The Traveling Hero Won’t Let the Innkeeper’s Son Escape

After putting Cyrus' body inside the box the man brought, Ruth was taken by Alec to Gilmore.

When I was passed to the conference room I had been shown when I rode, there were Alec's people, Garcia the Knight, Eliza the Cleric, Curtis the Mage, Moor the Bandit, and Moor the Magician. Everyone speaks up when they see Ruth. And -.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Ruth. I'm artificial soldier number nine, commonly known as" Nurf. "

There was another artificial soldier there, who looked the same as Zero. As Ruth managed to reply to his surprise, he slowly lowered his head.

(There's something different about the atmosphere than the Zeros...)

Him - Naughty had his face and hands and feet all mastered with the Zeros, but he wore a short blue wig wearing something like a khaki military uniform that he had never seen in this world. That just makes a pretty different impression. If the Zeros were inorganic dolls, would the naughts be like mannequins dressed and moved like humans?

While Ruth was somewhat wary of the naughty, Alec urged him to sit down in the chair next to him. Everyone but Nurf climbed to the chair around the table.

A man similar to Cyrus - Tomarsh sat in the front of Ruth.

(A man named Tomarsh, has a similar face... but you're the opposite of Mr. Cyrus)

I remember Cyrus, who was expressive, and Ruth thought so as she looked at Tommash.

Thomash's face is the one that resembles Cyrus and keeps people's signs, but the visible hands and feet are no different from those of the Nurses.

But he is the developer of the Nuffs' artificial weapons and soldiers, and the authority in the field known collectively as the "magic machines”.

(Magic machine……)

Magic machines are special machines used with magic. It's similar to the magic trick that Ruth got from Alec, but the underlying concept seems different.

Technologies that used to be active in various fields and greatly develop society, such as Zero's books, the dependency bills of the faithful, the flying ship Gilmore, and Orihalcon, are said to be lost due to circumstances. All of the artefacts that Alec and the others had found everywhere that used advanced technology were magic machines.

As soon as he got to his seat, Ruth taught the Aleks what had happened since Cyrus arrived.

As Ruth expected, the Zeros were Alec's man-made soldiers. Initially, there was no information about Cyrus himself from Alec's mouth because there were other circumstances.

"Well, I'm sorry that my builders bothered the village."

Tommash said that at the end of the conversation. However, there was no change in that expression, and I didn't think he was saying an apology.

"... As a village, the main culprits of this commotion are a pair of Bruton and Bowman, who have decided that the Zeros have only lent a hand. It was a big deal, but thanks to Silas' presence, I'm sorry about the injury."

"I see. That helps."

Nor did Tomarsh change his expression to Ruth's words. I don't even know if you really think it's 'helpful'.

(It's a very difficult atmosphere to ask questions... but it's a breeze I know a lot about, and I need to ask about Mr. Cyrus...)

Tomarsh's gaze staring at me was uncomfortable, but there was so much I wanted to ask. Ruth never opens her mouth...

"Doctor."

Suddenly Naughty, standing behind Tommash, raised his voice. His voice, with the nuances of man slightly more than the Zeros, sounded well in the tense air. Squeeze something in Tommash's ear.

"Blau, did I say?

"It's good in Ruth"

"Okay, Ruth. The remains of the Zeros' core, the magic machines, the bills... if you have the dependant money of the faithful, will you give it to me?"

"Eh?"

Ruth was bewildered by Tommash's sudden request, but the nurf who was on the side watching him open his mouth.

"Mr. Ruth, I apologize for missing the Doctor's words. The magic machines used by the Zeros artificial soldiers this time were originally strictly stored in the laboratory. My lord - it has been deactivated by the man-made weapon Cyrus, but I do not know in what way it will run wild in the future. Would you mind putting it back on us to make sure it's sealed?

"Ah... well, if that's the case"

Ruth is convinced to take out the bag by explaining Nurf, which is many times easier to understand than Tommash's words. A jelly-shaped cyrus appeared in his clothes. Ruth suggested that Zero and what the faithful left behind be buried by making a grave in Hashi village, but Cyrus had it all together when he buried it on his way home.

When Tomarsh opened the bag he had placed on the table, he observed it to be Girosilo.

"Naughty, check it out."

"Okay. Thank you, Mr. Ruth."

Contrary to Tommash, who never thanked him without changing his expression, the artificial soldier softened his cropped eyes and thanked him.

When this happens, I don't know which is the crop. It even looked like Tommash's skin was artificial.

