Toriaezu Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu - Volume 1

“Haah…”

Ryner Lute sighed, unmotivated despite the ongoing tense situation. His hair was messy from lack of effort, and his eyes didn’t show any intention of doing much of anything.

He was tall with a slouch and currently wearing white armor with a navy blue robe. That armor was supposed to be reserved for the Roland Empire’s most elite soldiers, their Magical Knights, but…

“I never liked adventures or expeditions or anything exciting like that, you know…”

Despite what his first-class armor might imply, he was lazy as hell.

“I mean like getting chased by massive boulders trying to get to the treasure chest, running from tsunamis with our lives at stake, the works. I’d like to avoid living a wild life like that if I can…”

So he said while standing among poorly lit, maze-like ruins. There was a drip-drop, drip-drop of some liquid down the hall from where he was standing.

Ryner looked to his partner, who seemed to have absolutely no intention of moving.

Ferris spoke, monotone and expressionless. “Isn’t this right up your alley? You come from the ‘wild’ genre where women are attacked in the night, after all.”

“Hey, you know I don’t actually do that stuff, right?”

“All criminals say that.”

“…Okay, whatever.”

“If you’re okay with it, then don’t argue,” Ferris said.

“……”

There she was with her totally monotone, expressionless comebacks again.

This was Ferris Eris, his journeying partner. She had long, glossy blonde hair and an unbelievably beautiful face. When she walked the streets, ten people out of ten turned back around to look at her. She was wearing lightweight armor and had a longsword fastened to her waist.

So that was the situation.

Ryner and Ferris stared down the hall, Ryner’s expression being disinterested at best, and Ferris’ expressionless as usual. They stood there and stared down the narrow corridor as if in a daze, as the sound of water grew closer and closer.

“Oh, see?” Ryner said. “We really are being chased by water… What a cliche trap.”

“…You deal with it, then. There has to be a way to disable it, isn’t there?”

“Huh? Hey, if you’re so calm, then you should be the one to deal with it…”

Ferris’ eyes narrowed as if deep in thought, and when she spoke, it was a single, soulful sentence. “No, it has to be you.”

“Uwah, what’s that supposed to—”

That was all Ryner could get out before the massive wave of water made its way to his line of sight.

“A-anyway, let’s get out of here!”

“Mm.”

And so they ran off as fast as they could.

“But… What should we do, Ferris? We won’t be able to outrun it forever.”

“…Yeah. I have a plan, but only one.”

“Really? Then let’s get to it.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“So is being drowned in that massive wave. If we don’t do something, we’re gonna die.”

“Alright. Then you’re in agreement,” Ferris said as she unsheathed her sword.

“Are you gonna cut the wave in half? That’s amazing. If you can do it, I mean.”

Ferris turned to Ryner. “Alright. Your time has come.”

“Huh? What!?”

The first thing Ryner saw was Ferris’ hair moving, shining beautifully as it did. Then her sword was against his back.

“Uwah!?”

Ferris pushed him to the ground, jumped from his body towards the ceiling, and seemed to disappear. “Good luck.”

“Huh!? After this I’ll definitely—”

Water touched Ryner’s back.

“This is bad!” He yelled and broke out in a run for the second time.

And then, some time later…

“Uwauwuwa!!”

Somehow, Ryner managed to make it to the ruins’ exit. Once he did, he lept up, and the wave crashed down on the open ground with a loud sound, and he was free.

Ryner’s shoulders fell as he sighed.

I, I really thought I was dead meat…

He wanted to say that, but nothing came out. He was exhausted in mind and body from using a spell to enhance his running speed that whole time…

He’d learned that spell by copying it from Estabul’s Magcial Knights during a battle with Roland that he was stationed in, but…

That spell sure exhausts me…

Ryner layed down with creaking joints.

The truth was that he shouldn’t have been using that spell at all. Each country had its own type of magic, varying in both construction and appearance, so as a Rolander, he shouldn’t have been able to use Estabulian magic. However…

Right then, Ferris stepped out of the ruins. She looked down at him, nonchalant as could be. “Mm? So you were in a place like this. Why are you so out of breath?”

“I, I’m gonna fucking kill you!”

“Ohh. So you can still yell. You’re in surprisingly good spirits, even though you were running around so much.”

