There was a scream.

Ryner was screaming.

That was because he had seen despair.

Ah, no, it was because he had seen a darkness that was worse than despair.

“…”

He tilted his head as if he were going berserk.

But he had no other option but to face that despair. Although it was an extremely tragic scene, he could not look anywhere else.

So he could only look at the monster before him.

The monster was a human.

It had emerged from Vois Fiurelle’s shadow.

For unknown reasons, Ryner knew her name. Even though Ryner had never seen her before, he knew her.

The G.o.ddess.

The G.o.ddess of Unsurpa.s.sed Vileness.

“…”

How he know her name, Ryner didn’t know. But Ryner knew it.

No, to be more accurate, it wasn’t Ryner who knew but something in Ryner that knew her.

Something in Ryner’s body knew it.

Something that was the cause for the five-pointed star in Ryner’s eyes.

He opened his eyes.

He opened his eyes completely.

When he opened his eyes, the five-pointed star turned red as if he had gone mad and glowed.

Then those eyes turned on the G.o.ddess’s face.

Because she had no eye b.a.l.l.s, there were two holes where her eyes should be. From those empty holes, worm-like creatures crawled out. She had no nose. Her mouth was like a slit. Long teeth hindered her from closing her mouth properly.

But, because he saw this face, Ryner screamed. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was looking at a face that definitely wasn’t human, or like another creature, he wouldn’t have screamed.

Of course, he had other reasons for screaming.

That was because he felt as if his eyes were about to rupture.

His eyes were about to rupture.

My eyes are about to rupture.

It wasn’t only like that. The pain was almost as if his eyes had ruptured and fallen out of his skull.

Then, something almost dropped out of his eyes. It was something that made himself feel extremely uncomfortable.

Ryner wanted to block his eyes so that that thing would not drop out.

He tried his best.

But his hands could not move.

His body could not move either.

He could only endure the pain in his eyes, then…

“…This is outrageous. You were late, G.o.ddess of Unsurpa.s.sed Vileness.”

Suddenly, a voice descended from the sky.

This wasn’t the voice of the G.o.ddess. The voice of the G.o.ddess, who had been abusing the land and fighting Ryner, had been so high-pitched that it almost deafened Ryner.

This voice was very deep and dark, almost like the one that rang in Ryner’s mind, and whenever it spoke, the pain in Ryner’s eyes would peak.

At this moment, the G.o.ddess laughed. That laugh sounded ugly as it emerged from her torn mouth.

Then a worm-like creature crawled out from her shriveled eyeholes. Those creatures looked in the direction of the voice.

“α? … So you’re here. It’s a little inconvenient that you actually appeared here.” The G.o.ddess said.

As if replying to the G.o.ddess, Ryner’s eyes spoke. “The situation is different. The Demon has already betrayed the Hero.”

The G.o.ddess, who had no eyeb.a.l.l.s, widened her eyeholes.

“Oh? …Then this host is the real body, not the Alpha Stigma we met before.”

“Ah, that’s right. This guy has signed a contract with the Demon’s half, the Solver of all Equations.”

Ryner could not understand the conversation. Although he knew that this was something important, the things he knew were extremely limited and so he could not completely understand them. All he knew was that the red, five-pointed star in his eyes and the G.o.ddess knew each other. But who was the host they were talking about?

Unless?

“It’s me?” Ryner muttered softly.

The conversation continued.

Not human, but a conversation between inhuman creatures.

“G.o.ddess,” the conversation continued.

“But why is that fellow still alive? Weren’t you given the task of destroying this world’s Weaver of All Equations? Why aren’t you accomplishing your mission?”

“… I said the situation has changed. For the sake of protecting his life, this guy’s mother disrupted the contract between us. Under the magic of Artofaru, I cannot work normally.” Ryner’s eyes said.

Hearing this, Ryner stopped breathing in surprise. Mother? This fellow just talked about his mother?

Even more mysterious was Artofaru this word. Ryner felt like he vaguely knew about it. This was before he was killed by that weird guy, when he was in a dream-like place, and was under attack from a b.l.o.o.d.y monster with wings.

