“I say, Ryner.”
“Na~?”
“Don't you feel that Sion's been looking down recently?”
“Really? I hardly see him anyway. Don't really feel anything.”
“Really, you. Don't we always meet in the class gathering?”
“In fact, I've always kept it a secret...I'll tell you then. I'm always sleeping during the gathering...”
“Do you even need to say that? Is that even a secret? You are always sleeping all day! Anyway, now isn't the time to argue about this. In any case, he looks really upset. Does Sion have something on his mind which he cannot talk about?”
“Who knows?”
“Oi, our comrade's troubled here, you know? Can't you show a little more concern?”
“Un~this is his problem, and we can't just interfere like that.”
“Eh? Ah, what you said...is true...”
“If someone's troubled and decides to ask for help in the name of 'friendship between men', it'll be really troubling, make me want to sleep, and make me feel lazy.”
“Eh? Those are your true thoughts!? I've had enough. I thought you finally said something nice. Even if it was for that moment, it was really touching, you know! I was such a big fool!”
Ryner and Kiefer were talking like this as they entered the narrow classroom assigned to every class.
Both of them continued arguing as they piled into the cramped room that was already packed with the other six students in the class, completely oblivious to the fact that the one they were discussing, Sion himself was in this room...
On hearing their conversation, Sion couldn't help but give a wry smile.
“Really? Do I really look that bad now?”
He asked Tai, Tony and Fualu, who were sitting around him.
The trio all nodded their heads in unison.
Tai said, “What's with you, Sion? Is there really something bothering you?”
Then, Tony said, “If we can help solve the problem, why don't you raise it for everyone to discuss so that at least we don't have to guess?”
Finally, Fualu faced him with a mysterious shine in her eyes,
“Yeah! Are your troubles emotional? Is it about romance? Is it?”
And somewhere a little further off.
“Oi! Kiefer! Why are you hitting me all of a sudden!?”
“What? So you aren't interested in how a guy looks because you're only looking at girls, right?”
“When did I ever say that! Speaking of which, you're the one who looks at guys' facial expressions because you like the...OW!? IT HURTS! MY NECK'S ABOUT TO SNAP! I LOSE, I LOSE. SPARE ME...AHH!!!”
Sion decided to ignore this old couple-like squabble as he turned back to face Tai and the rest.
“It's nothing, just a little lack of sleep recently. During this past month or so, I seem to have slept very little...but such days are about to end. Everyone, you don't have to worry...”
Before Sion even finished talking, Fualu interrupted his words.
“You have a girlfriend, right? You’ve got a girlfriend, right? That's why you lack sleep, right?”
Is this girl only thinking about boy-girl relationships all the time...?
For some reason, Tai's expression immediately became a little heinous.
“No way, Sion! You really hid it from us and took a first step? What should we do, Tony?”
“Unforgivable. Traitors must die!”
Tony started to swing his fist.
The conversation here didn't seem really constructive.
Sion seemed to be terribly mistaken, and danger was right in front of him.
But actually, such a situation wasn't surprising...
“Ahaha! No! Actually, there's something. But it looks like I really made everyone worry. Was I really looking that bad? Let me go wash my face first.”
Before he could be 'killed', Sion randomly raised a reason and left.
He first washed his face at the sink outside the room to wash away the sleepy feeling.
“Fu. Speaking of which, if I can't get to sleep these days, I might not be able to hang on...”
Sion muttered to himself as he thought of what happened recently every night, and sighed.
Ever since that night, he couldn't get to sleep at all...
That night, Sion was researching in the library until midnight, and after he returned to the single-room in the dormitory, he collapsed onto the bed.
Just as he was about to enter dreamland, suddenly...
DON!
A sound came from the ceiling of the room, and it sounded like something was rumbling.
That sound was extremely loud, and it was different from the sound of wood rubbing together due to expansion and contraction caused by temperature differences.
However...
There was definitely a hidden presence up there. Sion got ready to fight.
What is it? Is someone there? He didn't feel anyone's presence when he entered the room at all...
Was it an assassin again?
“Damn it!”
Sion couldn't help but moan.
The assassin that came this time was really skilled. Even in such a cramped room, he could hide his own presence, and the target couldn't detect the presence at all.
He was tougher than the assassins before.
In a one on one situation, the previous assassins wouldn't be able to do anything to Sion. However, the enemy this time was...
And this time, he actually launched an attack in the academy.
Did the enemy not care about what other people would say?
“Bring it on then.”
Now that it came to this, Sion smiled. He tensed his nerves and got ready to fight.
At this moment, the embedded wooden ceiling actually loosened.
A girl suddenly peeped her head out from there.
That girl said with a lively voice,
“Jyan~! It's Iris!”
“...”
Sion was immediately speechless. He remained stunned for a while, and just felt completely weak.
“Eh...so it's Iris? Since you can hide your presence entirely, I guess you can handle enemies, easily?”
Due to the instinctive response to fight back, Sion immediately felt completely tired as he sat on the bed again and grumbled.
However, Iris didn't care about his response at all as she remained upside-down from the ceiling as she poked out that face of hers that was smiling brightly.
“I say, big brother, I can't sleep. It's night time, night time. Hurry hurry! Iris is looking forward to it!”
“Ah? What are you saying?”
Sion couldn't understand as he asked back. It was already late at night, but Iris continued to keep her bright eyes open,
“Iris knows, you know? Won't big brother become a monster when it's night time? Sister said it. Show it to me. Beastie, beastie!”
“......Beast...”
That night, Sion spent a long time trying to let Iris understand that a human male will never change into a beast as he ran through the wilderness for his own life. Both of them continued on like this until dawn...
And on the second day,
DON!
As Sion returned back to the dormitory, the ceiling suddenly...or rather, still continued to make noises. The wooden boards on the ceiling were slowly being loosened as an extremely emotionless face poked out from the ceiling in the middle of the night, looking in.
“Looks like you didn't show your true nature last night. The plan was that if that perverted urge of yours showed and you become a beast before trying to attack Iris, I would immediately rush out from the bottom of the bed and kill you.”
“Eh? You were hiding under my bed last night!?”
“Only for 5 minutes. Well, get to sleep. Now's the time to eat the dango I bought for supper. I don't have time to waste on you.”
After saying that, Ferris quickly returned back into the ceiling, and the wooden board that was loosened reverted to normal.
And two eyeballs that showed no emotion at all were looking through the gaps at Sion.
Occasionally, he would hear the sounds of someone eating dango.
“......How do you expect me to sleep...”
And another day passed.
“Jyan! Iris' here!”
It's been a week since things had been like this. Sion was starting to worry whether he would die due to sleep deprivation before being killed by his enemies.
Even though Sion had this doubt, habit was really a scary thing. Recently, Sion managed to gain an ability, once Iris finished talking with him, he would use the remaining few hours till daylight to get the necessary sleep.
Even though he knew that this wasn't good for him in the long term...
Let's not talk about this now.
After washing his face, Sion used the cloth to wipe the water off and muttered,
“Speaking of which, I can finally get a good night's sleep today...”
Ferris and Iris had been looking for movements around Sion for close to a month. Just yesterday, Iris finally found someone suspicious who was tailing Sion in the middle of the night.
Right now, Ferris and Iris started following that suspicious person. The enemy may be on high alert, as up till now, they were unable to get in touch with the mastermind. However, that was only a matter of time.
So I finally got them.
Sion's eyes let out a sharp glint as he narrowed his eyes. What were in his eyes were ambition, hatred, and a strong and powerful will.
He smiled.
“From today on, I won't run. I want to rise up here. Anyone who gets in my way, no matter who it is...I will eliminate them without mercy...”
At this moment, a scream suddenly rang as if it was deliberately timed. It interrupted his thoughts.
“ARGH!! I'M—ABOUT—TO—BE—KILLED!!”
It was Ryner's voice.
Sion looked back fearfully, and saw that Ryner had his upper body poking out from the back door of the room and had a way too calm expression for that screaming plea for help,
“I-I'M GOING TO BE KILLED BY KIEFER! SION, SAVE ME!”
On seeing this, Sion gave a wry smile. He looked at Ryner and Kiefer, who was all over Ryner, shouting 'WHO LIKES GUYS!' as she continued to strangle Ryner.
