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Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (Light Novel) - Volume 1, Chapter 3: The Calm Signalling the End
Volume 1, Chapter 3: The Calm Signalling the End
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
“Hey, Ryner.”
“Mm?”
“Don’t you think Sion’s complexion is like, pretty bad recently?”
“Is it? I haven’t been paying attention, so I dunno.”
“Hey, you! We see each other every day in our team meetings!”
“I actually have a secret to tell you… See, I always sleep through those.”
“I already knew that! It’s not a secret that you sleep straight through every day! Ugh, but that’s besides the point. Sion’s complexion is really bad. I wonder if he’s worried about something?”
“Who knows.”
“Hey, one of your friends is troubled about something. Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Mm-mm. Won’t meddling just make things worse for him?”
“Ah… well… yes, but…”
“Also, even if he did want help, favors for men are troublesome, and I’m sleepy, and I feel all sluggish.”
“Huh!? That was your real motive? Geez! This is what I get for thinking you’re a decent guy for even a second! Bam! You make me look like an idiot!”
Ryner and Kiefer had met to discuss group matters in a narrow club room. It really was small - just the six people in their group completely filled it up, and two people talking as loudly as they were had almost the same effect.
In spite of their conversation, Sion himself was also present…
But those two were always like that. Sion didn’t particularly mind. He smiled bitterly. “I see, so my complexion’s that bad right now?” He asked Tyle, Tony, and Fahle, who were seated around him.
They all nodded simultaneously.
“What’s wrong, Sion?” Tyle asked. “Is something on your mind?”
“If it’s something we can settle, then by all means, discuss it with us. Anything to end this,” Tony said.
Last was Fahle. For some reason, her eyes were sparkling. “They’re riiight. Your problem isn’t love, is it? Is it love? Is it?”
Ryner’s voice drifted over from the other side. “Ah! Kiefer, bad! You shouldn’t hit people!”
“What!? If you usually don’t care about a man’s complexion, then that means you’re always looking at girls’, right?”
“That’s not what I said! Besides, you’re the one who’s always looking at men, you heartbre… gyah, ow, ow! You tryin’ to break my neck? I lose I lose I lose, help… ah…”
It was just their usual husband-and-wife routine. Sion turned back to Tyle and the others. “I just haven’t slept well recently… for about the past month. But that’ll be over soon, so you don’t need to wor—”
Falhe cut him off. “You found a lover, didn’t you? You found a lover, didn’t you? Ooh, so that’s why you haven’t been sleeping ♡”
Was love the only thing running through this kid’s head…?
In an instant, Tyle’s expression became dangerous. “Seriously, Sion? You got a head start without telling us about it? What d’ya think, Tony!?”
“We cannot forgive this. Death to all traitors!” Tony said, slamming his fists on the table.
Their misunderstanding was getting dangerous. Well, that was pretty normal around here though…
“Ahaha. You’ve got it wrong. I just have a lot going on. Sorry about making you guys worry, I had no idea my complexion was that bad. I’ll go wash my face.” Before he was killed, Sion rose from his seat.
There was a watering hole just outside. He washed his face there, letting the cold water rouse him. “Ah… but really, these sleepless nights never seem to end… It’s pretty rough…”
Sion recalled his nightly activities as he mumbled to himself.
Certainly, he’d been in the library until late last night. The second he’d returned to his dorms, he lay down. But as soon as he was drifting off, a sound in his ceiling jolted him awake. It was loud, quite unlike the sounds made by the trees as the temperature shifted.
Sion sat up in a hurry to study the ceiling, but nothing had changed. And yet… something was clearly lurking up there. Sion sat up.
What was it? Was someone there? Even though he hadn’t felt anything amiss when he’d entered the room…
Was it another assassin!?
“Shit,” Sion mumbled. He hadn’t suspected it this time at all. That made them a far stronger opponent than past assassins.
His opponent this time was attacking from within the school.
“Bring it on,” Sion said. He smiled at his hidden enemy like he didn’t mind that there was someone in his presence at all. He tensed his body, preparing himself for a fight.
A single wooden plank separated from the rest, and a lone girl appeared from the ceiling’s crawlspace.
“Ta-da! It was Iris all along!” She said, full of energy.
