It was always like this, Ryner thought.

It was always like this for him, he thought.

Just when he"d finally met his father again.

Right when he was finally able to meet the father that he"d forgotten all this time, the worst scene developed before his eyes.

"......"

Before his eyes, a monster came to devour and kill his father.

A monster like him who possessed cursed eyes—

With black eyes in which a glowing red cross appeared, called the Iino Doue, a monster used those eyes to devour and kill his father.

And his father was no longer moving.

That monster—the monster named Tiir Rumibul gouged out his father"s heart and absorbed it through those eyes.

And his father was no longer moving.

Fallen to the ground, his father was still.

"......"

Ryner couldn"t do anything about it.

It happened so quickly that he couldn"t do anything.

Nevertheless, he stared down at his father"s motionless body.

No, on the contrary, he looked at the father he"d lost so quickly, absorbed by Tiir"s eyes.

"......"

He screamed.

He let out a scream that tore through his throat, before swinging a fist.

He swung his fist, using the right arm he"d received from his father, at Tiir"s face.

However, it didn"t connect.

As Tiir had devoured his father"s magic and, furthermore, his body, his power had been enhanced and so his movements were too quick for Ryner to follow.

At the same time, Tiir"s arm reached out in his direction and grabbed his neck with unbelievable strength. Applying enough pressure that it seemed like he could tear off his neck,

"... Calm down, Ryner,"

Tiir said something like that.

But Ryner didn"t stop. After seeing what had just happened, he didn"t care if he ended up breaking his neck in the process, and so continued to struggle.

"d.a.m.n it,"

Tiir said, groaning.

And he let go. So that Ryner wouldn"t die. So that his neck wouldn"t be broken, Tiir let go of him and took a step back. Like that, Tiir moved away from Ryner"s collapsed father.

To that,

"Dad!"

Ryner said, before moving to lift his fallen father up.

Tiir spoke.

"Wait, Ryner! I haven"t killed him yet! Don"t approach that monster!"

He exclaimed in a frantic voice, to which Ryner glared at Tiir and,

"That monster... The monster here is you!"

He shouted.

He called Tiir a monster.

And at that, for a moment, Tiir"s expression became clouded.

But Ryner didn"t care about that.

Avoiding Tiir"s pursuit, he stood over his father as if to guard him, and as he did so,

"... Dad!"

He called out one more time.

But there was no reply.

However, he desperately continued,

"... Hey, this is a joke, right? You"re stronger than this, right? Aren"t you a genius at magic? Then, then this kind of thing..."

Interrupting those words,

"No, he"ll die here,"

Tiir said.

And then he moved.

As expected, Ryner"s eyes weren"t able to follow Tiir"s movements.

But in response, Ryner changed the purpose of his eyes. Rising in the center of his eyes was a glowing, iridescent pattern that traced the coil of magic within Tiir"s body.

The eyes that were supplying Tiir"s body with magical power, significantly boosting his physical capabilities—he grasped it.

Tiir was behind him, moving to devour his father"s body.

Red crosses blazing, he opened his mouth wide.

And to that,

"Like I"d let you!"

He shouted. He turned around. However, he wasn"t capable of stopping Tiir"s movements. His strong suit was magic, but even aside from the fact that that guy"s Iino Doue would absorb it, he didn"t even have time cast a spell.

And so,

"......"

Ryner used his body as a shield to defend against Tiir"s attack. If Tiir wanted to attack, he"d have to get through him—

However, there,

"Nnn—"

There was a familiar woman"s voice close to his ear.

Suddenly, a blonde woman appeared before him.

It was Ferris.

She swung her sword down at Tiir.

In that instant, a high-pitched metallic sound rang out. Ferris"s sword had hit Tiir"s mouth.

However, Tiir"s mouth easily stopped the attack there.

"......"

No, in reality, Tiir"s mouth had been cut by Ferris"s sword; however, it immediately healed.

Having devoured his father"s magic, Tiir"s regenerative abilities were abnormally powerful, so perhaps there was nothing that could harm him.

Looking at that, Ryner thought.

This is bad, he thought.

Right now, right here, how to stop Tiir—he couldn"t think of anything.

Nevertheless, he readied his posture—

Tiir spoke.

Furthermore, Ferris also spoke.

On top of that, the father he"d thought to be dead up until then, at the same time,

"Idiot, do you intend to die!?"

They all shouted at him.

"Eh?"

In response to being yelled at by everyone at once, he accidentally let his voice slip.

Moreover, Tiir scowled.

"d.a.m.n it, as I thought, he didn"t die..."

He swung a fist at his father, which the latter, previously exhausted, grinned at, and,

"Iino Doue bearers are certainly my natural enemies, but... if you alone could kill me, would the Priests need to create so many of you?"

He said that kind of thing.

And then his father disappeared.

Then, a short distance away, he reappeared.

Dusting dirt off of his clothes, he picked up his fallen briefcase.

Already, by that point, the hole that Tiir had left when he"d thrust through his chest and the missing arm he"d given to Ryner had been restored.

Regarding that, Tiir spoke.

"... Monster."

His father—Lieral Lieutolu—smiled and replied.