“You two have quite the good relationship~ just like an old couple.”
“Eh!?”
Immediately, Kiefer's face went red.
“Wha, what are you saying, Sion? We're not a couple! If you say that...I'll be embarrassed, you know? Right, Ryner?”
Though Kiefer said that, she seemed to be overly happy as she continued to make a ruckus and strangle Ryner tightly.
Such a reason really couldn't be hidden from bystanders' eyes.
Sion couldn't help but laugh.
As for Ryner,
“Uuu.”
He was foaming at the mouth and seemed to be losing consciousness. However, this wasn't out of the ordinary, so it shouldn't be something too troubling, right?
Unknowingly, all the people were gathered outside.
“DO YOUR BEST!”
Someone roared.
“LET HIM PASS OUT!”
Someone stirred things up.
Sion looked at this group of comrades.
The scene in front of him really looked relaxed and satisfying, and one really couldn't feel any malice, traps, killing intent or hatred in them.
There's no war, no death...
Just peace.
An ordinary everyday life...
So ordinary one would be depressed by this.
Recently, whenever he saw such a scene, Sion would always remember something.
His ambition and plan for revenge might just be something completely meaningless...
His dream to take revenge on the parents and brothers who abused him and take the throne.
It was a dream that would sacrifice a lot of lives.
This dream...
Was there really a need?
Didn't he have everything now?
Laughing with friends, quarreling with them, and patching things up.
Other than that, what more could one ask for?
If there's peace now...
Wouldn't his desire to take revenge on his brothers or take the throne to change this country become unnecessary?
Sion looked at his friends, and then looked at the sky.
“My goal...”
Suddenly someone burst into the room.
“Mr. Sion!?”
Several of Sion's allies who were drafted to other classes looked absolutely horrified as they ran over.
“MR. SION! MR. SION! THIS IS BAD! IT’S OVER! IT’S ALL OVER!”
Ryner and Kiefer, who were making quite the ruckus, quietened down due to the overwhelming fear.
Actually, that wasn’t really the case. Ryner was just foaming at the mouth as he went limp.
Let’s not talk about that for now…
Sion turned to face his allies who ran here, and said in a very calm tone to try calming his overly agitated allies,
“Calm down, Rolle. What happened?”
However, Rolle still couldn’t calm his intense emotions down. Not only that, the few allies who came with Rolle were yelling.
“SION, WHAT SHOULD WE DO!?”
“WE...WE MAY BE DEAD!!”
“WHY!? WHY DID IT BECOME LIKE THIS!?”
Everyone started chatting away, casting terrified glances at each other. Sion couldn’t grasp the actual situation at all.
“QUIET!”
Sion suddenly roared.
“…”
The entire place fell silent immediately.
Sion remained silent. Actually, he was hoping for this silence to cool his agitated allies.
Sion looked around at them, and then nodded.
“Then, you’re to speak, Rolle. Everyone else is to remain quiet. What happened?”
His tone wasn’t the usual good youth tone, but his normal tone.
Perhaps gripped by his presence, Rolle said with a trembling voice.
“It’s like this…our neighbor Estabul invaded Roland. War is about to start. War…Mr. Sion, what should we do? In that case, we have to fight in a war…”
“HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?”
Fualu cried out in agony.
Tai and Tony looked extremely pale too.
Kiefer remained silent as she grabbed hard on Ryner’s collar while he was still unconscious.
Everyone was really shocked by this.
Speaking of which, it couldn’t be helped.
It’s happening again.
The king of this country was about to start a war that will never see an end…
Sion closed his eyes.
He knew now. This country itself didn’t have any peace. The inept king was leading the country down the withered road.
In that case…
In that case, I’ll become king! No matter who I kill, no matter how many I sacrifice…
As Sion widened his eyes again, Ryner was already awake since who knew when. No, maybe he was awake the entire time.
That’s because, even though Ryner’s eyes still didn’t look like they had any fight, what was reflected in his eyes…
Was an emptiness that Sion had never seen before.
The war was beginning.
And the reason was simple.
The kingdom of Estabul invaded Roland territory.
That was the reason for war.
No, that was just the forefront.
In fact, during this period, Estabul had too much rain, causing the rivers to flood, and right now, they were having a shortage in goods.
The king of Roland wanted to use this chance to eliminate all of Estabul in one go.
Besides, Estabul wanted to use this chance when Roland attacks to ease their food shortage.
Both sides never thought of working together in this time of crisis…
War began again.
The war started just like this…
It was silent all around. Normally, during this time, even if he wanted to sleep, the noise of the students on the corridor wouldn’t allow him to do so…
Ryner blankly stared at the ceiling, trying to think of something,
It was amazingly quiet today.
“Uu, is this it?”
In this unnatural silence, Ryner muttered to himself.
Right now, the place he was at was an empty room that didn’t have anything other than a bed. No, it might not be enough to call it empty.
Ryner did feel that it was a hassle to buy furniture, and thus there wasn’t anything inside. But for some reason, whenever Kiefer came, she would leave some random stuff, and all these ended up filling the entire room. Instead of calling it empty, it would be more appropriate to call it ‘messy’.
Besides, Ryner had never thought of cleaning his room before…
Ryner stared blankly at the ceiling, seemingly thinking about something, but just felt that it was troublesome.
“Let’s just sleep…”
He decided to take a nap first.
Yes. There’s nothing he could do about this. Unlike Sion, he wasn’t intending on changing the entire country. Basically, he never thought of what he should be thinking about, what he should be saving. He never even thought about dealing with such troublesome things.
Besides…
This world was already filled with death ever since he was born.
He had never intended to change the current situation.
Ryner closed his eyes.
“A~ah how troublesome…really, isn’t everyone too pumped up or something? Which idiot thought of taking other people’s country? Isn’t a nap good enough?”
He muttered to himself alone.
At this moment,
“You’re right…”
Kiefer’s voice rang from the door.
But to Ryner, in a certain sense, he wasn’t surprised that Kiefer appeared as the term ‘fight’ completely died out in his personality.
Kiefer said,
“…I say Ryner.”
“Hm?”
“…You’re really amazing, Ryner. How are you always so calm? Aren’t you scared? In this current situation, we will definitely be headed for war, you know? We may die on the battlefield, but why are you so calm?”
“…”
He half-opened his eyes that were sleepy and looked at Kiefer.
Kiefer felt scared, and she was trembling in fear.
That was to be completely expected. The training before was carried out under simulated environments. Of course, simulations are just simulations, and it was different from reality.
Death had arrived beside them. The 7 years without war was a rather long time.
The peaceful 7 years were rather long.
Kiefer continued.
“I say, Ryner. If you’re scared, just say it! If you’re tired, just say that you’re tired. Isn’t this alright? Why do you look so uninvolved? I’m always…always alone…”
Kiefer suddenly started crying in front of Ryner.
“I’m scared. I’m scared of the battlefield. I’m scared of people dying…but what I’m most scared of…”
Saying till here, Kiefer stopped and took a deep breath. She showed a little hesitation, and then said,
“I’m most afraid of Ryner dying…”
Immediately, the room went silent.
The silence remained like this.
Right now…
Even the thick-headed Ryner could hear the difference in pitch. She was so scared, scared of war, and yet…worried about that Ryner.
Even so,
Even to her sincere feelings, Ryner remained silent and didn’t answer.
No. He couldn’t answer.
He never had the right to answer. Ever since he was born, he never had the right to answer.
Because his eyes…
“…”
His eyes made a mark on him…
At this moment, Kiefer suddenly panicked.
“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant. Un, that…it’s not like that. I’m saying that since you have the worst grades, Ryner, you’ll die earlier than someone like me on the battlefield…so…so I hope you can escape. My only hope is that you can run away, Ryner. Your grades aren’t good, so the academy will definitely allow you to rest. It’s a little hard for me…right? So…”
But at this moment, while Ryner still had a pair of sleep eyes and a limp face.
“Haa…really…you worry too much, Kiefer. I won’t die. I don’t intend to die. Death seemed painful, right? I’ll say no to death then. I don’t want to suffer.”
At this moment, a voice rang.