"Bad Ruth. Grandpa Tomarsh, I'm not a bad person... but I always am."

To Alec's follow-up, Ruth strokes his chest relieved. If that's the case, it's fine, that Ruth is not the only one who has a weird attitude, but his original personality.

Though another individual, he has an increased fondness for the nurf resembling an artificial soldier who was in primary hostility, so much so that he might rather be good on this occasion.

"Alec, could Mr. Tomarsh be an artificial soldier too?

"No, the body is an artificial body (Doyle), but even for once it's an" person ”. They're not like artificial soldiers who are all crops... I don't know the details."

Alec said Tomarsh's body is the crop, but the contents are the same as people's. Ruth didn't know how much the concept of "contents" meant, but you can think of it as different from the Nurses. Tommash has become a distorted body in order to live a long life from certain circumstances.

Alec whispers again as he watches as Naughty puts the contents of the bag into the box.

"Don't worry, Ruth. Nurf is the same artificial soldier as the Zeros, but he doesn't think of the resurrection of Leitor. There's no rampage."

"No, it's not."

Even though it looks the same as a zero, the nurf is certainly very dear. I'm also surprised to be with the Aleks who were looking for artificial soldiers in the first place. He's the only one who seems to have a slightly different situation.

"Instead, the nurf is normal, Alec. It seems that the other artificial soldiers, or number zeros, have acted more unusual."

Apparently, Curtis, who had already heard from Tommash, spoke in more detail by speaking from the opposite side of Alec.

In the early stages of their creation, the Zeros were remembered with orders to move at all costs for the resurrection of Leitol. But the times passed and we no longer needed them, and just in case, we had rewritten and sealed the orders against them - there was a commotion when Alec and the others unsealed the lab, and that's why the past orders came back to life and moved on their own.

Only Nurf, however, was protected by Alec and the others where he was standing in the lab because his orders were not rampaged when they came back.

(Is that what you meant... That didn't mean that there are people trying to revive a country called Leitol in this day and age)

Ruth also had doubts about the Zeros' behavior, but was relieved to hear that this time was unexpected for the Institute as well.

Alec and the others, along with Tomarsh and the others, said they had been moving all the way to retrieve the artificial soldiers who had fled the lab. And when we recovered other than Zero Disnaff, he said he realized what they were after.

"Purpose…? Is it not the same as the resurrection of Leitol?

"The ultimate purpose is the revival of Leitol. But they were only soldiers and needed commanders."

"Commander... Could you be referring to Mr. Cyrus?

"That's right. Most soldiers were severely degraded because they had been sealed for years. You must have sensed that you would break. So they tried, at least, to get Cyrus, the commander, to escape, and they fled to pieces. There were signals for tracking, but it was also taken backwards, and we were forced to waste our time."

When I spoke to Ruth, he said he felt Cyrus was being pursued because several of them were trying to induce him to escape the lab safely.

But Cyrus was losing his memory, so he didn't notice their intentions, he didn't have a conversation, he was just getting away with it.

"We also found that Zero and Diznav, who were relatively less degraded, were acting differently from the other soldiers. After Cyrus, the commander, fled, he gathered more people than soldiers so that he could rise again."

"People...... Could that be the brainwashing of villagers everywhere?

"I'm sure that's what happened."

Given Curtis' story, it must have been a real coincidence that Cyrus and Zeros had met in Hashi village.

(…… you see how many things Cyrus and the others have done)

Alec wasn't looking for Cyrus at first because he realized he had escaped after meeting Ruth. Cyrus said he was delayed in realizing that he had escaped because he had been sealed in a special way.

The doll's body was also a vessel built to preserve Cyrus' flesh, which was fragile and of reduced mass, for a prolonged period of time, and to make him aware that he was a person when he woke up again. However, it seems that wearing a pretty dress like a flor doll was a hobby of a sealed technician.

(I mean, to sum up, I wonder if it feels like Alec and the others unintentionally unsealed the lab, and then Mr. Cyrus woke up with his memory lost, and then the artificial soldiers woke up too, and the alarm went off, and the surprised Mr. Cyrus escaped, and the artificial soldiers whose orders were returned to their ancestors started their respective actions thinking the operation had started...)

Ultimately, Alec and the others came to Hashi village because a vanishing Zero destructive signal appeared near the village.

Everything connected and Ruth felt just a little neat.

(The rest………)

Ruth, calmed down after hearing everything, opened his mouth at a glance at the box containing Cyrus' body on the table.