"Ryner!"

Kiefer called out.

Like that, she moved to hug him. At her who was pressing her head and soft red hair into his chest,

"......"

Ryner made a troubled face as he looked down at her.

And,

"... Ah, sorry. You were worried?"

He said.

At that, Kiefer shook her head, still buried in his chest.

"I"m so glad that you awakened,"

She said in a voice that was already trembling as if she were crying, at which Ryner"s expression became increasingly troubled.

Then he looked at Ferris to his side. Not even especially looking at Kiefer hugging him, she didn"t appear to be thinking anything.

Following that, he looked at Toale.

Brown hair, gentle eyes. However, those eyes were somewhat cloudy. His eyes weren"t looking at Ryner, but instead at Kiefer.

"......"

A while ago, he"d come out, and so it seemed that he liked Kiefer. But he was backing down for Ryner.

After all, it was clear to anyone whom Kiefer held feelings towards. In the war, Kiefer had announced the truth before everyone in a loud voice.

That she loved Ryner, she said in a loud voice.

And regarding that,

"......"

Naturally, Ryner had been aware.

He wasn"t an idiot. Being treated so favourably, it was obvious. Years ago, back when they were still in the Roland Empire Royal Military Academy, playing around, he"d already been aware.

It was already a long, long time ago. Sion wasn"t burdened with anything. Back when Tyle, Toni, and Fahl were still alive, he"d always been aware of her feelings.

He"d noticed; however, he"d pretended that he hadn"t.

Because he wasn"t qualified to accept her feelings. Because that he wasn"t qualified to accept the feelings of pretty, kind, and earnest girl like her was what he"d thought—

That was why he"d always tried to run away.

He ran away from having to respond to her feelings.

Claiming that he was a cursed monster, he"d always been running away.

Despite that, she"d gone on a journey around the world to solve the mystery of the Alpha Stigma.

In order to save him, she"d gone around the world.

He didn"t know how he should respond to those feelings.

Even without these eyes, he didn"t think he was someone worthy of being considered important by a good girl like her.

At any rate, he was the kind of man that Ferris was always talking about.

A coward, a good-for-nothing, someone who can waste away for an eternity, a worthless man who"s always saying that it"d be good if he could sleep for fifteen years after this—whyyyy would she like someone like me, huh? He thought.

She shouldn"t choose someone like me, he wanted to tell her.

A good girl like her choosing a monster like me...

"......"

He was again thinking those kinds of thoughts; however, he denied them.

Furthermore, he recalled the words Lieral had told him.

"Those eyes aren"t genetic..."

Those words.

Then his father had said this.

"Whether they"re genetic or not—why am I talking about that? If your child"s eyes are cursed, then shouldn"t it be good to protect them with everything you have?"

He said such a thing.

"Being afraid of such trivial things will destroy your life, won"t it? We wanted to use our lives for a purpose. We struggled to become happy. To smile each day, to have a beloved daughter and whatnot, to become happier than anyone else—that was what we cried out for."

He"d talked about those kinds of things.

And Ryner thought a bit about that.

—To have a beloved daughter, to have children, and be smiling happily each day.

He wouldn"t think those thoughts anymore.

He wouldn"t wish that he could be average and live a normal human"s life again.

But his father had insisted and spoken.

His father said that he had a duty to be happy.

Plus, he himself had said something similar to Tiir earlier. To not run away and instead move forward—he"d said that in a self-important manner.

And, what that originated from,

"......"

Ryner looked down at Kiefer.

Looking down at the girl who said that she loved him,

"......"

Ah~, he thought.

What do I do? He thought.

Because he honestly didn"t feel that he was suitable for romance, he had no idea whatsoever how to respond, as he scratched his bedhead hair in a troubled manner.

What might be a good way to react to a girl"s feelings, what he should do, how he should feel—right now, he didn"t know.

That was why he grasped Kiefer"s shoulders, and while pulling her away from him,

"Hey, Kiefer. When you get so close like that..."