“Nicely put. It’s laughable about whether we die or not. We’ll definitely not die in this war. Kiefer, Ryner and my allies, we won’t die.”
The voice came from behind Kiefer.
“I’ve made arrangements. My allies are all drafted into the same squadron, and our squadron’s designated to be at a boundary area where it’s highly unlikely that we’ll be involved in war.”
It was Sion.
As Sion walked into Ryner’s room, Tai, Tony and Fualu followed him from behind.
Tai regained his usual carefree kid smile.
“I say, Ryner and Kiefer. This is really good. We’re lucky to follow Sion.”
Tony then said,
“Looks that way. Sion’s really amazing. How did he exert so much power on the army…”
Following the rest from behind, Fualu wasn’t crying anymore, but her eyes were still red as she pat Kiefer on the shoulder,
“We won’t die. Don’t cry, alright? Kiefer, our future is still long.”
Sion stared at Ryner for a while, and then whispered,
“Didn’t I say it? It’s great to follow me, isn’t it?”
Ryner still kept his sleepy look and shrugged his shoulder.
And then, he turned to look at Kiefer.
But for some reason, Kiefer was the only one who still looked depressed…
Sion and Ferris were at the garden in the Eris residence.
Actually, Iris was also inside the garden, but she was happily playing. She excitedly ran to fetch the ball Ferris threw, and then did so again once Ferris threw the ball a second time. Even though it looked like there’s a little problem with the game itself, the person involved looked rather happy.
Right now, she was running to fetch the ball Ferris threw out at a distance an ordinary human can’t imagine.
Let’s not talk about Iris for now.
“What happened after that?”
Sion asked. Ferris then chewed on the dango Sion bought and answered,
“Really good. Maybe it’s because war is breaking out. The enemy’s actions were rather hasty recently. I suppose we will be able to figure out who’s the mastermind.”
“Really?”
At this moment.
“Sister I fetched the ball back! The ball fell into the lake, so I had to dig it out from underwater. How is it? Am I fast? Iris is amazing, right?”
The thoroughly wet Iris looked absolutely delighted as she returned and handed the ball over to Ferris.
After receiving it, Ferris said,
“Really amazing, Iris. Try to reduce the time needed to get it back next time.”
Ferris said that, and then threw the ball out. Nobody could imagine where her arms got such strength, and nobody knew how she threw the ball out. Anyway, the ball was thrown out without a trajectory at all as it went straight out at an unbelievable speed as it immediately disappeared from the sight.
To be honest, it’s really impossible to ask someone to chase after this kind of ball.
However, Iris looked delighted and said,
“You want to see me, right? Iris will definitely find the ball faster!”
After saying that, this child ran off at an unbelievable speed too.
After playing with Iris for a while, Ferris again turned to Sion.
“As for you Sion, are you going to the battlefield too?”
Sion nodded his head.
“Ahh. That’s the aim of that academy. The higher-ups have already decided to send forces in 2 days.”
Ferris looked emotionlessly in the direction that Iris had run off in.
“Really?”
She muttered.
There was a short moment of silence between the two.
It was hard to imagine what Ferris was thinking through her expression, but…
Sion said,
“I say, Ferris. Are you actually worried about me?”
However,
“No, I’m just thinking that no one will be here regularly to deliver dango for me.”
Ferris immediately answered.
The answer came too quickly that one may feel that it was overly blunt…
Sion couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Ahaha, that’s just like you Ferris. I’ll make arrangements for the dango stall then. I’ll ask them to send dango over here. But…”
“Un, I’ll continue to track down that mastermind. I’ll return the favor to them for wasting a pitiful pretty girl on boring surveillance work…fufufu.”
Ferris said that with an expressionless look.
Let’s not talk about why this girl who had a rare beautiful and emotionless look would be pitiful. Sion looked at Iris who was running back at an amazing speed and said,
“I’ll leave the rest to you then. I’ll go to the battlefield for a while before coming back. I won’t die. I’ve made arrangements to be sent to a safe area.”
“What the heck? You intend to come back alive?”
Ferris actually said that as if it was a pity. Sion ignored it for now. That’s their way of interaction.
At that moment, Iris returned.
“How is it? How is it? Iris is fast right? Big brother Sion, Iris is fast right?”
Sion nodded his head.
“That’s too fast. You’re really amazing, Iris.”
“Heheh. Ain’t I right? Iris was always amazing!”
Sion patted the smiling Iris on the head and smiled.
“I should be heading back then. I’ll be sent out with the forces in two days time. I’ll leave everything else to you then.”
“Nn. Don’t forget to arrange for the dango.”
“How about you worry about me for a bit?”
“The dango?”
“No…well, never mind. I’m leaving then.”
With that, Sion turned and left.
The sky was completely blue.
Including Ryner, Kiefer, Sion and his allies, the battalion of almost 120 people was positioned to the south, at the Rokzan Plains near the border of Estabul.
They had finally stepped onto the battlefield.
A battlefield filled with death…
But the atmosphere on the road was rather delightful.
“Ah, speaking of which, it’s great that we can be Sion’s allies.”
“Yeah! Now we can escape death!”
“Did you see the looks of those sent to the combat zones? They looked really pitiful…”
“Ahh, anyway, we’re really lucky.”
Everyone was chatting away,
The captain of the Roland Army roared at them,
“Be a little tense, will you! Stop your chatter!”
However, nobody paid any attention to him. As it was really too noisy, Sion could only round off.
“Everyone, it’s better to remain quiet. It’s unlikely that we will be in danger, but we’re heading onto a battlefield. It’s better for everyone to remain alert.”
The battalion of 120 people immediately went quiet. Such amazing leadership ability. Speaking of which, the people gathered here were all under Sion, so it’s to be expected that they would listen to him.
On seeing this, the captain looked somewhat irritated.
“Don’t get cocky. Hurry up and move forward!”
“Yes, captain!”
The battalion started to move forward again.
Ryner also took lazy steps as he followed everyone.
“I say, Ryner…”
“Hm?”
“Uun, it’s nothing.”
“What’s up?”
“…”
Ryner tilted his head suspiciously, and then he was pushed on the back by the people behind him.
“Yes, yes, I’m going.”
Ryner continued to walk forward leisurely as he said that.
The battlefield was really closing in on them.
That night...
There were 2 pairs of similar blue eyes hidden in the darkness. One pair hadn't had any expression, while the other one was full of naivety.
Ferris and Iris.
They were hidden inside the Roland Empire, inside the residence of the Samuels family, which was considered of nobility. Or rather, they were hidden inside the house, and right around the master bedroom.
Iris said,
"Sister, sister. Is that bald old man the so-called mastermind?"
"Nn, that's right. You have to remember this. Someone who looks like this is called a mastermind. Mostly, those masterminds are bald, middle-aged and fat."
Ferris didn't even flinch when she presented such a biased view.
Actually, it was true...
In the current situation, the one lying on the bed was really a bald old man, and from what Ferris investigated about the assassins entering the Samuels family home, the owner of the Samuels family, Buroff Samuels, was the mastermind behind all of this, so there wasn't anything to be disputed here.
Iris' eyes glittered.
"Hehe! So this kind of face is called a mastermind? Iris just got a little smarter! Then, what should we do, sister? Are we going to kill him? Are we going to bring him back home for interrogation?"
A child so young who could say such words without a change in expression... The Eris family is really scary...
Ferris was very satisfied with Iris' attitude as she nodded her head and said,
"Let's interrogate him."
After a while,
In the Eris family home.
"Y, you!? Who are you! I, I'm the master of the Samuels family! You dare to do such a thing!? Do you know what will happen...UWAH!"
Before he could even speak, Buroff, who was all tied up with a rope, had a bucket of water splashed on him, and he couldn't help but moan.
Beside him, Iris was squealing excitedly,
"Water, water—more more water!"
Iris Eris started singing the song she improvised as she used both hands to hold three buckets full of water and swayed them gently.
This scene alone would be rather abnormal.
An otherworldly beauty was standing in front of Buroff. She had glamorous blond hair and an abnormally beautiful face, but her face looked as cold as ice, and there was a sword at her waist, one that didn't seem to match her luxurious looks...
Of course, this beauty was Ferris.
