Chapter 1: The Never-ending Night Begins

Nobles generally finished all their official duties in the morning, then took time to relax in the afternoons, often by bathing, taking a nap, horse riding, or simply chatting with their retainers. For that reason, Maximillion usually called for Gerhard in the afternoon. As the sun was about to set, Gerhard visited Maximillion in his private quarters.

“I have come as you requested.”

A week had passed since the ceremony to officially recognize Patrick and Lutz as the Count’s personal craftsmen. Gerhard hadn’t been summoned by the Count since then either.

In other words, I’m about to be dragged into more trouble, I’m sure.

Gerhard had already half conceded to his fate.

“You see, it seems like Princess Listill wants to visit our domain again.” Maximillion waved around an open letter. “It says that she wants to thank us properly for helping resolve the peace talks with the federation successfully. If that was the case, though, I wish she had just said something while we were in the capital.”

“I’m sure that she wants to extend her thanks to the other craftsmen involved, as well. She is a rather gracious and dutiful person, after all.”

Gerhard figured that the person whom Princess Listill wanted to thank most was likely Claudia, but he chose not to mention that. While Maximillion had acknowledged Claudia’s abilities, he was still firmly against her beliefs on allowing royalty to love without concerns for duty or station.

“I have heard that there has been an increase in crime along the roads leading here from the capital as of late. Do you think she will be all right?”

“Yeah, it does appear that way...” Maximillion gave an exhausted smile. “However, she has ten skilled knights accompanying her on the journey here. Far from the road being a concern, I fear that the measures they are taking may even be overkill.”

“Well, that’s reassuring, anyway.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. While the Princess stays here, we’ll have to look after all those knights too.”

“Ah...”

While they were just knights, they served directly under the royal family. Surely they also had an annoyingly excessive amount of pride that came with that station. They would have to be very careful not to let any fights break out.

The knight who came to inspect Gerhard’s enchantment was also a knight who was stationed in the capital, and he was a rather uptight individual, as well. As Gerhard was unable to stand the knight’s attitude, he reflexively drove his fist into his face. Fortunately, it didn’t become a major incident. If a knight charged with protecting the King admitted that he was knocked out by a mere craftsman, he would be revealing his own shame for the world to see.

Maximillion broke out in a cold sweat when he heard what had happened, but in his heart of hearts, he couldn’t help but commend Gerhard’s actions. Neither of them had a particularly favorable opinion of the knights serving under the royal family.

“Either way, surely there isn’t anyone dumb enough to attack a carriage with the royal crest on it.”

“That’s a good point.”

When a criminal was arrested, they were usually prosecuted under the jurisdiction of the domain in which they were arrested. For example, even if a crime were committed in the Shander domain, it would be out of their hands if the criminal were to escape to a different domain. If the families of those domains were on good terms, there were many cases where they would hand over criminals for prosecution, but if that wasn’t the case, all you could do about it was cry yourself to sleep. That was one of the many reasons that nobles heavily valued holding strong ties with other noble families.

However, when the royal family was involved, the rules were entirely different. In that case, it fell under the jurisdiction of the whole kingdom, and they would search throughout the land, leaving no stone unturned.

If the criminal couldn’t be found, then the responsibility would ultimately fall on the lord of the domain where the crime was originally committed. Ordinarily, people avoided letting soldiers from other domains into their territory as it was seen as a potential violation of their autonomy, but in such cases, they would take every bit of help they could get, no matter how it made them look.

As for the criminals who committed crimes against the royal family, nothing good would be awaiting them if they were to be caught. They would face every kind of torture imaginable and be reduced to a barely living pile of meat, pleading for the sweet release of death. Their families would be captured and burned alive in the town square of the capital. Laying your hands on royalty was that serious a crime.

To kidnap a member of the royal family, asking for a ransom, was beyond an impossible task. It was suicide. There were even stories of bandit leaders being beaten to death by their underlings because they suggested attempting such a thing.

“Let’s just try to think of it as a good opportunity to develop closer ties with the Princess.”

“I’d like to sum it up to that as well, but is there really any merit in getting closer to Princess Listill? It’s not like she has much sway in the administration of the kingdom.”

“They say that an opportunity taken can’t be missed. While it’s best not to expect much in return, you never know, we may just get lucky.”

“You’re probably right. Compared to everything we went through with the peace negotiations, entertaining a princess for a while is nothing to worry about.”

“Your fate always lies further and further beyond, Your Grace. You have acquired a splendid katana, forged a close bond with Marquis Eldenburger, and even become someone that His Majesty himself has come to rely on. Our plan to establish the Shander domain as a famous producer of weaponry is also off to an excellent start, and the domain is beginning to prosper from those efforts.”

“When you say it all like that, it reminds me how much has happened in such a short time.”