The woman said a word. In his memory, the woman said a word.

For the sake of saving Ryner and allowing herself to be eaten by the monster that shared the same shade of red as his Alpha Stigma, this woman had said this word when she was about to die.

“Leave this place quickly. Lieral should have been able to completely suppress this monster by using the Arofaru’s power, even so, escape quick…”

It was what they had said. Now, hearing it from his eyes and the G.o.ddess, it was her, there was no mistaking it.

“…That person was my mother? That, that woman was my…”

Suddenly, Ryner felt the impact hit him, almost as if it was smashing his body apart.

It wasn’t literally, though. In reality, nothing had happened to Ryner’s body, only that he could feel something in his body change.

The alarm in his mind went off and a foreign feeling gripped his body. He could feel that he had found an important memory of his. It was a sealed memory.

It was a person’s name.

It was a familiar person’s name.

And it was the name of someone close to Ryner.

It was Lieral Lieutolu and his wife, Iruna Lieutolu.

“…”

Those two people"s name triggered a resonance in Ryner’s mind.

“… That, that’s my parents’ names…”

He mumbled. His lost memories flooded his mind.

These memories were about his parents who he had thought to be gone. These memories were before he was five years old.

They were memories before the memory of standing in the middle of a blood-stained battle ground, staring at the corpses surrounding him.

It was the memories about his kind father who was a n.o.ble of Roland and, with his father, his mother who loved him very much.

Those memories, those long forgotten memories made him want to yell.

Yell as he cried.

But he could not move.

Because of his eyes.

These cursed eyes were controlled by a monster.

The monster spoke, “And now everything has been complicated. All of the legends have been broken. Even Ω who was devouring Eris Litel met some trouble and was absorbed instead.”

Hearing this, the ugly expression of the G.o.ddess became even more contorted.

“Ω was absorbed? Only the Weaver of All Equations has that power. What is going on?”

“I’m not sure. I only know that the monster that ate all the surrounding magical power—Lucile Eris is not of the same clan as the Eris Reed we know. I don’t think that guy is the other half of my host, The Weaver of All Equations. That power cannot be handled by that guy.”

What his eyes said made the G.o.ddess cross her arms as if she was thinking. Even though she had a grotesque face that should not exist in this world, that action made her as if she were slightly humane.

The G.o.ddess spoke again, “Then what shall we do now? If we kill him now, the consequences would be disastrous. For your information, everything can be ended if we kill him. The Mad Hero can eat this Solver of All Equations then consume the Weaver of All Equations. If we do this, the cycle will be completed.”

His eyes protested, “No. The situation has been changed. The power of the Weaver of All Equations has increased abnormally. And this guy is my host… he has lost all love towards the Mad Hero. He is allying with the heroes and fighting with the script. He has started to save him and he wants to pull the fallen hero from the depths of destiny.”

“… Ha, saving that hero? Then, is this guy standing on our side?”

“Yes.”

“Unbelievable.”

“But this is the truth.”

“Wu…”

The G.o.ddess looked towards the sky, using her shriveled eyeholes to look at something that we could not see.

“So, this slave has sent us the information… that everything has progressed beyond what is written in the script? Human.” The G.o.ddess said. Vois nodded.

“Yes, G.o.ddess-sama. I received the news that this person, Ryner Lute, was coming with me to kill Sion Astal.”

“Eh, so this person is at my disposal?”

“I think so.”

“… That’s good. I believe that the betrayal of humanity is wise. You have come to seek refuge with me… because we have a contract. (You cannot lie to me)”

Hearing the G.o.ddess’s tone, Vois nodded. “Please be a.s.sured. Sooner or later, I will present Sion Astal’s head to G.o.ddess-sama.”

“Yes. Then I’ll leave first. I will treat this person as an ally—α, I’m ordering you do to something else.”

“Another order? What is it?”

“Keep a close eye on this person. If need be, lend him strength.”

“Ha ha ha ha… Lend him strength? I am to help a Demon? I see. I understand, this is also good. This world is crazy.”