Right now, the two of them were in Imperial Nelpha, a country that their native Roland Empire didn’t have the best relationship with. They were supposed to be heading towards the neighboring Runa Empire while searching, but…

Ryner sat up, having finally rested enough to move his body.  “But y’know, even though we heard rumors about this place, it seems like there’s not a relic here, so it was a pretty pointless detour, wasn’t it? The old texts we found didn’t say anything about any relics, and even when we went digging, we didn’t really find anything, right? I don’t think this place has any rel—”

“I don’t want to hear about your opinions,” Ferris interrupted. “We’re searching Nelpha for relics. We have to. Do you understand? Let’s go.”

“W-wait,” Ryner stuttered. “I’m really tired, so let me rest for a while… And, um, we’ve mostly just been setting trap off while we search for relics, right? They were all pretty obvious except for that water one… though we keep setting them off anyway… but listen, I think Nelpha might’ve already sent out a recovery party for their relics and collected them all. Let’s just go home, okay? This is too much work. It’s too wild. No matter how I look at it, it’s just a waste of time.”

Ferris watched him coldly. “Who’s the one who wrote that report?”

“Um, that was me, but…”

“Then you know that it’d be bad if Nelpha got ahold of any relics, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but this whole thing was our lovely king’s selfish—”

Ryner’s words were interrupted by the sharp sound of a sword unsheathing. Ferris’ longsword was up against Ryner’s neck before he could react.

“Shut up,” Ferris said. “Someone’s coming.”

“…I would’ve shut up even without your sword being on my neck, you know…”

Though even Ryner knew that his complaints were pointless…

Ryner crouched down with Ferris, skillfully keeping Ferris’ blade from killing him as he did, and listened. He could hear several men talking inside the ruins. They were most likely that Nelphan relic recovery group…

“Why’d that trap suddenly go off?” one wondered.

“I don’t think our targets would be so foolish to have activated it.”

“Whaddaya mean, foolish? I can’t believe the nerve of them, setting it off like that. I’d call them conniving instead of foolish.”

“Ryner,” Ferris said, her sword still up against his neck, “It seems that they’ve heard the rumors about you.”

“Aren’t you the one who set the trap off?”

“It’s charming when I do it.”

“…I guess there’s not much I can say about that, given that your sword’s already on my neck…”

“In any case, this is good luck. We’ll capture them and have them lead us to the relic. Ryner, you do it.”

“Me again!? I’m tired from running around so much, you know?”

Ferris ignored him and flicked her eyes to her sword. “Come to think of it, I had a dream last night. You see, my hand slipped and my partner’s head detached from his body…”

“What!? Listen, I understand, so you can put your sword away now. I was just thinking about how I want to fight them single handedly…”

“Mm? Really?” Ferris said. “Don’t push it if you’re too tired.”

“Shameless, aren’t you… Geez,” Ryner complained as he leapt towards the entrance to the ruins where the Nelphan relic recovery party was. He sighed. “I really don’t have the motivation for this…”

Ignoring the inevitable ‘but you never have any motivation,’ Ryner watched the Nelphan recovery party emerge with dim eyes. For some reason, they were fully armed.

“Uwah, I was sure they’d be a bunch of scholars instead of soldiers. This just becomes more and more of a pain,” Ryner complained.

The Nelphans spotted him, and they soon had matching confused faces, seeing that motivationless man standing in their way. Then their gazes lowered to the crest on his chest.

“That’s… Roland’s crest!? You’re…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ryner said, disinterested. “You’re about to call me a spy, right? You won’t believe me even if I deny it, so I’m just not gonna bother.”

The Nelphan’s expressions tensed, and they predictably assumed a fighting pose. “Then this should be easy. Come with us or else.”

“Don’t wanna.”

And so they began to fight.

“King of light, creator of infinity—”

The soldiers drew a complex seal in the air.

Ryner watched. But just by watching…

“This is the first time I’ve seen this spell,” Ryner remarked. “Um… range is 276, power is… oh, so this spell can make a system to capture someone. Seems pretty useful.”

He wasn’t doing anything in particular. He was just watching them with the same tired eyes as always, but that alone was enough to perfectly analyze the Nelphan spell.

That was because of his special eyes—though they were usually black, a scarlet pentagram had risen within them. With that, he’d copied the spell, down to the final words that the Nelphans shouted.

“Light Kinase!”

A net appeared from within them and shot out, attacking Ryner.

