370 367. A young man named Tida.txt (2/2)

He had said it himself. Originally, the lords of Fania had been waiting to use 'The One Who Steals the Reason of Fire' as a bait to get the 'The One Who Steals the Reason of Darkness'.

Without a doubt, Romis is lying.

He is hiding his true desire to have all of Tida for himself by saying all the words that grate on his ears.

I know this because I'm of Lomis' ilk. He is the one who spread the rumor of the 'Black Hunger' in the city and gradually drove Tida into a corner.

Hey, Tida. You're an adult, just like me: ....... You're not like those children out there who are just children in the name of God. You know what I mean by that, don't you?

Romis reaches out to Tida, who remains silent, sharing memories like a friend.

Three years ago, I abolished the father of House Neysha and became the lord of all the people. ”Three years ago, I abolished my father, the head of House Naysha, and became the Lord of Ten Thousand People, and you are now a member of the House of Lands, which supports the House of Naysha. ...... Above all, we have a friendship that has warmed between us since we were children. It's a bond no less than a blood bond. Hey, isn't it?

'Yes, you and I are friends, rotten by birth. There's no doubt about it.

From the conversation, it is clear that the Langs family itself, where Tida was born, was a servant of the Naysha family.

There is also a possibility that it was simply a 'branch of the Neysha family' that shared the blood of the Neysha family. In that case, the two of them would be distant relatives.

Based on that relationship, I watched Tida and Romis reminisce.

'Then what need to hesitate, my friend!　It's always been that way, hasn't it!　All you have to do is listen to me. That has never been a mistake.

Yeah, I'm very grateful to you, Lomis. You have taught me a lot about how to win battles, how to prepare for them and how to betray my enemies. How to prepare for battle and how to betray the enemy: ...... I can say that I have survived to this day because I learned the art of it.

'Yeah, you're right!　It would have been a foolish nobleman's thing to forge a sword in earnest and head for a duel!　Tida Langs was the only one who knew!　He realized before anyone else that fighting is about moving your mouth, not your sword!　They join forces with the stronger, sometimes colluding with their enemies to bring down the few. At the drop of a hat, they take hostages of their dueling opponents, threaten them, manipulate them, and do not shed blood for nothing. That's the smart way to win!

You're right ....... The repetition of betrayal and being betrayed is the essence of human nature ....... Not a single thing you taught me was wrong.

'Yes!　The quintessential Teeda, my greatest understanding!　I know exactly what I'm talking about!　I'm so glad to have someone who understands, you!

Unlike his master, Tida is easily nostalgic for the 'fraud'.

However, from the looks of it, Tida herself does not have the will to resist the 'fraud'.

The two of them throwing the word ”friend” at each other seemed to be too late for a lot of things.

'So, Tida. So, Tida, let's settle our misunderstandings and rancor from three years ago now. I'm your best friend, and I forgive you for once trying to betray me. So you, too - you'll forgive me for burning your face off, won't you?

Romis unspokenly repeated his former teaching to ”incorporate into something stronger”.

Tida lays her hands on top of those black, muddy hands, which are smeared with pitch-black lies.

'...... Oh. I don't care if you forgive me or not. That was some kind of mistake, wasn't it?

'Ha, ha, ha!　I always believed in you, Tida!　You're my best friend.　One misunderstanding is not going to change the bond between us!　None!

Yeah, I trusted my best friend, too.

It was decided that Tida and Romis would fight together.

-- in that moment I begin to sort out who Tida is.

First of all, the hole in Tida's self-talk before she left was neatly filled in with the information I have now.

Thanks to this, I can write the introduction to The Story of Tida Lands, like a book, with my usual skill (skill).

”Five years ago, a Fania girl and a young man were reborn by 'The Apostle' as 'The One Who Steals the Reason of Fire' and 'The One Who Steals the Reason of Darkness'.

The newly born pair wielded their newfound power to help those suffering around them.

As a result, over the course of a year or so, they reestablished Fania.

However, the credit for the rebirth is snatched away by a man named Lomis Neesha.

Lomis instigated his old friend Tida, the thief of the logic of darkness, to help capture the thief and take over the Neysha family.

Later, after gaining the power of fire, Lomis attempted to capture Tida, who was no longer needed.

Betrayed by his best friend, Tida escaped with his life and hid in the city of Fania as the 'Black Hanged Man' and continued to rebel against Romis' city-building--

In the details, there were probably some important (events) such as the betrayal of the Director of the Seventh Magical Research Institute, but this should be a good approximation of the general history.

