Volume 1 - CH 4

“We just need to seduce the woman. Simple, isn’t it?” Ferris said, as emotionless as always.

“Hey, you… I’d hardly call that simple,” Ryner said as he pointlessly ran his hand through his perpetual bedhead. Despite being tensed up, his lanky form was still slouched, a sign of his lack of motivation. His dull eyes looked like they never did anything but sleep as he walked down the main path to Runa.

In contrast, Ferris was rather energetic as she dragged him along.

“Um, so what do you mean by seducing her? She’s a princess. You do understand that, right?”

“Of course. But you spend day after day chasing after women, so it should be a piece of cake for you,” Ferris said, lacking any and all tone to her voice.

“…Seriously, when have I ever chased a girl?”

“You’re always doing it,” Ferris said, so certain that it could have easily been the truth… except that it wasn’t. 

“Ugh. Arguing is a pain, so I’m not even gonna bother,” Ryner replied, shaking his head. It was always like this with Ferris. He glanced over to his beautiful partner in crime, Ferris Eris.

Her blonde hair seemed to sparkle in the sun, and her face was ideal in every way, and her figure was no different. The only thing that stood out as ‘off’ was her perpetually blank expression. “Then it’s settled,” she said. “You’ll take it from her in a suicide mission.”

“You say that so easily… but I seriously think it’s impossible, you know? Joke about it all you want, but this is a real princess we’re talking about. That’s why I think that Runa’s relics are gonna be way too much of a pain to get, so I don’t wanna bother. You’d have to be insane to try to get a princess’ necklace from her.”

“Mm. But according to your report…”

“Yeah. It’s pretty much set in stone that the necklace that’s customarily passed down to the princesses of Runa is a relic…”

“Mm. So we have to steal it,” Ferris said. “After all, you report states that those in possession of relics—”

“I know that. We can’t avoid this stuff, right? But how can you expect us to just steal it? It’s way too dangerous. We’re just two people, y’know?”

Ferris suddenly looked puzzled. “Are you joking? The two of us aren’t going to steal it.”

“Huh? Really? Are you telling me that we’re getting a supporting army this time? How many people are we getting?”

Ferris shook her head, looking like she was looking down on him. “Why are you assuming that we’re getting more people? If it’s not two people, then it’s naturally just one, isn’t it? To summarize…”

“To summarize.”

“You’re the only one in danger here.”

“Hah!? God, why are you always so…” Needless to say, Ryner’s exhaustion quickly returned. “I just wish you wouldn’t say it so easily…”

“Mm. I’m a very positive person,” Ferris said, nodding.

Ryner sighed. “So how do you plan on approaching the princess?”

“I have the perfect plan,” Ferris said and stopped walking. She put her hand on her chest… no, more specifically, she put her hand on her armor, pointing to the crest on her chest. It was Roland’s crest of arms, a snake with lances on either side. “We use this. We’re lucky that Roland and Runa are allies. We can use this to enter the castle under the guise of good-will ambassadors.”

“Good-will ambassadors, huh~?” Ryner looked down to his own armor’s crest. It was on strange white armor, covering a navy blue robe, and his expression turned to one of doubt. “So we’re relying on the crust alone, huh. That’s gonna be the only proof we need to invade their castle. I could totally say, ‘what the hell do you mean, that’s your perfect plan, dumbass!?’ but like, I’m really tired and that’d all be a huge pain, so I won’t.”

“‘Dumbass,’ you say… I can’t imagine who you’d tell that to. I’d have to shout back, ‘Ryner, you’re head’s going flying!’ if I were to hear that, though,” Ferris said as her hand settled on her sword.

“…So why’s your hand on your sword then?”

“I don’t need to shout it. I’m sure it would be a most beautiful sight… heheh.”

“A ‘most beautiful sight,’ you say. Um, so…”

Ferris gracefully unsheathed her sword.

“Uuh… I’m sorry.”

“Mm.” Ferris nodded, satisfied, and put her sword away. “Let’s go. Your role is simple: you seduce the princess, get close to her, and steal the necklace. It’s no different from what you always do.”

“Like I said, I don’t do that.”

Naturally, his words never reached Ferris, who had already resumed walking at a swift pace. It was all Ryner could do to stare after her, tired.

