He spoke of such things.

Ryner made a puzzled face.

"... Order? What are you talking about?"

In response, Tiir pointed up at the sky.

And he said this.

"... An order from G.o.d, of course. The moment my eyes awakened, a voice that only I could hear descended from the heavens. Have your first feeding. Devour this inferior human, it said."

"... Eh?"

At those words.

Ryner stopped trembling.

Looking at Tiir, he asked,

"... Descended from the heavens?"

Tiir"s expression became slightly surprised, and,

"Hmm? This is the first time an Alpha Stigma bearer reacted to the "descending" part."

"Listen, just answer me. A voice descended from the heavens?"

Tiir nodded.

"Correct. No, in reality, perhaps it"s more accurate to say that it resounds directly in your mind... but yes. It feels like it descends upon you. Other Iino Doue bearers say the same. Afterwards, Will Heim bearers seem to hear a voice approximately two months after birth... They also say that a voice descends upon them."

"Will Heim...? Speaking of which, you said before that there are other Cursed Eye bearers besides us?"

Immediately, Tiir—

"Like I said, isn"t "Cursed Eyes" a discriminatory term that humans use to scorn us? It"s "G.o.d"s Eyes." "

He made such a correction, saying it frankly, but it wasn"t important.

Ryner went on.

"Then, within these Cursed Eyes... no, I mean... G.o.d"s Eyes are my Alpha Stigma and your Iino Doue... and the Will Heim that was brought up just now..."

He began, but Tiir also shook his head at that.

"No. There are two others. There"s the Torch Curse and the Ebra Crypt."

"Those too, huh..."

As Ryner groaned, exasperated at what he"d seen up until now.

It seemed that were five Cursed Eyes... or otherwise called G.o.d"s Eyes.

But up until now, Ryner had never encountered any Cursed Eyes beyond the Alpha Stigma.

While he was travelling around various countries, no matter where he investigated, there had never been any reports of any Cursed Eyes except for the Alpha Stigma.

In other words...

"Within the Cursed... or, I mean, G.o.d"s Eyes, there are predominantly Alpha Stigma bearers..."

Ryner began, before stopping himself.

That wasn"t it.

Right now, it wasn"t necessary to ask about that. There were more important matters to be discussed. There were things he had to ask about right now.

That was,

"No, let me change my question a bit. Um, so, let"s go back to the earlier topic."

"Earlier topic? Which one? Ah, do you mean about getting hungry..."

"No, no, no, that"s not it."

But Tiir placed a hand on his stomach, and,

"... But aren"t you hungry yet? After talking like this, I"ve gotten considerably hungry."

Now that he mentioned it, he did feel it...

Ryner then looked around.

Right now, he was on the road from Roland to Nelpha.

If they went a little farther down the road, they would reach the national border and enter Nelpha.

And sporadically inserted on that road were several tea houses...

At that, Ryner grimaced.

Because one of the tea houses lined up in a row on the street was one that Ryner had visited before.

That was the first time he"d met Ferris.

On Sion"s orders, it was in the middle of their journey to Imperial Nelpha to search for Heroes" Relics.

Ferris had dropped by the tea house, and,

"Eat this,"

She said with an emotionless face, handing him dango.

At that,

Why doesn"t this person have any manners?

Ryner had thought such a thing.

Still, the offered dango had been surprisingly delicious...

Despite that, he realized it was the first time Ferris had eaten the dango there.

Back then, she hadn"t known whether she liked the dango or not...

In her emotionless face that was an expression in itself, it wasn"t known.

"......"

Ryner looked at the tea house before him.

But despite the fact that there was a tea house... Ferris wasn"t there.

He felt that that was incredibly strange.

"See, before we enter Nelpha, let"s eat some dango,"

Tiir said cheerfully... but Ryner shook his head.

"... No, no. I"m not hungry yet."

"Hmm? Ryner, do you not like dango?"

"Eh?"

At that, Ryner thought for a bit.