She stared at Buroff.
"Answer me immediately. Sion Astal..."
Before Ferris could finish, Buroff interrupted her.
"Who, who are you? You know who I am, and yet you did...UWAH!"
However, that was all he could say. Ferris gave a look, and Iris splashed water on his head.
"Who, who are yo...UWAH!"
Splash!
"I'll definitely not forgi..UWAH!"
Splash!
"You...UWAH!?"
Splash!
"Wa, wait...if you continue splashing water on me like that, my breathing...UWAH!"
Splash!
"Very good, Iris. That's enough. After this, get the nails ready."
"Yes—sister!"
On hearing the spine-chilling conversation between the sisters, Buroff's face stiffened.
"Wa, wait! I...I got it. I'll say it..."
After saying this, Buroff stopped.
"Un!"
Ferris quickly took the nails that Iris handed over and threw them at Buroff.
Swoosh!
It sounded like a nail, but actually 5 nails flew out from Ferris' hand and stabbed the ground Buroff's body was lying on.
"Ugh~"
Buroff's face immediately became pale.
Ferris gave an icy cold stare as she looked at that face.
"Alright, do you know the entire situation now? Let me ask you. Are you the one who ordered the assassins to kill Sion Astal?"
"S, Sion Astal? Ar, are you Astal's subordinates?"
Another nail went past Buroff's face.
"Ugh..."
Ferris played with the nails in her hand as she said,
"You don't have the right to raise questions. Just answer my questions."
"You, you're...getting too cocky..."
Even though it ended up like this, Buroff was still being antagonistic to them. On hearing that, Ferris threw away the nails in her hand.
"Are you certain? That's a pity. Since you want to show this attitude no matter what..."
Swoosh, Ferris drew out the sword at her waist. Under the bright light of the moon, the sword that was glowing with a little yellow in the darkness...
This girl with paranormal beauty looked just like a death god.
"Die."
She slowly raised her sword.
Immediately.
"Wa, wait! It, it's meaningless for you to do that, right? You're assassins hired by Astal, right? Astal will definitely die, so it's meaningless for you to kill me anyway. So, so, just spare me already!"
On hearing these words from Buroff, Ferris' eyes immediately narrowed. She let go of the sword in her hands, sheathed it, and asked,
"You said that Sion will die? What do you mean?"
Suddenly, Buroff sneered as it seemed that he thought that he managed to keep his own life. His face showed a cocky and damning sneer.
"I say, that Astal will definitely die. He's trapped. Do you know the situation at the Rokzan Plains he's heading to now? 50 mage knights of Estabul believed the false information we spread out and are gathered there. As everyone knows, the mage knights...are called the strongest forces in the army. They're a group of monsters. Only a group of mage knights can defeat a group of mage knights. They're not something those half-baked birds Astal secretly gathered could fight. They will be annihilated. That Astal chose the most dangerous battlefield for himself, and even thought that he would be going to the safest place. Hehe! It's funny, isn't it? And we've planted a mole amongst Astal's loyal comrades. Hehehe! Really...that guy's really stupid! He's just our...no, the princes' plaything. Thinking that he actually has a chance of winning. Really...hehe!!"
Buroff continued to laugh.
"Either way, that Astal's just a dog who walked out from lowlife, a dog who's only moving wildly in our palms and will be shot to death. What's the point of you helping such a person? Maybe you got some money from that guy, but you don't have any sense of duty to that Astal right? How's this? I'll pay you twice the amount Astal paid. Will you become my lover? That beautiful face of yours...he, hehe. That thing of mine is better than the sword...argh!"
Before he even finished, Buroff was hit heavily in the back of the head by Iris, and immediately passed out.
"This perverted mastermind! You can't look at sister with such lowlife eyes! Right? Am I right? Sister?"
Iris looked back at her sister, but Ferris didn't answer her.
She looked like she was thinking about something as she looked far away.
"Sister...ah, I see...are you worried for big brother Sion?"
But Ferris shook her head.
"No."
"Sister. Will big brother Sion die? We won't have any dango to eat then, right?"
Ferris didn't answer as she muttered to herself.
"......Did he say...prince? What in the world did Lucile do..."
At this moment, Ferris felt a strange presence, and immediately tensed up. Though she didn't feel anything just now, it felt like she was covered in an uneasy feeling...
Ferris' eyes turned to look at the presence.
Ferris' eyes became sharper and narrower...
An unknown a man stood there. The blond man, who reeked of a demonic presence, stood with his seemingly weak back to Ferris as he looked up at the sky.
"That's a nice moon, Ferris. I really wish for us siblings to enjoy the moon together on such a nice day."
It was Lucile.
His body gave a proud and evil presence.
Under the reflection of the moonlight, his profile gave an ominous feeling.
"Nn...brother? Why are you here?"
"Asking me what I'm here for? Such a cold sister. Can't I enjoy such a nice night with my sisters?"
At this moment, Iris hid behind Ferris for some reason and then said,
"No! I hate you, brother! You won't play with me and want me to train all the time!"
"Ahaha, you really like Ferris, right, Iris?"
"Un! I like sister!"
Ferris used her hand to pat Iris, who was clinging to her naively as she remained cautious.
Against this brother of hers...
"Then, what's your real reason?"
Thus, Lucile slowly turned around...
Immediately, Ferris grabbed Iris by the head and buried her face between her waist.
"U! Ugh! What's wrong, sister? It hurts..."
Iris could only speak those words. Ferris used a karate chop to hit Iris on the neck, who then passed out.
On seeing this, Lucile smiled.
"Ah, so you really love Iris so much, Ferris? It's because of this that I'm always forced to become the hated character. You're really sly, Ferris."
Ferris didn't answer as she merely used her emotionless eyes...
To look at the brother in front of her.
The monster in front of her...
Lucile smiled.
Naïvely.
He gave a childish-like smile, but his hand was grabbing onto the head of Buroff that he sliced off.
He actually took down the head of someone cleanly...
"Ferris, you have to finish your job well. If you continue to let such a person survive, it'll cause lots of damage to the Eris clan, right?"
But Ferris was Ferris as she remained unmoved even after seeing the human head that was sliced off alive...
Ferris didn't care about Lucile's words as she asked.
"...What do you intend to do? The mastermind is a prince? That means Sion is a prince. You knew that already, right?"
On hearing this, Lucile chuckled.
"Well, what do you say? He is really someone interesting, isn't he? Who knows whether he will come back alive or die there?"
At this moment, Lucile raised Buroff's head up high and threw it up.
He then said,
"The Eris family only follows the king, the real king."
"......Did you say...king?"
"That's right. If he died there, it means that he's useless. But, if he came back alive..."
At this moment, Lucile slowly raised his hand, really slowly...
Then,
The moment the head that fell from the sky touched Lucile's hand, it suddenly vanished without a trace...
Even Ferris couldn't tell what Lucile did. All she saw was that he touched it gently and it disappeared.
Lucile again looked up at the sky.
"Yes. If he comes back alive, it'll be my turn to act. I want to follow him while he can satisfy my expectations...how about it, Ferris? Isn't it interesting?"
"Un...I don't think that anyone could come back alive after fighting 50 mage knights."
"It's easy for me."
"Sion's not you."
"That's right. He's not me. I don't have high expectations of his abilities. What I expect from him is something that exceeds power. His fate was always swaying about in the storm. But Ferris, you saved him once before. And I didn't kill him. What does that mean? Fu, fufu...isn't this way too interesting?"
"Really? I don't find it interesting at all."
Ferris turned her back on Lucile as she carried the unconscious Iris and walked forward.
"Brother, this has nothing to do with me. You're the master of the household."
"Fufu, as cold as ever, Ferris. You're saying that you don't care whether Sion is dead or alive?"
On hearing that, Ferris didn't turn back and said clearly;
"Not at all."
Lucile smiled.
"That's right. That's your personality. And yet you who are like this saved him in the past. Fufu, that's too interesting. Way too interesting."
The sky started to turn white.
Once the night passes, perhaps Sion and his group will reach the battlefield on the next morning?
Will he be able to survive?
Or will he die on the battlefield?
"Is he really the chosen one?"
Ferris muttered.
"...None of my business."