Ryner made absolutely no move to stop it. They caught him with ease.

The Nelphan soldiers laughed, seeing their victory. “Fuahaha. Looks like you won’t be moving any time soon. It’s good to know that Roland’s spies are this weak.”

Ryner was still perfectly relaxed. He moved his right hand up, languid. “Mm, there we go.”

He used that hand to draw a complex magical circle in the air – magical circles like that were sign that he was using a spell from Roland, just as a seal was a sign that the magic was from Nelpha.

He said the incantation once the circle was complete. “I wish for an invasion – Eclipse!”

As soon as he said it, a cloud of black smoke enveloped him. The light net dissolved against the smoke, freeing Ryner.

“Wh…”

The soldiers watched, astonished.

“Th-that’s impossible…”

Ryner, on the other hand, was looking pretty satisfied with himself. “I’ve already analyzed that spell, so I know all about its weakness. With that being said—”

Ryner began to draw a magic seal in the air, identical to the one that the Nelphans had drawn not too long ago.

“What!?” A soldier yelled. “Why does he know Nelphan magic!?”

And that was surprising. It wasn’t something that he should’ve known. A spy from Roland shouldn’t have known Nelphan magic. The fact that he did meant…

“Y-you’re an Alpha Stigma bearer, aren’t you!?” A soldier spat.

Alpha Stigma.

It was an ability that allowed the bearer to copy a spell down to its core, and yes, it was something that Ryner had. It was his eyes.

The Nelphan soldiers paled at the brand inside of his eyes. “Shit! That means he’s already stolen our magic…”

Ryner finished his spell. “Light Kinase!”

Just like before, a net of light appeared and shot from the seal. This time, it shot straight towards the Nelphan soldiers, catching them with ease.

“Geez,” Ryner said. “I don’t love having the Alpha Stigma, but I’d rather you guys didn’t spit at me just ‘cause I have it… anyway, though. Ferris, I caught them just like you wanted me to. What should we do now?” Ryner asked as he leisurely walked towards the beauty.

She ignored him, instead going for the Nelphan soldiers for an interrogation. “Alright, Nelphans. I have some questions for you…”

“Hey, wait, I just went through all this effort even though I’m so tired. I think at least a little praise is in order? I guess I’m not really expecting anything, though…”

Ferris turned towards him. “Mm? Praise? You mean this?” She asked as she unsheathed her sword and aimed it straight for his neck.

Ryner could only watch, eyes half-lidded. “Umm… nope, that’s something else entirely.”

“Really? But…”

Ferris turned her sword back towards the soldiers.

“Nelphans, if you don’t answer me, kcchha. Your heads will go flying. Will you choose to answer?”

Their answer was obvious. “Y-yes. Ask us anything.”

“So?”

“‘So?’ Er, where to start…”

With that, Ryner and Ferris bullied the Nelphans for information.

—

To go back a bit in time…

“I’m telling you that we can’t go home empty-handed!”

Milk Callaud had both of her arms extended, flailing them for emphasis, as they walked through a rural area’s road.

She had big eyes, a cute face, and was currently acting like a spoiled child. She was sixteen but small for her age, and her flaxen ponytail was waving back and forth as she walked. At the moment, she was the perfect picture of ‘unreliable’…

She was accompanied by her four subordinates, members of a Taboo Hunter squadron from Roland. Though they’d never successfully completed a taboo hunt…

Luke Stokkart, a twenty-five year old man with white hair despite his young age, spoke to her like a parent would speak to his child. “But Chief Milk—”

“Augh! You’re treating me like a kid again, Luke! You can’t call me Milk! You have to call me Chief Callaud!”

“I’m sorry, Chief Milk.”

“Geez!”

This was a conversation that the two of them had every single day.

“But the two Taboo Breakers are extremely strong. I think they might be a little too much for us to manage… I propose going back to Roland—”

“Noo!” Milk yelled as she flailed her arms. “No, no, no, no, no!! You know that we’ll have to write a formal explanation and apology if we go home empty-handed, don’t you!?”

A troubled expression rose to Luke’s face as he spoke with Milk, who refused to listen to reason.

A Taboo Breaker was a magician from Roland who defected, taking the secrets of their country’s magic with them. A Taboo Hunter was tasked with catching these defectors to keep the secrets of their magic from leaking to other countries. They chased them, caught them, and even executed them at times to prevent that.