Dango.

Dango was...

"... Yeah. I hate dango."

"Ah, is that so? Then, for this occasion, I must decide that humans..."

"I"m not eating that!"

Ryner shouted, to which Tiir placed both hands on his hips in an utterly preaching tone.

"Being that picky is bad for your health, you know."

"... No, there has to be an alternative to dango or humans..."

After saying that, that joke was not funny, he thought.

In response, Tiir now looked concerned, and,

"Is it truly all right not to eat? If we don"t eat here, then until we enter Nelpha, there won"t be another shop?"

He said that somewhat persistently.

"For crying out loud, what are you, my mom... if I say I"m not hungry, I"m not hungry. Leaving that aside, is it okay for you not to be eating dango?"

Ryner said with a weary expression.

However, regarding that, Tiir stared past the tea house and further down the street.

"No, I"ll wait for the meal waiting at our destination..."

"Hey, you"re not talking about the border guards, are you? I said before not to devour humans."

"I know. I told you from the beginning that I prefer not to devour such inferior, disgusting things like humans. I prefer magic. At any rate, those border guards had already been attacked by the time we crossed the border?"

As Tiir said such things, Ryner gazed at him with suspicious eyes.

"... You"re not lying, are you?"

Tiir stared back at Ryner, straight in the eye, and,

"No, I"m not lying. The ones who lie so easily are humans, wouldn"t you say? I refuse to lie to a friend."

He said that with a serious expression.

Just by looking into his eyes, Ryner knew that he wasn"t lying.

It wasn"t so much that he thought he was an honest person... but because he hated humans from the bottom of his heart.

Humans lied, and they didn"t.

After all, they were different from those inferior humans.

After all, they were... a superior species.

It felt like he was slightly obsessed with those kinds of words.

That was why he wouldn"t lie to Ryner.

After all, they were a superior species.

But.

"......"

Was that true?

Ryner stared at Tiir.

Tiir"s eyes.

The vermillion cross that floated in their centers.

Staring at that cross, he contemplated.

This was—

This alone was proof that they surpa.s.sed humans and were a superior species?

This alone?

Certainly, they possessed abilities unlike humans"... However, those abilities weren"t anything he hadn"t seen something similar to in the past.

For example, weaving a magic circle tattoo.

Burying that into one"s body and offering a price, one could possess unique powers.

The previous Roland practiced those studies... human experimentation with zeal. It was likely that an unbelievable amount of people died for that.

Through several sacrifices... there were numerous people possessing unusual powers in the previous Roland.

In the orphanage Ryner had previously belonged to and in the Hidden Elites, he"d met people with those abilities.

But those guys were human.

No, that was obvious.

Even if they were humans who"d been remodelled, they were still human regardless.

They were just humans who"d had a magic circle buried in them...

Then, what about us?

Are we different?

Just because we have a strange pattern in our eyes instead, we"re not human?

"......"

Ryner looked at Tiir"s eyes again.

At those eyes with a thin, vermillion cross floating in them.

That was the only peculiarity there.

As for what made him different from other humans, that was the only thing.

For that alone, the Cursed Eye bearers were scorned as taboo, abused as demons, and feared as monsters.

Certainly, they might be monsters.

They might be monsters who killed people.

But was that proof that they were a superior species that surpa.s.sed humans?

Rather than that...

"... Hey, ah..."

Then suddenly, at the thought that floated in Ryner"s mind, he let a voice slip without meaning to.

At that,

"Hmm? What"s wrong? Do you want to eat dango after all?"

Tiir began, but Ryner didn"t respond.

No, he couldn"t answer.

The haze in mind up until now suddenly cleared at once with one thought...

Ryner looked at Tiir"s eyes one more time.

Black eyes with a vermillion cross.

Like that, Tiir tilted his head in a curious and manner and looked at Ryner.

"Just what exactly is the matter?"

But, unsurprisingly, Ryner didn"t reply.

Instead, he stared into Tiir"s eyes.