“I say, Ryner.”
“Na~?”
“Don't you feel that Sion's been looking down recently?”
“Really? I hardly see him anyway. Don't really feel anything.”
“Really, you. Don't we always meet in the class gathering?”
“In fact, I've always kept it a secret...I'll tell you then. I'm always sleeping during the gathering...”
“Do you even need to say that? Is that even a secret? You are always sleeping all day! Anyway, now isn't the time to argue about this. In any case, he looks really upset. Does Sion have something on his mind which he cannot talk about?”
“Who knows?”
“Oi, our comrade's troubled here, you know? Can't you show a little more concern?”
“Un~this is his problem, and we can't just interfere like that.”
“Eh? Ah, what you said...is true...”
“If someone's troubled and decides to ask for help in the name of 'friendship between men', it'll be really troubling, make me want to sleep, and make me feel lazy.”
“Eh? Those are your true thoughts!? I've had enough. I thought you finally said something nice. Even if it was for that moment, it was really touching, you know! I was such a big fool!”
Ryner and Kiefer were talking like this as they entered the narrow classroom assigned to every class.
Both of them continued arguing as they piled into the cramped room that was already packed with the other six students in the class, completely oblivious to the fact that the one they were discussing, Sion himself was in this room...
On hearing their conversation, Sion couldn't help but give a wry smile.
“Really? Do I really look that bad now?”
He asked Tai, Tony and Fualu, who were sitting around him.
The trio all nodded their heads in unison.
Tai said, “What's with you, Sion? Is there really something bothering you?”
Then, Tony said, “If we can help solve the problem, why don't you raise it for everyone to discuss so that at least we don't have to guess?”
Finally, Fualu faced him with a mysterious shine in her eyes,
“Yeah! Are your troubles emotional? Is it about romance? Is it?”
And somewhere a little further off.
“Oi! Kiefer! Why are you hitting me all of a sudden!?”
“What? So you aren't interested in how a guy looks because you're only looking at girls, right?”
“When did I ever say that! Speaking of which, you're the one who looks at guys' facial expressions because you like the...OW!? IT HURTS! MY NECK'S ABOUT TO SNAP! I LOSE, I LOSE. SPARE ME...AHH!!!”
Sion decided to ignore this old couple-like squabble as he turned back to face Tai and the rest.
“It's nothing, just a little lack of sleep recently. During this past month or so, I seem to have slept very little...but such days are about to end. Everyone, you don't have to worry...”
Before Sion even finished talking, Fualu interrupted his words.
“You have a girlfriend, right? You’ve got a girlfriend, right? That's why you lack sleep, right?”
Is this girl only thinking about boy-girl relationships all the time...?
For some reason, Tai's expression immediately became a little heinous.
“No way, Sion! You really hid it from us and took a first step? What should we do, Tony?”
“Unforgivable. Traitors must die!”
Tony started to swing his fist.
The conversation here didn't seem really constructive.
Sion seemed to be terribly mistaken, and danger was right in front of him.
But actually, such a situation wasn't surprising...
“Ahaha! No! Actually, there's something. But it looks like I really made everyone worry. Was I really looking that bad? Let me go wash my face first.”
Before he could be 'killed', Sion randomly raised a reason and left.
He first washed his face at the sink outside the room to wash away the sleepy feeling.
“Fu. Speaking of which, if I can't get to sleep these days, I might not be able to hang on...”
Sion muttered to himself as he thought of what happened recently every night, and sighed.
Ever since that night, he couldn't get to sleep at all...
That night, Sion was researching in the library until midnight, and after he returned to the single-room in the dormitory, he collapsed onto the bed.
Just as he was about to enter dreamland, suddenly...
DON!
A sound came from the ceiling of the room, and it sounded like something was rumbling.
That sound was extremely loud, and it was different from the sound of wood rubbing together due to expansion and contraction caused by temperature differences.
However...
There was definitely a hidden presence up there. Sion got ready to fight.
What is it? Is someone there? He didn't feel anyone's presence when he entered the room at all...
Was it an assassin again?
“Damn it!”
Sion couldn't help but moan.
The assassin that came this time was really skilled. Even in such a cramped room, he could hide his own presence, and the target couldn't detect the presence at all.
He was tougher than the assassins before.
In a one on one situation, the previous assassins wouldn't be able to do anything to Sion. However, the enemy this time was...
And this time, he actually launched an attack in the academy.
Did the enemy not care about what other people would say?
“Bring it on then.”
Now that it came to this, Sion smiled. He tensed his nerves and got ready to fight.
At this moment, the embedded wooden ceiling actually loosened.
A girl suddenly peeped her head out from there.
That girl said with a lively voice,
“Jyan~! It's Iris!”
“...”
Sion was immediately speechless. He remained stunned for a while, and just felt completely weak.
“Eh...so it's Iris? Since you can hide your presence entirely, I guess you can handle enemies, easily?”
Due to the instinctive response to fight back, Sion immediately felt completely tired as he sat on the bed again and grumbled.
However, Iris didn't care about his response at all as she remained upside-down from the ceiling as she poked out that face of hers that was smiling brightly.
“I say, big brother, I can't sleep. It's night time, night time. Hurry hurry! Iris is looking forward to it!”
“Ah? What are you saying?”
Sion couldn't understand as he asked back. It was already late at night, but Iris continued to keep her bright eyes open,
“Iris knows, you know? Won't big brother become a monster when it's night time? Sister said it. Show it to me. Beastie, beastie!”
“......Beast...”
That night, Sion spent a long time trying to let Iris understand that a human male will never change into a beast as he ran through the wilderness for his own life. Both of them continued on like this until dawn...
And on the second day,
DON!
As Sion returned back to the dormitory, the ceiling suddenly...or rather, still continued to make noises. The wooden boards on the ceiling were slowly being loosened as an extremely emotionless face poked out from the ceiling in the middle of the night, looking in.
“Looks like you didn't show your true nature last night. The plan was that if that perverted urge of yours showed and you become a beast before trying to attack Iris, I would immediately rush out from the bottom of the bed and kill you.”
“Eh? You were hiding under my bed last night!?”
“Only for 5 minutes. Well, get to sleep. Now's the time to eat the dango I bought for supper. I don't have time to waste on you.”
After saying that, Ferris quickly returned back into the ceiling, and the wooden board that was loosened reverted to normal.
And two eyeballs that showed no emotion at all were looking through the gaps at Sion.
Occasionally, he would hear the sounds of someone eating dango.
“......How do you expect me to sleep...”
And another day passed.
“Jyan! Iris' here!”
It's been a week since things had been like this. Sion was starting to worry whether he would die due to sleep deprivation before being killed by his enemies.
Even though Sion had this doubt, habit was really a scary thing. Recently, Sion managed to gain an ability, once Iris finished talking with him, he would use the remaining few hours till daylight to get the necessary sleep.
Even though he knew that this wasn't good for him in the long term...
Let's not talk about this now.
After washing his face, Sion used the cloth to wipe the water off and muttered,
“Speaking of which, I can finally get a good night's sleep today...”
Ferris and Iris had been looking for movements around Sion for close to a month. Just yesterday, Iris finally found someone suspicious who was tailing Sion in the middle of the night.
Right now, Ferris and Iris started following that suspicious person. The enemy may be on high alert, as up till now, they were unable to get in touch with the mastermind. However, that was only a matter of time.
So I finally got them.
Sion's eyes let out a sharp glint as he narrowed his eyes. What were in his eyes were ambition, hatred, and a strong and powerful will.
He smiled.
“From today on, I won't run. I want to rise up here. Anyone who gets in my way, no matter who it is...I will eliminate them without mercy...”
At this moment, a scream suddenly rang as if it was deliberately timed. It interrupted his thoughts.
“ARGH!! I'M—ABOUT—TO—BE—KILLED!!”
It was Ryner's voice.
Sion looked back fearfully, and saw that Ryner had his upper body poking out from the back door of the room and had a way too calm expression for that screaming plea for help,
“I-I'M GOING TO BE KILLED BY KIEFER! SION, SAVE ME!”
On seeing this, Sion gave a wry smile. He looked at Ryner and Kiefer, who was all over Ryner, shouting 'WHO LIKES GUYS!' as she continued to strangle Ryner.
