Francesca then left with her partner Dolly without even hearing my response.
She's truly a horrible woman.
It's either Ichijo or Hidaka in her mind.
Has it already been decided that one of them is me?
What do they actually think?
I'm so far out there and I can't make the final decision.
But Francesca is not stupid.
She's not going to make an enemy out of me.

Francesca brings me information faster and more credible than anywhere else.
It's not all bad.
We're still on the edge of our relationship.
I'd like to keep this relationship on the edge.
As long as I'm not at a disadvantage.

Afterwards, we were surrounded by the crowd that had been waiting behind us, as if to say, "We've been waiting for you.
We got into all kinds of trouble for "shaking hands" and "autographs" and so on.
Toa was on the verge of exploding in anger, deploying a magic circle at his feet, and Sufilia, "I'm going to do what I couldn't do with Artemias," in my ear, "Can I set this crowd on fire?" He smiled wryly.
There's no good reason.
If we did that, we'd have a major fall from hero to villain.
Nem clasped my hand and was terrified at the sight.

I had no choice but to carry the three of them and leave the place at 'divine speed'.
If I had a conversation with each of them, I wouldn't know when they would be released.

We went straight to the inn.


And this is one of the rooms.

'And that was more trouble than a dungeon, wasn't it?

Toa said, juice in hand.
It's an honor, but I don't really like being surrounded.
That was evident again.

'Well...'

That said, you didn't do anything in the dungeon, though, did you?
I'm not going to say--

"Well, we'll be safe here. "Well, I scared the guy at the front desk not to tell anyone at the front desk that we're here. I gave him a fright.

Okay, so you're not worried.

Sufilia was smiling with a wine glass in hand.

''Speaking of which, if you like wine, do you want to drink this?''

I took out the 'Old Gelt' from the different space storage and handed it to Sufilia.

''Ko! ........this!

An Old Gelt. How rare is it?

Then Sufilia's eyes widened, poured the wine into the glass and took a sip with a natural smile on her face.
Then, as if moved, tears ran down her cheeks.

'You're overreacting, right?　There's more, you can drink it all, okay?

'All of it?　No!　Doesn't Master Nito know the value of this wine?

'No, I know, but?　They don't make wine anymore, do they?

'Yes, sir!　This wine is so fantastic that it is said to no longer exist in the market, or even in this world?　All of that and more...

Save it for me then, okay?　I'll keep the rest.

He's a pain in the ass.
But still, I didn't expect Sufilia to be so emotional.

''Speaking of which, I just remembered that wine, right?　I found it in the dungeon I was in before.

'Didn't you say something like that?'

Toa said, as if remembering my words.

'Yeah. So?　You know what Mr. Khalifa said?　Zephyr bought a whole barrel of Old Gelt in the wine country of Rougegelt.

'Oh, by the way... you said that, didn't you?　How do you remember that, anyway?

Well.

I can learn quickly what I've always been interested in.

'So, you didn't tell me what you did with all that wine, did you?　As far as I'm concerned, that's what that wine is all about, isn't it?

That means that the large amount of wine and cheese that was in that dungeon is what Zephyr bought.
I suspect so.
When I think about it, some of my questions are cleared up and it makes sense.
But if you can embody your memories, then this wine is a product of someone else's memories.

Toa had a question mark in his mind.

'I've been thinking about it ever since I heard about Vel. I wondered whose dungeon it was that Aries sent me to.

However, it was a coincidence that I transitioned to that dungeon.

What do you mean?

Toa doesn't seem to understand what I'm trying to say.

'As for the dungeon thing, didn't Mr. Khalifa muddy his words a few times in his explanation?　And that made me have a few questions, and my guess is that that dungeon was a Zephyr dungeon.

Zephyr, the Zephyr that you say gave Nito the skills?

'Yeah, I know. When you think about it, a few things make sense.

What's your story?

''Yeah. That's what happened with Xiaon.