Black eyes.

Vermillion cross.

"... d.a.m.n it. Geez, I"m such an idiot. I didn"t realize such a simple thing until now."

Ryner spat out those words.

At that, Tiir made a troubled face, and,

"As I was asking, what are you suddenly talking about?"

He said that, but Ryner didn"t answer.

Instead, he stared into Tiir"s eyes, and like that, recalled words he himself had said once ago.

It was in the Runa Empire.

It was when he"d gone to save Arua who, simply because he was an Alpha Stigma bearer, had watched his parents be killed before him, beaten, injured, and turned into the army"s research material.

The pursuing soldiers turned to Ryner and Ferris and said this.

"b.a.s.t.a.r.ds... that"s our research sample! If you take it, you"ll be recognized as a devil and you will suffer G.o.d"s punishment!"

Back then, to that, this was how Ryner replied.

"... Did you just say... G.o.d"s punishment? Because of these eyes, we"d suffer G.o.d"s punishment...? When you do such cruel things and get no punishment at all, you say we"d get divine retribution just because of these eyes?"

He couldn"t even be offended.

He couldn"t even be furious.

Instead, there was only sorrow.

Again and again, over and over, witnessing the same miserable sight, there was only sorrow.

That was why his response was such.

But because of that, Ryner failed to see the truth.

Despite having possibility included the most important matter in his words, Ryner failed to see that.

Ryner"s words continued.

"d.a.m.n it, d.a.m.n it, d.a.m.n it, d.a.m.n it... what the h.e.l.l is wrong with you people... You"d give us divine retribution? If so, then why did you even make us? If there really is a G.o.d, then answer me.

Why did you create me? The reason I was born... to toy with me for your amus.e.m.e.nt, then deliver divine punishment...?

What a load of c.r.a.p!

I"m not... we"re not your toys.

You know, we"re... alive too.

It"s not like we wanted to be born as... such demons... as monsters...

It"s not like... It"s not like we want these eyes either..."

Right.

It wasn"t like they wanted these eyes either.

Then why did that pattern arise in their eyes?

Why did they have these eyes?

Ryner stared at Tiir"s eyes.

Black eyes.

Vermillion cross pattern.

That was the proof that they weren"t human, but a superior species.

"......"

But was that way of thinking correct?

Tiir was an ordinary human.

Even with his black eyes, he was an ordinary human.

And that vermillion cross...

"......"

Isn"t this vermillion cross the same as the engravings I"ve seen in so many people before?

It was the same as the human experimentation that Roland did.

It was the same as the magic circles inserted into people"s bodies.

Only it was carved into the eyes.

But there was a problem.

Just who had done this and for what reason...?

Once again, he recalled his own words.

"Why did you create me? The reason I was born... to toy with me for your amus.e.m.e.nt, then deliver divine punishment...?"

"... I"m an idiot..."

That was to be expected.

There was no meaning in doing such a thing without a reason.

Then who?

For what reason?

"Tiir."

As Ryner spoke, Tiir made a long-suffering, relieved expression, and,

"Ah, finally, a normal conversation..."

But Ryner interrupted him and continued the discussion.

"You heard a voice descend from the sky... you said that earlier, right?"

"Yes, I said that. However, Ryner, you"re rather focused on that detail, aren"t you? As ordinary Alpha Stigma bearers don"t hear G.o.d"s voice, most don"t show any interest in it whatsoever."

Within those words, there were two keywords for the sake of advancing towards the truth.

First, ordinary Alpha Stigma bearers didn"t hear a voice descending from the sky.

Ryner had already guessed that.

Earlier, the words from the Gastark spies, Sui and Kuu.

On what seemed to be a hunt for Cursed Eyes, though they seemed knowledgeable about this sort of thing...

When Ryner"s Alpha Stigma went berserk, they"d said this.

"What—what is this guy? He"s not an ordinary Alpha Stigma bearer? That power just now... That voice just now. What was talking!? The others were completely..."