"I won"t deny that."

"I"ll kill you."

"That"s impossible for you alone. Shouldn"t your leader... that Torch Curse girl already understand that?"

"......"

"Hit it right on the head, did I? Then was your aim to prevent me and Ryner from making contact?"

However, over there, Tiir spoke. Sharply narrowing his eyes in which the red cross floated,

"... No, you"re to die here."

Lieral shrugged.

"That, I understand."

At that,

"Hey, Dad!"

Ryner said, to which Lieral looked at him kindly.

"You don"t understand what"s going on?"

He said what was on Ryner"s mind, at which Ryner nodded, fed up.

"Geez, how am I supposed to understand!? You died in front of me and then came back to life—I thought I was gonna have a heart attack."

"Ahaha. Ryner loves me..."

"Just die!"

Ryner groaned, to which Lieral laughed again. Then, looking at him with a slightly somber expression,

"... But you shouldn"t be so emotional over my death and resurrection. After all, my life is almost over. After all, she... Iruna died just now..."

His words stopped there.

And with a smiling and yet somewhat sad face,

"No, well, that"s enough. Now then, moving on, shall we wrap things up here?"

He said.

Then staring at Tiir,

"Iino Doue bearer. For what purpose did you come here?"

He asked.

Tiir looked as if he were going to answer.

"......"

But over there, Lieral stamped his foot.

And he said one word.

"CHIGASHIRA,"

He murmured.

That was a spell from Roland.

However, Lieral didn"t recite the incantation.

He didn"t draw the magic circle.

Nevertheless, even though he only said one word, the magic activated.

Ryner"s eyes looked at that structure. Looking at it, it wasn"t something he could imitate at all.

Those complicated magic equations coiled around the inside of Tiir"s body.

And then, Chigashira easily activated.

It activated behind Tiir.

Tiir immediately reacted, but it was a second too late. Stakes rose from the ground, as Chigashira pierced Tiir from behind.

"Gah..."

Tiir moaned, as he tried to remove himself from the stakes. But Lieral stamped his foot a few more times. More stakes appeared, as they stabbed through Tiir"s entire body.

"......"

The wounds instantly healed. Using the magic he"d devoured from Lieral, the wounds instantly healed.

But, it seemed he"d reached his limit.

Ryner could see that the magic within Tiir was being drained away.

File:DDnYnD v08 065.png

At that, Lieral laughed.

"If Chigashira is activated from the ground, you can"t devour it, it seems? Nooow then, shall we see how long your regenerative abilities will last~?"

He said, to which Ryner spoke.

"Hey, Dad, don"t tell me you plan on killing him..."

Lieral shook his head at that.

"Not at all. He"s a necessary person with his capabilities, after all. However, it"s best to weaken him so that he can"t follow me..."

Saying that, he stamped his foot against the ground once more.

From behind, another stake flew at Tiir, which he somehow evaded.

And then after lowering his body, he lunged at Lieral.

But in response, Lieral laughed.

"Haha, you can"t win. You don"t have any power left, do you? Your advantage was that you"d devoured the Sleepiness Cloud that I"d unwittingly created. But that power is already no more."

He said that and then took a step forward.

Upon that, Tiir scowled and took a step back.

At that,

"See now?"

Lieral said and laughed again.

Tiir glared at that face, looking increasingly annoyed.

"... I understand that much. I can"t win this anymore."

"How honest of you."

"But don"t get any closer to Ryner. You"ll drive him mad. I"ve been given orders to..."

"Protect him from me?"

"Correct."

"You"ve got it all wrong, you know. I love Ryner."

"That"s the worst quality."

"Haha."

"For certain, to Ryner, you"ll..."

He began, but then Lieral spoke.

"But that"s enough. What I wanted has already been completed. While you were frantically trying to attack me, everything was completed. I—I"ve already found my subst.i.tute,"

He said, laughing.

Then Lieral looked over in Ryner"s direction.

No, rather, for some reason, he looked over at Ferris, who was by Ryner"s side.

Regarding that,

"... Ryner,"

Ferris said.

He looked at her while she asked,

"What"s going on here?"

However, Ryner didn"t answer her question.

Or rather, he had no idea why Tiir had chosen now to appear or even why he"d then attacked Lieral.

But then Ferris,

"So, that blond-haired man is your father?"

She asked that sort of thing, to which Ryner looked at her with some surprise.

"How"d you know?"

"Didn"t you call him "Dad" just a while ago?"

"Ah~"

"Furthermore, he has the same listless, half-asleep air as you, doesn"t he?"

"Eh~, is it really like that? He and I are alike?"

Ferris nodded.

"You"re alike."

"Heh."

"However, it seems that he"s far stronger than you."

"... Seems like it, yeah. Apparently, he"s some kind of magic genius?"

"Hum. Well, you"re still undefeated as the pervert master."

"You"re still saying that kind of thing..."

Ryner said, looking at her with an astounded expression.

However, thanks to that pointless conversation with her, he"d calmed down a bit and began to think over the situation.

Well, even if he thought over the situation, he still had no idea why Tiir attacked Lieral.

