Toriaezu Densetsu no Yūsha no Densetsu:Volume 10 A Genius' Proof

Skill Testing Legendary Heroes' Legend

A Genius' Style

And now, to go back in time a bit.

In the royal palace.

The wide throne room.

In the center of a sea of blood, a single man stood.

Sion Astal.

The culprit of this disaster.

"... I'm beat,"

Zohra Rom muttered.

Right now, he was standing in the shadow of room entranceway.

Staring at the scene of death before him from the shadows, he muttered in his heart.

"... He's even more of a monster than I thought, huh..."

And looking at the sight, he thought.

Fourteen well-known members of the Hidden Elites had rushed into the room; however, they'd immediately been torn to shreds—he remembered that scene.

"... This is the work of the rumoured sword clan, then?"

Zohra said, before frowning.

He'd heard rumours that for generations, the king was protected by the monsters that were called the sword clan.

"... You've gotta be kidding me..."

Honestly, what had happened was unbelievable.

Even though Zohra had seen it for himself, he had trouble swallowing it.

When the Hidden Elites had moved to attack Sion, it happened in an instant.

The area had suddenly been dyed red with blood.

He had no idea what just happened.

Perhaps this was the work of the sword clan—they'd been killed by the Lucile that Ryner had warned him about.

"Now then,"

He said, looking ahead.

However, the monster who'd killed the Hidden Elites was nowhere to be found. In the wide room, standing in the center of the sea of blood, was only Sion Astal.

Right.

Lucile had moved so quickly that he couldn't be seen... He was in a completely different league.

From the start, he didn't appear. His killing intent suddenly appeared and then just as quickly disappeared.

If he used some kind of magic, it couldn't be detected.

In that case, what?

As Zohra's thoughts spun around—suddenly.

It happened.

Before his eyes.

With absolutely no signs of his presence, golden hair, serene like an angel, but with a demonic smile on an emotionless face, he appeared.

Lucile.

Lucile Eris.

Smiling his way,

"… Greetings. You, the only one who's yet to become a corpse, and continues to hide himself like a fool?"

Lucile said.

A fool, hiding.

Even though Zohra was completely erasing all signs of his presence, he easily noticed him.

Furthermore, Lucile released an incredible amount of killing intent. It was the first time he'd received such strong intent. An ordinary person might've lost consciousness after receiving it.

No, an ordinary person would be overwhelmed and be unable to move, at least.

If they were to fight him, they'd die.

He understood that much already. This guy was in a completely different league.

It was the first time he'd met someone like him.

You'll be killed.

That was what he thought.

Right now, you'll be killed immediately.

That was what he thought.

Even so, he was eager. A more dangerous situation. A more critical situation.

He had to become stronger.

And he had to obtain even more strength so he could protect that girl.

For that, he couldn't avoid going up against a monster or two like this.

And so Zohra smiled.

"... Ah~, well, hiding has never been my thing. See, having a fair and square fight is my policy."

At those words, Lucile made a slightly surprised face, and,

"Oh, even after receiving that killing intent, you'd still smile... You seem to be fairly competent."

At that, Zohra nodded greatly.

"That’s right. I’m the hella lot stronger than the Greatest Magician in Roland kyaaaaah how cool please go on a date with me—no, sorry, there’s someone else, honey genius Zohra Rom, you know? You’ve probably heard of me before."

However, Lucile easily shook his head.

"I don't know that name."

"Haa? You don’t even know that much about Roland's underworld—you’re pretty clueless, aren’t you?"

"Eh. Are you that famous..."

"Yeah, I'm famous."

"Then it seems that I need to study more… My apologies. But it's fine like this, isn't it? After all, you'll die here."

He said, moving his hand in Zohra's direction.

But Zohra smiled, brimming with confidence—

"Liiike I said, you're clueless. You're no match for a genius like me, you know?"

Lucile laughed.

"What an amusing joke."

"It's not a joke. Well, it's fine like this. Let's get this started."

Zohra said, and promptly entered a combat stance.

Withdrawing a concealed dagger, he swung at the monster in front of him. There was no way he'd be able to dodge it.

However, there was no response.