Different... it seemed.

Even when ordinary Alpha Stigma bearers went berserk, it seemed that a voice didn"t descend.

No, even without that, he understood that his was different from the ordinary Alpha Stigma.

Ordinary Alpha Stigma bearers, after going berserk once, already couldn"t be stopped without being killed.

But Ryner"s consciousness, even after going berserk, returned.

That was why, because of this abnormality, Ryner became the Roland military"s pet.

Furthermore, different from ordinary Alpha Stigma bearers, it"d appeared at Ferris"s home.

Something that hadn"t been seen by Arua but that Ryner saw.

Just what was that difference?

The difference with that aforementioned voice descending?

Ryner again contemplated.

"......"

A voice descended from the sky.

Just what was that?

According to Tiir, it seemed that Iino Doue bearers also heard a voice.

Furthermore, from within his mother"s womb.

Those were the two keywords.

Tiir thought that the source of the voice was G.o.d.

But Ryner didn"t think it was G.o.d"s voice.

Moreover, he didn"t believe in the existence of any G.o.ds.

Rather, if one said it was G.o.d, what exactly did that mean?

Roland didn"t have any kind of religion, so he didn"t know much... but ordinarily, it was supposed to be some omniscient being that governed peace, wasn"t it?

That kind of decent situation didn"t exist.

At least, a convenient G.o.d who could meddle in human"s affairs didn"t exist.

That wasn"t a problem.

More than that.

Who the h.e.l.l was that voice?

When Tiir was inside his mother"s womb, he"d received this order from G.o.d.

"Have your first feeding. Devour this inferior human."

Was that the kind of thing G.o.d would say?

That couldn"t be.

That definitely wasn"t it.

That wasn"t G.o.d.

Then, just what was it?

Ryner thought about it.

It was a dim memory.

After the Alpha Stigma crushed Ryner"s consciousness.

After Ryner went berserk, a voice descended.

Someone.

Someone had spoken?

"G.o.d. Devil. Dark G.o.d. Hero. Monster. What will you call me? What will you call me? Hahahahahahahahahaha—"

"You would kill me? With your power, you would kill me? You claim Elemio"s paltry power would kill me? As little worms, crawling in your holes, you claim you would kill me? Ha, hahaha, hahahaha. Begone, begone, begone. Everything is nothing. Return to nothingness!"

"α [First] comes destruction. I bring forth nothing. I bless nothing. I save nothing. I just erase. Completely."

He remembered that.

"... Elemio..."

Ryner quietly muttered.

That was his lead.

That was what he"d continued to overlook up until now, the clue that would lead him to the truth.

At those words, Tiir looked puzzled, and,

"Hmm? Ele... what? What is that?"

But Ryner shook his head.

"... No, nothing. Let"s continue."

However, Tiir smiled wryly at that.

"That"s all right, but if we"re not eating dango, then shall we move on? Standing around while talking is getting tiring, but more importantly, as our friends are waiting, I"d like to return to them as soon as possible."

"Eh, ah... yeah, right."

And Ryner began to walk.

At the end of the street that stretched out before them.

If they crossed the national border, they would no longer be in Roland.

Saying that, they were still in Roland"s territory.

However.

"......"

Ryner looked behind him.

As expected, this way was also the scene of a street that stretched out ahead.

If he were to walk from here, Roland"s capital would be about five days away.

But right now, that Roland felt so far away.

Even though back then, when he"d crossed the national border with Ferris, entering Nelpha, entering Runa, it hadn"t felt that way.

Right now, it truly felt far...

Then.

Tiir, who"d walked ten steps away during the time that Ryner had spent standing, turned around with a surprised expression and spoke.

"... Having second thoughts?"

Ryner shook his head at that.

"No. I never liked this country much anywa..."

But Tiir interrupted him and spoke.

"That’s not it, Ryner. I wasn’t asking about that."

"Huh? What, then?"