Milk had information on a pair of Taboo Breakers, but… they were too strong back when they first made contact, and the Taboo Breakers just shook their attempts at capture off. Just thinking about it put Milk in a bad mood.

“Uuh, that Ryner! How could he forget about me! We made a promise back when we lived in the same orphanage, didn’t we!? And, and there’s that beauty with him… what’s that supposed to mean!? What’s he thinking, leaving the country with a beauty like that?!”

“Er, Chief? I’ve been wondering this for a while now, but are you acquainted with that Taboo Breaker?”

“I’m not associating myself with a guy like that!”

“No, that’s not what I asked,” Luke asked. Perplexed as he was, he maintained a smile as he watched Milk. That was because Milk had successfully captured the hearts of her subordinates.

She wasn’t aware of that, though…

“In any case, Chief. I really believe that we ought to return to our country for a bit.”

“No way! I’m definitely not going back!”

“Hmm.” Luke crossed his arms, troubled. “Oh, Chief. There are some ruins just past the forest ahead. What do you say we take a field trip over there and take some souvenirs back home?”

Milk responded to that despite herself. “Huh? Ruins? Where, where?” Then she realized what she was saying. “Ah!? Wait, no! Gosh, Luke! You can’t trick me that easily!”

So she said, but wanting to see a foreign country’s ruins was human nature, but Milk pretended like she didn’t want to see it anyway (even though her subordinates absolutely realized that she wanted to see them).

Luke’s eyes moved towards it. It was an intimidating stone structure, and for some reason, there was a noisy river flowing from the entrance… whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

Then screams joined the sound of water.

“Uwawawawa!!”

A massive wave crashed out of the entrance along with a lanky, slouched man.

Luke’s expression immediately changed to ‘oh, shit,’ and in the same moment, Milk’s tuned dark.

“I~found~you, Rymgfmgmfg…”

Luke covered her mouth with his hand, but he knew that it was futile. “Chief, I keep telling you that this is pointless,” he said.

“Fuohn fuo foeh, fouhfu!”

“Huh? You understand that we can’t win, but you want to chase him anyway? Hmm…”

Luke looked to the other members of their squadron for opinions.

“Well… we agree with whatever Luke… I mean, whatever Chief Milk wants to do…”

“Luke, you could tell what Chief was trying to say just now, and that just makes me respect you even more.”

“Oh, really?” Luke asked, then laughed, bashful. “It’s really not that impressive.”

Milk pushed the hand off of her mouth as her subordinates talked about useless things. “Anyway! We’re chasing after them as Taboo Hunters! That’s an order from your superior!”

““Okaaay.””

Her subordinates followed her into the ruins like they were teachers on a kindergartener’s field trip.

Seeing that, Ryner made a slovenly remark. “It’s pretty pointless to just leave now, isn’t it…”

So he didn’t.

Back in the innermost chamber of the ruins, the Nelphan army was still trying to figure out how to get out of the traps, seeing as they made it that far already…

Meanwhile, Ferris and Ryner had reached a dead end. The Nelphans were a ways away, still stuck in every trap. Ryner and Ferris were calmly surveying a different area, and it wasn’t anything that a normal person would fall for. There was a suspiciously discolored panel on the stone floor and a door-like discoloration on the wall. It was easy to avoid the trap—that wasn’t the problem. The problem was…

Ryner was peering into a massive hole in the center of the room. It was already so dark that one could hardly see, so trying to see into the hole was a lost cause. They’d definitely die if they fell in…

“See? This is why we should just go home,” Ryner said, unhappy. “The Nelphan surveillance party came all the way out here, and we’re so far in that we can’t really escape by going down any more – this hole’s too deep for us to see the bottom. Guess I wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop you either way, though…”

“Mm.” Ferris nodded. The beautiful swordswoman looked into the hole along with Ryner.

“Whoa, hey, don’t tell me you actually want to jump—”

Ferris raised her head, and her face betrayed absolutely no emotion just like always. “I’m a swordswoman,” she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Hm? What’s with that all the sudden? I know that painfully well, you know?” Ryner asked. He had enough flashbacks of her sword on his neck for a lifetime.

Ferris nodded. “All swordsmen have trained just for moments like these where we can release our true power.”

“I feel like you’re about to say something totally unreasonable, but go on.”