I'm confident in this assumption.

That's why I think.

Tida's defiance is too warm (and gentle) after having her face burned and everything taken from her.

But if you look at his current attitude towards Lomis, you can see the reason for this is a bit thin.

-- After his career, we read the heart of ”The One Who Steals the Dark Reason”.

His heart is terribly fragile and weak.

When he betrayed us earlier, his words of ”I'm afraid of being betrayed” and ”I need your help” are probably true.

Perhaps, but Tida craves the security of a true 'trusting relationship'.

But because of her unusual cowardice, she is not only unable to find something to believe in, she is also afraid of being trusted by someone else.

This is the condition for being chosen as Tida's ”The One Who Steals the Reason”.

This is the crack in the heart.

Because of this chack, Tida sees a fleeting dream of the trustworthy relationship she had with her best friend in the past. It's an illusion, and even though he knows that he will be betrayed one day - or perhaps it's because he knows that he will be betrayed from the beginning that he can feel safe on the contrary.

-- in other words, this guy is a troublesome man who is afraid of being betrayed, but can't be trusted unless he's the one who will betray him.

And now Tida is testing her master to see if she can really trust such a troublesome ”stealer of the truth of darkness” as a companion.

Oh, for goodness sake. ......

I think I read the thoughts of an overly cumbersome, weak man (Tida) correctly.

But I don't sympathize with him at all.

I'm not ready to forgive him for betraying his master and putting himself in danger.

By way of reprimand, I confirm.

''Hey. Sorry to be on the outside, but are you sure that's what you want to do?

When asked, Tida replied with some hesitation.

'Me and Romis are friends ....... We've always been friends, and we'll always be friends.

But the mud Noh mask that had been burned by that friend or something was ugly and distorted.

It looked as if it was asking for help. Of course, I don't deserve such a look, so I continue to coldly confirm it.

'Hmm. So you're saying that you tricked us into bringing you here and selling us out?　Because you want to go back to being that friend?

...... Oh. I don't mind if you think so.

There were many things I wanted to say back, but I didn't say them when I realized it was all for nothing.

'Kukk!　Too bad, Princess Hoozeyer's!　Come on, Tida!　Proof of our friendship!

Romis raised his voice to use his newly acquired pieces.

Pressed by his voice, Tida walked towards us, holding a dagger in both hands.

It was my master next to me who responded to it.

Holding the wound with her left hand and gripping the sword with her right hand, she moves to confront it.

As my first priority is to protect my master's life, I immediately stop him.

''Master, no!　Now that he's betrayed us, we'll just have to give up!

'Hah, hah, hah ......!　Still at ......!　I don't care if Tida is standing over there, it doesn't change what I do!

Even though it was obvious that it was impossible to rescue 'The One Who Steals Fire Reason', Master was stubbornly unwilling to change his opinion.

''There's no way it's going to go according to our initial plan anymore!　I'm not even close to helping anyone!

'But I still promised her I'd help her!　I can't change that now, not with this much!

'You don't promise me when you'll help me!　Maybe next year or so!　Now let's bring sister Sis and sister Yotaki and give it a real shot!　Hey, Master!

He grips the hem of his master's cloak and pulls him back.

There, Master finally stops, turns around and repeats just one word.

''--Yotaki (...)?''

'Yes!　Let's go back to the Hoosier's to get sister Yotaki!　Sister Yotaki will be able to handle this situation!

When I repeated Sister Yangtaki's name, Master's momentum, which was like an arrow that was shot out, suddenly decreased.

He relaxed from his entire body and asked me back with an unprecedentedly frustrated face.

''Tiara ....... If it's not Yangtaki, it's not good enough?　What's wrong with me?

'...... Master isn't sister Yotaki. Master has his own good qualities, and there are things that only he can do. If Sister Yotaki were here, I'd definitely say the same thing.

My goodness, ......?　If you can't do it for Yangtaki, what can I do for you: ......?　It's not like that: ......--

Master's voice trembled.

It's good that he finally stops, but this time he seems to have completely lost his will to fight. Tida gently calls out to her master, whose face is distorted.

''Kanami, can you still do it?''

He kept his distance and waited for his master's decision.

And then they exchanged words again that only the 'stealers of reason' can understand each other.

'Tida, I still believe that I am your friend!　I know exactly what you're feeling right now: ......!　I'm the same way (・・・・・)!　I just need a little more time!　I'll be back soon, ....... I'll be able to help you then. ......!