However, for whatever reason, it felt like neither Lieral nor Tiir was Ryner"s enemy. It seemed that they were both fighting to help him.

"Geez, it sure is troubling to be so popular,"

He said while smiling ruefully.

However he looked at it, the worst of the situation had pa.s.sed. Tiir no longer had the power to kill Lieral. Ryner could see that with his eyes of the Solver of All Equations.

And it didn"t seem like Lieral intended to do anything to Tiir.

In that case, it seemed that this fight was over.

That"s why Ryner once more wondered, What the h.e.l.l is going on here? That was what whirled around inside his head.

However, in front of him, Lieral spoke.

He suddenly turned around, and,

"... What"s this—it seems that something"s coming from behind... Could it be that more Iino Doue bearers are coming here? So you weren"t alone?"

He said.

In response, Tiir groaned.

"d.a.m.n it, exposed faster than I thought..."

And again he lowered his body.

At that, Lieral,

"Behind are two people. And from the right there"s also someone with the Will Heim. I see. You"re serious about killing me here. Then, you were the decoy to let your friends prepare,"

He said that sort of thing; however, in spite of that, he didn"t seem tense at all.

Regarding that,

"... Hey, Dad, it"ll be bad if you don"t escape before Tiir"s friends..."

Ryner tried to say, but Lieral interrupted.

And,

"I see. The Torch Curse girl truly foresaw my death. She saw that I would die here, then."

In response, a smile arose in Tiir"s face.

"That"s what I"ve been saying from the beginning."

"You"ll kill me here?"

"That"s correct."

"The Cursed Eye bearers who were born to kill me all gathered here for the sake of accomplishing that?"

"That"s correct,"

Tiir said, nodding.

And to that, Lieral made a troubled face as he directed his gaze towards the sky.

"And you"re saying that this scene—this was seen by that Torch Curse girl?"

He said, muttering it as if expecting somone to hear his question.

But there was no answer.

No response came down from the sky.

At that,

"Some~how, there are a lot of things strange about this... that Torch Curse girl kills me? For what reason? Why in the world was that seen by her... no, well, it"s fine. I"ll have to meet with her in person,"

He said, before moving.

He took a step forward.

Then his figure disappeared. At the very least, his movements couldn"t be seen by Ryner.

And then in the next instant, he was standing behind Tiir. Only Ferris was able to react.

"Ryner,"

She urged, upon locating Lieral"s figure.

From behind, he grabbed the collar of Tiir"s neck.

To that, Tiir, in a panic, tried to look over his shoulder.

"Don"t move or I"ll kill you."

"Then go ahead and kill me."

"Ah, geez, you certainly are troublesome,"

Lieral said while letting go of Tiir. Then, he kicked his back.

And,

"Ryner,"

He called out his name, looking over at him.

Then, while looking at him, he smiled, and,

"You should come home sometime."

He said something like that, to which Ryner asked,

"To where?"

"Well, where, I wonder."

Then, Tiir swung his fist while speaking.

"Are you trying to escape?"

Lieral laughed.

"I"m escaping. You see, you made a mistake. You Cursed Eye bearers gathered here to kill me, correct? Then, the number of guards protecting the Torch Curse girl has decreased, hasn"t it? My, my, this is bad. Your precious leader"s life is in danger—"

There, Tiir shouted,

"d.a.m.n you!"

He swung his fist up at him. However, as expected, it didn"t connect.

While laughing,

"Now then, now then, where she did arrive before? I"d best kill her before you return..."

Lieral said, as he suddenly fell back. Jumping back, his figure warped, and in the next instant, he moved back a great distance in one go.

Staring at that,

"Hey, are you really going?"

Ryner asked, to which Lieral nodded.

"Sorry. But we"ll meet again."

"When?"

"Soon?"

"Like I said, when exactly?"

However, over there, Tiir called out.

"Kepel! Fire magic at me!"

As if in response to those words, a sash of light was released from somewhere and moved to strike Tiir.

However, Tiir devoured it.

Opening his eyes wide, he devoured the sash of light.

In that moment, magic power flowed through Tiir"s body. As his entire body was supplied with that power,

"I"ll kill you!"

He said, as his body"s acceleration burst. In one movement, he erased the distance between him and Lieral.

But while looking at him with a calm expression,

"... If I take care of you again, you"ll bounce back immediately,"

Ryner"s father said.

Tiir was just before him.

However, his father held out his briefcase. He opened it. Papers spilled forth from within, moving to swallow up him and Tiir.

However, his father was no longer there.

It seemed that he"d disappeared within that cloud.

On top of that, the structure for how he"d disappeared wasn"t visible to Ryner"s eyes.

Honestly, it seemed that his father had stopped being human.

His body already wasn"t that of a human"s.

That was how he was able to so easily disappear.

That was how he had unbelievable power that exceeded that of a human"s.

Naturally, he"d had to pay some sort of price. What that was, Ryner wasn"t able to see.

"......"

However, at any rate, it seemed that this fight was over.

Ryner looked at Tiir, who"d missed the one he was to devour. Staring at the black-clothed Cursed Eye bearer who stood there, dumbfounded,

"Looks like it"s already over, huh?"