For some time Sion was dumbfounded. Then exhaustion drowned it out. He sighed. Preparing himself for a fight had drained the rest of his energy, and he lay down a second time. “I see… Iris. When you cut off your presence like that, you always win, don’t you…”
Iris didn’t seem to care. Her smile seemed to sparkle, and she dropped from the ceiling. “Hey, mister. You can’t sleep. It’s nighttime, nighttime. Hurry, hurry!! Iris was looking forward to this!!”
“Huh? To what?”
“Iris knows!” She said, sparkles reaching her eyes. “When night falls, you turn into a beast! My sister told me so. Show me, show me you beast! Show me!”
“…Beast, you say…”
He tried to tell her that human men didn’t turn to beasts and run through the night, but the next day… the ceiling rattled once again just as he thought it was about time to return from the clubroom to his dorms. Once again, a plank separated. She peered down on him horribly expressionlessly.
“I see you never showed your true form yesterday. I thought I’d swoop down and kill you as soon as you burst with lust and became a beast to attack Iris, but…”
“Huh!? Ferris, you were up there last night too!?”
“Only for five minutes. Go to sleep. It’s time for me to eat this dango I just bought. I don’t have time for you.”
She scooted back into the crawl space, leaving a gap in the boards… and then two eyes , void of expression entirely, stared at him. Monitored him. The sound of her chewing on dango wafted down…
Then, the day after that—
“Ta-da! It’s Iris!”
The days dragged on into weeks. He’d be killed from a lack of sleep before an assassin actually came for him…
But the human body’s ability to adjust was a scary thing. Once he got fed up talking to Iris, he got the precious few hours of sleep his body needed when it was already late enough that it was more of early morning than night.
It was horrible for his body, but… well, what could he do.
Once he was done washing, he wiped the water from his face with a cloth. “Maybe today I’ll finally get a good night’s sleep,” he mumbled into the rag.
It’d been a month since Ferris and Iris had begun monitoring him. Just yesterday, Iris had noticed someone stalking him. Right now, Ferris and Iris were off monitoring him instead of Sion. They couldn’t pull the curtain quite yet - that too was a timing problem. Still, they finally had them by the tail.
Sion’s eyes narrowed. They reflected ambition, hatred, and a strong conviction. A smile rose to his face. “I won’t run away. From here up, I’ll advance.” His enemy had been hidden right in front of his eyes all this time, but he’d drag them out and strike…
A sudden shriek resounded.
‘Gyaaaaaahhh!!! Am I gonna be killed!?”
That was Ryner’s voice.
Sion turned towards Ryner’s room and assumed a fighting stance.
Ryner spoke hurried, like he was cornered. “Sion, Kiefer’s gonna kill me! Do something!”
Sion smiled bitterly at Ryner and Kiefer. She was on top of him, wringing his neck. “Who’s a heartbreaker!?”
“You two really are close. You’re almost like a married couple,” Sion said.
“Huh!?” Kiefer’s face reddened on cue. “W-w-w-what’re you saying, Sion? It’s not like that! A m-married couple, you say… isn’t that embarrassing? ♡ Isn’t it, Ryner?”
Kiefer sounded so horribly happy, but she was still choking him out.
Her response was easy to understand. A smile naturally found its way to Sion’s face.
Ryner gurgled at him. His mouth was bubbling and he was starting to lose consciousness, but that was pretty normal, so he should be fine.
Soon, the rest of their group assembled around Sion.
“Do it!”
“Make him faint!”
Sion looked to his friends. Time passed comfortably here with them. Words like ‘conspiracies,’‘traps,’‘plots,’ and ‘hatred’ just didn’t exist here.
Neither did war, nor death…
It was peaceful.
Their horribly complacent everyday lives… they were at the point that it was getting anticlimactic.
Lately, Sion was having those kinds of thoughts as he looked at them. Maybe his ambitions and revenge were in actuality meaningless…
His dream of getting revenge on the siblings and father that persecuted him and becoming king himself was a dream that’d require a great many human sacrifices.
Was a dream like that… really necessary?
Wasn’t everything already equal here?
His friends could laugh, fight, and make up with each other. What could he possibly want more than that?
If things were peaceful as they were, then there was no need to get revenge and become king to change the country, right?