Tiir smiled sadly. Again, an expression as if he were worried about Ryner from the bottom of his heart.

And he spoke.

"I was asking about your time in Roland. If you regret the time you spent with humans... that’s what I’m asking."

At that.

Ryner"s expression changed.

Again, Tiir gazed at him with a sympathetic face.

He didn"t want to see that face.

That face from that guy.

But Tiir persistently spoke in a gentle voice.

"Right now, what you’re thinking about—I can guess. All Alpha Stigma bearers think that in the beginning... because they don"t hear that voice.

But that"s not it. We"re not human. No, let me amend that—we’re a superior race."

Then, in the instant he said that, he made a thoughtful expression.

Tiir said,

"... Even if we were human. Even if we weren"t a superior species... at the very least, we could never come to coexist with humans."

"......"

"... Shouldn"t you know that better than anyone else? Remember the past. In spite of your wishes, they never responded. If you tried to approach them... you were only hurt. Isn"t that right?"

"......"

And Tiir held his hand out to him.

"So take my hand. Or am I wrong?"

"......"

"You"ve always been suffering. But it"s all right now. You no longer have to be troubled by anything. You aren"t alone. You aren"t alone in this world. You"re not a monster who can only hurt those around him or a demon."

"......"

Again, he gazed at the street that stretched out before him.

He gazed at the sight of Roland...

It"s far... he thought.

It was incredibly far.

Though he understood that feeling, he didn"t know what to do about it.

To Ryner, Tiir—

"... You"re a human on this side."

At that.

"... Yeah... that"s right."

Ryner nodded, and again began walking.

And not a second time.

He didn"t turn around.

♦

It was the street that approached the border between Roland and Nelpha.

Ferris Eris stood on that street.

"... Muu."

She was deeply troubled.

She stared at the scene before her with clear blue eyes.

Shining in the light, long blonde hair.

White skin that seemed transparent.

A beautiful, delicate figure.

She truly was a beauty.

Anyone would call her that.

No, the people who pa.s.sed by her, as she stood still on the street, whether they be man or woman, elderly or young, were all charmed by her.

But they didn"t say anything.

n.o.body said anything.

First, they were charmed by her abnormally shining beauty, and then immediately after, they saw the long sword by her waist that didn"t seem like it could be held by her thin arms at all.

After that, they would see that on her back, she carried six, bulging, incredibly large backpacks.

And.

In spite of that strange appearance, her face was completely blank. As if not noticing anything, with an emotionless expression that seemed to have lost all feeling, she stared intently at the two tea houses before her...

"... Mumumumuu,"

A troubled voice leaked out.

Everybody, when looking at her, thought this.

That"s not normal. I don"t know just what is so weird about this, but I know that something"s definitely not normal...

And everyone avoided Ferris and went away.

Well, Ferris hadn"t noticed any of that at all.

At any rate, she was terribly troubled.

Before her were two tea houses.

The tea house on the left was one she"d been to before.

It was a shop whose delicious dango was famous... Ferris hadn"t been negligent in checking up on it.

More importantly was the shop on the right.

It was a shop she"d never seen before.

Perhaps it a new shop that"d been built while she was away on her journey.

But,

"......"

Ferris stared fixedly at that shop.

The sign itself was dirty. The wooden building also didn"t seem to be new.

That meant that it"d already been around for a considerable amount of time.

But the news of a new tea house where one could eat delicious dango hadn"t reached Ferris"s ears.

In other words, the flavour of this shop"s dango, in all likelihood, wasn"t very tasty...

Her thoughts began, but then Ferris, by herself, shook her head.

"No, no, hold on, Ferris. Think about this carefully. You must consider how they"re operating beside a famous shop that carries delicious dango... Maybe, just maybe... mumumu."

This was a rather difficult problem.

This street was not often visited unless one was going to Nelpha.

That was why, if she could, she wanted to fill her stomach with the famous shop"s delicious dango while she was here.

Of course, she could first test the new shop"s dango, and then take out the usual tea house"s dango.