He asked, but Tiir didn"t turn around.

Regarding that, Ryner shrugged, before looking around. He could see people like Tiir—men with black hair and wearing black robes who"d gathered here at some point.

They were clearly all Cursed Eye bearers.

Two of them had the Iino Doue. One of them had eyes with abilities that Ryner hadn"t seen before.

They gathered around Tiir.

"Did you kill him?"

They asked, to which Tiir shook his head and spoke.

"No."

"Then he escaped?"

"Yes."

"But the leader said to kill that monster here..."

"The future changed. Don"t you understand that as well?"

"However—"

"The situation"s become problematic. To Ene, that man..."

"Her whereabouts were exposed!?"

Tiir shook his head again, and,

"I don"t know. But if it"s him... In any case, we should return as well. We need to receive Ene"s instructions again."

Then he turned around.

Staring at Ryner,

"Ryner,"

Tiir called, to which he responded.

"What is it?"

"Won"t you come with us?"

At that, Ryner smiled and answered,

"I don"t get what"s going on at all, so no way."

Tiir smiled as well.

"Isn"t that right? I didn"t think our reunion would go so poorly..."

"If you think that was bad, then you should"ve done a proper greeting first,"

Ryner said, at which Tiir made a slightly troubled face.

"No, there wasn"t quite the time for that. I"ll explain on the way back. Come with us,"

He said, holding out his hand.

Ryner stared at that, before immediately turning to his partner.

"Well, what do you think?"

To that,

"You don"t know?"

Ferris said.

He nodded as well.

"Something like that. At least, I have no clue what just happened here."

"That"s because you"re an idiot who doesn"t understand anything."

"Is that right?"

"It"s the truth."

"Well, I guess it"s true that I really don"t know what happened here..."

Ryner said, staring at Tiir as he contemplated.

Judging by pieces of Lieral and Tiir"s conversation, it seemed that Tiir had come here to prevent Lieral and Ryner from making contact.

However, Ryner didn"t understand his motivations behind that at all.

Tiir had said something at that time.

"You"ve been deceived. That"s not your father, Ryner."

Furthermore, he"d said something else.

"My leader said that he"s the greatest threat... that he"s gone mad, more so than anyone else. So if he isn"t killed... If he isn"t killed right now, our important Ryner will be lured away."

Of course, Ryner had also noticed a few things vaguely off about his father.

No, rather than vaguely, from start to finish, he hadn"t seemed human at all. Somehow, his entire body was composed of magic, and he hadn"t died even after losing his heart.

But he didn"t look like he"d gone mad.

At the very least, he didn"t look like the mad monster Tiir spoke of.

I mean, for some reason, Lieral—Dad expressly came to save me.

He expressly came to tell the me who"s killed so many and even killed Mom that he loved me.

He insistently told me things like how I was loved when I was born.

But Tiir came to kill that father.

And something like "So that our important Ryner won"t be lured away, I have to kill him right now."

So that he wouldn"t be lured away.

So that he wouldn"t be lured away by Lieral.

"......"

Of course, he was taken in by his father"s words. Each word from him broke down the wall around his heart.

Him, who"d believed himself to be a cursed monster beloved by no one.

To him, who"d believed himself to be a monster who could only hurt others, he"d said such things—

"Seriously, since I was such a hesitant and troubled guy..."

He muttered under his breath.

Well, after suddenly being told he was loved like that, it was difficult to properly grasp matters.

But that"s why, for sure, if Dad—if the man calling himself Lieral was an imposter and came here to lure me away with kind words, I"d say he succeeded, he thought.

If that man calling himself his father was an imposter—for example, if he was a monster born as part of the G.o.ddesses, who"d appeared in the war against Gastark, in order to deceive Ryner.

"... Hold on, I haven"t been hurt, have I?"

Ryner muttered, groaning slightly.

After all, his heart had already been swayed.

Being told that he was loved when he was born and how it was okay for him to have been born swayed a bit of his heart, again breaking down part of the wall that stretched around it.

But still, the idea that Dad was an imposter—it"s possible, he thought.

After all, the G.o.ddesses hated the Demon.

After all, the G.o.ddesses hated Ryner.

Why did they hate him? Why the G.o.ddesses and whatnot existed, etc., he didn"t know yet.

When he"d taken in the Lonesome Demon"s power, he"d gotten a hold of some information, regarding how the demon wanted to save the Hero—that was all he knew.

But the G.o.ddesses hated the Demon.

That was because the Demon wanted to kill all of the G.o.ddesses.

To save the Hero, he would kill the G.o.ddesses.

To save the Hero, he would kill the G.o.ddesses.

To save the Hero, he would kill the G.o.ddesses.

The demon that resided within Ryner"s mind continuously muttered that.

So he"d understood immediately that part of the G.o.ddesses had appeared and attacked, sending an a.s.sa.s.sin after him.

He"d noticed immediately that they wanted to kill him. They, from over there, came to kill him.

And if that was the case Lieral as well—if the man calling himself his father was a monster created by the G.o.ddesses—then Tiir"s actions made sense.