Sion looked from his friends to the sky through the window.
“The place I need to aim for is…”
Suddenly.
“Sion!?”
Several of his friends in another group’s expressions changed as they saw him. They came running over. “S, Sion! Is something happening!? This is bad! Really bad!”
Flustered, Kiefer and Ryner quieted. Though Ryner was just having spasms at that point…
Sion looked to his friends who’d come running over. He spoke in a mellow voice to try and calm them down. “Calm down, Roll. What happened?”
Roll didn’t calm down in the slightest. Neither did any of the others who’d come with, and they all started talking at once. “What should we do, Sion?”
“W-we might die!”
“Why? Why is this happening!?”
Everybody was shaking and talking over each other, and Sion couldn’t grasp the situation. “Be quiet!” Sion shouted at them.
“……”
Everyone around him quieted.
Sion didn’t say anything for some time. He looked at each of them, then nodded once. “Alright, Roll, only you can talk. The rest of you just need to shut up. What exactly happened? What’s the situation?”
He spoke in a different tone from his pleasant boy act. This was his true nature.
Roll was overpowered and spoke with a wavering voice. “Well, um… it’s that Estabul has invaded Roland. We’re going to war again. War… what should we do, Sion, sir? We’ll have to go to the battlefield as soldiers…”
“You’re kidding!?” Fahle shrieked.
Tyle and Tony went pale.
Without saying anything, Kiefer balled up Ryner’s clothes in her hands. He was still passed out.
It was a shock to everyone. Obviously, right?
Once again, this country’s king had seen fit to lead them along a path littered with wars.
Sion closed his eyes.
He understood now. Peace never existed in this country. It had just fallen ill under its incompetent king…
If that was the case… Sion would become king. No matter how many people he had to kill, no matter how many sacrifices he had to make…
Sion opened his eyes. Ryner had regained consciousness. No, perhaps he’d never lost it at all.
His eyes were mellow and apathetic as always, but somehow in this moment, they reflected a deeper emptiness than Sion had ever seen in them before.
---
And so the curtain rose on another war.
The reason for it was horribly simple: the Kingdom of Estabul had invaded the Roland Empire’s territory. That was all there was to it.
That was just the official stance, though…
In truth, Estabul was facing an uncharacteristically rainy season. Its rivers had flooded and now their people were faced with famine. Roland saw the opportunity to take Estabul out in one strike while it was weak, completely annihilating it once and for all. Estabul thought the famine would be as good a reason to capture Roland as any - the harvest this year was better across the border, after all.
Without ever considering helping each other in this time of need… the flames of war were reignited.
---
Nobody said anything.
At around this time, even if he tried to take a nap, the hallway was filled with chatty students walking this way and that. But today, everyone was quiet.
Among the unnatural silence, Ryner was the only one who said anything. “Well, that’s just how it is.”
His room was completely barren aside from a bed. Well, perhaps that was an overstatement. Buying furniture was a pain, so Ryner never got any. But Kiefer was always leaving little trinkets around, so rather than completely barren, it was more that it was disorganized. Of course, Ryner seldom cleaned…
Ryner stared up at the ceiling. Thinking about it was a pain. “Guess I’ll sleep…”
So he did.
It was the kind of thing where it didn’t matter even if he did think about it. He wasn’t like Sion. He didn’t think he could change this country. Besides, he didn’t want anything like that at all. Wanting was a pain.
Besides… the world had been overflowing with death since the first time he looked at it. What good would it do to want to change it?
Ryner closed his eyes.
“Ah… this really is a pain in the ass… geez, everyone’s way too worked up about it. What makes them think they want to own another country, anyway… they’d be happy if they just took some more naps.”
What a thing for a lone person to mumble to himself.
Suddenly Kiefer’s voice carried in from the door. “Right…”
Ryner’s motivation and ability to be surprised had died long ago, so he didn’t react.
“Hey, Ryner…”
“Mm?”
“How are you this calm? It’s pretty amazing. Aren’t you scared? We’re gonna have to fight in this war, you know. We might die. How can you be so calm?”
He opened his sleepy eyes half-way to look at Kiefer. She was frightened. Shaking in fear.