Unlike me, who had completely abandoned him, the Master was still trying to help Tida.

There was an empathy and understanding for the weak (Tida) that I didn't have.

But Tida herself shook her head and denied it.

'That won't work. It is useless if it is not in this situation. I want to know what Kanami's spur-of-the-moment choices are now: ......!

Saying that, Tida rushed out.

In contrast, Master, after a slight hesitation, squeezes out a large amount of 'dimensional power' from his body.

Although it's not as dense as when he ran out of control, it can be seen from his expression that this is the maximum output for his master.

''Tiara!　Use the power you just had, like a 'spell'!

Uh-huh!

I brace myself as I'm instructed and watch the power of the thing.

'Twist, bend--!

The Master's 'dimensional power' that was about to fill the room acted to fill his vision.

First, the room distorted languidly, like bending ironwork that had been softened by heat.

It's close to the power of misalignment (...) that Master showed during the runaway, breaking the world's laws (rules) of space and distance.

Unlike the time of the runaway, there was a regularity to the way the room was distorted.

Master had almost mastered the use of the new 'dimensional power' in the short time he had spent in this fania.

The misalignment (...) distorted clockwise with Tida at the center.

In other words, Romis, who is now behind Tida, moves in a curve to the right. On the other hand, Lomis and I, who are now in front of the Tida, curve to the left.

The two positions were forcibly replaced by Master with the power of dimension.

Thus, we crossed the wall of the flaming giants and gained a dominant position in front of the doorway of the room.

In that reasonably controlled (and controlled) escape move, I understood that my master had given up on rescuing the One Who Steals Fire's Reason.

While Romis and Tida were amazed at the 'dimensional power', I pulled my Master's hand and opened the doorway and began my escape.

On the way through the corridor without a sideways glance, several soldiers in the rear of the group stand in their way, but with the help of their physical strength and speed, they brush them off and leave them behind.

On the way up the stairs leading to the ground, Master muttered abominably while protecting the wound in his abdomen.

''Hah, hah, hah ......!　d*mn, it's happening again: ......!　Also I'm not helping anyone ....... I'm trying to put it all on my sister .......

I was ashamed of myself for running away from this place and trying to bring the problem home in its entirety.

I grasped my mentor's hand tightly and didn't slow down my running to argue with him.

'He said he had no choice this time!　Besides, the Hoosiers don't just have a Yotaki sister, they have a Sis sister and all!　Next time, we can all fight together!　Then sister Yangtaki's burden should be light!

Mi, 'all together'?

'Yes!　Now let's get those traitorous bastards on the platform over here and beat them to a pulp!

......

When I persuaded him to do so, the master finally loosened his grim face. He regrets his own weakness, but he looks forward and increases the speed of his drive.

After climbing the long, dark staircase, we emerge to the ground.

To save time, I choose the same route I escaped on yesterday. Then I roughly open the door to enter the central sanatorium.

At the same time, a brilliant light fills my vision.

I involuntarily stopped in my tracks with surprise.

''Wha--?

All of the 'Fire God's Stones' were burning with an uncommon intensity.

That strong light burned our eyes, which were used to the darkness.

''Oh, bright?''

The Master, who entered the room next, was equally surprised, his eyes burned, and he voiced his doubts.

As my eyes became accustomed to the situation in the central sanatorium first, I checked the situation in the central sanatorium.

''Moreover, are you already--are you all awake?

It couldn't have been much time since the night's intrusion yet. And yet, the scene was almost identical to the one I saw yesterday.

All of the patients who should have been asleep were on their knees, their hands clasped together toward the giant statue in the center of the room.

In the light, everyone was muttering words of thanks.

I can feel on my skin that each and every one of these actions is a 'price' to pay.

I knew this intuitively.

Now the patients were 'chanting'.

As a result, a pillar of fire rose up from the empty ground in front of the giant statue in the center.

From within the blazing flames, Lomis, holding the Heart of the Flame God, appeared as if tearing through the fog. His shadow is unusually dark, and it can be seen that 'The One Who Steals the Truth of Darkness' Tida is lurking in the background.

It was like the ”magic” that appeared in a fairy tale.

It's a miracle for the people who are patients and believers.

'Ah!　My lord has appeared to me for my awakening morning prayers!

'Good morning, my lord!

”Please let the flame god prophesy to us!　A flame of salvation in this dark world!

As the patients are excited about the Prophet's appearance, I will correctly understand what it means that 'Fania is a city dedicated to the capture of monsters'.