Otherwise, it was possible that Tiir had other reasons for wanting his father dead.

"... Well then, this is troubling. Seriously. Who the h.e.l.l is the enemy?"

Ryner muttered.

He already understood that Tiir wasn"t the enemy. After all, Ryner knew that Tiir was the same as him, as a Cursed Eye bearer who"d been persecuted by humans, who carried the same sorrow.

However, if Tiir wasn"t the enemy, did that mean that his father was a lie after all?

Or if that wasn"t it, then had something gone astray?

"......"

Ryner stared at Tiir.

Tiir, holding his hand out—

"Now, hurry and come with us,"

He said one more time, and then,

"Or else we"ll force you to?"

He said that sort of thing.

However, Ryner shrugged, and,

"You"ll force me to?"

He asked, at which Tiir smiled faintly.

"For disobedient children, we"ve learned to rely on force to take them along."

Ryner laughed at those words as well.

"Oh, oh, how scary~. But I have allies everywhere here... do you really think you can take me along by force so easily?"

"I think so, yes."

"Ehhh, you"re pretty confident in yourself."

"Of course. You already understand, don"t you, Ryner? Compared to humans, we who possess G.o.d"s Eyes..."

Ryner interrupted him and spoke.

"But these humans have been persecuting us all this time, haven"t they? When it comes to how dangerous humans can be... Don"t we Cursed Eye bearers know best?"

"......"

Tiir became quiet at that. As he narrowed his eyes, the cross within them began to glow a bright red.

Naturally, he intended to take Ryner along by force.

But Ryner smiled cheerfully, and,

"Well, just hold on for a bit. I"ll decide for myself whether to go with you or not."

As expected, Tiir looked troubled at that.

"But—"

He said, to which Ryner shook his head.

"You don"t need to explain. Besides, your explanation would only cover whatever benefits your situation, right? Likewise, if Dad were here to explain, he"d only cover what benefits his situation. In that case, I"ll decide for myself what to believe,"

He said.

Tiir stared at him; however, he lowered his hand that he was holding out.

And his expression became slightly uneasy.

That guy hated humans and was completely self-a.s.sured in that, but he was kind to Cursed Eye bearers.

That, Ryner had already seen many times.

People from Gastark had killed the Cursed Eye bearers Lafra and Pueka, who were dear to Tiir.

Thus, Tiir was likely being sincere.

That he came here to save Ryner—he was saying that from the bottom of his heart.

However, what Tiir believed and the truth were two different things. No, from the beginning, he wasn"t sure of what the truth was.

In that case, how should he move forward?

Ryner asked himself that.

And then,

"... Hey, Ferris."

He said, again speaking to his partner beside him.

He spoke to the ever-reliable and violent woman.

She turned to him with her eternally emotionless face.

"What is it?"

To that, Ryner asked,

"Um, I want to ask you something again."

"Hmm."

"Before, how did you know that that blond-haired man was my dad?"

Ferris looked at him with a curious expression.

"You haven"t noticed yet?"

He said, to which Ryner smiled, and,

"Just answer the question. How did you know that Lieral—that blond-haired man was my dad?"

Ferris answered,

"His face was..."

"... Like mine?"

"Right."

"But don"t you think that"s weird? Looking at that guy, he was clearly only in his twenties, right? More specifically... even if I called him my dad, there"s no way you"d think that by looking at him."

However, as expected, she easily responded to that question.

"That"s simple. In other words, you"re the pervert family who, for the last eight years, to married girls..."

"Hey, okay, okay... that"s enough already... so? Why do you know the truth? Have you met with that guy before?"

He asked, looking at her as she returned his gaze, before she said something strange.

"Hmm. No, he appeared in my dreams before."

"Haa? A dream?"

"Yeah. As a pervert like you, that blond-haired man forcibly entered my dreams to deliver a message."

"A message?"

"Mmm."

"He specifically entered your dreams to give you a message?"

"That"s right. He"s quite the nuisance."

"Ehh... so Dad... um, ah, no, that blond-haired man came to you?"

He asked.

At that, a faint smile appeared in Ferris"s expressionless face as she spoke.

"He told me about how you were a crybaby."

"Ah? What"s with that?"

"Furthermore, that you were an idiot and garbage and thick-headed."

Ryner looked at Ferris with half-closed eyes, and,

"You"re lying, aren"t you?"

He said, to which Ferris—

"Of course,"

She said.

Ryner smiled at that.

"So I"m a huge idiot, huh?"

"Always."

"No, well, even if I"m always one... uh, then, well, that"s true."

"So you"re saying that it"s the truth."

"Ri~ght... Well, that"s enough. So, leaving that aside as the truth—well?"

Ryner asked.

"What was the message?"

In response, Ferris said,

"Just that."

"Haa? So you"re seriously saying that he entered your dreams just to say that and then left?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Liaaar."

Ferris shrugged, and,

"Well, in the end, since you"re a piece of trash who"ll cry if left alone, I have to stay by your side—he told me that as well."

"......"

"He asked that I would stay by your side,"

She said that.

To that,

"... Heh,"

Ryner said.

Then, staring at her,

"... So how did you reply to that?"