At this moment, when the G.o.ddess entered Vois’s shadow, she said, “… When is the world not crazy?”

As she said this, the G.o.ddess disappeared.

The rupturing blood red and intensely glowing five-pointed star disappeared at the same time.

The invisible bonds that held Ryner also disappeared.

“…”

But Ryner could not stand up. It was as if the strength in his body had been sapped away.

Reasons. He thought of them immediately.

The reason was because of excessive blood loss. His left shoulder had been cut by a Roland soldier and it had damaged the bone.

And he had lost a dangerous amount of blood.

No wonder.

“… This is bad.” Ryner groaned softly.

He almost fainted. His vision dimmed slowly.

This was really bad.

Suddenly, his brain was unable to handle the large influx of events. His consciousness was slowly fading and his senses dimmed.

Vois’s voice said, “… Even if they faint, it’s fine. I can still handle Ryner’s and Ferris’s wounds. So rest well. If there’s anything, you’ll have to wait until you’re awake.”

Vois’s voice faded.

Losing all consciousness, maybe I’m dead, maybe I died like that.

Even if he was about to die, how could Ryner keep this calm att.i.tude?

Maybe it was because he had remembered something.

He remembered something that was always elusive to him.

He had finally found the answer to that blank s.p.a.ce in his memories, about his family and background, and the reason why he had these cursed eyes.

All of this lingered in his heart. To prevent the memories he had forgotten from being lost again, they lingered in his heart.

“…”

Then he lost consciousness completely.

Time pa.s.sed.

Ferris woke up and opened her eyes.

Immediately, a lovely scene greeted her eyes.

It was the night sky. The pretty clouds moved across it, even though there wasn’t any wind.

Looking closely, she discovered that it wasn’t a cloud but it was herself.

She was jolting and moving.

She looked around herself and discovered that she was on a delivery truck. She was being transported to a place she did not know.

“…wu.” She said softly.

“What is the situation now?” She muttered and tried to sit up. Instantly, her body exploded with pain.

“…”

But she didn’t cry in pain. She carried that emotionless expression, void of character and checked the wounds that was left from the battle with Roland.

Then she discovered that her wounds had been wrapped up. Even the most serious wounds had been bandaged and it had stopped bleeding.

But looking at the wound under the bandage…

“…”

She revealed a surprised expression, softly saying, “…Strange.”

Indeed, this was strange. The wounds that she had were bandaged, so that they would heal, but they were not minor wounds.

They needed treatment such as st.i.tches or using fire to kill the bacteria.

But the wound under her bandages had no burns or st.i.tches. They had been perfectly healed. Even the scar that would be left behind by the wound was not there.

And…

“…”

Ferris narrowed her eyes and studied her surroundings again. What attracted her attention was the delivery truck. She could not see the face of the man who was driving but he was a soldier wearing black armor.

“… Who are these people? Who captured me?”

Roland soldiers? Or another country or organisation?

It wouldn’t be Roland’s soldiers. Their soldiers wore white armor.

But these people seemed to be against Roland.

So who were these people? What situation am I in?

“…”

She tried to remember what had happened before she lost consciousness.

She could barely remember what happened. She knew that she had taken the blow that was meant for Ryner and lost her ability to fight. But they had won that battle and defeated the Roland army. Then, she had escaped with Ryner.

She could only remember that much. They had ridden a horse and fled in the direction of the Nelpha army. Because she had lost too much blood, what happened next was dealt with by Ryner. After that, she could not remember anything else.

What had happened?

“…”

What had happened after that? And what was the purpose of these black soldiers?

Putting that aside, where was Ryner?

Where was that man?

“…”

That thought flashed in her mind and she felt her heart thump hard. She suddenly had a bad feeling and started to get dizzy.

No matter what, that person should be injured badly. For the sake of protecting me. That perverted, shameless foolish man had his brain wired wrongly. He actually allowed his shoulder to be cut deeply in order to protect me, who had lost my fighting ability.

“…”

That wound he had gained was dangerous. If it was not treated to, it could cause the death of Ryner.