He began, but then—ah, will Kiefer be hurt by those words? He realized that. Eh, maybe I shouldn"t say that... He worried about such things alone, and having sensed his thoughts or some such, Kiefer looked up at him.

"Ah, sorry..."

She said, making a slightly lonely expression. She removed herself from him. She was always like that. Looking at the faces of the surrounding people, she behaved exactly as they did.

And Ryner looked at that expression.

Looking at the expression of Kiefer, who was obviously somewhat hurt,

"......"

No, no, though it"s obviously impossible for me to suddenly developing feelings for her... Thinking that, he wanted to groan.

Though he"d always been staying away from people, he wasn"t, as expected, able to come up with the right words to quickly shorten that distance at all.

At that, his father"s "Your eyes aren"t genetic" words—he really didn"t know at all about that.

"......"

Though he"d hurt her slightly, he made a cheerful smile as if he were oblivious as he looked at Kiefer.

Then, in a bored manner, he looked at, to the side, the other Anti-Roland Coalition soldiers who were opening their eyes, and then at Ferris"s face.

Staring at these two people"s faces,

"... Hum,"

Ryner said.

Though there wasn"t really any meaning in his hum. On the contrary, he didn"t know what he was hum-ing about; however, at any rate, he stopped thinking about it.

This wasn"t the time and place for that. On top of that, various things happened last night, and so there was a bit of chaos. Anyhow,

"Toale,"

He said, looking at the prince of Imperial Nelpha.

In response, Toale looked his way, and,

"Yes?"

He said, nodding.

At that, Ryner spoke.

"You"re probably wondering about this disturbance. After all, all of the Anti-Roland Coalition soldiers standing watch suddenly fainted..."

Toale nodded at that.

"Though I was also standing watch, I fainted. As for what in the world happened here, Ryner-san, you..."

In response, Ryner nodded.

"I know. So, could you tell everyone that there"s no need to panic? It wasn"t an enemy that came."

Though Toale made a face at him like he wanted a somewhat more detailed explanation, he immediately nodded, and,

"I"ll tell all the troops. Then we"ll be resuming our march,"

Toale said.

Though Ryner didn"t know where the army was headed and wanted to ask about that, he"d have to first bring the uproar to a close, and so he didn"t ask.

Toale began moving towards the disorderly soldiers.

After affirming that, Ryner looked at Kiefer.

She—

"Ryner, is your body really..."

However, interrupting that, he answered,

"It"s fine. I just need a bi~t of sleep, that"s all."

"Geez, after sleeping for so long, you still need sleep~?"

Kiefer said, smiling, but unsurprisingly, she gazed at him with a worried expression.

At that, Ferris replied,

"Idiots don"t catch colds."

"Hey, it wasn"t that I caught a cold, you know,"

Ryner said, to which Kiefer made a slightly ill-tempered expression as she looked at Ferris.

"Wh~y are you saying such things, Ferris-san, when you stayed by Ryner"s side while he slept, nursing him..."

She began, but her words only made it that far.

Ferris kicked Kiefer"s chest. At that,

"Kya—"

Kiefer said, being blown off while smiling.

Following that, Ferris glared at Ryner, and,

"That woman is spitting out lies,"

She said.

"I"m not your nurse, after all,"

She said such things.

Ryner smiled at that.

"Ah, yes, yes, I understand,"

He said, nodding.

In reality, that Ferris, Kiefer, and Toale had attended to him who was sleeping for so long and wouldn"t open his eyes at all, he knew.

In addition to that, he"d used his power.

In the war, Ryner had killed countless people.

In order to protect his friends, he"d killed an unforgivably large amount of people.

The number possibly surpa.s.sed a million.

Like a demon or devil from a fairy tale, which was still putting it somewhat lightly, Ryner had done that.

Furthermore, in order to unleash that power, he"d taken his mother"s life.

Though his father told him to be happy, he didn"t feel that it was right to accept those words, having taken so many lives.

However, these guys didn"t care about that.