The Toa listened to me, remembering a little bit of what Khalifa had said.
In a sense, I'm a part of the party, if you will.
Of course, I'm an outsider in their adventures, but I'm a party to the adventures ahead.
But not the Toa.
So you'll have a hard time remembering.

My adventure began when I met Shaoan.
It might not be an exaggeration to say so.
And why?　The main question is whether Xiao Xiong was in that dungeon.

'Vel said that only the owner is free to enter and exit the dungeon. The way it works is transference. And it's up to me, and I hear I can fly my friends in too.

"So you're saying that Zephyr flew Shaoan into that dungeon?

Yeah, yeah.

The Toa was surprisingly good with things.

'So, when you think about it, Zephyr was a candidate for the same king as me...'

I yawned there for some reason.
Maybe I'm more tormented than I thought.

'I'll think about that after I see Khalifa-san, after all. I'm already tired for today.

Yeah, I think we should.

Well, I'm gonna go to bed first.

The time was about evening, but I was pretty tired, probably because I was forced to remind myself of a lot of things that happened a long time ago.
Mostly mentally.
But a dungeon was such a place.
A place where candidates are encouraged not to question the abyss?
Well, I mean, you could say that.

But that's not what I'm most concerned about.
When I was listening to Vell, I always had Adams' warning text in my head.
And when Vell said it was a gossip, I was more concerned.
Because, then, why did Adams leave such lore behind?　That's what I mean.

All three are negative.
Loss of life, beloved and freedom....
It's true that if you say something like that, it's hard to get to grips with it on its own.
I don't know who or where he is, but he's still a founding wizard, and someone who may have learned of the abyss earlier than me.
So I figured I couldn't ignore this warning letter.
That Adams knows something important I don't.

--He who is tainted by the abyss loses his life.

The point is this.
This has been bothering me.

When the hypothesis of Zephyr as a potential king arose, I felt like I'd connected the dots.
But it's a fuzzy one.

I mean, how could Zephyr be alive after losing his body?
And isn't that hidden in this warning letter?
That's what I thought.

But Zephyr hasn't lost its lifespan.
In fact, I'm still alive after I die.
But I feel as if the word "life span" is somehow connected to it.

What does it mean to be "dyed"?
I know what it means to be swallowed.
I also understand that it is connected to losing the love of my life.
But I still don't understand the words "to dye" and "to fall."
I don't get it.
I thought that the moment I saw Vell, he would tell me this from now on, but I didn't understand it.
But I didn't know that.
The more I expected, the more stressed I was.
Would I be able to find out about this if I asked Khalifa?
Of course, I feel like I could ask Zephyr for help, but that guy doesn't tell me anything important.



Let's just go to sleep.

Then when you wake up we'll be ready to go.


And then we'll report to the Khalifa.


And then.....


When I came to, I fell asleep.



o



　The next day, the four of us had a light breakfast and left the inn.
When we went out, the town that had been bustling with people until the previous day was nowhere to be seen from a distance.
It had lost its liveliness and some of the stalls had disappeared.

Well, that's what the festival is all about once it's over.

We left the place.

After walking for a while, we were about to go out of the town.
There was a man there who looked familiar.

'We've been expecting you. Lord Nito.

"...are you sure? ........lemonade or something like that.......

Leonardo!　Dames Aldan's....

I know.
I made a mistake on purpose.

'You were the one who got involved with us before the challenge, as I recall, right?

Then Toa said, without malice.
Then Leonardo looked apologetic and said--

"I'm sorry for being so rude to you at the time.

'Well, that's fine, but are you alone?　I felt like I was holding someone the other day...

I questioned, searching through my memory.

'She wasn't good it was too late. She was barely still breathing at the time, but then....

So he's dead.

Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but... then what?　What do you want now?　I was even ambushed. What do you want?

Well then, let me be blunt. I would like to invite Lord Nito to come to Dames Aldan.

