48 47. Make a judgment of sanity Fall of sanity.txt (2/2)

...... Yes, yes, yes.

I leave Rustyala alone and talk to Arti about it.

He says he's going to teach Maria and Diah magic today and tomorrow. Apparently it won't take long for the two of them to learn magic.

-- and I made a detailed check, thanked Arti and left the 10th layer.

On the way back to that ground, Rustyala asks me a lot of questions.

It's not only about Maria, but he's also curious about Dia, who I mentioned the name of earlier. I had no choice but to explain about my fellow member, Dia.

'-Heh, I see. Before you teamed up with Maria and me, you were working with that Dia person.

That's what I'm saying. It's not that I didn't want to tell you. I just didn't know whether to tell you or not because I'm in the hospital and I don't know when I'll be back. He's got some serious magic.

But a wizard that Christ trusts so much: ......

'Yeah, it's top class. Yeah, it's a little short, but I think we'll catch up there soon. He's talented enough to keep up with us.

I praise Dea with open arms.

If you look at simple numbers, she's a person who surpasses even Rustyala.

And above all, she has a good personality.

Good character.

That's very important.

''But I don't think there are many people with talents like ours.

No, really.

'No, no, no, Christ is not well assessed, you know. ...... Yeah. I'll take a look at this place and make a hard decision for you.

Rustyala says, ”That would be good,” and walks forward.

Apparently, I'd like you to introduce me to Dia today.

'Ha, okay, ......'

I nodded my head and agreed, since they would meet at some point.

Just in time, since we have free time, it's decided that the two of us will now head to the hospital where Dia is hospitalized.

On the way, I guide Rustyala, who is filled with anticipation, while calming her down.

It's not far to the hospital. It's not even an hour away from the entrance to Valto's labyrinth.

The sun hasn't even set yet when we walked out of the labyrinth to the hospital.

Taking Rastiara with me, I walked to the wing where Dia was admitted, just like before. And then I suddenly remember the devastation from before.

When I was here before, Dia's room was full of holes and there was even damage to the hallway.

When I entered the wing while thinking about how much has been fixed in the past two days - the hallway was in the same disastrous condition as before.

To be precise, there were some signs of repair, but further destruction had left it in the same condition as before.

I walk down the breezy corridor and enter the room of the likely culprit of the destruction. Rustyala, who was watching the devastation of the destruction behind me with amusement, follows suit.

The inside of the room is the same as before - no, this one is even more messy than before.

''Hey, Dia. Isn't the room more broken than before ......?

My first words were not a greeting, but a pursuit of how I got into this situation.

'Oh, Christ ......!　Hey, there's a deeper reason for this: ......!

Dia, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, notices me and hurriedly returns my words.

Rastiara and I walk into the hospital room, leaving Dia, who is impatient with my sudden appearance, to be the other side of the room. And as it is, I'm about to introduce Rustiala, but I'm interrupted by Dia's words.

''--?　Why are you here!

Dia finds Rustyala behind me and gives him a startled look.

In response, Rustyala greets me with a fluttering wave of her hand.

''It's been a while. Sis-san.''

Rustyala said to Dia, ”It's been a long time. Then he changed to a calm demeanor as if he was dealing with the knights. Apparently, they seem to know each other.

I'm surprised by the unexpected and am speechless.

Dia is equally surprised - but, unlike me, she replies.

'What ......?　Hey, why is Mr. Rustyala here?

Rustyala looks calm and catcalls and talks to her, but Dia is the opposite. She stands up on the bed in a panic and confusion, ready for battle.

'I'm the one who is surprised. I'm surprised to see you here, Sith-san.'

'No way!　Mr. Rastiara has come to take me back!

'Please calm down. I'm only here as a companion of Christ. Nothing more, nothing less.

Huh?　Mr. Rastiara is one of Christ's friends?

Against Dia, who was about to cast an attack magic now, Rustyala approached with a gentle voice and took her hand with a soft movement.

''Yes. Therefore, it won't be what you think it is, Sith-san. Rest assured.''

Really? ......?

It's true.

Rustiala smiles softly, and Dia relaxes her body as she catches it.

As usual, Rustyala is good at playing the catnip, as usual. In the blink of an eye, she let Dia's guard down.

Seeing that their conversation has come to an end, I enter into the conversation.

'Dia, it's true that Rustyala is my mate. ...... More importantly, I'm surprised that I know them both. Where did you guys know each other?

I ask, looking at their faces.

Rustyala was about to answer that, but Dia hurriedly interrupts her.

''--Hey, I know him from back home!　I don't know you that deeply, though!

The interruption was so unnatural that I look at Rustyala's face to check it out.

Rustyala has a strange look on her face for a moment, and then quickly turns into her usual cheerful smile. Then, he agrees with Dia's story.

'Yes. I'm a bit of an acquaintance. With Sith-san.'

'Oh, I'm a bit of an acquaintance. But, Mr. Rustyala. I call myself Dia here, so you can call me that.