Shimmering, Lucile disappeared, and the knife instead cut through air.

And,

"Too slow,"

A voice rang out by his ear from behind him. Immediately, he was attacked by a wave of killing intent from behind.

However, again, Zohra smiled.

"Idiiiot. I wasn't aiming at you."

At the same time he spoke, he released the knife.

And that knife flew straight at Sion. Furthermore, he likely didn't have time to dodge it.

Having seen Sion Astal's movements before, he likely wouldn't be able to avoid it.

Then, from behind him,

"Hmm,"

A quiet voice spoke, as the killing intent disappeared. Lucile then appeared in front of Sion, breaking the dagger.

He then stared at Zohra with a intrigued face.

"You truly came close..."

Zohra didn't stop.

"You see? But it's too early to be praising me just yet. Now, next, next! Get ready to die."

As he was saying that, he already completed a magic circle.

Then—

"What I seek is the water cloud >>> Misumi!"

He chanted, and at that moment, a large sphere of water formed within the magic circle. It was a spell that was meant to release a tremendous force of compressed water to crush the opponent to death.

"Now be swallowed up by the torrent and die!"

Zohra exclaimed, at the same time the water orb was released towards Lucile and co... or at least that was how it was supposed to go.

Rather than that, however, Misumi diverged significantly from its destination and moved high above Sion and Lucile's heads, flying towards the ceiling. It didn't damage Sion and Lucile at all, instead breaking through the ceiling and ending there...

Zohra looked up at that, dumbfounded.

"... Uh—"

He said.

Sion also looked up.

"......"

And finally, Lucile also looked up curiously, and,

"... Hmm. I've never seen the spell used like that before. What meaning is there to fire Misumi at the ceiling?"

He asked.

At that,

"... Ah, no..."

Zohra mumbled, before from behind Lucile, Sion—

"... No, Lucile, there likely was no meaning. In his enthusiasm while drawing the magic circle, he made a mistake in the structure..."

At those words, Lucile again looked at Zohra.

"... Is that so?"

"......"

"... If that's your limit, then you can die here..."

There, Zohra frantically said,

"H-Hey now, that was just a trial run! Just because I made a mistake, I'll seriously die!? I just need a little more time! Now die! You'll be killed by this spell that you bastards haven't seen!"

And then he began to chant.

Again, another magic circle.

Rather than a spell from Roland, it was his own, original creation. Then, he invoked it.

"What I seek is the god of ice >>> Fuen!"

In the center of the magic circle, a small light formed.

Zohra had spent several years working on developing this—his strongest spell.

That was a smile rose to his face, overflowing with confidence, as he looked at Lucile and co.

And he spoke.

"Now, it's time to seriously end this, don’t you think? Small fry like you can't hope to beat this level of magic that surpasses even the Greatest Magician in Roland! Magic, fire!"

He said, at the same time he gave the order.

The light in the center of the magic circle fired...

Or at least that was how it was supposed to go.

Rather than that, however, again... the light simply disappeared.

In that instant.

"Ah—!?"

Zohra's voice leaked out.

In response,

"......"

Lucile and Sion said nothing.

To that, Zohra:

"... Ah, uhhhh, well, see, it's still a new spell, so..."

Lucile let out a quiet sigh, and,

"... Shall we end this already?"

He said.

Zohra lifted his head and looked at the two with a troubled face.

"... Um, right. Let's end this."

"Then, it's time to die?"

Zohra nodded at that.

"Yeah. It's time to die. But..."

Suddenly, Zohra's troubled expression changed entirely into a smile. And,

"But the only idiot who's going to die is you,"

He said, snapping with his right hand before lowering it.

At the same time he lowered it:

"Fall, Fuen."

He continued to chant his spell.

In that moment.

Something at the ceiling exploded.

And from the ceiling, giant blades of ice attacked Sion and Lucile.

"Wha—"

Sion said, shock clear in his voice.

But it was too late for shock.

That was right.

This was what Zohra had been holding out for, putting on an act for—his spell's true form.

First, to freeze over the Misumi he fired earlier, creating blades of ice that he could then manipulate at will—this was Fuen's true form.