What?　Me?　Why?

Well I'm sure you've heard of Dames Aldan...

I don't know. How many countries have you ever heard of?

"Master Nito, Dames Aldan and....

Then Sufilia tried to answer my question.
But Leonardo interrupted her words.

'I'll explain it to you.'

Apparently, this guy says it himself.

'Dames Aldan is a branch of the Damescale Empire, so to speak. It was originally one, but it was omitted when the empire was rebuilt and the country was founded by those people. So that's what Dahms Ardan is.

Hmmm ... well, I get it. Let's pretend that I understand. So?

And here's the thing: Dames Aldan is determined to destroy Damescales.

Yeah yeah... what?

So, if possible, I would like to ask for Lord Nito's help!

'Wait a minute!　Destroy the Empire?　Are you insane?

...I'm serious.

I couldn't see any signs of lying in Leonardo's eyes.

''Even so, you shouldn't talk to me, an adventurer, about such a serious matter, should you?

'Our country does not have the luxury of being selective in its methods. "We don't have a lot of time to choose our bets, and if the Empire gets this information, they won't do anything about it. From their point of view, we are nothing more than a pebble under their feet...

Apparently, Dames Aldan has a place in the war effort.

'If that's the case, why don't you give Razhuisen a hand?

"Of course, I've already sent the letter to King's Landing Rashausen. Of course, I have already sent a letter to King's Landing Rashausen, but it is not enough. I've sent them a letter saying that we can't help them unless we're in perfect condition.

You talk too much now, don't you?　You're like Sierra, aren't you?

...Sierra?

Then Leonardo made an expression as if he had some idea of what was going on.

'Hmm?　Yeah, he's one of mine. Now I'm not in the room. Well, that's good, that's bad, but it's hard to decide right now. I've never been to Dahms Ardan, and I've never been to the Empire. I don't care if you want to destroy it, but honestly, I'd rather just do a little sightseeing first. If you want to destroy it, okay?

Sightseeing? .........?

Leonardo was at a loss for words.

'Tourism in that country?'

'Well, it's just that I want to see it once. It doesn't mean anything. It's easy to destroy a country. I just want to do what I can before that happens.

Easy....

Apparently, there's a difference in common sense between me and this guy.
Even if I said it was easy, you wouldn't get through to him.
But I'm just telling you the truth.

"Anyway, we're headed to the bayouement now.

'So!　Then let me come with you!　And from the looks of it, you don't have a carriage.

Then a carriage stopped where Leonardo was pointing.
Well, this'll work.
It's just that traveling that far on foot again is hard enough.
Mostly to the three of us.

So we'll take a ride in Leonardo's carriage, shall we?

I checked with the three of them, just to be sure.
The three of them were rather relieved that it wasn't a problem.

'Well then, gentlemen!　To the carriage, please!

Leonardo held out his hand and led us to the carriage.

'Thank goodness. Err ... Leonardo?

No.

Toa said awkwardly.

'I'm grateful!'

Nem ran off before he could hear Leonardo's words.

'Well then, Master Leonardo, it's nice to meet you.

'No, no, no........what?　Aren't you a Sufiria?

Then Leonardo noticed.

'No, you can't be mistaken. You are the Princess of Artemias, Lady Sufilia!

'Sufilia? ...who is it?　I don't know anything about Artemias?

But Sufilia said so, and with a smile on her face, she stared into Leonardo's eyes and put pressure on him.
Leonardo smiled bitterly and apologized, ''I was wrong.
Apparently, Sufilia's face might be more widely known than expected.

''Then Lord Nito, please come this way too.

Yeah, I'm sorry. And don't say a word about us, okay?

'Of course. And I'll forget what I just saw.

Huh ... it's nice to know you understand it so quickly.

Leonardo fooled himself with a bitter smile.

Then we all climbed into the carriage and set off again for the bayoument.

-- with the vanished tower in the background.