If it was not dealt with immediately, it could take the life of a person.

Her mind was filled with this.

“… That b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He left me here and disappeared? Where did he run to?” She mumbled softly. Then she sat up.

She didn’t let out any sound. She sat up slowly, so that she would not alert the soldier who was driving. She sat up, crouched on the truck and studied her surroundings. At this moment, a voice spoke.

“… Ah, you’re awake, Ferris.”

Ferris knew that she had heard this voice before.

Ferris turned to the direction of the voice and looked to her side.

“…”

There was a vaguely familiar teenage boy traveling beside the truck.

He seemed to be fourteen or fifteen years old. He had a mop of black hair, a weird face and a pair of sly black eyes. He was dressed like a witch.

Vois Fiurelle.

This should be this bratty kid’s name.

Due to Sion’s order, she and Ryner had gone on a mission to find the Heroes’ Relics. They had came to a country called Iyet Republic.

They had to bring along this perverted boy so as to cooperate with the largest organization in the country.

At this moment, Vois stuck his head into the truck and asked, “… So how’s the wound? After all, Ferris used a Rule Fragment that has healing powers. If it was used properly, the effects would be good, but if it was used with a body that was incompatible, the person would die… What is wrong? You wouldn’t be destroyed just by wearing a pair of short pants.”

As he talked, he reached towards Ferris’s skirt.

“… What. You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, what are thinking of doing?”

Ferris avoided him quickly. She kicked Vois in the face.

“Wowww”

File:DDnYnD v04 089.jpg

Then, Vois flew off with a happy face. After checking that he had been kicked away, Ferris got off the truck.

The surrounding black-armored soldiers emanated a killing intent when this happened and turned to her. Some unsheathed the swords at their waists. Ferris looked at these soldiers.

“…”

Ferris coldly looked at these soldiers and emanated her own killing intent. A smile lifted to Ferris’s face when she discovered how weak they were.

“…What are you thinking of, Vois? Using these weak sc.u.m to deal with me?”

As she spoke, she reached for her waist.

But. Her sword was gone.

She didn’t know whether Vois had taken it or if it were lost on the battlefield. All in all, she was presently without a weapon.

But this problem wasn’t a serious problem to Ferris.

If there was no weapon, she would just have to s.n.a.t.c.h one.

s.n.a.t.c.h a sword and take Vois, who commanded these soldiers, as a hostage. Then get news of Ryner’s location.

She thought of this quickly and knew that this would be an easy win. The soldiers were weak and victory was in her reach.

So she immediately put her plan into action.

She put more power into her slender shapely body. She did not overly rely on strength. She relied on jumping. A perfect combination.

Then she calculated the air resistance, friction, resistance, weight, speed—she took all these factors into consideration and used them to accelerate her movements until it was the fastest. Faster and more efficient.

More powerful. Her body was moving so fast that the naked eye could not catch her actions—

“…”

At another side, “Alright, Ferris, stop that. I wouldn’t be so foolish as to start a fight with you.” He had not finished speaking when she had s.n.a.t.c.hed a soldier’s sword like she planned, then held it to Vois’s neck.

Vois looked at the sword. The sword that could kill him before he reacted was on his neck.

But the faint smile still remained on his face.

He was still smiling.

“… Ah, Ferris is still as S as before. She wants to kill me because I took a peek at her panties…” Ferris pressed the sword to his throat.

“… Shut up. You’re a hostage now. I have the power to kill you, so reply to my questions honestly.”

The soldier beside them interrupted, “Let go of Vois-sa…”

Before he finished what he was about to say, Ferris sent him flying with a powerful kick. The other soldiers reacted. Just as they were about to crowd her, Ferris raised Vois’s body.

“…Can’t you see the hostage? Your master’s body and head are about to have a divorce.” Hearing this, the soldiers dared not to approach them. Vois raised his hands.

“…She’s joking. Everyone, sheathe your swords~. It’s alright, we know each other. Anyway, you don’t have to worry.” He said.

But Ferris’s sword did not move.