“Well, whatever,” he mumbled as he followed after her. “Best case scenario, I seduce her well enough to become a real gold digger and live the rest of my life in leisure…”

---

At the same time, in a different place—

A black building, built to intimidate, was known as Roland’s Taboo Hunter’s Headquarters. They were currently in a room inside filled with an oppressive atmosphere. It was there that Milk Callaud’s stern superior read through her report with furrowed brows.

Milk had flaxen hair wrapped up in a ponytail, an adorable face and big eyes, and a short figure. No matter how you looked at her, she didn’t seem like a military officer, but the truth was that at age sixteen, she was already the chief of a group of Taboo Hunters. Her subordinates, all lined up behind her, were all older than she was.

Among them, her guardian… er, no, her assistant Luke Stokkart, a twenty-five year old man with white hair, whispered to her. “The Major’s looking stern again today…”

“Uuh,” Milk whispered back, “He’s really mad about us failing, isn’t he…?”

Milk got tenser and tenser the more she looked at her superior, Rahel Miller’s face. He was the leader of the whole Taboo Hunter division of the military and they’d just handed in their apology letter for their failure, and Miller’s expression just got harsher by the second.

This man might’ve had a certain adult appeal to him, but Milk wasn’t quite at the point of her life where she’d think about stuff like that… 

The Taboo Hunters’ duty was to catch or otherwise exterminate runaways from Roland who knew their country’s magic to avoid their secrets being exposed, and yet… 

Luke whispered to her again. “See, Chief, it wasn’t our fault that we failed this time, so there’s no reason to worry, okay? Our opponents were just too strong. Far too strong to realistically catch. It really is best if we give up on this job entirely—”

Milk interrupted him with another whisper. “W-we can’t do that. We have to capture Ryner. I, I mean, I made a promise with him a long time ago. Then he goes and elopes with that beauty… I have to catch that cheater.”

“Even so, Chief,” Luke whispered back, “We cannot possibly catch—”

“No!” Milk said. “We’re definitely catching him!”

“Shh! Shh! You can’t talk so loudly, Chief! Do you understand where we are? We’re in the Major’s office!”

“Ah!” Milk said, back to a whisper. “That’s right! Sorry, Luke. D-do you think he heard…?”

It’d be weird if he didn’t hear in such a small room…

As expected, Major Miller raised his head, even more stern than before. “Hm… you’re just as energetic as ever, Lieutenant Callaud.”

“Y, yes! That’s thanks to everyone’s support! Major Miller, you’re just as stern as ever—”

Luke quickly covered Milk’s mouth with a hand. “Um, er, yes, you’re just as vigorous as always, Major Miller…”

Miller shook his head, then returned to reading the document he’d been given. “Let’s leave the greetings for another time. The issue at hand is your loss to the Taboo Breakers, isn’t it?”

They didn’t lose, per se. The truth was that the Taboo Breakers had even managed to repel Nelpha’s Magical Knights. That was how impressively powerful they were. Magical Knights were the most prestigious of a country’s soldiers, the strongest of the strong. That meant that this was really a job for a veteran Taboo Hunter.

“So which is it?” Miller asked. “Will you fail this mission, or will you complete it?”

Milk nodded enthusiastically. “This mission’s easy peasy! Last time Nelpha’s Magical Knights got in the way, but…”

Her subordinates behind her got flustered. “Ch-Chief? What are you saying!?”

“I-it’s impossible. Those Taboo Breakers are just too strong. We’d be better off trading this job for another one—”

“Ugh, geez!” Milk interrupted. “Quiet, all of you!” Milk said as she turned around and pointed her finger back at them. “It’ll definitely work out this time!”

“On what grounds…?”

Milk nodded, a sincere look on her face. “See, I wasn’t serious enough last time… Once I’m serious, I can catch Ryner not once, but two or three times over again! I won’t let that woman win! All she’s got going for her is her beauty! Right? Luke?”

“Huh? Well, er… Is that so…?”

Unable to keep up with the quick change in conversation, it was all Luke could do to nod unenthusiastically… 

Miller gave them a curt nod. “I see. If Luke agrees with you, then I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Huh? No, I…”

“Alright. I’ll leave this to you once more as chief of a Taboo Hunter squadron, Milk Callaud.”

“Auh…”  

It’d already been ten years since those two Taboo Hunters knew each other, so Luke had long since earned the trust of his superior.

Milk saw Luke’s dejected nod and got fired up again at the sight of… a nod. “Wait for me, Ryner!” She yelled, once again forgetting that she was in Major Miller’s office.