Plainly said, it was a huge relief that he managed to activate it at least once. After all, he had to trigger two spells, Misumi and Fuen for it to work.

Over there.

"... Hmm. So this is the level of magic that you possess, is it?"

And then Lucile lifted his hand.

Again, in the same way he tore apart the Hidden Elites, he cut apart the blades of ice.

But at that, Zohra laughed. This guy hadn't realized it yet. The true extent of his magic—he had no idea.

"It's pointless. Your sword won't be enough for my magic."

Zohra said, before giving another order.

"Explode, Misumi."

The moment he said that, the blades of ice that Lucile had cut through exploded into tiny pieces on their own, before turning back into water.

Lucile cut through the water.

As it was cut, the water was scattered through the air—to the scattered water, Zohra gave another order.

"Reconstruct, Fuen."

In that moment, there were now twice as many blades of ice than before, attacking the other party.

But they ignored Lucile completely.

Instead, there was a countless number of blades of ice, all aimed at Sion Astal.

However, Lucile's expression was still calm. As a cheerful smile rose—

"Ah, I understand now. It's that kind of magic, is it? You did it, after all."

"You've realized it too late."

Laughing,

"But it's fine. Certainly, this magic is beyond me, but none of it will touch Sion,"

He said.

Nevertheless.

Nevertheless,

"I know. That's why it doesn't stop there. This is—"

Zohra said, pointing to behind him.

Outside, at the entrance of the room.

There, a magic circle floated. Zohra had drawn it there beforehand.

In the instant he saw it, Lucile's expression changed.

Right.

All of what had happened here—Zohra had expected all of it.

For the sake of killing the monster that was Lucile Eris, he'd come up with this plan.

And now, it was time to complete it.

"It's over, monster. Regret that you met a genius like me and die."

Looking at the magic circle he'd drawn beforehand, he chanted. It was a spell meant to slaughter.

It was a spell that would fire light to annihilate the enemy.

"What I seek is iridescent destruction >>> Kuuri!"

Immediately.

From the center of the magic circle, a streak of rainbow light was released.

On top of that, it wasn't aimed at Sion or Lucile.

It was aimed at the fragments of ice scattered across the room.

And as that massacring light hit the ice's surface, it started to diffuse with incredible force.

The light completely surrounded Sion.

It was an utter storm of light, swallowing up Sion and Lucile as their figures disappeared.

Ascertaining that,

"It's over..."

Zohra murmured.

They had no chance of winning.

It was his number one spell, created for the sake of having a spell that no one else could develop.

Magic that was forcibly developed for the sake of killing a monster like the one in the center.

With this, if he didn't die...

"......"

There.

Within the storm of light, he heard a quiet voice.

"The sword that cuts through light."

Lucile's voice.

After speaking, darkness appeared within the light, tearing through it.

No, that wasn't accurate. That darkness absorbed the surrounding power.

Kuuri's light.

Misumi's water.

Fuen's ice.

All of it disappeared, as the figures within came to view.

Behind him was Sion, completely uninjured.

Lucile had protected Sion inside the storm of light and easily freed them from it.

And, as expected, Lucile looked at him with a completely neutral face.

"... Fu, fufu. Just now... you're the first human opponent whom I've had to do such a thing for... I'm a bit impressed."

At those words, Zohra scowled.

"... Only a bit?"

"Yes. Only a bit."

"Damn it."

"Fufu. Then, shall I get serious?"

As he said that, Zohra's body was suddenly lifted into the air.

He had no idea what was going on.

Not understanding anything, he was lifted into the air, his neck being strangled by Lucile.

"Gua—"

Zohra grabbed those narrow white arms in that moment. He tried to break their joints...

However, it was no good. With incredible strength, the grip around his neck tightened.

"Ua—ah—haa—"

He couldn't breathe.

He was going to die.

He was going to be killed...

That was what he thought.

However, Lucile spoke.

"Well? I have no reason to kill you. The question here is who you are. Sion would like to know. You know Ryner, correct? Whose orders are you working under...

If you won't tell us, then I'll kill you."

At those words, Zohra's eyes turned to behind Lucile.

To this country's king.

To the demon king that was corrupting this country.

There, Sion gazed back with a smile and with a face like he was about to cry.