Obviously. She’d undergone hypothetical training for war, but training and the real deal were different. Peace lasted for seven years, and now death was fast approaching them.
Seven years of peace was a really long time.
“Hey, Ryner. I think it’s good to say you’re scared when you’re scared, just like it’s good to say you’re tired when you’re tired. How are you always so calm? I’m always… always…”
Kiefer began to cry, right before his eyes.
“I’m scared. People die on the battlefield. But more than anything, I’m…”
She stopped, hyperventilating, hesitating. But she continued.
“I’m most scared of you dying, Ryner.”
Silence enveloped the room. It seemed to stretch on forever.
Ryner was able to understand the significance of her words. War should have been enough to make her tremble in fear, and yet what she was really shaking with was worry…
Even so, he didn’t reply. He couldn’t reply. He wasn’t qualified to reply. He was never qualified to reply to something like that, from the very moment he was born…
It was his eyes.
“……”
Because of the brand in his eyes.
Kiefer abruptly continued, flustered. “Ah, um, no, it’s not like that, okay? It’s not like that… but your grades are the lowest out of the whole school’s… on the battlefield, you’d die way easier than me… so… so I want you to run away, Ryner. Just you. Your grades suck, so if you tried to drop out now, they’d definitely let you quit. That’s impossible for me… right? So…”
Ryner sat up, tired and mellow as always. He sighed. “What a pain. You worry too much, Kiefer. I won’t die. I have no intention of dying. ‘Cause it looks like it’d hurt, right? So I won’t do it. I don’t like pain.”
Suddenly, a third voice added his piece from behind Kiefer.
“Right. Dying would be stupid. We won’t die in this war. Kiefer won’t, Ryner won’t, none of our friends will,” Sion said. “I’ve made preparations so that we’ll all be in the same troop, sent to a remote region unlikely to be touched by war.”
Sion entered the room. He was soon followed by Tyle, Fahle, and Tony.
“See, Ryner? Kiefer? I’m glad we all chose to follow Sion,” Tyle said, smiling like always.
“Seems like it was a good call,” Tony said. “Sion’s a pretty amazing guy. However he got it, he actually has that kind of power in the military.”
Fahle gripped Kiefer’s shoulder reassuringly. Kiefer’s tears had already dried, but her eyes were still beet red. “We won’t die, okay?” Fahle said. “There’s still lots in store for us yet.”
“See? Aren’t you glad you followed me?” Sion whispered to Ryner.
Ryner shrugged, just looking half-asleep as always. He looked to Kiefer. But for some reason, she alone still had dark eyes…
---
Ferris and Sion were in the Eris estate’s gigantic gardens.
Iris was also there, playing fetch. Ferris would throw the ball, and then Iris brought it back. Ferris threw the ball unthinkably far like it was the most normal thing in the world, and Iris just kept running it back joyfully, as if there was nothing wrong with the picture.
“So, how’s the plan going?” Sion asked.
“As good as it gets,” Ferris said through hearty bites at the dango Sion had brought, as expressionless as ever. “Their movements are getting sloppy because of the war. Soon it’ll be time to make contact.”
“I see,” Sion said.
“Sister! I brought the ball! It went in the pond so I had to dive for it, but Iris did a good job, right? Brought it back real fast, right? It was remarkable, right?” Iris asked. Even though she was sopping wet, Iris somehow looked really happy. She handed the ball right over to Ferris.
“You’re remarkable, Iris. Bring it back even faster next time.”
Ferris threw the ball again. Sion had no idea how she did it with those tiny arms, but the ball flew in an arc far, far away, beyond his field of vision…
To put it bluntly, retrieving it was impossible now.
“Will you watch me, sister?’ Iris asked, just as happy as before. “‘Cause I’m gonna bring it back even faster this time!” She flew off to retrieve it, her little legs carrying her unbelievably quickly towards the ball.
She did watch for some time, but then Ferris turned back to Sion. “More importantly, Sion. Are you going to go to war, too?”
Sion nodded. “Yeah. That’s why I’m at that academy, after all. My assignment will be decided by the day after tomorrow.”
Ferris turned back towards the direction Iris was running in. “I see,” was all she said.
They fell into a mutual silence.
It was hard to tell what Ferris was thinking because of her lack of expressions, but perhaps…
“Ferris, might you be worried about me?”
