"I trust you with all my heart, and I can't stop here and now. I believe that's what I should do now. I believe that is what I should do now.

　Lugis' words trailed off. It's as if he had nothing more to say. In response, Elddis's lips quivered. The blue eyes pierced the eyes of Lugis.

And that's the end of the excuses. I'm not convinced at all. Yeah, I'm not happy about it. You don't even know how that silver-haired girl felt when she went to the front.

　Elddis said as if to dismiss everything Lugis had said.

　There was no look on his face when he said that. Elddis's cheeks naturally twisted. It was as if a snake had suddenly bitten her hand.

　Erdis's eyebrows rose as his blue eyes flashed. There is an unmistakable anger in her expression. Her lips were puckered in frustration, and her voice was full of the rage swirling in her chest.

I hate it when you do that. The way you don't include yourself in the sacrifice count, the way you don't even try to read the minds of others.

　The blue eyes glare at Lugis, who still has a puzzled expression on his face.

　In the event you're not sure what to do, there are a few things you can do.

　I'm sure Lugis doesn't understand.

　How much thought the silver-haired swordsman had put into the battlefield. How she felt as she gazed at his back as he walked away from her. You don't know any of it. Erdis understood this deeply at this moment.

　Elddis's eyebrows went up.

"I really didn't want to talk to you at all. I thought it was the polite thing to do, and it was my pride.

　And I didn't want to show weakness.

　The reason Erdis is flying his vision to the front lines has two meanings.

　The first is to fulfill her duty. The first is to fulfill her duty as commander-in-chief, as the one who will be crowned. Not to miss the sight of the dying soldiers, not to miss the sobbing hell that lies within my own hands.

　And secondly, because he could no longer bear to simply wait for Lugis to appear.

　Isn't he, Lugis, dying on the battlefield? His back is so fragile, as if he is fulfilling his duty, that I can't shake off my imagination that he might be heading for his own death.

　There is no doubt that the frustration and anxiety that ravaged my heart was one of the reasons why I chose to use the illusion.

　Erdis understands that to harbor such feelings is an unbecoming blunder for a commander-in-chief. It is an impossible act for an existence that must kill personal feelings and be a person who is crowned.

　She didn't want Lugis to see her like that. It's not something I want to show him, even after I've already shown him my disgusting appearance.

　In addition, it seemed to Erdis that it was a very cowardly act to use an illusion to talk to a man who had gone into battle with his own injuries.

　She was in a peaceful place, but she spoke to him in a dead place just to satisfy her frustration.

　The pride of Erdis does not approve of such a petty way of being.

　In fact, until now, Elddis had been watching the deaths of the soldiers with clenched teeth, and Lugis' unrestrained combat activities in silence. Even when she had exchanged words with the silver-haired girl, she hadn't closed her eyes, biting back her emotions.

　But for this moment, those feelings would not subside.

　You can't read people's minds, can you? So muttered Lugis with a chewed tobacco in his mouth.

That hurts my ears, you're absolutely right. You're right, but how could I know? It is impossible for a man like me to read people's feelings.

"You talk like you know what you're talking about. You don't even think about reading them.

　In the event you're not sure what you're looking for, there are a number of things you can do. You can find a lot of people who have been in the same situation for a long time.

　She blushed at herself for reacting so thoughtlessly, like a spoiled child. But the overflowing emotions in her heart cause the words to fall out of her throat. She could no longer stop herself.

I don't know you very well, that's for sure. All I know is about your life in the tower. In fact, there's a lot I don't know.

　That's frustrating. It's a shame.

　I'm sure the silver-haired swordsman and the black-haired sorcerer know things about him that I don't. That fact alone is enough to scorch the back of my throat.

　So it doesn't matter to me if the promise between them and Lugis is broken. That's the way it should be.

But I can tell you this. You're irredeemably stupid. She's, we're that unreliable. Are we so weak that we have to sacrifice you to survive?

　An illusion can't touch an object. Its fingertips can't even move an object.

　But Erdis brings the apparition closer, as if he were leaning against the slumping Lugis. Her fingertips seemed to touch Rougis' cheek.

　Of course, the finger went through the cheek. There is no such thing as touching. Erdis could see in her blue eyes that the emotions in her chest were about to overflow.



There's nothing to say in return. Erdis...

Don't apologize. I'm not the one who should be sorry, you idiot. You're my knight and you're pathetic.

　Erdis understood that Lugis, who had finally opened his lips, was about to let out his next words of apology. So I'm not going to let you say those words.

　I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea.

　And even if he had apologized for himself, Erdis had no intention of forgiving Lugis.

　I understand now. If he knew that he was the only one who would be hurt, he would naturally move on, no matter the constraints and promises that he had imposed. He thinks it's natural. It's as if someone somewhere has imprinted on them that this is their role.

　It's unforgivable. I don't know who. I don't know where. But Lugis' consciousness is undeniably bound to the foolish spirit of sacrificing himself first.

　It's like an instinct. It's ingrained in his soul that he despises himself and will use his own death to achieve his goals.

　I don't know who he is. I don't know how. But I can't forgive him.

　But what. Once you know why, the rest is easy. If such a curse binds Lugis, just imprint it on him again. This time, you can be the spellbreaker.

　Lugis once said he would not let me go. Then neither will I. I won't let you go. I'll free its bound spirit and I'll bind it myself.

　So over and over, Erdis repeated the words. As if each word were a curse. As if each word were a curse, mixed with the dark emotions that welled up inside her.

"Okay. If you want to go, if you command me to go. I'll take you to Largias. But remember. You're not just me. You're going to trample on the silver-haired girl's thoughts and the thoughts of the rest of us as you move forward.

　Erdis moved her small lips to embrace the illusion and whispered in Lugis' ear.

　You are sacrificing yourself. You are sacrificing not only yourself. Remind her over and over again that you're trampling on someone else's feelings as well.

　Never again will you do something so foolish as to put your own sacrifice first.