So you'll keep Rain on your toes, okay?　It's "the" thing to do, right?　We like Rain like that.
I see...

　Kanade's words are soothing to me.

　Maybe I wanted someone to affirm me.
　Maybe I wanted someone to push me to be okay.

Thank you, Kanade.
Meow.

　I patted Kanade's head.

　There's a part of me that said it, or rather made me say it...
　Still, my heart was getting lighter.
　The fact that I wasn't alone was reducing the burden on my heart.

''........Huh?

　Kanade suddenly turned red as he seemed to remember something.

'What's wrong?'
'What?　No, I mean....when I said I liked you, I meant that I liked you as a companion, but I didn't mean that in a way that would make me feel any better. Nyahhhh!
Wha, Kanade?
'Ugh don't worry about it. It's just a little bit of self-destruction and extremely embarrassing.
Oh, yeah?

　Kanade's face had turned bright red.

　Looking at him from the side, it looks like he's done something big, but.......
　Well, since Kanade says it's nothing, I don't think it's a good idea to pursue it.
　After hesitating, I decided to just pay attention and keep an eye on it.

　If the strange behavior continues, then we'll talk to him again.

''Um ... Rain, Rain.''
Yeah?
''We've repelled that Heavenly Clan, what are we going to do now?　Are we going to find a way to seal it?
That's part of it but I've got some things to do first.
Meow?　To do?　What's that?
I have.

　.... we need to pursue Arios.



----------



What do you want?

　I summoned Arios and his party to the village chief's house.

　Inside are my party, Axe, and Cell.
　And the village chief and a few villagers.

　Even though the house has a decent amount of space, it feels cramped when this many people gather.
　However, it's not the kind of thing to talk about where you don't know who's listening, so you'll have to bear with me there.

''We're busy. We have to go after that Heavenly Clan now. If this is a boring story, can we talk about it later?''
Is that how you're gonna get away with it?
What the...?

　I said, daring to provoke him.
　Arios glared at us, but he wasn't scared at all.

'Didn't we talk about this when Iris showed up?　Iris is cooperating with Arios. The reason for this is that Arios has freed me...
What?

　Arios' expression distorts.

''Nah, what the........''
'No way, that's not possible!
A brave man would never do such a thing.

　There was an uproar among the villagers.
　However, many people still believed in Arios again, and words came out to defend him.
　The villagers were all evacuated when the earlier story came out. They must not have listened.

　Arios saw those villagers and a smile appeared on his mouth.

''Well can you stop with the trivial accusations?　I've risked my life to save the villagers and I'm not going to release a demon. And yet, we don't release a demon. And moreover, to collaborate with that demon... let's not get all worldly.
'I don't know.　It's fishy stuff.
What did you say?
'I don't know the purpose, but I'm sure Arios was trying to use Iris for his own purposes. I've heard that, for sure. But ... Arios had underestimated Iris. Maybe he thought he could control it. But Iris was better than him. She got out of Arios's hands and went out of control and took a painful spanking...isn't that about right?
"...you say that as if you've seen it all.
'I still have a reasonable grasp of Arios, though.

　We've traveled together in our own way.
　Arios' personality and what he is likely to do is somewhat predictable.

　He tried to use Iris, but it was used against him.
　That's probably what the truth of this time is.

　But.....
　It was that kind of nonsense that caused the damage to be done.
　If Arios hadn't broken the seal, none of this would have happened.

　Thinking about it made me angry.

''Hmph, that's nonsense. All of this is something you can only speculate about. Do you have any proof?
It's...
No?　There can't be. It's just your boring, delusional speech. To try to disgrace me by doing that.......are you ready for that?

　Arios is a brave man.
　He has deep ties to his country.
　If you report me as a traitor or something like that, I will be on the wanted list in a heartbeat.

　However, we can't back down now.
　If we let Arios, who has done this, go free, what will he do next.......

　But first we have to do something about the current situation.
　We have to confront the evidence that Arios' words are lies...

I'll be the witness. Rain didn't lie.
I'll be a witness, too.

　Axe and Cell stepped forward.

'It's true what Rain says. I've certainly heard it with my own ears.
Likewise. He's not lying. He's the brave one who's lying.
Wha...?

　Arios panicked at the unexpected witness.

''Ki, you guys.......do you know what will happen to me like that?　I could turn you guys into traitors to your country with a single word, you know?
"What? Do whatever you want!　I'm not a hero. I feel like an idiot for wanting to be like you. I never thought I'd be such a bastard.
'I don't know what you want, but you're the one who's bringing this about, aren't you?　Don't you realize that?
Goo.........these........guys...!

　Arios' face turns blue, then red.

'Arios, please calm down,'
Yeah, we've got nothing to be ashamed of. Don't panic!

　With Mina and Lean's words, Arios seems to have regained some composure.
　His expression remains grim, but his tone is calm and calm as he proceeds to speak.

''I see ... I understand what you guys have to say. But where's the proof?
It's...

　Axe stammered.

'You have no proof that I have done such a thing, do you?　Of course. There's no way I'd do something like that. I am a brave man. I fight to protect the people who live in this country. And I am not going to put people in danger. When you say you will testify, which do you think people will believe, the words of a mere adventurer or the words of a brave man?
Ggh............................
Stop it. I know how you feel, but you can't mess with me here.

　Axe clenches his fists, but Cell stops him.
　Arios saw this and got more and more in tune.

'You said something boring, didn't you?　We'll pay you back for this. Right now I've got my hands full with the demon case but you should be ready for it when it's over. It won't just be more than just revoking my adventurer's license. It might even get you thrown in jail. You'll have to pay for the crime of taunting me, and you'll have to pay dearly for it.
You want proof?

　Suddenly, Sora interjected.

'I have proof.
What... what?
Hey, is this guy for real?

　Axe bit into the story.

'Yes, it's true,'
Hmm. There's this thing called a stuck shovel!

　Luna joined the conversation.

'Silly ... it's just silly, it's just a bluff. There's no such thing as that.
'Phew!　However, there is!　Come on, Sola. Let me show you.
'Why is Luna in charge when Sora was the one who started it....at all?

　While mumbling, Sora chanted a magic.
　Then.........

The only thing that matters is that you are human. And he's a brave man. Do you think I'll always be willing to betray such a person?
"...you!　That's not what you said.
'In return for releasing me, I'll cooperate with you.......that was the kind of promise I made, but I'm tired of it. Or rather, I thought it was time to kill the survivors of Pagos...........Let's take our cooperation to the end.''
'Wha... you... you ungrateful little bastard!　How dare you? I set you free, didn't I?　And now you're going to betray me!'
"Promises are meant to be broken.

　Visions of Iris and Arios were projected in the air.

''Is this...?''
It's a magical recreation of a place's memory.

　I looked at Sora as if to ask her a question, and she gave me such an answer.

'Cutting out a specific time in the past and recreating... well, to put it simply, it's magic that allows you to see again what happened in the past. As you can see, it's an elaborate reenactment, so it's impossible to tamper with it to suit you. It recreates the facts as they are. That's proof enough for you, isn't it?
Wha........stupid.....

　Arios' face turns blue.
　In addition, Mina and Lean also turned blue.
　

''And by the way, I have one more piece of evidence.

　With that, Sora took out her blood-stained dagger.