“… I don’t remember having a friend like you.”

“My my, that sentence really gave me a shock, you’re not joking, are you?”

“I’m serious. And you’re saying this nonsense only to buy more time. Answer my question now.” Hearing this, Vois continued to smile.

“Alright, alright. Ask your questions.”

Ferris asked the question that had been troubling her since earlier.

“Ryner… Where is Ryner?”

That question had been revolving in her mind for some time.

Why, why was she getting a foreboding feeling. Ryner had received a fatal blow. For unknown reasons, or maybe a dangerous matter, that had caused him to vanish. She couldn’t think like that.

The more she thought about it, the more anxious and foreboding she felt.

But it was because she was not strong enough. She felt responsible.

Why? What was it that made her so anxious?

“…”

It seemed as if something bad happened.

She could only confirm this.

Yes, something scary must have had happened. She didn’t know why she thought of this. So she narrowed her eyes and glared at Vois and said,

“…Answer me quickly. Where is Ryner and what is he doing?”

Vois raised his brows in surprise, an expression that said, ‘what-is-this-about’ on his face. He said, “… Heavens, it looks like the person Ferris is most concerned about is that… Ah, how annoying, it’s still the same person as before. Your relationship with him is very good. It makes me jealous. Although my preferences are younger, around seven year old Lolis…”

“Shut up, brat. If you continue to speak useless nonsense, I’ll make your life become something like your nonsense.”

At this moment, Vois looked rather disturbed.

“…Wa, you’re for real, huh? Alright, although I’d like to continue this game, my brain might move house if I continue to play. I’ll speak the truth.”

“…”

“If it’s Ryner, then he’s still on the truck. See, he’s right behind you. Relax, Ryner has been seen to…”

He was interrupted by Ferris, who grabbed Vois’s hair and leapt onto the truck.

“Ow…ow, ow!”

Ignoring Vois’s cries of pain, Ferris continued in the direction of the truck.

But at this moment, the agitation in her heart could not be soothed.

Why did she feel uneasy?

An ominous feeling rose in her mind. This thought made her body momentarily gripped her body.

It was bad.

It was really bad.

It was worse than death. It was a monster that seemed like a monster. It was a scary scene of her possessing Ryner, as if she controlled his body.

“…”

Why did this strangely foreboding scene appear in her mind? Why would she imagine such a ridiculous event? She didn’t know.

But it was better now.

At least she could see Ryner and hear that usual, foolish-sounding, sleepy voice and his ranting that would last the whole day. Ah, it was troublesome, that annoying ranting.

So she increased her speed. She rushed towards the truck that Vois had pointed to and jumped up.

“…”

It was like Vois had said, that fool was on the truck.

That mussed hair and the unmotivated face.

This was her companion, Ryner Lute.

This lazy person who talked of not sleeping enough was on the delivery truck. He slept with a silly look on his face.

Ferris could see Ryner.

Ryner was right in front of Ferris.

Then.

“…”

Ferris released Vois and rushed to Ryner’s side. She checked his wounded shoulder. That wound had been obtained when he protected her from the Roland solider. But now this wound was healing.

The serious wound and the one on his rib were like minor sc.r.a.pes. They had become a minor wound. Seeing this, she breathed in relief.

“…”

The worry she had felt, and all those dreadful things that she had been thinking of, and her feelings of unease had never happened.

Looking at this, Ferris could not help herself.

“…”

She could not help herself but say, “…I’m relieved…”

She said this from the bottom of her heart. Then, she smiled slightly and silently touched Ryner’s rumpled hair.

She slowly released the surprised breath she had taken. The worry in her heart dissipated like a cloud.

For unknown reasons, whenever she looked at this silly face, she would feel at ease.

“…”

She found back her calm. Turning her head, as if protecting Ryner, she pulled Ryner to her side and said,

“… Then. What is going on? Vois. What is the situation now? Why are you here? And who are those black-armored soldiers working for? And what you said earlier, you know the term "Rule Fragments"… Don’t tell me you are Gastark’s companion?”

That was right.