And he spoke.

"Now, talk. Why in the world are you here?"

In response, while being strangled, Zohra said,

"... You... already know. Everyone’s fed up. There's a lot of us in the military who think you've gotten too arrogant. So we remaining members of the Hidden Elites got together and decided to kill you..."

His expression unchanging, Sion interrupted.

"Don't lie. That's not why you’re here."

Saying that, he pointed to the floor.

Pointing to the corpses of the Hidden Elites,

"Even when you saw their bodies, your expression didn't change. Your allies were killed, and yet you didn't seem shaken at all."

"That's because I’ve been trained to..."

"That's also a lie. Because they weren't truly your allies, you weren't shaken. Isn't that right? Zohra Rom. You deserted this country a long time ago and became a Taboo Breaker. In spite of that, you've come back. What was your intention? Under whose orders did you return here for?"

He said that.

Zohra glared at Sion.

"... Yeah, that's right. So you know that much. You're a tricky guy, you know. That's why I don’t like people with sharp minds..."

While saying that, he stared down at the sea of blood at Sion's feet, before continuing.

"But look at all this. Looking at all these corpses of the people you killed, what do you have to say? It's amazing to hear that you're actually being called the Hero King, isn't it?"

He spat, and then watched for Sion's reaction.

However, at that, Sion's eyes looked down, before at him, and then at the corpses.

"......"

The Hero King and saviour ruler whom everyone spoke and dreamed of—such a person didn't exist.

The person Ryner believed in didn't exist.

He remembered Ryner's words earlier.

"... Shut up, Zohra. What the hell do you know about Sion?"

Recalling that, Zohra became annoyed.

Ryner, that idiot. What friend? He's really been deceived, hasn't he...?

Muttering that in his heart, Zohra looked at Lucile before him, who continued to strangle his neck.

And he spoke.

"... Hey, monster. If you want to have a proper talk, then let go of me. It's impossible to talk properly like this."

Lucile smiled, and,

"......"

Then suddenly, he vanished.

Just as it was from the beginning, he shimmered and then vanished.

And Zohra fell to the ground.

"Whoa—"

He landed. Coughing slightly, he rubbed his neck.

"... Monster..."

After that insult, again he looked ahead.

As expected, Lucile wasn't there. In the wide room, there was only Sion. No matter how hard he tried to find it, he couldn't feel Lucile's presence at all.

He wasn't there at all... He was sure of that.

For some reason, he was that sort of person.

He was truly, truly a monster.

A kind of monster that he'd never met before.

"I've come back to a pretty despicable country, huh?"

As Zohra said that, Sion spoke.

"So, why did you come back to such a despicable country?"

"Why, huh?"

Sion smiled nonchalantly.

"... To be killed?"

"Ohhh, I'm scared."

"You're scared? In that case, hurry up and talk."

At that, Zohra stared at Sion with half-closed eyes.

"Whaaat, does Ryner know that Sion-kun says such scary things?"

It was the instant he said that.

All of a sudden, Sion's atmosphere changed.

No, it wasn't his expression that changed. It wasn't anything that could be seen that changed. Nevertheless, there was somehow a heavy atmosphere resting over him.

At that, Zohra went Ah? He thought that. Isn't this a weird development?

He'd figured that this tyrant who was hailed as a Hero King was just making use of the idiot Ryner, so what was with that reaction?

Zohra continued.

"That guy told me that he chose you as a friend... That idiot thinks you're his friend... That's what he thinks."

"......"

Sion didn't reply. However, his reaction was definitely strange.

Again, Zohra remembered Ryner's words.

"... Shut up, Zohra. What the hell do you know about Sion?"

At those words—no, though I don't know... He muttered that in his heart.

Though he didn't know, but still, what was with that reaction?

This man who resumed the human experimentation, who killed his own people?

The son of the tyrant?

To be called the Hero King, he'd likely overturned the truth?

Zohra immediately continued.

"So what’s with Ryner? His personality's not so great, so he doesn't have many friends, right? And on top of that, one of the few friends he does have is the one he needs to be saved from, huh?"

Finally,

"... Yeah..."

Sion spoke. His voice was tight.