“Although we get few chances to really show our true power, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist,” Ferris said.

“I see. So what are you getting at?”

“It’s simple.” Ferris moved slowly, deliberately, towards Ryner’s back. “Magician, attack.”

She slammed her foot into Ryner’s back.

“Huh?” Ryner said. For a moment, he felt like he was floating in air. Then, “Gyaaaaahhhh!”

He fell at a frightening speed. Death approached at a frightening speed. Ryner could feel it. This was bad… he was really going to die, wasn’t he!? H-he had to do something…

His best bet was magic. His hands moved frantically, and he chanted the intonation just as quickly.

Light gathered in the center of the hole like a candle lighting in the dark, and soon lightning burst out. A normal magician would be impressed beyond belief at the speed that he cast it. After the flashes of light, many bolts of lightning slammed against the walls.

Once silence returned to the ruins, Ferris looked down inside the hole again.

“Trying to commit suicide by jumping?” Ferris asked.

“The nerve!!” Ryner screamed. But he soon breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that he was alive.

In contrast, Ferris was sounding awfully satisfied with herself. “As long as it makes you happy,” she said. “You’re so energetic, after all. In any case, go search for the relics and then report back.”

“Hey, you… hah… well, I guess I’m used to it already… Oh, there’s an altar and scroll here. Now I just have to figure out how to get back up there…”

“I won’t stop you if you want to die of starvation,” Ferris said.

“No, I’ll just copy that light web spell from earlier and climb up it,” Ryner said. With that, he made full use of that spell and started to climb up, little by little. It took twenty minutes to make his way back up, give or take.

When he finally got above the edge of the hole, he collapsed, his legs still dangling over the edge.

“Ha, hah,” Ryner panted. “My body feels like it’s gonna fall off today…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I don’t wanna hear that from you!”

Ferris grabbed the scroll from Ryner’s hand. “So this is a heroic relic?”

“How should I know? I didn’t get a good look at it yet.”

“Hurry up and have your look at it, then. What’s the hold up?”

“You know damn well what the hold up is… Let me get all the way up first, and then we can look…”

With that, Ryner used the last of his strength to pull himself up—

“Don’t move!”

“Hm?”

The familiar voice of a girl rang through the ruins.

Ryner stopped in his tracks and turned his attention to where he’d heard the voice, and there… were four men and a girl. He scowled. “You guys again…”

It was Milk and her squadron. For some reason, her chest was puffed out in accomplishment. “Heheheh. You guys can’t escape now! How is it? Ryner’s stuck in the hole and can’t move! All according to plan!”

“You’re doing great, Chief!”

“We won’t have to turn in a written apology thanks to you!”

Milk nodded proudly at the sound of her subordinates’ praise. She pointed a finger at her targets. “Alright! Just like always, Luke, Lach, and Lear, you guys attack with swords! Moe, you’re my support! I’ll capture that unfaithful man!”

““Understood!””

And so their sudden battle commenced. The white-haired man called Luke and two other men readied their swords, and meanwhile… Ferris continued to read the scroll, completely unperturbed. “Hm. I can’t read any of this. What about you, Ryner?”

Ryner ignored them, too. “Let me see.”

“Don’t just ignore us!” Milk screamed.

But Ryner didn’t lift his head from the scroll. “Oh, this is…”

Luke and the others approached, swords ready. They were strong, as was to be expected of elite Taboo Hunters. Ferris absentmindedly raised her sword with one hand to block. “So? How is it, Ryner? Is it like the last relic where you couldn’t read it even with your Alpha Stigma?”

“No, it’s written in the ancient alphabet. Want me to translate it?”

“Mm.”

“Let’s see… ‘My name is Kyubel Alphonse. I am a great thief, and have hidden this scroll among treasure…’” Ryner raised his head. “Hey, this guy’s a thief, not a hero.”

“Seems so.”

“So it’s just like I’ve been saying, right? There’s no relics here. This has all been a waste of time. We’ve come up empty handed again…”

Milk tried to speak over them. “Geez, Ryner! Stop spending all your time talking to her! We’re your enemy here!”

For some reason Ferris, who had completely ignored Milk and her squadron until now, finally reacted. “The woman who you horribly cast away is loud, Ryner. Do something about her.”

“Whoa, hey, I’m horrible now?”