“No, I was just thinking there’ll be no one to come bring dango to me regularly then,” she replied without missing a beat.
It was so fast that it wrapped around again and became refreshing… Sion couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ahaha. That’s so like you. Well, I’ll figure something out with the dango shop before I go then. I’ll make it so they deliver dango regularly. In exchange…”
“Yeah, I’ll catch the ringleader. Then I’ll take my grudge out on him for making a sweet maiden who could make even flowers bashful waste time on worthless surveillance work and the like… heh, hehe…”
Where exactly was this sweet, bashful maiden? All Sion saw was an expressionless woman. That aside, Iris was running back with the ball at her strange speed again.
“I’ll leave it to you then,” Sion said. “I’ll spend my time on a suitable corner of the battlefield, then come home. I won’t die or anything. I’ve already made arrangements to be sent somewhere safe.”
“What, so you intend to live and come back?” Ferris asked. She sounded disappointed.
Sion chose to ignore it. She was always like that.
Ah, Iris was back.
“How was it this time? How was it? Was Iris fast? Hey, hey, Sion, d’you think I was fast?”
Sion nodded. “It was really fast. You’re amazing, Iris.”
“Heheheh. Riiiight? ‘Cause Iris is amazing!”
Sion smiled and patted Iris’ head. She looked so happy. “At any rate, I should be getting back. My assignment is posted in a couple days, after all. I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Mm. Don’t forget to make arrangements with the dango.”
“Think you could show a little concern?”
“For the dango?”
“No… whatever. Well, I’m off.”
Sion turned on his heel and set out on walking back.
---
That day, the sun shone.
Ryner, Kiefer, Sion, and the hundred and twenty or so people Sion called his friends had departed to the extreme southernmost end of the border with Estabul, a region known as the Roxanne Plains.
They had finally set foot on their journey towards the battlefield, a place that was overflowing with death… but their journey was filled with lighthearted conversation.
“I’m seriously glad I joined up with Sion.”
“Hear, hear. We’ll be able to see this out without dying now.”
“Did you see the faces of those guys who were deployed to the worst of it? I feel really bad for them…”
“Yeah, but… I’m so relieved.”
“Be a little more nervous and keep your whispering to a minimum!” The commanding officer assigned to them from the Rolander Military shouted. But no one listened.
“Everyone, it’s better if we’re a little quieter,” Sion said, though he himself was being loud too. “Even if we’re not going to be in much danger, we are still going to the battlefield. Let’s try and focus a little.”
All one hundred twenty people instantly quieted. He had an outstanding ability to lead. Well, they were all something like Sion’s subordinates, so of course they’d obey his commands…
When their commanding officer saw that, he pulled a sour face, making no move to hide it. “You, too. Stop with the self-important shit and get to walking.”
“Yes, Lord Commanding Officer.”
He continued his march. Ryner did, too, in his own languid pace.
“Hey, Ryner,” Kiefer said from his side.
“Mm?”
“Um… actually, it’s nothing.”
“The hell?”
“……”
Ryner tilted his head, then was pushed in the back by the guy behind him.
“Yeah, yeah. Just walk.”
Ryner resumed his aimless pace.
The battlefield was drawing closer with certainty.
---
That night, within Roland’s territory.
They had the same blue eyes, but one set held no expression. The other was naive and innocent. Ferris and Iris stood lined up in the darkness.
They were inside the noble manor of the esteemed Zammel family. More specifically, they were in the attic, just above the acting head’s bedroom.
“Sister, sister. Is that baldie the ringmaster?”
“Mm. That’s right. Remember him well. That sort of person’s always the ringmaster: bald, middle aged, and fat.”
One after another, Ferris filled Iris’ head with her distorted views…
Certainly, the one lying on the bed below was a bald old man Broffus Zammel. They’d entered the Zammel estate as part of monitoring him, so she couldn’t complain, but…
“Oooh, so that’s the ringleader. Iris has gotten smart! So what’re we gonna do, sister? Are we gonna kill him? Or did we come to his house to torture him?”
The fact that a child could say something like that with shining eyes was proof that the Eris family was to be feared…
Ferris nodded, satisfied. “Torture.”