Vois had used the term "Rule Fragments" earlier. Ferris called them Heroes’ Relics. And the northern Gastarks called these Heroes’ Relics, Rhule Fragmei.

That was to say, this person’s way of referring to those dangerous objects was the same as the people from Gastark. It was difficult not to suspect him of allying with Gastark.

So Ferris tensed and glared at Vois, then asked, “Answer me, Vois. Are you friend or foe?” Hearing this, Vois smiled. “… Will an enemy help you to heal your wounds? Am I right?”

“Then what are you planning to do now?”

“Yes, what will I do now?”

“If you don’t say, I’ll kill you.”

“Ha ha ha, kill me? You’re the same as ever. I give up. Then where shall I start from?”

“From the beginning.”

“From the beginning?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, I’ll start from the beginning. Ah, right. Should you first explain why you were so uneasy?” Vois asked.

Ferris narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion. “… What are you saying?”

Vois shrugged.

“You didn’t accomplish anything just now. You were frustrated from just now and you were frustrated about what to do, weren’t you? Ryner’s fine. He didn’t meet any trouble. What, you were thinking about this so you didn’t know what to do, right?”

This seemed to offend Ferris and she glared at Vois.

“… What are you talking about? No… Who are you?”

Vois laughed lightly. “… I. I’m me, of course. Ferris, Vois Feurel, fifteen years old, carrying the mantle of the Feurel Organisation and now the leader of the Anti-Roland Coalition—of course I’m joking. After all, Ferris knows all this, right?”

Ferris mumbled, wasn’t this the annoying person who kept lying?

But even though she had recognized his lies, why did Vois had such a smug expression?

“Ha, what I’m saying is all lies. Towards friends, the world and the G.o.ds—did you know? This world actually does not have the existence of real G.o.ds?”

Hearing Vois’s proclamation, Ferris’s expression turned grim.

“…You have some sort of neurotic problem…”

Vois shook his head instantly.

“No no no, that’s not true. If my brain had some sort of problem, then that would be bliss. That way, I wouldn’t have to see this messed-up world lose its direction in its progress. I wouldn’t have to see this world fall into despair. But this is not reality, it is impossible to get any links to relate to the world’s truth. So I can only lie to escape everything. Right? It’s fortunate that lying is my forte.”

“… You… What are you talking about…?”

But she was interrupted by Vois. His eyes were filled with wisdom, as if he wasn’t that brat who like to lie anymore.

“The unease that you are feeling now is true, Ferris. Ryner has been cursed by the G.o.ddess. His special ability—Alpha Stigma has been cursed. But even so, please look at this.”

As he spoke, he reached into his lap and brought out a gla.s.s ball the size of his thumb.

Ferris received it and said, “…What is this?”

Looking at the gla.s.s ball, she could say that there was nothing special about the gla.s.s ball. It was just an ordinary gla.s.s ball. Ferris glared at Vois and said, “… What are you up to?”

Vois said, “Please use this gla.s.s ball to look at Ryner.”

“Gla.s.s ball?”

“Yes, this way, you’ll be able to see many things. I will explain to you in detail after you’ve seen through the ball.”

Ferris looked at Ryner with the gla.s.s ball, half-suspicious and half-trusting.

File:DDnYnD v04 105.jpg

At first, the gla.s.s ball showed a muddled reflection. She couldn’t see anything.

But as Ferris concentrated, the ball started to get a little transparent.

Then.

“…”

Finally it became clearer.

The Ryner that was reflected in the gla.s.s ball still had that lazy expression. Like usual, he remained asleep. A 120% lazy specimen.

But looking at this Ryner, Ferris whispered, without thinking, “… What, what is this?”

Why did this happen?

On the body of Ryner who was sleeping peacefully, was a terrible scene. It was made of thousands and thousands of naked women who were dancing. They were like a crowd of spiders continuously emerging from the main body. These small, naked women ran all over his body. They let out a high-pitched “chi chi” sound. Reaching out their scaly arms, they grabbed on to every part of Ryner’s skin.