Seeing her, the only thing that one could think was ‘well, she’s cute so it’s okay,’ so nobody bothered disciplining her… 

“Okay, let’s hurry up and leave for the Runa Empire!” Milk said. “They’re our allies, so it’ll be easy to get in! Let’s go!”

With that, Milk raced out of the office. Luke sighed as he watched her.

Miller smiled, troubled. “She’s an elite who graduated with honors from the military academy she attended. She’s friendly even though she’s the daughter of a noble. It’s interesting.”

Luke turned to look at him. “She’s from an orphanage just like the rest of us… but she was adopted into a noble family to earn them military recognition. Even so, she’s still so bright.”

“Yeah… Protect her, Luke. Kids like her are the future of the country.”

“Er, I’m still young too…”

“You’re definitely not young to a sixteen year old.”

“Then you must be a senior citizen, being over thirty.”

“Mrgh…”

Miller scowled as Luke stuck his tongue out at him. 

“I’d better leave before you get mad,” Luke said.

“Ugh, just get out of here already. I have lots of work to do.”

“Yes, yes. I’ll go on after our princess now,” Luke said and left the room.

---

There was the Runa Empire’s princess.

She was pale to the point that one wouldn’t think she was human—her skin was more the color of bone than the skin that other people had.

“Whoa, she’s pale… Almost like snow,” Ryner said.

They’d come to see her as good-will ambassadors. Seeing her graceful smile as the princess, Ena Asto greeted them was enough to take Ryner’s breath away. 

“Mm. She certainly is pale,” Ferris said back, just as quietly as Ryner had spoken to her. “Almost like she’s ill.”

“Geez, you’ve got no concept of dreams, do you… She’s a legendary princess of every man’s dreams with her snowy skin… or rather…”

Ryner stopped in his tracks when he looked back at Ferris’ face. She was no Princess Ena as far as paleness went, but she was endlessly beautiful in other ways.

“Or, uh, I mean, there’s a beauty over in this corner, too… Although I’m already used to it… and although her personality doesn’t match her face,” Ryner said quickly, then sighed, glad that Ferris didn’t hear the rest.

Then Princess Ena spoke to them. “I am very pleased to see that you have come all the way from Roland as ambassadors. I regret to inform you that both the king and queen are out of the castle for the time being, but I would be honored to receive you in their absence.”

Ryner’s face turned grimmer and grimmer the more she spoke. She was so soft-spoken and polite. Did he really have to trick her, seduce her, and steal the fiery red necklace she was wearing right off of her neck?

Just thinking of it made his chest… no, his very heart… 

“Ugh, what a pain.”

…cry out in unmotivated pain. 

Firstly, it was impossible. Inside was full of royal guards, and outside was full of soldiers. How exactly was he supposed to seduce a princess in that situation? Wouldn’t they kill him!? Ugh, it was seriously impossible. His best course of action would be to take the feast they’d no doubt get for dinner and then peace out.

For some reason, Ena’s face reddened as Ryner’s thoughts ran wild. “Er… do excuse my rudeness, but who might this beauty be? They are so dainty, and their golden hair is just divine, and there is their beautiful face to speak of as well, yet they wear armor and carry a sword… Might they be… a man?” 

Ryner smiled bitterly. He’d heard that women kept out of military affairs in Runa, but to this extent? To think that anyone could possibly mistake Ferris for a man… “No, Princess, she’s a—”

Just then, Ryner heard the same sharp sound as always. He instinctively shut up. A few strands of hair from his bangs fluttered down, and that was the only sign that Ferris’ sword had ever left its scabbard. It was back in its place before he could say a thing.

“Wh-what was that for…?” 

“Look at her,” Ferris said, her expression unchanging. “She is enraptured by my beauty. I will be the one to seduce her.” 

“What!? That’s impossi—”

Whoosh! More of Ryner’s poor hair was cut off.

“Hey, you… Do that five more times and you’ll have shaved all of my bangs off.”

“Then shut up,” Ferris said and took a step forward, a solemn expression on her face. “How unusual. Of course I am a man, Your Highness.”

The princess’ face grew redder. “O-of course. I do apologize. It is just that I have never seen such a beautiful person in my life…”

Ferris shook her head, a troubled expression on her face… except for in her eyes, which were as empty as always. “What a predicament I’m in, hearing that from you, whose beauty is legendary throughout the lands. Your grace as well. You are just as beautiful as I.”