“We’re only just starting. If the house of Shander continues to grow in power, joining the ranks of the twelve nobles and having a direct say in the kingdom’s administration isn’t a pipe dream. You will be praised by all as the greatest head of your house since this domain’s founding.” Realizing that he might be going a bit far with his praise, making it seem almost performative, Gerhard decided to cut himself off there.

Of course, Maximillion knew that Gerhard was mostly just buttering him up, but flattery wasn’t unpleasant. It wasn’t as though he was being entirely untruthful. They had a rather bright future ahead of them.

“Considering the direction that we are heading in, you need as many cards in your hand as you can get.”

“Yes, that much is true.” Feeling a bit more relaxed, Maximillion once again read over the letter in his hand. “It seems that she is planning on staying here for around three days. How shall we entertain her for that period?”

“On the first day, we should probably hold a banquet. After that, let’s throw all of the responsibility onto Claudia.”

“That woman, huh?” Maximillion cocked his head. Would it really be all right to leave a commoner in charge of entertaining a princess?

“We can have her show Princess Listill around the various workshops of our city. Two days should pass before she knows it. They could even make a small katana for her to take home as a souvenir, giving her an even stronger impression of our domain’s potential.”

“Who shall we assign as a guard?”

“Let’s leave it to Djoser. If we have him and two or three of Princess Listill’s own knights, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

“You won’t be accompanying them?” Maximillion asked with a suspicious look.

“With this aging body of mine, I’m not sure if I could keep up with a young princess, I’m afraid. Well, if I’m being honest, it just seems like a pain in the ass.”

“I get what you mean... I wonder, where do children get their energy from?”

The two of them shared a laugh.

***

The day that Princess Listill was to arrive had come, but there was still no sign of her. She was coming from afar by horse and carriage, so it wouldn’t be unusual for her to be a day or two late due to some unforeseen conditions on the road.

“Even still, couldn’t they at least send a messenger ahead by horse to let us know? I suppose she’s still young...” Maximillion grumbled under his breath.

Three days passed, and the sun dawned on the fourth day. Something was definitely wrong. As Maximillion and his advisors were deciding whether to send someone out from their side, they received a report that a visitor had arrived.

There were five men and women at the gates, all of them Princess Listill’s servants. The Princess, however, was not with them. As they were let through into the Count’s court, their faces were painted with exhaustion and despair.

A cold chill ran up Maximillion’s spine, as if a spear of ice had been driven into his back. All of the trouble they had dealt with up until then couldn’t even compare to what was lying before them. That was what the feeling of encroaching danger was telling him.

They asked the oldest among them, a man who appeared to be a butler, to remain and sent the other servants to a separate room so they could rest.

“What happened to Princess Listill?” asked Maximillion.

The older butler, who introduced himself as Giuseppe, prepared to speak, though the words felt as if they would rot the inside of his mouth. “On the road here, we were assaulted by bandits.”

A deafening silence descended upon the room as panic spread on the faces of Maximillion’s advisors. If it were possible, Maximillion wished that he could cover his ears and run out of the room that instant. However, this wasn’t the sort of nightmare that could be resolved through simply waking up the next morning. It became hard to breathe, and his chest tightened in pain. Even still, he had to sit there and listen to the rest of Giuseppe’s report.

“I heard that she had ten knights assigned to guard her. You’re not telling me that they decided to reduce their numbers at the last minute to cut spending, are you?”

“No, Your Grace, I assure you that all ten knights were present!” yelled Giuseppe through his tears. “They were all killed... The enemy numbered around thirty...” With that, he keeled over. It didn’t seem like he had passed out, but he didn’t have the strength to speak another word.

He had failed to protect the Princess. He likely wouldn’t be able to avoid some manner of punishment either. It didn’t matter that he was a noncombatant. Returning alive from such an event was a crime in itself.

Ten skilled knights from the capital were killed. Thirty bandits attacked their carriage, knowing full well that it held a member of the royal family. How did it come to this? It was such a sudden and unpredictable turn of events. It was like a nightmare straight from the fires of hell.

Princess Listill had been attacked on the way to the Shander domain. Of course, that meant the responsibility fell firmly on Maximillion’s shoulders. What would happen if the Princess were to be injured, or worse? In the very best-case scenario, they would reduce his land. In the worst case, he could be stripped of his title entirely. They might even ask for his head. It was only just recently that he was talking about joining the twelve nobles one day, but now he felt stupid for getting himself excited about it.

“Call for Gerhard. Also...get Claudia as well,” said Maximillion in a strained voice.

He had to use every piece he had at his disposal. That was the only path to salvation.

***

On one lovely afternoon, with the gentle light of the sun proclaiming the end of winter, a visitor came to Lutz’s workshop.