Instead, they focused on him with worried expressions.

Regarding that, Ryner became increasingly troubled. Even though he didn"t think it was right to accept himself as a monster, he was an unknown being that"d killed over a million people, and yet these guys accepted him.

They said that it was all right to be by their side.

At that, Ryner, while wondering what would be the best thing to do, made a half-crying face, and,

"......"

He looked towards the group of Anti-Roland Coalition soldiers who were beginning to quickly move.

It seemed their direction was to the south, from where the sun was rising.

Regarding that, Ryner asked,

"Hey, Kiefer. Where is this group of soldiers going?"

Kiefer, who"d fallen slightly back after being kicked by Ferris, approached him.

"Though I think Vois probably wants to merge with the main army that he brought along..."

She said.

At that,

"Main body?"

Ryner asked.

"The soldiers here aren"t the main army? Didn"t we bring along the entire army of the Anti-Roland Coalition here to fight with Gasta..."

He began, but then Kiefer made a slightly dark expression.

And in response, he remembered.

Back when Ryner was still unsure regarding reality and dreams, thanks to Lieral"s magic, Toale, who"d been watching over him, had also made that face.

If he recalled correctly, back then, Toale had something like this regarding the present situation.

—Gastark temporarily retreated. And after that Vois Fiurelle-kun, as if he had predicted something like that would happen, spun around happily.

At that, Ryner looked at Kiefer, and,

"Then, Vois isn"t here,"

He asked, to which she nodded.

In response, he then asked,

"So, where is he now?"

She responded like this:

"... Um, since Geihlficlant"s territory has been weakened from the war with Gastark..."

"He"s attacking?"

Kiefer nodded.

To that, Ryner spoke in a groan.

"d.a.m.n it, because I killed Geihlficlant"s soldiers,"

He began, but she shook her head as if to deny that.

"Ryner, it"s not your..."

"I know. That"s why I decided to use my power. If I hadn"t, then Gastark... Glovil would"ve killed the Geihlficlant soldiers."

"......"

"But that was Vois"s aim? To attack Geihlficlant, weakened from the war with Gastark. On top of that, to attack using Rhule Fragmei. Well, though he"d said as much from the beginning, that he"d really do it..."

He began, but then stopped himself.

"No, he"s that kind of guy?"

He said, as Toale returned.

"Everyone said that there aren"t any problems. And south..."

However, he then noticed.

He looked at Ryner"s right hand.

Staring at the right hand Ryner should"ve lost,

"Um, Ryner-san."

"Hmm?"

"Your right hand?"

He asked, to which Ryner responded.

"Ah, this? Uh, lots of things happened. Ah~, no, it"s a long story, so I"ll explain while we move. More importantly, that Vois is running around wildly, isn"t he?"

He asked, at which Toale again made a serious face.

Ryner smiled wryly at that, and,

"That was a scary question, huh~? But I have to ask. What the h.e.l.l is going on now? Right now, our... what"s the situation with the Anti-Roland Coalition?"

He asked.

By only what was said, it seemed like the situation wasn"t very good. They"d successfully gotten Gastark to temporarily retreat; however, because the soldiers there were protected by Glovil, they hadn"t been destroyed. They"d reorganize themselves and return immediately, most likely.

Furthermore, Ryner and co. had killed the soldiers of Geihlficlant, whom they were supposed to be allied with. Of course, they hadn"t purposely killed them. Rather, they hadn"t had a choice.

However, that kind of excuse wouldn"t go over well. Surely, the alliance with Geihlficlant had been revoked. If that were the case, then there might be pursuers as well.

That was why they couldn"t stay here like this; however, he didn"t recall Toale or Kiefer saying anything about them having to escape immediately.

More importantly, he was troubled by Vois"s movements.

"What the h.e.l.l is going on now?"

Ryner asked, but to that,

"......"

Kiefer and Toale didn"t answer.

Then Ferris turned his way, and,

"... What"s being kept secret will reach you soon enough anyway. I"ll tell you,"

She said such a thing.