---
Some time later, on the Eris family’s land.
“Wh-who are you people!? I am the head of the Zammel family! What’s happening… fwah!?”
He was already all tied up. What cut off his words this time was a bucket of water pouring down his throat.
“More and more waater, waaater!!”
Iris was singing a song written and composed by herself, improvising the lyrics as she went, easily switching between buckets with one hand as they emptied.
That alone would have made it a strange sight, but… There was also an unmatched beauty standing before him, with glossy hair and strangely symmetric features. But her face was cold like the water being poured all over him. Her delicate appearance was at odds with the long sword at her waist.
“Answer my questions immediately. About Sion Ast…”
“Wh-what are you?” Broffus cut her off. “Do you understand who I… fwah!?”
Ferris and Iris met eyes. Without another word, more water was poured over him.
“Just who… bwah!”
Splash!
“I won’t forgive… gyah!”
Splash!
“You… bupwha!?
Splash!
“W-wait a second… If you keep this up I won’t be able to brea… bewah!”
Splash!
“Good job, Iris. That’s enough water. Next we’ll use the nails.”
“Will do, sister!” Iris said in a sing-song voice.
Broffus stiffened at their terrifying conversation. “W-wait. I understand. I-I’ll tell you anything—”
His words suddenly stopped.
“Mm.”
Ferris had already received the nails from Iris. She threw one at Broffus. Only one sound echoed, but five had already left her hand at a frightening speed to pin Broffus to the ground.
Broffus whimpered, his face paling.
Ferris looked at him coldly. “Now, then. You understand your situation? Then I shall ask again. Were you the one who gave the order to attack Sion Astal?”
“S-Sion Astal? You’re Astal’s people?”
Another nail grazed his face.
“I’m the one asking questions. You have no right to do the same. All you can do is answer me,” Ferris said, playing with the remaining nails in her hand.
“Th-this situation is something you—”
Ferris threw another nail on account of his bad behavior. “I see. Too bad. If you’re still going to act like that, then…”
She unsheathed the sword at her waist. It was still the middle of the night, but its blade still managed to glimmer in the moonlight.
She took the appearance of an unbelievably beautiful god of death. “Die.”
She raised her sword.
It only took a moment.
“W-wait!? I-it’s meaningless if you do that, right? You’re assassins hired by Astal, aren’t you? But Astal’s already good as dead. Killing me will have no meaning! S-so please, let me go!”
Ferris’ eyes narrowed, and she returned her sword to its sheath. “Sion will die? What do you mean by that?”
Broffus suddenly smiled obscenely, like he found everyone but himself to be an idiot. Perhaps he thought he was safe. “You see, it’s like I said. That Astal fellow is already good as dead. We set a trap for him. Do you know what’s happening in the Roxanne plains right around now? Fifty Magical Knights from Estabul are headed that way on false information we planted. As you know, Magical Knights are the strongest troops of all.”
He laughed.
“It’ll be a monster’s rally, and the only ones who can oppose Magical Knights are other Magical Knights. The ragtag band of soldiers Astal assembled will be no match for them. They’ve all been rounded up like lambs, and now… hehe. Astal himself chose those plains to bring them, thinking it safe like a buffoon. And there’s one of our spies mixed in with his allies to boot. Hehehehe. Seriously… what a buffoon. He’s our… no, the princes’ toy. He thinks he can bite back at the princes… seriously… heheheh.”
Time after time, over and over, he laughed.
“After all, Astal’s a lowborn mutt. He’s a mutt that can just dance madly and die at our raised palms. What’re you gonna do for a dying man? I don’t know how much he’s paying you, but there’s no need for you to be loyal now, is there? I’ll pay you double. And how about you become my mistress? You’re such a beauty… heheh, hehehe… More than a sword suits you, my… gyah!?”
He was cut off by Iris’ swift punch from behind. It was strong enough to make him faint. “You pervy ringleader! Don’t look at my sister with those nasty eyes! Right? I’m right, right, sister?”
Iris turned to look at her, but Ferris didn’t reply. She was thinking with a faraway look on her face.
“Sister… ah, I guess you’re worried about Sion?”
Ferris shook her head. “No.”
“Sister, d’you think Sion will end up dying? If he does there’ll be no more dango.”
