Every time the voices of the citizens gathered around the ceremonial platform leaked out, they shook the air and made my skin crawl. I learned for the first time that the voices of people have such mass when they are gathered.

And so, having been born a hero, I will give you a second name - a coat of arms.

　Mattia said these words to me as I remained seated on the ceremonial table.

　In a moment, the voices became a mass that shook the world again. The voices of the citizens seemed to break the space, filled with all kinds of joyful emotions.

　But I, on the other hand, kept my head down, my eyes wide and my cheeks fluttering.

　Wait, Mattia. I don't remember hearing or understanding any of that.

　--The truth of the world is in the search, and the sigil points to it.

　That's one of the clichés of heraldry. The roots of heraldry's maniacal obsession with knowledge and writing lie in the emblems said to have been left by the gods.

　Oufru, a god who is said to have once existed, gave people the emblem of truth. By means of this emblem, people gained wisdom, developed reason, and built their culture. Everyone worshipped the emblem given by the god, and respected the knowledge and letters given in the emblem.

　However, with the passage of time, knowledge wears out, culture perishes, and worship is lost.

　With the passage of time, the meaning of the emblem, which was supposed to be given by the gods, became incomprehensible to everyone. This is why people still fight and live only for their own greed, they, the heraldists, say.

　They say that the goal of the heraldists is to restore order to the world by bringing back to human hands once again the truth expressed by the emblems given by God.

　Perhaps it is because of this background, but for them, a coat of arms has an irreplaceable meaning.

　I have even heard that some of them have been executed just for stepping on the image of the coat of arms. Well, that is just hearsay, but it is a fact that they value heraldry so much.

　This is why it is a great honor for a herald to be given a unique coat of arms. It should be given to those who have made exceptional achievements in the Order or those who have attained the status of saint like Mattia.

　I'm not a heraldist.

　In the first place, I am not even a herald. First of all, I don't even know the shape of the coat of arms you are worshipping. I don't even know the shape of the coat of arms you worship. If you give me such a big thing as a coat of arms, it's not surprising that there would be some kind of friction among heraldists.

　And the only thing I heard at the ceremony today was that they want me to accept the title of hero, even if it's just a token. I didn't hear a single piece of talk about heraldry or anything like that.

　He blinked his eyelids a few times and raised his head slightly to look at Mattia, his heart in turmoil. She looked at me with a hint of suspicion, wondering if she had misspoken.

　Mattia must have noticed my gaze. After receiving my gaze, she nodded slowly and smiled politely. It was as if she was relieved that everything was going to be all right now.

　As soon as my eyes caught sight of this expression, a suspicion suddenly rose in my heart.

　--He's not setting me up, is he?

　I felt something cold crawl down my spine.

　As if looking for help, he now turns his gaze to Largud-Anne, who stands beside Mattia. Anne is more of a moderate within the heraldry.

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I'm not sure what to say, but I'm sure you'll understand. Please, give me your left hand.

　As soon as I looked at her, Anne lifted her lips in a smile and told me so. She looked at me as if there was no question at all.

　I see, I see. You're an accomplice, Ann.

　The ceremony proceeded solemnly while my mind was still in a state of confusion. What should I do? Should I just say no and call it awe-inspiring?

　No, no. Citizens, soldiers, merchants. How can I do that with all these people watching?

　This ceremony is to show the world that heraldry and Gazalia are united, that all our wills are aligned. I can't even imagine the impact it would have if we were to lose our footing in the midst of it. And if you were to ruin the ritual of the saint, you could be attacked by a mob here and there.

　The crowd's voices were beginning to muffle slightly. My lips rippled as I did as I was told, and I slowly held out my left hand to the saint in front of me, Mattia.

　Mattia touched my hand with great care, and then slipped a ring with some sort of emblem on it onto my finger. She acted politely, as if she was touching a broken object.

　And once again, Mattia's voice echoed throughout the surrounding area.

"Hero Lugis, the two names and emblem I give you are: Gold. The saint Mattia believes that you are worthy of this name, and that you are a man of integrity who lives up to this name.

　Gold. Well, that's just wrong again. I would have sighed out loud right there if I hadn't been so blind.

　The best I could get was some con man's gold or a gold plating. Gold is so far off the mark.

　The only people who truly deserve such a name and emblem are, well, heroes like Heldt-Stanley, who are like the sun.

　Perhaps it was because of this thought. I don't know what to make of Mattia's complaint, which would normally be ecstatic. I'm not sure if I should really take it in stride.

　Oh, well, strangers can be fooled all they want. They can make you feel good and arouse your emotions with beautiful words. I've done that a lot. But when it comes to yourself, things are not so easy.

　After all, we can never lie to ourselves.

　No matter how much you lie to your heart and cover up your true feelings, before you know it, the finger of the devil or something has opened the lid.

　While I was going around in circles as usual, a word suddenly came down from above my head.

"Lugis. Raise your eyes.

　It was different from the one I had just heard. It was Mattia's voice as usual, not the one that was meant to echo around. As if following the voice, I looked up. Mattia's face still had the same benevolent smile on it.



　Her lips slowly open.

"I know exactly what you're thinking. I'm sure you're not the only one who's wondering if you deserve a title or not. I'm sure it's not just you. I'm sure everyone thinks that. Or me, for that matter.

　It was as if he had just scooped up what I was thinking in my mind. I forgot to say anything back and stared into Mattia's eyes.

Of course, it's not wrong to talk to your inner self, but not all the truth is inside, is it? Sometimes it's good to look outside.

　She said. Mattia took my hand and stood me up.

　On my left hand was the ring Mattia had given me. The sigil on it is different from the shape of the sigil they worship. It was engraved with a crest that would have pointed to the meaning of gold.

　At Mattia's urging, I stood up and turned around to face the crowd.

　--There was a sound. That's exactly the kind of sound that makes the world shake.

　It made my skin crawl. People's eyes, their voices, piercing me with their mass. So much so that it hurt. I've never experienced anything like this before. But the scene was strangely familiar to me.

　Yes, I'm sure I've seen it before.

　The look, the voice, that I had never been given on my journey before, but they had been given to me as I traveled with them. And that's what I've longed for from the bottom of my heart.

　The vision of the heroes, the ones who were called heroes, was certainly there.

"The eyes of a man can sometimes tell the truth more eloquently than the lips. What do you think, Lugis? What do you think, Lugis, of the eyes on you?

　Mattia's words, spoken beside me, gently caressed my ear. I don't know what the best way to answer that is.

　Strangely enough, the doubts that had been so entrenched in my mind had vanished from my heart before I knew it, and now there was only a strange palpitation that shook my body.