Even from the top of the lighthouse, I knew that it had been settled.

With Ruino on his back falling down, Illis is pointing his sword at us.

I won - and the will to leave the rest to me, comes through.

In response to her, I also pulled out the Bikaa Sword, which I lowered to my hips, and turned my blade tip toward Illis.

I did receive it, he said.

"... man. Did Ruino lose?"

Phew, and Riggles sighed loudly, looking up at the sky.

And drink again.

Apparently, he genuinely believed that Ruino would win.

Quietly place the ladybug with the liquor.

"Until along the way, Ruino was definitely in the better position. But I wonder if you were in a hurry for merit. Early there, I guess I didn't have to try to settle. What do you think?

"Sure, it could have been quick to judge. But if you keep fighting like that - it was Mr. Iris who would win."

Iris is a child who can always grow up in battle.

Even in the current battle, as Riggles put it, Ruino prevailed at first.

But it was Iris who followed Ruino's blow within just a few shots, releasing a wave beyond.

And the last knife - they both threw up their full strength, and it was still Iris who stood.

"Where you and I talked, the results wouldn't change. Mr. Illis defeated Ruino - that's the truth and it's the truth. Mr. Iris turned against what he was aiming for and got it."

"What you're after, hey...... Indeed, the battle between Illis and Ruino is a loss for Ruino."

'The battle between Illis and Ruino' - what the word means is the next battle.

... Me and the Riggles fight.

"Oops. Well, it's time to settle for me and you. Honestly, I guess I can't beat you."

Riggles says that off as he strokes the knife pattern he lowers to his hips.

Words like you gave up before you fought must be about him in The Swordsmen.

"Before you do, let me tell you the truth"

"... truth?

"You set yourself up to be the Ruino you are… that's the story."

"Oh! That's the story!

As I recall, Riggles joins hands.

I needed to hear it. [M]

"Nothing, there's nothing special about it. I don't know what to tell you..."

"Then let's hear it concise. Other than you, what happened to Ruino's family?

I hear from Ruino's mouth that Ruino's grandfather - Souki - is dead. Riggles, who is supposed to be his son, is alive, belongs to an organization called the Swordsmen, whose daughter Ruino lives the way of Shura.

How could that man's family go down such a path?

"Other than me, hey. Right... for the record, my wife - Ruino's mother - is dead. of my father... was killed by one of the people who aimed for his life"

"! Your father's..."

Souki shared many battlefields with my previous life - Raul Isarf.

In that sense, I would certainly have bought a grudge that would have targeted my life.

I have lived a similar life, and the people who stood before me have beaten me down. [M]

But Souki had chosen to live with his family and he should have hidden himself.

"The man who was looking for my father was the knight of the war that my father cooperated in his work... the defeated nation. Vengeance is an amazing thing. It's a far away country, but it got to us. And... he took my wife's life."

Riggles doesn't talk about how the process went that far. Because that alone conveys enough of the fact that Riggles' wife is dead.

But that's not enough.

"Your... father was killed then too?

"No, it was me who killed my father."

――

I open my eyes to surprise. [M]

It was Riggles, my son, who killed Souki.... How could that happen?

"Nothing surprising. I'm not a good swordsman, as you can see. Something would have been weaker than soldiers in those countries at the time. But... that made me stronger."

Riggles smiles and goes on with the words.

"I'm surprised. Vengeance - I want to kill the man who killed my wife with all my heart. I grabbed the knife and got stronger. Oh, people never realized that it was so easy... to be strong with 'One Feeling'. The man who killed my wife dared to escape. I guess I expected my father to come and fight with just as much vengeance. But my father didn't go. On the contrary, he turned to me with 'Stop revenge' and so on. I don't know whose fault this is... I didn't know."

Phew, exhales loudly, and Riggles strays his gaze. That direction was in the direction of Illis and Ruino.

"That's when I figured it out. Even I slashed each other with my grandfather and gained enough power to kill him. Then what happens if you're still a young daughter? Seems losing my mother wasn't enough...... so I let my grandfather lose it too and faked my death"

"You took everything from my daughter Ruino"

"You're not. I gave... as my father, I gave Ruino the absolute power of vengeance. To be perfectly clear, the result was success. In just a few years, Ruino buried him without even his teeth, such as the man who killed my wife. That's what I set out to do, too, but hey. But I thought Ruino could still be stronger."

"... I see. So... you made the swordsmen."

I thought Adil Gratz made the swordsmen. A group of combat fanatics who prefer death fights - but listen and understand what's going on. The swordsmen said it was created by Riggles.

"It was actually you, Adil, who made it. I was just suggesting that it should be. Because he was, above all, a character who preferred to fight, hey. The same people as nature have come together.... but I didn't know Adil would get hit by you, including you"

"Were you going to let Ruino kill all the swordsmen?

"! Yes, you're right. You have a chance to make Ruino stronger... because I have to make it. Anyway, unlike me, that kid has talent. You can't waste it. Well, I guess that's off my mind, too. Iris - I can't believe you lost to The Sword Saint Princess. Oddly enough, it was ironic to lose to a girl in the name of Kensei, whom my father used to talk about."

"How could you let your daughter choose such a path? There must have been a way to live together."

Souki... I guess he chose no avenging path because he chose that path. Either way, he probably intended to settle for himself.

But he was a man of family thought.

Therefore, I guess I couldn't leave my son alone trying to fall for Shura.

Riggles sighs small at my words.

"There's no way out of here. Being stronger than anyone - that's the only way Ruino can live happily ever after. That's Kensei, because no one can beat him, so he could live. Nothing goes the wrong way. Besides, what are we talking about now? You've gained so much power while being a child... do you deny vengeance?

"I do not deny vengeance. It's also because it's the way to be strong."

"Right?

"Even vengeance can make you strong. Kensei didn't have anything. I could be strong at the late - all, it's one fact. But, 'I want to protect someone'... some kids can be that strong just because they feel that way. If you want to borrow your words, you'll have a wonderful 'one feeling'."

Ilis Reinfel - daughter of a great nobleman, who for once also tried to be strong on the road of revenge.

But she came this far without choosing that path.

Her presence is proof that she can be stronger than 'revenge' for me.

"... what happens when I say that? Are you telling me to protect Ruino from now on?

"If you choose that path, I promise to support it as a knight."

I answer that clearly. Because that's what you can do to make me the man you once called your friend.

After a lot of silence, Riggles starts talking like a whine.

"Now... is that an option? I never thought about that."

"Then..."

"But it won't. I don't know why you're trying to put your shoulders on us. But as I said first... I am a swordsman and you are a knight. It's the same thing again, and I've already made up my mind."

"You know you can't win, and you choose that path"

"That's the swordsmen. Besides... Ruino is still alive. Kill you, kill Illis over there too... why don't I pave the way for Ruino again? If that's what you want - a fight you can't win, I can win."

A man who is not already in the world - the same idea as Adil. Those who can only choose the way to fight, even if they find that it is the swordsmen and they cannot win.

Riggles pulls away the knife and finally enters a battlefield position through.

"Right. Then you don't have to ask questions anymore. Riggles Tomra - No, Riggles Harvey. I regarded you as an enemy to be eliminated. As a knight, let's bury you."

- That's all I could do for a man who's already stepped off the road everywhere.