He asked.

And in the moment he asked that, he regretted it. After all, there was no need to ask such a question.

But she looked up at him. Staring at him with her usual emotionless face,

"Do you want to hear?"

She said.

At that, Ryner smiled wryly, and,

"No, no. Forget about it,"

He said, shaking his head.

After all, he didn"t really need to hear it.

After all, he could already take a guess as to what her reply was.

Her reply was clear by the fact that she"d come here.

At any rate, Ryner was an Alpha Stigma monster. He was a monster who could go berserk at any moment and kill everyone around him.

On top of that, he"d already tried to kill her once.

As an Alpha Stigma bearer who"d gone berserk, he"d tried to kill her.

In spite of that, she always stayed by his side.

Always staying next to him and swinging her sword and beating him up.

"......"

No, it wasn"t just her.

There were all of his friends here.

Even though their chances of winning the war against Gastark were almost non-existent, Kiefer, Toale, and Iris and co. were idiots who came with him to this battlefield.

They believed in a monster like him who didn"t know how to help, and leapt right into the battlefield with him.

After that much, the answer is already clear, Ryner thought.

No matter how much I run, I don"t want to be alone anymore, Ryner thought.

He wasn"t sure when exactly this kind of troubling thing, being surrounded by friends, had happened.

He could no longer cry and call out in loneliness or try to run away, what with all these friends here.

And he wanted to help his friends—that was what he thought.

If his power could be of any use to them.

Continuing to be abused as a monster, cursed for his eyes—nevertheless, for Ferris"s sake, for Sion"s sake, for his friends" sakes, he wanted to be of use to his friends. That was why he was born into this world, he now thought.

And so Ryner spoke.

After looking at Ferris with a faint smile, his expression changed into a wider one as he spoke to Tiir.

"... As I figured, I"m not going with you guys. My friends are right here."

Then to that, Tiir said,

"You"ve been decei..."

"I haven"t been deceived. Or if I have, it"s fine. I"ve decided for myself that I like living like this. Being deceived isn"t hurting me,"

Ryner said.

In response, Tiir stared at him with a pitying and sad expression.

"... Alpha Stigma bearers are always like that. Because of that kindness, humans betray them and they lose control."

However, to that, Ryner shrugged.

"I don"t possess the Alpha Stigma anymore."

"But you"ll still be betrayed."

"That"s why it"s good to be different."

"... Don"t overlook things."

Ryner smiled at Tiir"s words, and,

"If that"s the case, then let"s do this together. That"s what Lafra entrusted me with. So..."

And so, he held out his hand.

The same way Sion did for him.

The same way Ferris did for him.

The same way Kiefer, Milk, Toale, and his friends did for a dangerous monster like him, Ryner did for Tiir.

Holding his hand out towards the heart of the wounded Cursed Eye bearer, Ryner spoke.

"Become our ally. If you can come to think the same way I do, then you should become the ally of those I care about,"

He said that.

Tiir stared at him with a surprised expression.

"... What are you talking about, Ryner? Us, allies with humans? That"s impossible. You should know that very well..."

Interrupting him, Ryner spoke.

"You don"t know until you"ve tried."

"I know."

"No, you don"t. Rather, up until now, I hadn"t done anything either. In reality, I was lonely, hurting, and running away from everything. But that was no good. The more I tried to run away, the more hurt I became. So, already—if you can"t endure it, then shouldn"t you stop trying to run? Really, you as well..."

However, at that moment, Tiir"s expression changed. Glaring at him—

"... I what?"

"......"

"You couldn"t be suggesting that I desire to be with humans, could you?"

File:DDnYnD v08 097.png

"At the very least, you desire coexistence..."

However, Tiir laughed. Looking at Ryner as if he were a fool, he laughed, and,

"Ha, haha, what are you talking about? Humans have rejected coexistence. Don"t you remember how Lafra was killed? Pueka? They wanted to believe in being kind to humans. They wanted to believe in being kind. And in the end, what happened to them? Who it was that killed them?"

"That"s..."

"Two people who were still children? No, Alpha Stigma bearers are always killed as children. Without knowing anything, they"re killed. So, Ryner. Do you know? Do you even know exactly how many of our friends they"ve killed?"

"That, I..."

"You know and you say to coexist with humans? They who laugh as they kill us—you"re saying to coexist with those unsightly humans?"

To that question,

"At least with my friends..."

Ryner tried to say, but stopped.

After all, those words wouldn"t reach Tiir. With the wall that lay around his heart, firmly in place, those words wouldn"t reach him. He was the same as him. Running away from everything, he was the same as him.

That was why Ryner stopped his words.

And how he could reach Tiir"s heart, he wondered. How he could get him to have faith, he wondered.

In a troubled voice,

"... It appears that you"ve already been misled by Lieral Lieutolu"s words,"

Tiir said that sort of thing.

"Well then, what should we do now? How can we take you along..."

Ryner frowned at Tiir, and,

"Sorry. I"m not going with you,"

He said.

To that, Tiir narrowed his eyes in sadness.

"No matter what?"

"Yeah."

"You believe in the words of that monster—Lieral Lieutolu—more than mine?"