At that, Kiefer said,

"But Ferris-san, Ryner just woke up, so just wait for a bit..."

However, then,

"No, she"s right. We can"t keep it hidden forever."

Toale said.

Somehow, it seemed that something bad had happened.

In response, Ryner looked at the three"s expressions.

"Since you"re trying to hide it from me, I"m a.s.suming it"s something bad regarding me?"

To that, Ferris stared at him, and,

"Yeah,"

She said, nodding.

At that, Ryner asked,

"But even if you try and prolong it, it"ll reach me eventually?"

"That"s right."

"In that case, hurry up and tell me."

"If I thought that it would be that easy, then..."

"Come on, just stop messing with me."

"......"

Ferris became silent at that. Then she looked towards Toale and Kiefer.

Toale opened his mouth; however, she cut him off and then, staring at Ryner, spoke.

"... You"re being called the Demon King,"

She said that.

"No, Vois has been threatening the entire world by saying that you"re a demon that spreads death and destruction."

In response to those words, Ryner spoke.

"In other words, I"ve become a celebrity to the world?"

"That"s how it is."

"The people of this world think of me as a demon, then?"

"Correct."

"Then, Vois is using my name to get Geihlficlant to surrender so that he can steal their territory?"

But Ferris shook her head at that.

"... It seems that, including the women and children, all of the people in the territories Vois attacked have been slaughtered using Rhule Fragmei."

"......"

"And he"s been threatening those that won"t surrender that they"ll be devoured and killed by the demon."

"......"

"But halfway, he suddenly changed opinions. He"s divided the Geihlficlant Empire into parts, established the People"s Republic of Sph.e.l.liyet, and begun to advocate for world peace. No, it"s not that he"s advocating for it. Rather, for the sake of world peace, he"s begun to propose a world-wide ban on Rhule Fragmei."

To such words.

Ryner said in a low voice.

"Oh?"

He said.

And,

"... Even though we killed the people of Geihlficlant with Rhule Fragmei, now we"re talking about world peace?"

"Correct."

"On top of that, he"s using my name? He"s using my name as a threat so that he doesn"t have to use Rhule Fragmei on other countries?"

"Yeah."

"......"

At that, Ryner had to admire Vois"s intelligence.

Rather, if he"d planned this entire scenario out in his head from even before the war with Gastark, then he was the real monster, Ryner thought.

Furthermore, if it came down to it, his hand wouldn"t waver at all.

He"d rise to the top using the shortest route and, furthermore, with the least amount of sacrifices.

It was completely like Sion.

Sion, who, while crying, invaded the southern continent—Vois was doing the same.

But he was using Ryner"s name for that.

For some reason, Ryner became the king of this Anti-Roland Coalition. This was why, in order to do this, Ryner became so.

The same way as Sion did, Ryner established a country, and such things.

"......"

Even though Ryner should"ve been working hard to save Sion, who seemed to be carrying some kind of burden and had become strange, he"d done the same thing as Sion but to the central continent, going around the world.

Furthermore, Ryner was now apparently the Demon King threatening the world.

Though he"d scattered Rhule Fragmei to kill people, he was now dishonourably calling for world peace.

And in his core, Ryner wasn"t like that.

Always wanting to sleep, he wasn"t like that.

Regarding that, he smiled in self-deprecation, and,

"... What"s with this? Seriously, I"m a complete and utter puppet,"

He muttered.

At that,

"If you"re talking about right now, then it seems that way,"

Ferris said.

In response, Ryner looked her way.

"Then are we going south to stop Vois?"

He began, but regarding that,

"No, that"s not it. It looks like Vois-kun has called for us to return to the country,"

Kiefer said.

To return to the country.

In other words, to return to the country that Vois had apparently established at some point.

No, there was nowhere else to go. The Anti-Roland Coalition soldiers who"d originally been Vois"s allies, and the soldiers and people of Imperial Nelpha that Ryner and co. had brought along—there was nowhere else they belonged to.