And staring at Zohra,

"... Yeah... that's right. But is that why you're here? Are you trying to save him?"

He said that.

"Are you trying to save him?"

Again, a new question was born.

What meaning is there in that?

Zohra contemplated over the meaning of those words.

Are you trying to save him?

In short, was that guy thinking about saving Ryner?

Huh? Wait, this is really kind of a weird development.

Staring at Sion, Zohra spoke.

"What was that just now? Why the hell would you want to save Ryner..."

Sion interrupted.

"I'm the one asking questions. Why are you here? Under whose orders did you come here to kill me?"

It didn't seem like he was going to answer any questions.

Originally, Zohra was going to beat him in one shot and force him to answer his questions, but today ended up becoming kind of troublesome, and instead he got beaten by that monster in one shot, and so they were the ones trying to make him answer by force.

"If I don't answer, you’ll kill me?"

"Yeah."

"Some Hero King, huh?"

"... Yeah. That's right."

Sion easily nodded.

At that, Zohra made a slightly thoughtful expression, before eventually replying.

"... No, well, regarding under whose orders I’m working, I already told you—I’m here at the request of my colleagues that you just killed. They asked that if by any chance I came back to Roland, if I would help kill the tyrant who’s killed so many people, you know?"

Sion glared at him.

"If you expect me to believe that..."

To that, Zohra—

"No, it’s the truth. Well, of course, I only take orders from the Princess..."

"The Princess?"

Sion replied; however, Zohra didn't pay him any heed. Folding his arms, he muttered to himself.

"... But I shouldn't return with this little information..."

From the beginning, the plan had been to crush Roland as it began to expand greatly under the rule of the new king...

"... Ah, geez, Ryner has no idea what he’s gotten into... In the end, it was impossible for me to face off against Lucile alone... what's with all this? Huh? Should I include the stuff about Ryner in the report to the Princess?"

Then Zohra quickly turned on his heel.

At that, Sion:

"We haven’t finished talking yet..."

However, Zohra easily—

"I know."

He began to run.

From behind him, Sion said,

"Don't let him escape, Luci..."

But his words stopped. And then, he moaned.

At that, Zohra looked over his shoulder.

In that instant.

"... What the?"

Without meaning to, his voice slipped out.

Before his eyes.

Sion, who was previously standing in the sea of blood, was now on his knees, clutching his head.

Furthermore, he coughed up blood.

No, that wasn't the most surprising thing. If it were just that, it could be chalked up to illness or some such.

However, the colour of the blood that came from Sion's mouth was strange.

The blood he coughed up... was golden. Glowing with a strange light, his bodily fluids were golden.

That wasn't all. Sion's silver hair shined and flickered brightly.

It obviously wasn't a human figure.

"... You're also a monster...?"

Zohra said, at which Sion looked his way. Blood streaming from his mouth, he laughed.

"... Ku, kuku. A worm who thinks he can run away... Kill him, Lucile. Don't leave behind any traces."

Again, that guy appeared.

Lucile Eris.

At that, Zohra scowled.

"Shit."

Again, he ran. He ran even though he knew it was futile...

Just as he thought, Lucile appeared before him, smiling.

"... Uwa, just as expected?"

Zohra groaned.

Smiling,

"Of course, he’s at least somewhat of a nuisance... Now, it’s best to kill him,"

Lucile said, reaching towards him.

Zohra frantically reached for his chest pocket. He didn't want to use what was there except as a last resort, but it couldn't be helped.

In the instant he was about to take it out, though.

Again, a voice echoed.

"... S-Stop, Lucile... Don’t... kill... him...!"

Thereupon, again Lucile's hand stopped.

Sion had spoken.

And again, a voice echoed.

"Kill him! Hurry up and kill him!"

It was the same voice.

Zohra turned around at that.

Before him, there was Sion, his face distorted in pain.

Sion called out.

"Sto... Don't... If you kill him... You also... Fool, what does it matter if you kill one or two people... You're wrong! There's still time... He's Ryner's... Silence..."

They were strange words.

It looked like there were two people speaking in one person.

Zohra frowned at that.

"... Is he... going crazy?"

Lucile answered.