Ferris didn’t reply. Instead, she mumbled to herself. “…Princes… is it? Just what did Lucile…”
Ferris’ body tensed. She felt a strange presence. She hadn’t felt anything until just then, but now she was enveloped in an unpleasant sensation.
Ferris’ sharp eyes flicked in its direction and narrowed. He stood before her without her ever noticing a change. They shared the same golden hair, but he appeared exhausted in some way, his ghastly back turned to her as he faced the heavens.
“Nice moon tonight, isn’t it, Ferris? Days like this make me want to watch the moon as siblings,” Lucile said. He had an air of nobility steeped in malice. Even though his form was illuminated by the moon’s light, it was still horribly ill-omened…
“Mm. Brother. What have you come for?”
“What have I come for? You’re as unfriendly as ever, sister. Am I not allowed to think I want to spend time with my sister on a nice night like this?”
For some reason, Iris hid behind Ferris before speaking. “You’re not allowed ‘cause I hate you! ‘Case you never come play with me or anything. All you do is make us train.”
“Hahaha. You hate me because you love Ferris, right?”
“Yeah! I love my sister!”
Ferris dodged Iris’ playful movements. She kept her whole body tensed and faced him. This was the real Lucile. Her real brother. “So? What’s the real reason?”
Lucile slowly turned to face her…
In an instant, Ferris grabbed Iris and pressed her face to her waist.
“Mugh, guh, sister too tight—”
Ferris applied pressure to the nape of Iris’ neck until she lost consciousness.
Lucile just smiled at it. “What, you’re as soft as ever on Iris, aren’t you. That’s why I have to play the strict role, even if it’s thankless. You’re so sneaky, Ferris.”
Ferris didn’t reply. She just…
Stared. Stared at her brother before her, with expressionless eyes.
Stared at… the monster before her…
Lucile laughed. Simply, innocently, almost like a child. Broffus’ head was in his hand. How easily he could sever a human’s head from its body…
“You have to finish your work properly, Ferris. If you let this guy live, he’d damage house Eris, right?”
Ferris was still Ferris, in the end, and she didn’t even shiver at the sight of a freshly severed head, but… she ignored Lucile’s words and asked a question of her own. “…What does all this mean? The ringleader is a prince? If that’s true, then Sion is also a prince. Did you know that?”
“I wonder?” Lucile replied, smiling all the while. “But he really was interesting, right? I wonder if he’ll live and come back? Or if he’ll die as things are…”
Lucile threw Broffus’ head far, far into the sky.
“The Eris family only serves the king,” he said. “Only the king.”
“The king… you say…”
“Yes. If he dies here, then I have no use for him. However, if he should live and come back to us…”
He raised his hand slowly. Leisurely.
And—
The head, driven by gravity, fell to his hand. The moment it touched him, it disappeared completely…
Ferris hadn’t seen what he’d done. Just by touching it, the head had been destroyed…
Lucile looked back to the heavens. “Right. Should he come back, I will make the next move. I will serve him as long as he meets my expectations. What do you think, Ferris? It’ll be interesting, right?”
“Mm… I don’t think there’s a single human who could come back alive after facing fifty Magical Knights?”
“It’d be easy for me.”
“Sion isn’t you.”
“Right. He’s not me. It’s not like I have expectations for his power. It’s something beyond that. His life is unsteady, always in danger. But Ferris. You saved him once. I didn’t kill him. Just what does that mean, I wonder. Heh, hehe… it’s interesting, right?”
“Is it? I don’t find it interesting,” Ferris said. She turned her back to Lucile and picked Iris up, holding her under an arm, and walked away. “This has nothing to do with me, Brother. You’re the head of the family, after all.”
“Hehe, you’re as cold as always, aren’t you, Ferris. Aren’t you interested in if Sion will live or die?”
Ferris didn’t turn back to reply, nor did she hesitate. “Not at all.”
Lucile smiled. “Right. That’s how you are. You, who saved him. Haha. Interesting. It really is interesting.”
The sky was beginning to lighten. Once the night ended and it became tomorrow morning, Sion’s troop will have reached their destination.
Would he actually live, or would he die?
“King,” Ferris mumbled to herself. “…That has nothing to do with me.”