It was as if they wanted to forever withhold Ryner’s freedom from him by tightly holding on to him.

But Ryner remained unknowing of this. Yes, without this magical ball, Ferris would never have seen this.

But this.

“…”

The scene the magical ball showed was like a scene from h.e.l.l.

Then, she pa.s.sed the ball back to Vois.

“W-what are those creatures?”

Hearing Ferris’s question, Vois answered, “That is α. You might find this tiresome, but let me tell you everything I know. α is something the G.o.ddesses made in order to destroy an unknown power in Ryner’s body and so they cursed him.”

Ferris aimed the magical ball at Ryner again. The bondings of those thousands of women were revealed again.

“If it’s the G.o.ddess, then what are these creatures imprisoning Ryner’s body?”

But Vois shook his head, "No. These are only the curse the G.o.ddess placed on Ryner. It is not the true body of the G.o.ddess—although it might be argued. But α has the power to kill the Solver of All Equations. In a fight, α has the same amount of power as the G.o.ddess…”

Ferris did not understand what he was talking about.

“Stop. Shut up first. What do you mean by that?”

Ferris knew that Vois wanted to use this interlude to change the topic. But she stopped him.

I don’t want to stop this. There are more important things that could be confirmed later.

So Ferris continued to ask, “You… Tell the truth. Who are you?”

Hearing this, he revealed that childish, innocent smile. “…Didn’t I say this before? I’m a liar. But this. This time, I’m a fool who can even lie to the G.o.ds.”

Looking at the monsters in Ryner’s body, Ferris asked again,

“… These disgusting monsters… G.o.ddess whatever, are they the enemy?”

“… About this, huh. Currently, it seems as if they are on our side.”

“Then, they’re on our side?”

“It should be.”

“Ha. That’s unbelievable.”

“Ah? Then, I’ll change what I said. I… I’m the only ally of myself. I’m only helping you because I can benefit from it. Can you accept this?”

“… Huh. This can be more or less accepted.”

“That’s great.”

“So this means you’ll help Ryner?”

Vois nodded his head. “Of course. But this means you owe me. I won’t help people for nothing—this is what my family taught me.”

But Ferris smiled faintly, “… If one uses the sword to exterminate the person who they owe a favour to, then there’s nothing to owe—this is the teaching of the Eris family.”

Hearing this, Vois’s eyes rounded in surprise.

“Wa, such a violent way, it’s really Ferris’s style, how nostalgic.”

Ferris only shrugged her shoulders and said

“I don’t think so. I see that not many people will lament over you.”

“Ah!? For real?”

“Ah.”

“I see. It seems as if my love is unrequited. After all, towards someone humane like you, even if I reveal my honest side, you wouldn’t feel anything. Ah, there’s no point indulging in these meaningless sad feelings. Let’s return to the topic we were talking about earlier.”

Vois looked around after he said that.

“Even though I said that, this isn’t a good place to talk about business. If we don’t go now, I’m afraid that the Roland soldiers will catch up to us. Let’s walk and talk at the same time. I should explain all the details of the story…”

“Explain in detail, but you wouldn’t tell me your mini plot.”

Ferris said.

Vois laughed, “Of course I wouldn’t say.”

Then Ferris sat down on the delivery truck that carried the sleeping Ryner.

“Then sit tight, everyone, we’re setting off. We’ll be chasing after those Nelphians. Then we’ll meet up with army from the Autonomous Holy City of Ca.s.sla. Let’s go!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the black-armored soldiers yelled, "Yes!"

Then, the delivery truck began to move.

It drove into the darkening night.

When the light signaling the next day broke over the horizon, they had already caught up with the Nelphan soldiers. Even the progress of the army could be vaguely seen.

Ferris softly mumbled, “…Wu.”

She looked at Ryner again. She smoothed out that rumpled hair of his, then she grabbed it and hit Ryner hard. But Ryner did not wake up. He continued to sleep with a satisfied look on his face. He never reacted.

“…” Seeing this, she smiled faintly. Then, she resumed her strict expression.

“… So Vois. Let’s start talking about business.”