In that case, if there was a place that would accept them, they had no choice.

Put another way, Vois had prepared such a place. He"d completely established a new country. In that case, that was the only place they could go.

Regarding that,

"... Seriously, our worst enemies are our own allies, huh?"

Ryner groaned.

In spite of what he"d told Tiir earlier, the leader here wasn"t Ryner. Vois was the one who set everything up within the organization, and was only using Ryner as a puppet king.

But, in that case,

"... What should I do?"

He said, murmuring in a voice that couldn"t be heard by anyone else.

From this point on, what should I do? He muttered that to himself.

If he didn"t bother to think at all and instead merely went with the flow of things without a care, nothing would change, he knew.

Because he"d always been like that.

If he left it all to Sion, that guy would take on all the problems by himself.

If he left it all to Vois, that guy would selfishly use another person"s name as much as he pleased.

No, up until now, all his life, he"d been leaving it all to someone else.

Until someone told him that they cared about him, he couldn"t move.

Until someone told him that it was okay for him to live, he couldn"t even see his own worth.

With this, it"s again like that.

With that brat doing whatever he wants, it"s like that, he thought.

And,

"... I can"t hate that brat too much,"

He muttered.

Then, his thoughts began to whirl around.

He shouldn"t just leave all the leadership duties to Vois. In this kind of situation, that was what one was expected to. If they were slightly motivated, that was what was expected of them.

Rather, it wasn"t enough to resign himself to do only that much. That was why he"d become this way.

It was only obvious.

For a guy who had doubts about if it was even all right for him to live, it didn"t seem like he could do such things as save people or lead them.

But,

"... Toale, is there an available horse?"

Ryner asked.

Toale looked his way.

"To go where Vois-kun is?"

At the question, he nodded.

"Toale, you stay here and lead the people in after me. I"ll go meet with Vois first,"

He said, as he began to walk.

At that, Kiefer worriedly began,

"But Ryner, after using your power in that last battle, your body"s still..."

Ryner spoke, interrupting her.

"Just because my body"s not in the best condition doesn"t mean I should go sleep. I"ve always been slacking off. But if I don"t take part in things once in a while..."

After saying that, his thoughts whirled around harder. In what way could he guide things from hereon? How could he take back the reins from that swindling brat? He wondered.

While thinking, he approached a nearby soldier on a horse. Dressed in a black uniform, it was a soldier of the Anti-Roland Coalition—one of Vois"s subordinates.

Looking up at him,

"Hey, could I borrow your horse?"

Ryner said.

The soldier looked down at him with cold eyes. He stared scornfully down at Ryner, who was supposed to be the leader of the Anti-Roland Coalition, and,

"What reason do I have to abide by your ord..."

Ryner didn"t pay attention to what he was saying and instead pulled the soldier down from the horse.

The soldier glared at him, and,

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

He said.

He swung a fist up at him.

Ryner moved to stop that fist; however, before it could connect, Ferris struck at the soldier from behind.

With only that, the soldier lost consciousness. He collapsed onto the ground.

At that, Ryner looked at Ferris.

"Oh, thanks..."

As he was saying that, Ferris then let out a kick at Ryner"s face.

It was incredibly quick.

It was quick to the point where he couldn"t dodge it at all.

In response to the kick that was unleashed with all its strength,

"Guah—!?"

He said, as he was sent flying.

However, she paid him no heed and got on the horse. With a satisfied mm-hmm, she nodded. And looking down at him with eyes a hundred times colder than the previous soldier"s,

"What are you doing, blockhead? Hurry up and find a horse,"

She said such a thing.

At that,

"Ehhhhhhhh~"

Ryner said, looking up at her with an exasperated expression.

"But that was the horse I was just eyeing."

"So?"

"Um."

"Now, hurry up. We"re going to where Vois is, aren"t we?"

As she said that, Ryner nodded.

"Yeah."

Kiefer then rushed to the fallen soldier, and,

"A-Are you all right!?"