“Recently, when I go to the bar, people keep coming up to me. They all point to my waist and ask, ‘Is that the kind of sword people call a katana?’”

The visitor was none other than the Count’s personal adventurer, Ricardo. He was a man in his early twenties, around the same age as Lutz and Claudia. After having the opportunity to speak with each other on several occasions, they realized that they had a good bit in common, so Ricardo would come over every so often for some free food.

“Then, you know what I say to them? I say, ‘If I were to draw this blade, every last one of you would meet a cruel and gruesome death.’”

Lutz and Claudia both held their bellies in laughter. It hurt. They had never heard someone say something so cringeworthy.

“Wow, Ricardo, you’re so cool! I couldn’t imagine anything cooler! Ah ha ha!”

“The worst part is he isn’t even lying, though!”

Ricardo’s beloved katana, Tsubaki, had the power to bewitch all those who laid eyes on it, driving them to kill themselves. If he were to draw it in a cramped place like that bar, it would quickly turn to a hellish bloodbath.

Ordinarily, one might think it would be best to just destroy or get rid of such an obviously cursed object, but Ricardo had been saved many times by Tsubaki, so he had no intention of letting it go.

Ricardo waited for their laughter to subside and gave them a shrug. “Recently, there have been more and more adventurers around, so every day there’s been some manner of trouble. I’m not just talking about a few little squabbles either. It’s been getting pretty gruesome. More people have been dying in the bars than they have been in the labyrinth. I wonder why.” Ricardo tilted his head in thought.

“I at least have an educated guess,” said Claudia. “It’s all been happening since the end of the war, right? I heard that out of the five thousand soldiers there, they left one thousand and sent everyone else home.”

During the peace negotiations with the federation, the kingdom gave a practically sacred sword as an offering. In return, the federation surrendered part of its land along the border, bringing the long-fought war to an end.

The sacred sword, Amaterasu, was made with the combined efforts of Lutz, Gerhard, and Patrick, the three craftsmen of the Shander domain.

“In short, four thousand people just lost their jobs. Not everyone can just return home and live happily ever after, I’m sure,” said Lutz with a groan.

“It seems like a lot of them have been facing a decent amount of trouble since leaving the battlefield behind them. After coming home for the first time in many years, their families may have fallen out, there could be strangers living in their house, their wives and land could have fallen into the hands of another man entirely, et cetera. They could be completely stripped of the place they thought they belonged.”

Several years were simply too long a time to wait for people who might never return, be they husbands or sons. The people left behind had to live their lives, as well. Rather than waiting for a husband who might no longer even be alive, many wives chose to bring a new man into their lives to help put food on the table. Who could blame them for that?

Even if a soldier managed to return home, considering their families probably just started to get used to their new lives, they would be seen as nothing but a nuisance. Quite a few families were put in such an awkward position.

“God, that’s rough... Could you imagine coming home to see your son all grown up, but he’s calling a stranger his dad?”

“Lutz, let’s stop there. I know we’re talking hypotheticals right now, but it’s still so depressing. No, really, seriously, no more.” It wasn’t like Ricardo had experienced any such thing, but it was a danger that cast its shadow over the fate of any man.

Claudia gave a little smirk.

God, I’m surrounded by idiots...

“Let’s say that out of the four thousand returning soldiers, only about one thousand of them were welcomed home with open arms. That would mean that there are about three thousand unemployed, trained killers roaming about the kingdom. Ah, by the way, I don’t have anything to back up those numbers. I just figured it’s probably around that amount.”

“Three thousand soldiers around the kingdom, huh? I can’t quite tell if that’s a lot or not, considering the circumstances.”

Three thousand was quite a number, but spread across the vast lands of the kingdom, Lutz figured it could cause surprisingly very little disturbance.

However, Claudia shook her head. “If you can get five to ten armed men together, you have yourself the birth of a new group of bandits.”

Before she started living with Lutz, Claudia had traveled extensively as a merchant. She knew more than anyone how much trouble a single group of bandits could cause.

“That’s a good point. When you think of it as the potential for three hundred groups of bandits popping up all over the kingdom, that is quite a terrifying thing.”

“Right?” said Claudia in a frustrated tone, throwing back her head to drink down her warm beer. “From now on, cases of travelers and merchants being assaulted on the road will surely begin to rise. Of course, that will affect the flow of goods. People won’t be able to buy and sell essential items. Farmers, fishermen, hunters... Everyone will feel the effects of it. That includes our regulars in the lumberjack’s settlement.”

Claudia wondered whether it was really okay to say all of that now that they had been employed directly by the Count, but after getting herself started, she felt like she couldn’t stop. It was at least far better than allowing her tongue to slip in the presence of the Count himself.