Okay. Okay, Miss Dear.

I feel uncomfortable with their conversation. But I don't pursue it. It's not something that Dia would want to know about.

If possible, I didn't want to do anything that would embarrass her.

I'm glad we know each other. I'm sure we'll be friends from now on as we explore the labyrinth together.

I pretend not to notice and proceed with the conversation.

When Dia hears that I'm one of his friends, he holds out his hand, his voice wavering upwards, and asks Rustyala to shake his hand.

'If you're with ...... Christ, you're with my people. Don't worry about me, you can call me Dia.

'Yes. If you're one of us, we should stop this stiff talk. --It's nice to meet you, Dear.

Rastiala replies back and shakes his hand.

He squeezes it tightly and refuses to let go.

''Don't call me Cha, Chan, please ....... Oh, I'm me, so call me ...... if you can!

'Oh, I'm sorry. You're just too good-looking for me. Well, then - I think I'll take you, Dear. No, or you can go to .......

Call me by my name!

Hmm. All right, Dear.

The two men shake hands and argue about what to call her.

As far as Rustyala's attitude is concerned, Dia's self-proclaimed ”not a girl” statement only makes me more suspicious. However, I was not going to interrupt this argument because I was going to treat Diah as a man and let her pass as a man.

Now, even if you ask me to treat her as a different gender, I can't ...... be bothered to do so.

I thought they would rebel against each other due to their differences in personality, but that was unfounded.

I sit down in one of the chairs, relieved, and watch the two of them discuss it.

Afterwards, I told Dia that Arti was coming to teach magic.

Along with that, I also explained the situation in the 24th layer of the labyrinth. I'm not going to be able to get out of it.

I don't know much about the magic the two of them use, so I can only listen in the background.

I just don't understand what I'm listening to. I've never heard of any of the words, so I think about what I'll do after I leave on my own.

Perhaps Maria will finish cooking a meal and be waiting for us. However, things are a little different now. Because of Arti's problematic comments, I'm not sure if I can treat Maria in the same way I have been treating her. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get a good idea of what to expect if I don't do some imaginative training while I'm at it, or I'll probably lose my attitude.

It's a good idea to be able to have the same kind of conversation with your friends.

◆◆◆◆◆ ...

After we finished visiting Dia, we went home as we finished preparing for our next search.

And as usual, the three of us ate the meal Maria had prepared at home. However, there may have been some unnaturalness because of Arti's problematic comments.

Rustyala's thin smile was 30% more pronounced, I was vaguely unapproachable to Maria, and Maria was watching her carelessly to see if she could figure out the reason for it - there were various things.

Whenever Maria stared at me, I could only turn my head away.

Although Maria is young and short, she has a well-defined face. When I met her, she was unappealing due to her environment, but if she keeps herself clean, there's no problem in classifying her as a pretty girl. And unlike Dear and Rustyala, she's a realistically pretty girl. The fact that she has black hair also makes me feel closer to her, and makes me aware that she's a girl I'm familiar with.

I'm sure you'll find it hard to ignore the attraction once you think of love.

However, I used my magic ”Dimension Decisive Operation (Gradation)” to avoid eye contact with Maria - we managed to end the meal without incident.

After that, each of us went to sleep in our own rooms in the usual fashion. Even though I found out that I was in love with Maria, I felt confident that I would be able to get by from now on.

-- That night, I felt the wind was strangely noisy (・・・・・・・・).

And the next day.

''--Master, go ahead,''

'Yeah. I'm off to .......

Perhaps it's because I'm dragging out the conversation from yesterday, but just Maria's ”goodbye” makes me restless. Trying to avoid looking at Maria's face as much as possible, I head to the 20th layer with my magic, the Connection. Rastiara follows suit.

Rustiala's outfit is more heavily armed than yesterday.

Rastiara likes to run around with light clothing, but today he is wearing multiple layers of cloak to protect himself from heat. At her waist, she has water and antidotes hanging from her waist that she can drink at any time.

You walk through the pale purple magic door and exit into the cold, empty space.

Then, as you are about to proceed to the stairs to the 21st level, you notice a person standing against the stairs.

It was the blonde, beautiful knight Hain-san.

There was no Mr. Hopes today, and he seemed to be alone.

And unlike before, his clothes are more pompous than before. Before, he was equipped with only one silver sword, but today, he has two swords on his waist. In addition, he wears a large silver basket hand on his left hand. Although he doesn't wear any heavy equipment, he seems to have assembled a detailed set of armor. Particularly conspicuous are the ten rings that are fitted on his fingers. It's a good idea for a man to have a lot of rings fitted to his finger.

'We've been waiting for you: ....... Miss .......

Just as before, Hein-san bowed to me.

The gesture gave me a chill.

Something was different.

It's not the number of people or what they're wearing, but something decisively different.

That's what I thought.

And without noticing the discomfort, Hein-san and Rustyala begin to talk.