Ryner shook his head at that.

"No,"

He replied.

And thinking of Lieral"s—of Dad"s—kind expression, he spoke.

"Back then, whether or not that blond-haired man was really my dad, I still don"t know."

Tiir, with a slightly troubled expression, stared his way.

"Then why?"

Ryner answered that.

"That"s not the point here. I believe in something different. I believe that we can stay by the side of humans..."

However, interrupting him, Tiir spoke.

"The idea makes me sick."

"Is that so? But isn"t good to be surprised once in a while?"

"That"s all fake."

"If that"s the case, then fine. I"m happy here,"

Ryner said.

Then, looking at Ferris,

"This person is a close friend of mine, in addition to my other friends. And yet I"m still fine,"

He said that.

In response, Tiir, as expected, looked at him with a sad expression.

"......"

Silently, he stared at him.

Slowly, Tiir"s surroundings became noisy. People started to awaken. As the Sleepiness Spell cloud that Lieral had cast disappeared, people started to awaken.

And so the each of the other Cursed Eye bearers spoke.

"... Hey, Tiir, what are we going to do?"

"We should leave this place before the humans wake up."

"Just take him along by force. We can talk on the way there."

"Ene"s worried. We don"t have any more time to waste here."

They said those kinds of things.

Nevertheless, Tiir said nothing and silently stared at Ryner.

With his cursed eyes.

With that red cross, he stared at Ryner.

"......"

Then, he turned around.

And,

"... I understand. Let"s go back."

He started to walk.

He was going to leave.

Ryner didn"t know what he could do. He didn"t have the words needed to open Tiir"s heart.

Nevertheless,

"Hey, Tiir,"

Ryner said.

Tiir didn"t turn around.

However, Ryner decided to continue.

"Ahh~, um, I know that at this point, you can"t believe in humans, but... but, well, it"s like this. We can change humans, don"t you think? We Cursed Eye bearers... well, not Cursed Eyes, but as you call them, G.o.d"s Eyes. If, uh, we can be not discriminated against for these G.o.d"s Eyes—shouldn"t we try for that?"

"......"

"I"m not saying that we can change the entire world. But at the very least, we can be by the side of the humans who don"t fear us. To not be hated—shouldn"t we try for that?"

"......"

"Hey, Tiir. You know already, don"t you? No matter how much you run, this world is full of humans. Our side isn"t so small either. If that"s the case... If it"s like that, shouldn"t we all try to get along, huh? So together with me..."

Then, Tiir turned around.

"Be quiet,"

He said.

"Please be quiet,"

He said that.

"Why are you saying those kinds of things? Even though all that"s left within humans is hatred... in spite of that, you would say such things? Have you forgotten what they did to you? The way humans looked at you with those eyes—have you forgotten those eyes, full of contempt?"

He asked.

And to that,

"I remember,"

Ryner replied.

There was no way he could forget. After all, he was continuously scorned as a monster. After all, as a worthless existence, he was continuously feared as an unsightly monster.

And he stopped coming into contact with people. Because he was afraid that he would get hurt if he did, he stopped moving forward.

Nevertheless—

"But I hate being alone even more."

"......"

"Besides, my friends are good guys."

"......"

"So I want you all to be with us. So come with us? Lafra wished for it... Hey, do you know what Lafra told me before he died? To save you. To save you all—that"s what he told me. Together with humans, he wished for the sad Cursed Eye bearers to be saved..."

In a low voice, Tiir spoke.

"Wasn’t Lafra also killed by those humans?"

Ryner nodded.

"Yeah. That’s right. But Lafra wouldn"t have resented them for it. Am I wrong?"

"... Ha, haha. Already, you’ve become ill. You Alpha Stigma bearers who believe in humans are always betrayed..."

"Betrayed or not, that’s not important. Stop running away already. Because you might be killed, you’re running away. But at least here, things are different. Against all odds, a Cursed Eye bearer like me has been accepted, and even though it’s pretty troublesome, I’m hailed as their important king. And there"s an Alpha Stigma bearer named Arua too who"s fighting with us even though he"s just a kid. He"s cooperating with humans and fighting with us in this war. He’s still a brat, and yet he already has a human fiancée, you know? What do you think about that?"

"......"

"I’m not saying that there isn’t any discrimination, and I know there"s still a chance I might be betrayed, but... but is that any reason not to cooperate? Because you don"t want to be hurt, you"ll run away? Don’t you think that"s just a bit weak? Well, I’ve always been running away, so I don’t have the right to say that, but..."

Ryner said.

Tiir stared at him. And as a light smile arose in his face—

"... Weak? We’re weak...? Ah, haha, I see. I understand. Are you trying to provoke me? However, that won’t work, Ryner. I don’t see how I’m confining myself with this, which is what you’re trying to say to me..."

However, in a slightly louder voice, Ryner interrupted and spoke.

"Ah, geez, this isn’t working out. Then, how can I persuade you?"

"......"

"What can I do to make you my ally?"

"......"