"That's not it. What's gone mad is this world. However, you weren't supposed to see him like this. Sion, it'll be a problem if we don't kill him."

At that, Sion cried.

"Stop!"

At that, Sion cried.

"Do it!"

Lucile nodded.

"I will..."

His hand reached out.

He was going to die... That was what Zohra thought.

No matter what he did, he'd be killed.

But if he was going to die at any rate, Zohra took it out from his chest pocket.

A puppet, an inorganic object.

Called the Severed Remains of Menos, it was a Rule Fragment.

At that, Lucile's eyes widened.

"That's..."

"Oh, you know about it? Then you know what'll happen if I throw this."

"Don't you dare..."

"No can do. Now, I'll be activating this,"

He said, throwing it.

At the same time, Lucile disappeared. He'd gone to deal with the Severed Remains of Menos.

But Zohra didn't turn around.

No, he couldn't afford to turn around.

After all, the Severed Remains of Menos was a self-destruction Rule Fragment...

It was a Rule Fragment that, upon being thrown, would create a black fire that would explode abnormally and burn all to nothingness.

The scope of the fire was too great to be able to run away from.

That was right. That was why it was called a self-destruction Rule Fragment. The user who activated it would be unable to escape from the explosion and would burn to death.

"Ah, geez, I really didn't want to use it..."

But Zohra threw it.

He'd decided to resign himself to his death.

But he really hadn't calculated for this at all. If it was that monster, Lucile Eris, then maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to stop the explosion.

In that case, while he was stopping the explosion, Zohra would make his escape...

Zohra was leaving his fate in the hands of the monster that was Lucile.

Thus, while running,

"Dear God, let that monster be just as much of a monster as I think he is!"

Zohra prayed.

However, behind him, black light was released.

The omen of the explosion.

"Crap. This is bad, isn't it?"

At that, Zohra looked over his shoulder just a tad.

Lucile was protecting Sion from behind, cutting up at the puppet and confronting the black fire that was being emitted from within.

It seemed he knew what to do.

At that,

"D-Do your best, monster! I'm counting on you!"

Zohra said while running.

Lucile accidentally looked his way, before returning his attention to the puppet before him. In his hand, a strange sword was created...

But more importantly, that was a relief.

Zohra continued to run with all his strength.

And turning around the corner of the hallway, he immediately smashed through a window.

"All right, I’ve successfully gotten away from the explosion~!"

While exclaiming, he jumped outside.

♦

And then, two months later.

In a place far away from Roland.

A fortress that rested in a small country in the east of the central continent.

In the corridor of that fortress, Zohra was walking.

"Haa~aa… I've finally returned..."

While saying that, he took out a small mirror from his pocket. And in that mirror, his figure was reflected.

Reflected was tea-coloured hair, strong-willed blue eyes, and a smile brimming with self-confidence. He was no longer dressed in the uniform of Roland's Hidden Elites... but rather, a red combat uniform. On his chest, as a symbol, was the design of a vermillion bird taking flight.

It was the symbol of the group that he belonged to now.

No, well, the group wasn't a very large organization just yet.

Nevertheless, it was steadily growing.

He was going to meet with the organization's leader... no, its Princess...

While looking at the mirror, Zohra frowned.

"Ah~ geez, my hair’s like this when I’m about to meet with the Princess after a long time... Ah, well, it's fine."

Giving up, he flung the mirror away.

Then, he looked ahead of him.

Leaving the corridor, he entered a wide room.

A red carpet was laid across the floor, and on both sides were rows of soldiers dressed in a red uniform.

One person spoke.

"Zohra Rom-sama has returned!"

At that,

"Keep your voice down, geez,"

He said, while slapping the shoulder of the man who'd called out, before laughing.

The man smiled happily back, and then, all at once, the soldiers bowed their heads.

Zohra shrugged at that.

And then, he looked ahead.

At the only two who didn't have their heads bowed.

There was a throne.

By that throne, with the appearance of a smooth-talker, a man around Zohra's age stood.

Annoying blond hair that reached his shoulders. An annoying, conceited face with closed eyes. And annoying him even further was the fact that the man was slightly taller than Zohra.