She said.

Then, to the other Anti-Roland Coalition soldiers,

"Um, everyone"s ally fell from his horse..."

She said, rushing over as she did.

It seemed that there was a dispute between the Anti-Roland Coalition soldiers and Ryner"s group.

No, well, as Vois was likely still making use of Ryner"s name and power, there wasn"t any real harm in adding more problems to the pile.

However, there was no question of whether or not it was fine to create a dispute.

"... This is bad, Kiefer."

As he said that, she looked up at him with a cheerful face, and,

"It"s been like that from the begiiiining, since you became motivated, Ryner,"

She said.

"Buuut, since it"s for the best that you"ve become resolute, I"ll allow it~"

At her words, Ryner looked up at Ferris, who looked triumphant over having gotten a horse, and,

"Even though, after stealing a horse, I just got kicked away in the end?"

He said, to which Kiefer laughed.

"That"s just because you haven"t become resolute enough~"

"Wh~at"s that supposed to mean?"

As Ryner retorted that, Toale brought along two horses from the Nelphan forces.

He also seemed to be surprised as he looked in their direction.

"Honestly, I can"t even leave for a couple of minutes without everything erupting into chaos."

"Uwah, now we"re being lectured,"

Ryner said, to which Kiefer went "This is bad~" and again laughed.

While smiling wryly at that,

"Then, should we get going?"

Ryner said, taking a horse from Toale and straddling it. Then, to Toale,

"Iris, Arua, and Kuku?"

Toale nodded, and,

"I"ll bring them along,"

He said.

At that, Kiefer began,

"Then, with Iris-chan and the others, I"ll also..."

But in response, Toale for some reason lightly hit Kiefer"s back.

"Kiefer-san, please go with Ryner-san as well. I"ll be fine here by myself. There are plenty of excellent Nelphan soldiers with me here,"

He said.

Regarding that, Kiefer"s eyes widened in curiosity as she looked in Toale"s direction.

Toale smiled, and then for some reason looked up at Ryner, who was making a bored face, and,

"I"m too soft-hearted, aren"t I?"

He said.

Ryner smiled at that.

"I"ve thought that since we first met."

Toale smiled, and then looked around.

Looking at the Anti-Roland Coalition soldiers dressed in black uniforms,

"But this isn"t a place where soft-hearted people can survive, is it?"

He said such a thing.

"There are enemies all around us, huh? If Ryner-san intends to change... I should try and work hard for a bit and stop being a soft-hearted person, shouldn"t I?"

He said, as his typically calm face tightened slightly.

Ryner looked down at Toale with half-closed eyes, and,

"If you"re saying that you haven"t worked hard, then neither have I."

Then Ferris spoke.

"Because you"re trash."

"Nooo, that"s not the point."

"So you finally feel like acknowledging the truth..."

File:DDnYnD v08 147.png

"Ah, geez, just shut up already, you,"

Ryner said, as Kiefer straddled a horse.

"All right. I"m good to go as well,"

She said.

Ryner nodded at that.

"Then, Vois is..."

He began, and then,

"Wait, where is Vois..."

Then, Kiefer spoke.

"The People"s Republic of Sph.e.l.liyet. I think the name likely came from a town in the center of Geihlficlant called Sph.e.l.lilans, though..."

"Kiefer, do you know where it is?"

"Yes. It"s quite close to here."

"Then show us the way."

"Understood,"

Kiefer said, as her horse began to move.

At that, Ferris said,

"Trailing a woman from behind, you sneakily approach..."

"Like I said, you need to shut up already,"

Ryner said, to which Ferris laughed with a fufufu, before her horse began to move as well.

Ryner then looked at Toale one more time, and,

"Then, we"ll be going. You..."

"Please leave everything else to me. I"ve checked the map as well. Judging by its location, I think we should be able to head there without being attacked by Geihlficlant soldiers."

At such words, Ryner smiled wryly, and,

"Everyone"s so well-acquainted with the map, huh?"