"Lafra wished for that. After that, I"ve always been thinking about it. If going along with you all would be for the better? If going along with humans would be for the better? I can’t say what the correct answer is. I can’t say what the perfect solution is. However, that Cursed Eye bearers and humans don’t have to hate each other, that coexistence is necessary—that’s what I think. Humans have many opinions, so don"t you think there"s a way? If it doesn"t seem possible, then we"ve got to think about this with everything we"ve got."

"......"

"Geez, this is reaaaaaaaally bothersome. If humans and Cursed Eye bearers were to be together—I think that would be good. Maybe things aren’t enough right now, but we just need to endure for a bit. So come with us. If you think I"m wrong, then come with us and see for yourself. Not running away... well, ah, um, what is it? That wasn’t said very well, but anyway, this is really troublesome and just hurry up and become my ally already!"

He shouted those words.

And to that,

"......"

As expected, Tiir was silent.

No, he looked at Ryner as if Ryner were a complete idiot—he looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, and then suddenly turned around. With the other Cursed Eye bearers accompanying him, they started to leave the area.

And in that instant,

"As one would expect from Ryner. Great at explaining things to people,"

Ferris said, to which Ryner looked at her with half-closed eyes and spoke.

"... Sion would’ve done a better job, huh?"

"You aren’t him. However, now, now, you put your heart into that speech."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Mmm."

"Don"t just nod like that..."

Ryner said, letting out a light sigh. He watched the disappearing backs of Tiir and the others.

He watched the Cursed Eye bearers who were quickly escaping from the awakening humans.

And then again, he thought of the late Lafra’s words.

The moment of his death.

Just before he was killed by the Lightning Beasts of Lir’s—of the Gastark soldier—he spoke.

Knowing that he was about to die, that guy smiled kindly.

"I"m truly glad to have met you."

He said that.

"You"ll definitely keep your promise."

He said that.

And then, he died.

Smiling like that, he died.

Entrusting the other Cursed Eye bearers with Ryner, he died.

He thought of Lafra’s expression, and then staring at Tiir’s back,

"... He pushed a seriously bothersome task onto me, huh?"

He muttered.

Looking up at Ryner,

"... So, is it all right not to go with those guys?"

Ferris asked that sort of thing, to which Ryner looked at her.

"Hmm~? Did you want me to go with them?"

Then to that,

"It doesn’t matter either way. I’m only interested in the level of dango the Cursed Eye bearers make,"

She easily said such a thing.

Really, the last time Ryner left, she’d spoken much more forcefully.

Yet she said that.

"......"

To that, Ryner didn’t know what to say. And how she talked about Tiir’s group, he thought about that.

Rather than talk about the prejudiced Cursed Eyes or about humans, she swung her sword and always talked about dango, dango—an annoying woman. If Tiir were to get to know her, then his opinion of humans might change, Ryner thought.

To that,

"You really like dango, huh?"

Ryner said, to which she nodded.

"Of course."

"Of course?"

File:DDnYnD v08 111.png

"Mm-hmm. Of course!"

"... Hum,"

He said, laughing.

He looked up at the sky.

The sky was starting to brighten up, as night faded away.

And with the sun’s rays, he could start to see the Anti-Roland Coalition army and his Nelphan allies.

Furthermore, it became noisier. The soldiers who were supposed to be standing on guard had fallen asleep as well and were now confused over just what had happened to them.

While thinking about how I don"t wanna explain, he looked up at the morning sky one more time, and,

"... I really hate having to get up and do work in the middle of the night,"

He muttered.

At that,

"So, in the end, what were those guys fighting over?"

Ferris asked.

By "those guys", she meant Tiir and Lieral, it seemed.

However, Ryner only shrugged in response and didn"t answer.

After all, in the end, he didn"t know what had happened here.

Really, he couldn’t tell what the relationship between Lieral and Tiir and the other Cursed Eye bearers was.

On top of that, they’d caused a disturbance, but in the end, they left before explaining anything.

"They don"t seem to be on good terms, huh?"

He said without thinking.

"No, well, Dad is... Tiir didn’t take my hand, huh? ... Well, I’m starting to think that was pointless. I didn"t get a whole lot of information."

At those words, Ferris at his side—

"You’re just a flea, so anything you think is pointless."

"Yes, yes, that"s nice."

"So is it really fine that you didn’t go? That’s what I’m saying. Previously, your father too—didn’t they all go back to their leader? If you’d gone with them, you would’ve at least learned their reasons..."

Ryner directed his gaze from the sky to Ferris.

And then behind her, he recognized Kiefer’s figure, and looked at her expression as it became surprised.

Furthermore, he could also see Toale. Ryner-san, he called.

Those two began to run towards him.

Ryner smiled at that. And again, he looked at Ferris.

"... My place is here,"

He said.

"I still don’t know what the situation is, but... there’s still the war with Gastark and Geihlficlant, isn’t there? Let’s not get sidetracked from that."

As he said that, Ferris looked his way.

"......"

For some reason, she smiled.

Her face was normally expressionless; however, she smiled happily.

And to that, Ryner smiled wryly back, and then looked in the direction of Kiefer and Toale, who were running towards them.

With his cursed eyes.

However, reflected in those hated, sleepy eyes, were his friends.