With an annoying, composed atmosphere like he knew anything and everything, that guy calmly said,

"Welcome back, Zohra. It's good to see that you're safe."

In return, Zohra calmly said,

"Die, you stupid brat. And get away from the Princess."

"Ehh~ Suddenly asking me to die like that, you're as awful as ever, Zohra... Shall I kill you?"

"Ha. That's impossible for you. Come on, let's fight!"

Zohra said, as the two of them tensed.

However, over there, one more person spoke.

"Yes, yes, don’t fight immediately after seeing each other~."

It was a pretty, angelic voice. At that, Zohra looked at the source of that voice.

In the center of the room.

He looked at the ruler of this country, seated on the throne.

There, as expected, was a beautiful woman around Zohra's age.

Well-arranged features, and unyielding, charming eyes.

Unusual azure-coloured hair that, today, was tied up up into a small tail. Furthermore, she was wearing a dress with a butterfly design.

She was incredibly beautiful. After leaving to fulfill his duties and spending months without seeing her, he'd had to imagine her in his mind—but the real thing was even prettier than his mental image, and so Zohra's heart beat faster.

Despite this, as she looked at Zohra with a cute expression and laughed, his head felt dizzy.

And,

"Welcome back, Zohra. It's good to see that you're safe."

To those words—

"I-I’m back, Princess!"

Placing a hand on his chest, he knelt down.

By the Princess's side, the stupid brat spoke in a displeased voice.

"She said the exact same thing as I did, so why are you reacting like that only to her~?"

"Huh? Did you say something, stupid brat?"

"... No, nothing~."

Ignoring him, Zohra lifted his face and looked at the Princess, who was smiling prettily.

As she noticed, she stood up, and,

"Ah, ah, Zohra—look, look at this. I got a new dress,"

She said, slightly tucking up the skirt of the dress and turning around. And,

"What do you think?"

She said, and without even having to think on it, he replied.

"P-Pretty..."

He seriously thought that. That was why he said it.

She smiled, and,

"Thank you ♡,"

She said. That alone blew all his exhaustion from his recent duties out the window. Ah, today I'm gonna have a good dream, he thought, but then the stupid brat by her side spoke.

"Right. It really suits you, Pia. You look just like a fairy."

Saying that so smugly!!

Furthermore,

"Oh~ A fairy? I like that~. Then, today Peria wins,"

The Princess said happily.

Looking at Zohra, the stupid brat made a triumphant expression.

At that, Zohra took out a hidden knife, and,

"Die!"

He threw it.

The stupid brat easily caught it. For some reason, after looking at the caught knife, the stupid brat smiled lightly and continued.

"Ah, just now, Zohra, when you threw the knife, you were going a bit easy. Finally, you think of me as a friend..."

"Not a chance."

"Still with that..."

"All right. Two more knives..."

"Like I said, would you two please stop!? I’m getting angry?"

At the Princess's words,

"Understooood,"

Zohra and the stupid brat said at the same time.

Zohra then went to where the two of them were standing.

Then, as Zohra gazed at the Princess, she smiled again.

"Welcome back, Zohra."

"I’m back, Pia,"

Zohra said, to which Pia nodded. And then, looking at the stupid brat at her side:

"And Peria’s returned from Gastark... so your timing is good. Things are rather poor right now, aren’t they?"

At that, Zohra looked at the stupid brat.

"Is that right?"

Peria nodded.

"Well, a little. Given their theology studies, they have more ancient knowledge than us..."

However, Pia interrupted their conversation.

"But that's enough about Gastark. The problems over there didn't start just now. That's already within our expectations. More than that..."

She stopped her words.

And then again, she sat down on the throne.

Her expression became serious.

Within her strong-willed, charming eyes, intelligence dwelled.

And looking up at Zohra with those eyes, she asked,

"Right now, what's the situation with Roland?"

She asked that question.

Zohra frowned slightly.

And then he recalled what was transpiring there.

Darkness, darkness—it was a place of darkness.

Ryner, Sion, Lucile... and the exact opposite theology of the world.

Remembering that, he breathed out lightly.

And then he took in a deep breath.

"......"

With that, he began to talk about that darkness.