“You two have quite the good relationship~ just like an old couple.”
“Eh!?”
Immediately, Kiefer's face went red.
“Wha, what are you saying, Sion? We're not a couple! If you say that...I'll be embarrassed, you know? Right, Ryner?”
Though Kiefer said that, she seemed to be overly happy as she continued to make a ruckus and strangle Ryner tightly.
Such a reason really couldn't be hidden from bystanders' eyes.
Sion couldn't help but laugh.
As for Ryner,
“Uuu.”
He was foaming at the mouth and seemed to be losing consciousness. However, this wasn't out of the ordinary, so it shouldn't be something too troubling, right?
Unknowingly, all the people were gathered outside.
“DO YOUR BEST!”
Someone roared.
“LET HIM PASS OUT!”
Someone stirred things up.
Sion looked at this group of comrades.
The scene in front of him really looked relaxed and satisfying, and one really couldn't feel any malice, traps, killing intent or hatred in them.
There's no war, no death...
Just peace.
An ordinary everyday life...
So ordinary one would be depressed by this.
Recently, whenever he saw such a scene, Sion would always remember something.
His ambition and plan for revenge might just be something completely meaningless...
His dream to take revenge on the parents and brothers who abused him and take the throne.
It was a dream that would sacrifice a lot of lives.
This dream...
Was there really a need?
Didn't he have everything now?
Laughing with friends, quarreling with them, and patching things up.
Other than that, what more could one ask for?
If there's peace now...
Wouldn't his desire to take revenge on his brothers or take the throne to change this country become unnecessary?
Sion looked at his friends, and then looked at the sky.
“My goal...”
Suddenly someone burst into the room.
“Mr. Sion!?”
Several of Sion's allies who were drafted to other classes looked absolutely horrified as they ran over.
“MR. SION! MR. SION! THIS IS BAD! IT’S OVER! IT’S ALL OVER!”
Ryner and Kiefer, who were making quite the ruckus, quietened down due to the overwhelming fear.
Actually, that wasn’t really the case. Ryner was just foaming at the mouth as he went limp.
Let’s not talk about that for now…
Sion turned to face his allies who ran here, and said in a very calm tone to try calming his overly agitated allies,
“Calm down, Rolle. What happened?”
However, Rolle still couldn’t calm his intense emotions down. Not only that, the few allies who came with Rolle were yelling.
“SION, WHAT SHOULD WE DO!?”
“WE...WE MAY BE DEAD!!”
“WHY!? WHY DID IT BECOME LIKE THIS!?”
Everyone started chatting away, casting terrified glances at each other. Sion couldn’t grasp the actual situation at all.
“QUIET!”
Sion suddenly roared.
“…”
The entire place fell silent immediately.
Sion remained silent. Actually, he was hoping for this silence to cool his agitated allies.
Sion looked around at them, and then nodded.
“Then, you’re to speak, Rolle. Everyone else is to remain quiet. What happened?”
His tone wasn’t the usual good youth tone, but his normal tone.
Perhaps gripped by his presence, Rolle said with a trembling voice.
“It’s like this…our neighbor Estabul invaded Roland. War is about to start. War…Mr. Sion, what should we do? In that case, we have to fight in a war…”
“HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?”
Fualu cried out in agony.
Tai and Tony looked extremely pale too.
Kiefer remained silent as she grabbed hard on Ryner’s collar while he was still unconscious.
Everyone was really shocked by this.
Speaking of which, it couldn’t be helped.
It’s happening again.
The king of this country was about to start a war that will never see an end…
Sion closed his eyes.
He knew now. This country itself didn’t have any peace. The inept king was leading the country down the withered road.
In that case…
In that case, I’ll become king! No matter who I kill, no matter how many I sacrifice…
As Sion widened his eyes again, Ryner was already awake since who knew when. No, maybe he was awake the entire time.
That’s because, even though Ryner’s eyes still didn’t look like they had any fight, what was reflected in his eyes…
Was an emptiness that Sion had never seen before.
The war was beginning.
And the reason was simple.
The kingdom of Estabul invaded Roland territory.
That was the reason for war.
No, that was just the forefront.
In fact, during this period, Estabul had too much rain, causing the rivers to flood, and right now, they were having a shortage in goods.
The king of Roland wanted to use this chance to eliminate all of Estabul in one go.
Besides, Estabul wanted to use this chance when Roland attacks to ease their food shortage.
Both sides never thought of working together in this time of crisis…
War began again.
The war started just like this…
It was silent all around. Normally, during this time, even if he wanted to sleep, the noise of the students on the corridor wouldn’t allow him to do so…
Ryner blankly stared at the ceiling, trying to think of something,
It was amazingly quiet today.
“Uu, is this it?”
In this unnatural silence, Ryner muttered to himself.
Right now, the place he was at was an empty room that didn’t have anything other than a bed. No, it might not be enough to call it empty.
Ryner did feel that it was a hassle to buy furniture, and thus there wasn’t anything inside. But for some reason, whenever Kiefer came, she would leave some random stuff, and all these ended up filling the entire room. Instead of calling it empty, it would be more appropriate to call it ‘messy’.
Besides, Ryner had never thought of cleaning his room before…
Ryner stared blankly at the ceiling, seemingly thinking about something, but just felt that it was troublesome.
“Let’s just sleep…”
He decided to take a nap first.
Yes. There’s nothing he could do about this. Unlike Sion, he wasn’t intending on changing the entire country. Basically, he never thought of what he should be thinking about, what he should be saving. He never even thought about dealing with such troublesome things.
Besides…
This world was already filled with death ever since he was born.
He had never intended to change the current situation.
Ryner closed his eyes.
“A~ah how troublesome…really, isn’t everyone too pumped up or something? Which idiot thought of taking other people’s country? Isn’t a nap good enough?”
He muttered to himself alone.
At this moment,
“You’re right…”
Kiefer’s voice rang from the door.
But to Ryner, in a certain sense, he wasn’t surprised that Kiefer appeared as the term ‘fight’ completely died out in his personality.
Kiefer said,
“…I say Ryner.”
“Hm?”
“…You’re really amazing, Ryner. How are you always so calm? Aren’t you scared? In this current situation, we will definitely be headed for war, you know? We may die on the battlefield, but why are you so calm?”
“…”
He half-opened his eyes that were sleepy and looked at Kiefer.
Kiefer felt scared, and she was trembling in fear.
That was to be completely expected. The training before was carried out under simulated environments. Of course, simulations are just simulations, and it was different from reality.
Death had arrived beside them. The 7 years without war was a rather long time.
The peaceful 7 years were rather long.
Kiefer continued.
“I say, Ryner. If you’re scared, just say it! If you’re tired, just say that you’re tired. Isn’t this alright? Why do you look so uninvolved? I’m always…always alone…”
Kiefer suddenly started crying in front of Ryner.
“I’m scared. I’m scared of the battlefield. I’m scared of people dying…but what I’m most scared of…”
Saying till here, Kiefer stopped and took a deep breath. She showed a little hesitation, and then said,
“I’m most afraid of Ryner dying…”
Immediately, the room went silent.
The silence remained like this.
Right now…
Even the thick-headed Ryner could hear the difference in pitch. She was so scared, scared of war, and yet…worried about that Ryner.
Even so,
Even to her sincere feelings, Ryner remained silent and didn’t answer.
No. He couldn’t answer.
He never had the right to answer. Ever since he was born, he never had the right to answer.
Because his eyes…
“…”
His eyes made a mark on him…
At this moment, Kiefer suddenly panicked.
“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant. Un, that…it’s not like that. I’m saying that since you have the worst grades, Ryner, you’ll die earlier than someone like me on the battlefield…so…so I hope you can escape. My only hope is that you can run away, Ryner. Your grades aren’t good, so the academy will definitely allow you to rest. It’s a little hard for me…right? So…”
But at this moment, while Ryner still had a pair of sleep eyes and a limp face.
“Haa…really…you worry too much, Kiefer. I won’t die. I don’t intend to die. Death seemed painful, right? I’ll say no to death then. I don’t want to suffer.”
At this moment, a voice rang.