“Eh… ♡”

Ryner watched them with half-lidded eyes. “This is stupid…” 

He shook his head at the thought that Ferris could even win at being a man better than men could.

---

That night, Ryner and Ferris stood in front of the princess’ room.

The contents of Ferris and Ena’s conversation is unknown, but their relationship somehow progressed to the point of the princess inviting Ferris to her chambers for the night. Ryner sighed as he admitted to himself that Ferris was in fact a pro of seduction.

“So why am I here?” Ryner asked. “You can do whatever you need to do, Ferris, so why do I need to be a part of it?”

“Don’t be stupid. What would happen if I were to enter the room of a beast and be attacked?”

“Hah? A beast? You talkin’ about the princess?”

Ferris nodded, almost meek. “Even women are at risk of turning into beasts when faced with my divine beauty…”

Ryner was at a loss for words at her obvious compliments towards herself. Ferris slowly reddened.

“J-joking aside…”

“Don’t say it if you’re just gonna get embarrassed about it,” Ryner said.

Awkwardness aside, here was the plan.

The princess would figure out that Ferris was a girl if she undressed her, so they instead planned to knock her out and steal her necklace then. Ferris would escape, then give the signal for Ryner as soon as she got it.

“Alright, it’s time to steal the relic from the beast,” Ferris said. “Enter the room when I give the signal. I’ll be escaping through the window.”

“Yes, yes.”

And so they put their plan into action. Ferris disappeared inside of the princess’ rooms in a flurry.

“Ah, Lord Ferris… ♡”

“I’ve come, Ena… You’re as beautiful as ever tonight.”

Outside, Ryner could hear every single cringeworthy line they said. He crossed his arms at the feeling.

“…Why am I getting embarrassed listening to this…”   

Just then, he heard the sound of several watchmen down the hall. 

“Ah.” both parties said the second they saw each other.

“Y-you!” A guard shouted. “What are you doing in front of the princess’ room!?”

“Um, well…”

He gave up on explaining it the second he started.

“I have nooo idea.”

Ryner too dove into the princess’ room. When he did, the princess looked up at him, shocked. “Wh-why are you here!?”

Ferris, meanwhile, was completely unperturbed.

“What should I do?” Ryner asked her. “They caught us.”

The soldiers filed in after him. “Princess! Are you safe?” 

“Kugh!? This is bad, Ferris! Let’s leave these guys and bolt. We weren’t prepared for—”

There was suddenly a flash of light from Ferris’ sword, shutting Ryner up. 

“Uwah!?”

Unable to dodge, the blunt side of Ferris’ sword smacked into Ryner, knocking him to the ground. She confirmed that he was down with cold eyes before speaking. “Don’t tell me you were planning on sneaking into the princess’ bed at night, Ryner…! Could it be that the rumors of you being a sex fiend were true?!”

“……Uuh…”

Ferris spoke so fast that it was impossible for Ryner to get a word in. Of course, he was in too much pain to get a word in, too… 

Ferris surveyed the guards for a moment before looking back to Ena. “Princess, are you unharmed?”

“Eh? Ah, y-yes. I am fine. More importantly, what about you, Lord Ferris…?”

“I’m un… hrgh…”

Ferris suddenly grabbed her chest. Seeing that, the princess’ voice rose in shock. “Y-you’ve been wounded!?”

“I’ve made an awful blunder. The sex field must have thrown an invisible needle at me…”

“Hey,” Ryner whispered, “When did I get a n—guah!?”

Ryner was silenced by Ferris stepping on him as though he were already a dead body.

“I do apologize for this, Princess,” Ferris said, somehow triumphant, “But could you lend me your aid?”

“Y-yes!” The princess squeaked as she ran to help Ferris. Then she turned on the guards. “What are you doing!? Call for a rescue squadron!”

The soldiers nodded as one and left on her orders, flustered. All in all, it was impressively played. The situation was completely turned on its head in seconds. The guards were gone, the princess thought that Ferris was her savior, and Ferris was there right next to her. She moved her hand to her neck, slipped the clasp of the necklace and moved it from her neck, then slid it across the floor to Ryner in one graceful move.

Ryner whispered, “Man, you really should’ve gone the con artist route—ow!”