She could finish eating one of the backpacks of dango she"d bought in Roland"s capital, therefore freeing a backpack.

The amount seemed to work.

However, filling her stomach up with the dango she"d come here for had a completely different meaning from taking it out and eating it later.

But, as said, the new shop"s dango... The chances were horribly low, but there was still a small possibility that she would miss out on eating delicious dango...

"... d.a.m.n... as I thought, it"s not an easy matter to pursue the way of the dango..."

Ferris was troubled.

"... Mumu."

Ferris was troubled.

"... Mumumu."

Ferris was troubled.

"... Mumumumumuuu."

And after all those troubles,

"All right, this one,"

She said, making up her mind, and entered the new shop.

She sat down on the bench left at the front of the shop.

She ordered tea and dango.

Taking the skewer of dango that were then given to her...

She bit into it and held it in her mouth.

In an instant, Ferris"s eyes flew open.

"... Mu, this is..."

Spreading across her mouth, the dango"s flavour.

If she had to express it, it was this.

The texture was dried out.

Its elasticity was hollow.

It was neither sweet nor spicy, and the scent of old flour filled her nose.

It was utterly horrible... It was impossibly bad dango...

Ferris trembled.

This was terrible. It was beyond bad. Already, she was unbearably angry.

She was irritated.

Where should she vent this anger out on?

What should she do?

And instinctively, Ferris shouted,

"... That d.a.m.n Ryner!!"

For some reason, towards Ryner.

Or rather, here, the dango had been inconsequential from the beginning.

Her irritation had become worse in this place.

Shaking her arm off before her eyes, going with some man covered in black, his whereabouts unknown—she remembered the face of that Ryner...

"......."

Ryner"s face arose in her mind.

His face at the last moment.

As if he were ready to cry at any moment and had given up on everything.

Feeling utterly distant from Ferris...

That kind of face.

But... she didn"t want to see that face.

It wasn"t for the sake of seeing that face that she was chasing Ryner down.

That wasn"t it at all.

Though she didn"t understand it very well herself, it was something very, very different...

Despite that, that guy made that kind of face.

And at that, she...

"... Haa,"

Ferris then let out a quiet sigh.

Like that, she stuffed her cheeks with the unappetizing dango.

No matter how bad it was, it was one of her rules never to waste dango.

While putting up with the unpleasant taste that spread across her mouth, she looked up at the sky.

While staring at the clouds that drifted from Roland to Nelpha,

"... Honestly. Just where did he go?"

She had just about no information.

Her only lead was the words of that human-devouring man covered in black whom Ryner had gone with.

"Ah... so it"s necessary to explain from there... I"d heard that there were few of us in the south who possessed G.o.d"s Eyes, and so far... Well, now isn"t the best time to explain. Let"s go."

"To where?"

"To where our friends are. I"ve come all the way here just for you."

That.

It seemed that that black-covered guy would be with his friends.

And judging from his declaration of "there were few of us in the south who possessed G.o.d"s Eyes," perhaps that black-covered guy"s friends weren"t here in the southern continent, but instead the central continent or northern continent.

That said, within the southern continent, if one left Roland, they"d likely head to Nelpha or Runa, and at any rate, she was heading to Nelpha...

Ferris redirected her gaze from the sky down to the neighbouring tea house.

The shop that was famous for its delicious dango.

In the beginning, when she"d heard the rumours, Ferris had immediately visited. And as the dango was, in fact, delicious, she"d been satisfied.

And the second time she came was because on Sion"s orders, she"d gone on a journey with the suspicious Ryner Lute of unknown origins, who gave off the air of ten thousand years of laziness and was a s.e.x fiend master.

When Ferris stuck the dango out to him, that eternally lazy and unsteady man"s eyes widened, and,

"Wow, this is delicious!"

He"d exclaimed such a thing.

That guy realized the power of dango.

"Amazing... What about it makes it so tasty?"

"Fufu."