“Nicely put. It’s laughable about whether we die or not. We’ll definitely not die in this war. Kiefer, Ryner and my allies, we won’t die.”
The voice came from behind Kiefer.
“I’ve made arrangements. My allies are all drafted into the same squadron, and our squadron’s designated to be at a boundary area where it’s highly unlikely that we’ll be involved in war.”
It was Sion.
As Sion walked into Ryner’s room, Tai, Tony and Fualu followed him from behind.
Tai regained his usual carefree kid smile.
“I say, Ryner and Kiefer. This is really good. We’re lucky to follow Sion.”
Tony then said,
“Looks that way. Sion’s really amazing. How did he exert so much power on the army…”
Following the rest from behind, Fualu wasn’t crying anymore, but her eyes were still red as she pat Kiefer on the shoulder,
“We won’t die. Don’t cry, alright? Kiefer, our future is still long.”
Sion stared at Ryner for a while, and then whispered,
“Didn’t I say it? It’s great to follow me, isn’t it?”
Ryner still kept his sleepy look and shrugged his shoulder.
And then, he turned to look at Kiefer.
But for some reason, Kiefer was the only one who still looked depressed…
Sion and Ferris were at the garden in the Eris residence.
Actually, Iris was also inside the garden, but she was happily playing. She excitedly ran to fetch the ball Ferris threw, and then did so again once Ferris threw the ball a second time. Even though it looked like there’s a little problem with the game itself, the person involved looked rather happy.
Right now, she was running to fetch the ball Ferris threw out at a distance an ordinary human can’t imagine.
Let’s not talk about Iris for now.
“What happened after that?”
Sion asked. Ferris then chewed on the dango Sion bought and answered,
“Really good. Maybe it’s because war is breaking out. The enemy’s actions were rather hasty recently. I suppose we will be able to figure out who’s the mastermind.”
“Really?”
At this moment.
“Sister I fetched the ball back! The ball fell into the lake, so I had to dig it out from underwater. How is it? Am I fast? Iris is amazing, right?”
The thoroughly wet Iris looked absolutely delighted as she returned and handed the ball over to Ferris.
After receiving it, Ferris said,
“Really amazing, Iris. Try to reduce the time needed to get it back next time.”
Ferris said that, and then threw the ball out. Nobody could imagine where her arms got such strength, and nobody knew how she threw the ball out. Anyway, the ball was thrown out without a trajectory at all as it went straight out at an unbelievable speed as it immediately disappeared from the sight.
To be honest, it’s really impossible to ask someone to chase after this kind of ball.
However, Iris looked delighted and said,
“You want to see me, right? Iris will definitely find the ball faster!”
After saying that, this child ran off at an unbelievable speed too.
After playing with Iris for a while, Ferris again turned to Sion.
“As for you Sion, are you going to the battlefield too?”
Sion nodded his head.
“Ahh. That’s the aim of that academy. The higher-ups have already decided to send forces in 2 days.”
Ferris looked emotionlessly in the direction that Iris had run off in.
“Really?”
She muttered.
There was a short moment of silence between the two.
It was hard to imagine what Ferris was thinking through her expression, but…
Sion said,
“I say, Ferris. Are you actually worried about me?”
However,
“No, I’m just thinking that no one will be here regularly to deliver dango for me.”
Ferris immediately answered.
The answer came too quickly that one may feel that it was overly blunt…
Sion couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Ahaha, that’s just like you Ferris. I’ll make arrangements for the dango stall then. I’ll ask them to send dango over here. But…”
“Un, I’ll continue to track down that mastermind. I’ll return the favor to them for wasting a pitiful pretty girl on boring surveillance work…fufufu.”
Ferris said that with an expressionless look.
Let’s not talk about why this girl who had a rare beautiful and emotionless look would be pitiful. Sion looked at Iris who was running back at an amazing speed and said,
“I’ll leave the rest to you then. I’ll go to the battlefield for a while before coming back. I won’t die. I’ve made arrangements to be sent to a safe area.”
“What the heck? You intend to come back alive?”
Ferris actually said that as if it was a pity. Sion ignored it for now. That’s their way of interaction.
At that moment, Iris returned.
“How is it? How is it? Iris is fast right? Big brother Sion, Iris is fast right?”
Sion nodded his head.
“That’s too fast. You’re really amazing, Iris.”
“Heheh. Ain’t I right? Iris was always amazing!”
Sion patted the smiling Iris on the head and smiled.
“I should be heading back then. I’ll be sent out with the forces in two days time. I’ll leave everything else to you then.”
“Nn. Don’t forget to arrange for the dango.”
“How about you worry about me for a bit?”
“The dango?”
“No…well, never mind. I’m leaving then.”
With that, Sion turned and left.
The sky was completely blue.
Including Ryner, Kiefer, Sion and his allies, the battalion of almost 120 people was positioned to the south, at the Rokzan Plains near the border of Estabul.
They had finally stepped onto the battlefield.
A battlefield filled with death…
But the atmosphere on the road was rather delightful.
“Ah, speaking of which, it’s great that we can be Sion’s allies.”
“Yeah! Now we can escape death!”
“Did you see the looks of those sent to the combat zones? They looked really pitiful…”
“Ahh, anyway, we’re really lucky.”
Everyone was chatting away,
The captain of the Roland Army roared at them,
“Be a little tense, will you! Stop your chatter!”
However, nobody paid any attention to him. As it was really too noisy, Sion could only round off.
“Everyone, it’s better to remain quiet. It’s unlikely that we will be in danger, but we’re heading onto a battlefield. It’s better for everyone to remain alert.”
The battalion of 120 people immediately went quiet. Such amazing leadership ability. Speaking of which, the people gathered here were all under Sion, so it’s to be expected that they would listen to him.
On seeing this, the captain looked somewhat irritated.
“Don’t get cocky. Hurry up and move forward!”
“Yes, captain!”
The battalion started to move forward again.
Ryner also took lazy steps as he followed everyone.
“I say, Ryner…”
“Hm?”
“Uun, it’s nothing.”
“What’s up?”
“…”
Ryner tilted his head suspiciously, and then he was pushed on the back by the people behind him.
“Yes, yes, I’m going.”
Ryner continued to walk forward leisurely as he said that.
The battlefield was really closing in on them.
That night...
There were 2 pairs of similar blue eyes hidden in the darkness. One pair hadn't had any expression, while the other one was full of naivety.
Ferris and Iris.
They were hidden inside the Roland Empire, inside the residence of the Samuels family, which was considered of nobility. Or rather, they were hidden inside the house, and right around the master bedroom.
Iris said,
"Sister, sister. Is that bald old man the so-called mastermind?"
"Nn, that's right. You have to remember this. Someone who looks like this is called a mastermind. Mostly, those masterminds are bald, middle-aged and fat."
Ferris didn't even flinch when she presented such a biased view.
Actually, it was true...
In the current situation, the one lying on the bed was really a bald old man, and from what Ferris investigated about the assassins entering the Samuels family home, the owner of the Samuels family, Buroff Samuels, was the mastermind behind all of this, so there wasn't anything to be disputed here.
Iris' eyes glittered.
"Hehe! So this kind of face is called a mastermind? Iris just got a little smarter! Then, what should we do, sister? Are we going to kill him? Are we going to bring him back home for interrogation?"
A child so young who could say such words without a change in expression... The Eris family is really scary...
Ferris was very satisfied with Iris' attitude as she nodded her head and said,
"Let's interrogate him."
After a while,
In the Eris family home.
"Y, you!? Who are you! I, I'm the master of the Samuels family! You dare to do such a thing!? Do you know what will happen...UWAH!"
Before he could even speak, Buroff, who was all tied up with a rope, had a bucket of water splashed on him, and he couldn't help but moan.
Beside him, Iris was squealing excitedly,
"Water, water—more more water!"
Iris Eris started singing the song she improvised as she used both hands to hold three buckets full of water and swayed them gently.
This scene alone would be rather abnormal.
An otherworldly beauty was standing in front of Buroff. She had glamorous blond hair and an abnormally beautiful face, but her face looked as cold as ice, and there was a sword at her waist, one that didn't seem to match her luxurious looks...
Of course, this beauty was Ferris.