Ferris had moved her foot to grind it against Ryner. Then she shook her head, a sad look in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Ena. To think that my companion would do something such as this…”

“No, it’s not your fault, Lord Ferris! We ought to focus on your wounds now, not the past…”

“Thank you,” Ferris said. “Right, Ena. Do you think you could bring me a glass of water…?” 

The princess gave her a big nod. With that, she’d leave the room, and Ryner and Ferris would be able to leave through the window… It was perfect. So perfect… Too perfect, even…

Ryner sighed quietly. “Man… I’m starting to get a phobia of women because of you… guah?!”

“The water, Princess…”

“Yes!”

But just then!

“Ry—n—er!?”

The familiar voice of a girl rang out through the once-quiet castle halls.

“Huh?”

“Mm?”

Ferris and Ryner both made noises of surprise. The princess, too, tilted her head. “That voice…?”

And so a second wave of commotion sprung up around the princess’ door.

Runan soldiers were rushing forward, with a girl at the forefront of their crowd.

Ryner jumped up in shock. Ferris, in strikingly Ferris fashion, pulled the princess close with one arm and moved to the bed.

“Eh? L, Lord Ferris, this is so sudden… You’re taking me to bed…? ♡”

They ignored the princess’ remark. They didn’t have time for that now. After all, a terrifying enemy was fast approaching.

Ryner and Ferris turned towards the door as their enemy stepped into the doorframe. She had a flaxen ponytail, big eyes, a petite body, and… explaining all of this is pretty unnecessary at this point, so anyway, it’s Milk. Her face was bright red, and she was waving around a fist.

“What is this!?” Milk screamed. “What am I looking at!? You’ve led two girls to the bedroom!? Explain yourself, Ryner!!”

“Chief… That’s not the problem right—”

“Shut up, Luke!” Milk said in a flat-out refusal to listen. Her red eyes were burning with anger and passion. 

Ryner returned her red-hot gaze with something far less motivated. “And so all of our efforts are wasted,” Ryner said, tired. “How are you always, always where we need to be, anyway? You aren’t a ghost here to haunt me, right?”

“It’s simple,” Ferris answered. “We had someone fix our armor back in the castletown when we were preparing to enter as good-will ambassadors, did we not?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I made sure to warn that shopkeeper about the dangers of Roland’s perverted—”

“So it’s all your fault!” Ryner yelled. 

“Wh-what’s going on?” Ena whispered as she shivered under Ferris.

The guards were the ones who answered. “Princess! These people are not ambassadors! They’re fakes!”

“What!? Is that true, Lord Ferris!?”

Ferris moved her mouth close to Ena’s ear to whisper to her. “True, we aren’t really ambassadors. But Ena, I need you to believe me when I tell you that my feelings are real. It won’t always be like this. Someday, we’ll be able to meet just as we are… I’ll come for you then.”

The princess was silent for a second before determination spread across her face. She rose from Ferris’ grip and spread her arms out to protect her. “Don’t lay a finger on Lord Ferris!”

It was the heroism that one could only find in a girl who was in love.

“Easy,” Ferris said, satisfied.

“…You are definitely going to hell,” Ryner said. 

“Mm? Why?”

“You’re seriously asking me why?”

“All beauties go to heaven.”

Ryner had nothing to say. All he could do was sigh.

“Out of the way!” Milk said. “I have to capture Ryner!”

“No! I won’t let you lay a finger on Lord Ferris!”

“Ah! Ah, are you another one of the girls that Ryner tricked!?”

“You know nothing about Lord Ferris!”

“And me and Ryner promised a long time ago that we’d get married!”

“And Ferris said he’d come back to get me!”

And so Milk and Princess Ena catfought over totally different things… 

Ryner just watched, astonished at the absurdity. “So should we jump out the window now?”

“Mm.”

And so Ryner and Ferris escaped with ease.

They say that no one was able to break the girls’ intense fight up, and that it only stopped come morning… 

---

By morning, Ryner and Ferris had escaped from the castle to a faraway prairie, apparently without any pursuers. 

Ryner was lounging on a hill, examining the necklace they’d stolen. There was no way that its only purpose was ornamental. Its massive red gems were just too distracting.

Ryner nodded to himself as he examined it in detail.

Just then, Ferris returned with water. “So, Ryner. Is it a relic?”