"Is there something? The flour or something?"

"Fu, fu, fu."

"Okay, judging from that fearless laugh, I"m gonna a.s.sume you know the secret behind this dango"s taste?"

"Mm-hmm. Of course."

"Then, what is it?"

"Fufu, do you want to know?"

"That"s... Ah, but hold on a moment. Out of curiosity, is it a long explanation?"

"Mmm. Well, the gist of it is two hours..."

"Pa.s.s."

"Pa.s.ses are banned."

"Ehhhh—? Then, while you"re explaining, I"m gonna sleep... hey, why are you withdrawing your sword?"

"Hmm? Didn"t you read about school regulations before entering? Dozing off while in dango cla.s.s equals death."

"What school!? Or rather, when did I enter this school!?"

"Have you forgotten? ... How shocking. Weren"t you the one who said it yourself earlier? "Wow, this is delicious! For this occasion, I"m entering the dango school..."

"I didn"t say thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!"

Ryner had exclaimed some cryptic thing, and while crying, begged, Please teach me the history of dango, and so she"d taught him.

That time had truly been fun.

She"d thought it was delicious, and Ryner had thought so too.

That time of happiness felt so different than from when she ate dango alone.

She"d been surprised at that.

For some reason, that shop"s dango had seemed a bit more delicious than her previous visit.

"......"

And.

The third time she came here was...

Ferris held out her hand, looking at the inedible flour-ish dango.

And, if only Ryner were here, I"d force this dango down his throat, she thought such a thing.

Despite that, that guy was never by her side when it was important.

Honestly, he was truly useless.

Incompetent. Good-for-nothing. Lazy b.u.m. A man who couldn"t do anything at all.

That was why Ferris said,

"... Being alone... It"s dull."

It was a curious sensation.

Even though she should have been used to being alone since long ago.

Ever since she"d been born, in the sword clan of the Eris House, for the sake of living up to their standards of strength, she"d always trained day after day.

She was always alone.

But she hadn"t thought it was painful.

That was reasonable.

That was normal.

And so, she"d never thought that it was dull being alone.

Despite that, if that guy wasn"t here...

"......"

Ferris again recalled what that black-covered man told Ryner.

"Now, let"s go. Our friends are waiting."

At those words.

Ferris"s hand that held the dango shook.

Friends?

Friends, was it?

That was what he said to that fool.

In that case, wasn"t it strange?

Why did that guy look at her with that kind of face?

Your—

Your friend is..."

"... Me,"

She murmured in a quiet and utterly faint voice.

"......"

And then she returned the dango in her hand that she hadn"t eaten to the dish.

It was the first time she"d ever left dango behind.

But right now, she didn"t have much of an appet.i.te.

She felt strange.

It was possible that due to eating such bad dango, her physical health might"ve taken a hit.

Honestly, how much old flour did they use to make this dango?

Feeling strangely suffocated, her chest hurt.

As if to shake it off, Ferris shook her head. Like that, she took out change from her pocket and placed it on the bench.

"... I"ll leave the money here."

And standing up, she began to walk down the street.

From behind, the shopkeeper frantically—

"M-Miss! U-Um, you forgot your backpacks? On top of that, six of them..."

But Ferris looked over her shoulder at that, and said,

"... No, I won"t be carrying those with me. I might be going on a long journey. Could you dispose of those for me?"

"Eh, um, if you"re going on a long journey, isn"t that all the more of a reason to bring lots... It"s troubling if you leave behind..."

The shopkeeper began, but Ferris ignored her and started walking.

And a second time.

She turned around and...

"... Uu,"

She then said.

As she looked over, by her backpacks of dango that were a few steps away, two skewers of dango had been taken out.

"A-All right."

Again, she began walking.

This time, she vowed not to look back.

If she were to carry those heavy backpacks, she wouldn"t be able to pursue Ryner.

"d.a.m.n you, Ryner. Don"t think I won"t find you."

And so, she left Roland.