She stared at Buroff.
"Answer me immediately. Sion Astal..."
Before Ferris could finish, Buroff interrupted her.
"Who, who are you? You know who I am, and yet you did...UWAH!"
However, that was all he could say. Ferris gave a look, and Iris splashed water on his head.
"Who, who are yo...UWAH!"
Splash!
"I'll definitely not forgi..UWAH!"
Splash!
"You...UWAH!?"
Splash!
"Wa, wait...if you continue splashing water on me like that, my breathing...UWAH!"
Splash!
"Very good, Iris. That's enough. After this, get the nails ready."
"Yes—sister!"
On hearing the spine-chilling conversation between the sisters, Buroff's face stiffened.
"Wa, wait! I...I got it. I'll say it..."
After saying this, Buroff stopped.
"Un!"
Ferris quickly took the nails that Iris handed over and threw them at Buroff.
Swoosh!
It sounded like a nail, but actually 5 nails flew out from Ferris' hand and stabbed the ground Buroff's body was lying on.
"Ugh~"
Buroff's face immediately became pale.
Ferris gave an icy cold stare as she looked at that face.
"Alright, do you know the entire situation now? Let me ask you. Are you the one who ordered the assassins to kill Sion Astal?"
"S, Sion Astal? Ar, are you Astal's subordinates?"
Another nail went past Buroff's face.
"Ugh..."
Ferris played with the nails in her hand as she said,
"You don't have the right to raise questions. Just answer my questions."
"You, you're...getting too cocky..."
Even though it ended up like this, Buroff was still being antagonistic to them. On hearing that, Ferris threw away the nails in her hand.
"Are you certain? That's a pity. Since you want to show this attitude no matter what..."
Swoosh, Ferris drew out the sword at her waist. Under the bright light of the moon, the sword that was glowing with a little yellow in the darkness...
This girl with paranormal beauty looked just like a death god.
"Die."
She slowly raised her sword.
Immediately.
"Wa, wait! It, it's meaningless for you to do that, right? You're assassins hired by Astal, right? Astal will definitely die, so it's meaningless for you to kill me anyway. So, so, just spare me already!"
On hearing these words from Buroff, Ferris' eyes immediately narrowed. She let go of the sword in her hands, sheathed it, and asked,
"You said that Sion will die? What do you mean?"
Suddenly, Buroff sneered as it seemed that he thought that he managed to keep his own life. His face showed a cocky and damning sneer.
"I say, that Astal will definitely die. He's trapped. Do you know the situation at the Rokzan Plains he's heading to now? 50 mage knights of Estabul believed the false information we spread out and are gathered there. As everyone knows, the mage knights...are called the strongest forces in the army. They're a group of monsters. Only a group of mage knights can defeat a group of mage knights. They're not something those half-baked birds Astal secretly gathered could fight. They will be annihilated. That Astal chose the most dangerous battlefield for himself, and even thought that he would be going to the safest place. Hehe! It's funny, isn't it? And we've planted a mole amongst Astal's loyal comrades. Hehehe! Really...that guy's really stupid! He's just our...no, the princes' plaything. Thinking that he actually has a chance of winning. Really...hehe!!"
Buroff continued to laugh.
"Either way, that Astal's just a dog who walked out from lowlife, a dog who's only moving wildly in our palms and will be shot to death. What's the point of you helping such a person? Maybe you got some money from that guy, but you don't have any sense of duty to that Astal right? How's this? I'll pay you twice the amount Astal paid. Will you become my lover? That beautiful face of yours...he, hehe. That thing of mine is better than the sword...argh!"
Before he even finished, Buroff was hit heavily in the back of the head by Iris, and immediately passed out.
"This perverted mastermind! You can't look at sister with such lowlife eyes! Right? Am I right? Sister?"
Iris looked back at her sister, but Ferris didn't answer her.
She looked like she was thinking about something as she looked far away.
"Sister...ah, I see...are you worried for big brother Sion?"
But Ferris shook her head.
"No."
"Sister. Will big brother Sion die? We won't have any dango to eat then, right?"
Ferris didn't answer as she muttered to herself.
"......Did he say...prince? What in the world did Lucile do..."
At this moment, Ferris felt a strange presence, and immediately tensed up. Though she didn't feel anything just now, it felt like she was covered in an uneasy feeling...
Ferris' eyes turned to look at the presence.
Ferris' eyes became sharper and narrower...
An unknown a man stood there. The blond man, who reeked of a demonic presence, stood with his seemingly weak back to Ferris as he looked up at the sky.
"That's a nice moon, Ferris. I really wish for us siblings to enjoy the moon together on such a nice day."
It was Lucile.
His body gave a proud and evil presence.
Under the reflection of the moonlight, his profile gave an ominous feeling.
"Nn...brother? Why are you here?"
"Asking me what I'm here for? Such a cold sister. Can't I enjoy such a nice night with my sisters?"
At this moment, Iris hid behind Ferris for some reason and then said,
"No! I hate you, brother! You won't play with me and want me to train all the time!"
"Ahaha, you really like Ferris, right, Iris?"
"Un! I like sister!"
Ferris used her hand to pat Iris, who was clinging to her naively as she remained cautious.
Against this brother of hers...
"Then, what's your real reason?"
Thus, Lucile slowly turned around...
Immediately, Ferris grabbed Iris by the head and buried her face between her waist.
"U! Ugh! What's wrong, sister? It hurts..."
Iris could only speak those words. Ferris used a karate chop to hit Iris on the neck, who then passed out.
On seeing this, Lucile smiled.
"Ah, so you really love Iris so much, Ferris? It's because of this that I'm always forced to become the hated character. You're really sly, Ferris."
Ferris didn't answer as she merely used her emotionless eyes...
To look at the brother in front of her.
The monster in front of her...
Lucile smiled.
Naïvely.
He gave a childish-like smile, but his hand was grabbing onto the head of Buroff that he sliced off.
He actually took down the head of someone cleanly...
"Ferris, you have to finish your job well. If you continue to let such a person survive, it'll cause lots of damage to the Eris clan, right?"
But Ferris was Ferris as she remained unmoved even after seeing the human head that was sliced off alive...
Ferris didn't care about Lucile's words as she asked.
"...What do you intend to do? The mastermind is a prince? That means Sion is a prince. You knew that already, right?"
On hearing this, Lucile chuckled.
"Well, what do you say? He is really someone interesting, isn't he? Who knows whether he will come back alive or die there?"
At this moment, Lucile raised Buroff's head up high and threw it up.
He then said,
"The Eris family only follows the king, the real king."
"......Did you say...king?"
"That's right. If he died there, it means that he's useless. But, if he came back alive..."
At this moment, Lucile slowly raised his hand, really slowly...
Then,
The moment the head that fell from the sky touched Lucile's hand, it suddenly vanished without a trace...
Even Ferris couldn't tell what Lucile did. All she saw was that he touched it gently and it disappeared.
Lucile again looked up at the sky.
"Yes. If he comes back alive, it'll be my turn to act. I want to follow him while he can satisfy my expectations...how about it, Ferris? Isn't it interesting?"
"Un...I don't think that anyone could come back alive after fighting 50 mage knights."
"It's easy for me."
"Sion's not you."
"That's right. He's not me. I don't have high expectations of his abilities. What I expect from him is something that exceeds power. His fate was always swaying about in the storm. But Ferris, you saved him once before. And I didn't kill him. What does that mean? Fu, fufu...isn't this way too interesting?"
"Really? I don't find it interesting at all."
Ferris turned her back on Lucile as she carried the unconscious Iris and walked forward.
"Brother, this has nothing to do with me. You're the master of the household."
"Fufu, as cold as ever, Ferris. You're saying that you don't care whether Sion is dead or alive?"
On hearing that, Ferris didn't turn back and said clearly;
"Not at all."
Lucile smiled.
"That's right. That's your personality. And yet you who are like this saved him in the past. Fufu, that's too interesting. Way too interesting."
The sky started to turn white.
Once the night passes, perhaps Sion and his group will reach the battlefield on the next morning?
Will he be able to survive?
Or will he die on the battlefield?
"Is he really the chosen one?"
Ferris muttered.
"...None of my business."