“I wonder…? It’s just like with that dagger from before. I have no idea just by looking at it. I wish we had a research facility or something to check these things out in…”

“Hm. Is it just like before where you couldn’t see anything with your Alpha Stigma?”

“I was just about to try that,” Ryner said. He sat up properly, took a deep breath, and opened his eyes wider than usual. As he did, a crimson pentagram rose up from the depths of his black eyes. It was Ryner’s special power—his eyes could steal any kind of magic, no matter what country it was from or how complex it was.

“So?”

Ryner’s eyes narrowed. He could see the world’s very make up with it his eyes, as if looking at the world from a different plane. He could see things like lights and colors like numbers and graphs. He looked at the necklace, and— 

“This is…”

“What?” Ferris asked.

“It’s faint, but it seems to be absorbing the surrounding light…? But what does that mean?” He thought it through, but could only come to one conclusion. He wrinkled his nose. “Is it… absorbing ultraviolet rays?”

“Hm… So what’s your conclusion?”

He didn’t respond to her. He just sighed. “So that’s how the princess was so pale. I’m pretty sure it was because of this.”

“So?”

“Um, so in conclusion,” Ryner started, awfully tired, “In conclusion, I’m thinking that this relic might be an item for cutting down on ultraviolet waves to keep skin looking fresh.”

“…That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“And it’s a legendary relic?”

“I wonder if you can really call it that… It’s not like there was a paper that pointed to it and said, ‘this here’s a relic!’ or anything. But it’s definitely something legendary that a hero passed down to princesses of the Runa Empire.”

“…I see.”

They were quiet as pleasant winds blew across the grass. It felt really good… 

“……”

It was tranquil, but at the same time, barren… 

Ryner sighed. “So what should we do with it…?”

“…Try it again.”

Ryner tried looking at it with his Alpha Stigma again, but just then… “Ow.”

Faint pain shot through his eye. 

“What’s wrong?” Ferris asked.

Ryner waved his hand dismissively. “Nothing. I think there’s something in my eye, that’s all. Anyway, it’s all yours,” he said and tossed the necklace to her.

But then the necklace stopped in the air.

“Huh?

“Hm?”

Darkness began to spread from its center.

“What did you do?” Ferris asked.

“Nothing… wait, but more importantly, it’s sucking the light out of the air!”

The necklace… no, more specifically the red gem in the center of the necklace, was quivering in the air, sucking light from its surroundings. It wasn’t just collecting light or anything like that. It was actively sucking it in with the vigor of something that fully intended on sucking all of the light from the world inside of it, and before long, all the light around them was gone.

It was dark like night.

“Th-this thing’s no joke!”

Light had disappeared altogether from their worlds.

Then there was a crackling sound coming from the necklace. The light inside of it rumbled around like thunder, and it ultimately fired out like lightning.

“Uwah…”

“Kuh…”

There was a terrible flash of light, and then it began to spiral in the fiery jewel. 

Then the jewel burst. It actually burst apart. A horrible explosive sound and a blinding flash of light blast through them, returning light to the world… 

“That was…”

“……”

Ryner and Ferris could just stare, dazed.

The light hadn’t returned the world to what it was before. It had taken something with it. A mountain range that was there before was no longer there… 

“Seriously?” Ryner groaned.

It was a terrifying power. Demonic, even. Was it really a ‘heroic’ relic? It was…

“So that was the item that was only meant to keep skin looking nice via ultraviolet rays?” Ferris asked.

“Ah… ahaha,” Ryner laughed, his mouth dry. What could do but laugh at this point? The necklace had released its power and disappeared. It was the kind of power that could bring the world to ruin if it wasn’t a one-time use item… 

All he could do was stare. At the place that the mountains had been.

“So… what should we do about those mountains?” Ryner asked.

Ferris turned her back to the mountains. “The past will never come back.”

“Ah… You know, in some ways I’m kinda jealous of your personality.”

That wasn’t exactly the issue at hand… 

“Let’s go,” Ferris said. “There’s nothing left for us to do here.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true… But y’know, I can’t help but feel like we’re leaving a path of destruction here.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I think I’m gonna start taking notes on this stuff. I’m realizing that I’m on the delicate side,” Ryner said.

“Hm. So you think I don’t have any delicacy?”

“Just saying.”

Ryner turned back to look at the place where the mountain was. Then the two set off once more.

Where would they go next? One can only hope that it’s not somewhere that they’ll leave another path of destruction in…