He said, to which Toale smiled.

"Though it seems Kiefer-san knew from the beginning, I studied it while you were asleep, Ryner-san."

"Huuuh. You"re as diligent as ever."

"Are you going to become the same from hereon, Ryner-san?"

At those words,

"Meee?"

Ryner replied with an annoyed face, before,

"Well, I"ll be going for a bit,"

He said, commanding his horse to gallop. Then he immediately caught up with Ferris and co.

Moving to her side,

"... Hey, Ferris."

"Hmm?"

"Um, could you listen to me for a little bit?"

"What is it?"

"About what Vois did."

"Mmm."

"... Um, about how I"ve become the Demon King who"s killed countless people~, and whatnot, and that indecent ban on Rhule Fragmei and other stupid stuff like that..."

"Mm-hmm."

"Well... Well, Sion"s definitely..."

Then, Ferris spoke.

"Naturally, Sion will hear about it."

"... That"s definitely the case, huh?"

"But he won"t believe it. You, who sleeps from morning until evening without working, would go around killing people and stealing Geihlficlant"s territory? You"re not capable of such a thing,"

She said.

However, regarding that, Ryner made a slightly vulnerable expression, and,

"But I killed countless..."

"Be quiet."

"But—"

"Did you think that when Sion began invading other countries?"

"......"

"Did you hate him for it?"

"... No."

"Then, you"re the same as him. Getting worried over pointless things,"

She said.

Ryner let out a quiet laugh at that, and,

"... Pointless things, huh? Some~how, lately, you"ve been encouraging me a lot..."

He said in a quiet voice so that she couldn"t hear.

Despite that, in response, she—

"Well, I"ve grown to hate you."

"Eh—"

"Yesterday, you selfishly entered my tent as you pleased. Like a pervert,"

She said such things.

Furthermore, for some reason, her face became red as if embarra.s.sed.

"Haa? Tent? What are you talking about?"

"What we"re talking about."

"Huh~? What the h.e.l.l are you..."

Then Kiefer turned towards them, and,

"Heeey, what are you two talking about amongst yourselves and leaving me out of?"

She said.

At that,

"Why I"m with this pervert?"

Ferris said.

In response, Ryner looked in awe at Ferris who, unsurprisingly, wasn"t looking at him.

"I"ve got no idea what Ferris is talking about. Something about me entering her tent last night... Well, Ferris is always saying random things, but... more importantly, Kiefer."

"Yes?"

"That Sphe... phewha..."

"The People"s Republic of Sph.e.l.liyet."

"Right, right, the People"s Republic of Sph.e.l.liyet—hey, ah, that name has part of the name of Vois"s native country, the Iyet Republic... Anyway, um, how long will we be moving?"

She then looked up at the sky, making a face as if she were calculating the distance.

"If we hurry, until evening..."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Then, let"s hurry it up a bit,"

Ryner said. He kicked the horse"s abdomen. The horse began to speed up a little.

And while running, he thought about the earlier topics.

For example, how he should move forward regarding the matter with Vois?

What should he do about Vois, who was using his name to establish the People"s Republic of Sph.e.l.liyet?

How could he get along with Tiir and the Cursed Eye bearers?

What should he do with Kiefer, Ferris, and his friends?

And Sion—

"......"

As everything he"d known had continued to suddenly change, there were several things to think about.

If he stopped his legs for a little while, it"d be too late for so many things—he was tired of that.

No, with the truth before his eyes, he"d lost several things.

Because he hadn"t worked hard.

Because he"d resigned himself and stopped moving.

Because he"d continued to run away.

And so, from hereon, things would be different—if he made a mistake in his judgment, his friends would be hurt, lost, and cry.

"... It"s fine, already. Even if I hate working hard."

While saying that, he continued to think.

What would be the right thing to do from here?

Just what would be the right way to move in this world?

With those things turning over and over again in his head,

"Ah, geez, this sucks,"

He complained from the bottom of his heart.