“I wasn’t cast away!” Milk yelled.

Apparently a switch flipped inside of Ferris’ mind, because she turned a bit red and stuttered. “Mn… if that’s not it, then it was a one-night stand? How adult of you two.”

““It’s not like that!””

Milk’s face turned bright red. “I’m mad now! Do you think it’s funny making fun of us like this!? Oh, I’m really going to capture you now!” She moved her hands to draw a magic circle.

“Oh, you’re pretty fast,” Ryner said. He lifted the rest of his body up from the hole. With languid eyes, he moved his hands far faster than Milk to cast a spell first. “I wish for an invasion – Eclipse!”

Black smoke rushed out from his magic circle, easily blotting out the light of Milk’s.

“Wha…”

Milk’s expression turned to one of astonishment… and then she puffed out her cheeks. “Ryner, you coward! How could you cancel my magic like that!?”

“Huh? Coward?”

“That’s right! I put my all into my spell, and now you’ve gone and cancelled it! How immature!”

Ryner couldn’t even begin to respond to that, but he didn’t have to. The men with Milk responded with their nods instead.

“Anyway, Ryner! Stay right there! I’ll never forgive you for this!” Milk yelled as she waved her pointer finger like a child.

Her subordinates cheered her on from behind. “Good luck, Chief~!”

They moved to attack, but that in itself wasn’t all that scary. There was something far scarier that he just realized. He let out a sound as soon as he noticed it. “Ah…”

Right there, in Milk’s path, was the discolored panel on the floor, and she was charging full-force towards him. It was only after she stepped on it that Milk noticed it, too. “Ah…”

The floor clicked, and with it came a loud rumbling sound.

“Uwah… this is the worst possible outcome,” Ryner groaned.

“Wh-what’s this? What’s going on?” Flustered, Milk stopped in her tracks and rested her hand on the wall. Another clicking sound echoed through the chamber…

“Hey!” Ryner yelled, but it was already too late. Another loud, rumbling sound came from elsewhere in the ruins, changing the sound of the first one ever so slightly. On top of everything, the whole ruin began to shake. “That idiot… is this place really gonna collapse now?”

“Seems so,” Ferris said, just as emotionless as always as she looked around.

“W-we should get out of here!” Ryner said.

“Mm.”

And so the two of them broke out in a run.

Milk took off after them, too. “Ryner, you idiot! I won’t let you get away even if you run!”

“You’re the idiot here!” Ryner yelled back. “Ugh, geez, we don’t have time for this! Just come with us! I’ll explain it later!” He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her along as they ran.

“Eh? Eh ♡ W-wait, Ryner, what are you doing, grabbing my hand all of the sudden? D-don’t tell me we’re eloping!?”

“Shut up!”

“A man’s stealing our chief away!”

“Augh! Just shut up already!”

They all ran towards the entrance of the ruins while screaming, but as they ran…

“Huh?”

A massive wave raced through the ruins from the path they were trying to escape through.

“Uwooahgh!?”

“Kyaaaa!?”

“Chieeef!?”

“……Hm.”

—

“……”

A man and woman made it out, sopping wet.

“See, I knew that getting out of bed today was a terrible idea… We’d be dead if that hole didn’t act like a storm drain.”

“Mm. We were all in danger of being attacked by you through the chaos, too.”

“No, I definitely didn’t have the time to worry about something like that… oh, well…”

Ryner had absolutely no energy to argue with her about that now, so he just sighed.

There was a splash in the water. Then, “Uwawah, what’s all this? Why’re we in a river!? I-I can’t swim!”

“Ah… she’s awake,” Ryner said. “What should we do about that?”

“About what?” Ferris asked.

More screaming. “Kyah!? Luke’s sinking? He’s sinking!?”

“I mean that,” Ryner said.

“Can’t see a thing,” Ferris said, blunt as ever. “Let’s go. We don’t have much time.”

“…Hm. Guess you’re right.”

And so the two tried to walk away…

“Huh!? Ryner, there you are! Don’t just ignore me—come help! Uuh, puh, I’m getting water in my mouth…”

They turned around for a second, but ended up leaving it to be. “Anyway, where to?”

“I want to go to Runa next.”

They ended up walking away to continue their journey.

“Wait, Ryner! Wait… wh, why’s there a waterfall!? Kyaaaah!”

What awaited them on their journey…?