“This isn’t the time to get all excited, saying, ‘The federation is in shambles thanks to all their infighting! We did it!’ People need to have the good sense to look down at their own feet and make sure they are standing on stable ground first. Don’t these idiots realize they’re creating an environment where their supply chain will be cut off by their own soldiers? If there is a rise in casualties from bandits, all of this talk about normalizing trade relations and turning the Shander domain into a famous producer of katana, it’ll all go up in flames. Don’t they have an ounce of foresight?!”

Ricardo listened as Claudia let out her pent-up frustration, but he had yet to be entirely convinced. “Aren’t you overthinking it a little? I haven’t heard anyone complain about an increase in bandit-related incidents or anything like that. Just because they’re put in a tough spot doesn’t mean every returning soldier is going to resort to crime.”

“That may be true for the time being. This is the sort of thing that slowly festers over time. People fall out of work, they try everything they can, but nothing works out. Then, they really start to starve. What are they to do? One day, they go into town and run into an old comrade-in-arms. He tells them, ‘If you’re looking for work, I’ve got a job for you.’” Claudia did her best to phrase the concept as a story. It may have been a bit hyperbolic, but it wasn’t an impossible turn of events. “But what’s wrong, Ricardo? It seems to me like you are being a bit dismissive of the whole issue.”

“Just thinking about how all of the requests for dealing with those bandits could fall into my lap...it makes me not want to believe it.”

“Ah, yeah. That’s a tough spot to be in.”

Choosing to ignore Ricardo as he fell into depression, Lutz asked, “Won’t it be the same over in the federation, though? Actually, considering all of the ruckus caused by the coup, they probably have it worse, right?”

“About that...” Claudia made sure to warn them before continuing that what she was about to say was just a rumor and she was only half confident in its validity. “It seems like the federation has prepared a warm welcome for all of its soldiers. They provided them with enough money to live off of for a while, as well as housing and land to grow crops. It seems that they’re hoping the soldiers will recultivate the land that had been driven to ruin by war.”

“Really? That is rather generous of them.”

“The only question is where they got their hands on that kind of money. While rebuilding postwar is all well and good, it must have been a considerable investment for them.” Claudia remained skeptical, considering the circumstances.

“Well, if it is true, then it’s a good thing, isn’t it? I wish our kingdom would do the same.” Honestly, Ricardo just wanted to avoid a rise in crime at all costs.

Claudia shot him a sympathetic grin. “Everyone understands that it isn’t right, but they also know that we don’t have the kind of money necessary to pull such a thing off. Furthermore, even if we had it, no one would want to give it up. That’s why everyone is putting on a good face and yelling at everyone else to do something about it.”

“That really is a terrible thing. Those soldiers put their lives on the line to defend the country, and what thanks do they get? It doesn’t sit right with me that all of the nobles who asked them to die on their behalf just ignore them the minute they are no longer useful to them either.”

Hardly anyone would become a bandit because they wanted to. Ricardo felt his thoughts drifting into a darker part of his mind. Would those lost souls ever find the path to the light? He had no problem fighting against bandits, but at the very least, he wanted to fight battles under circumstances that he could make his peace with.

Suddenly, they heard a loud knocking coming from the first floor.

“Lutz, Claudia, are you in? The Count is calling for you—please come immediately!”

It was the voice of Djoser, the high-ranking knight.

Lutz and Claudia exchanged confused looks before walking downstairs.

While the issues surrounding the returning soldiers were rather severe, it was a problem that didn’t directly involve them. At least, that was what they all convinced themselves of at the time.

***

Two hours later, Gerhard, Claudia, Lutz, Maximillion, and Giuseppe, the Princess’s butler, all gathered in the Count’s court. With the five of them present, the meeting began.

“So, what are their demands?” Gerhard asked as he stared Giuseppe down.

“Huh?” It appeared that Giuseppe was still in a state of confusion, as it took him a couple of seconds to realize that Gerhard was talking to him.

“Don’t you ‘Huh?’ me! Weren’t you left alive so you could tell us their demands?”

The knights were ruthlessly wiped out, and the Princess was abducted. Mere servants couldn’t have survived such a situation if the attackers hadn’t allowed them to go. It was only natural to think they had a reason behind that.

“I’m not even sure if it would be right to call it a demand. It just sounds so stupid...”

“Enough with that, just tell us!” Maximillion pounded on the desk in front of him.

Giuseppe’s face went completely pale, twisting in panic and despair. He looked like he could have vomited at any moment. “They said they wanted to meet with the king...and negotiate with him directly.”

The same thought popped into everyone’s mind with perfect synchronicity.

What the hell?

There was simply no way they could give in to the bandits’ demands and put the King in harm’s way. It would have been far better if they had just asked for something of monetary value. They could have just given them some money, saved the Princess, then chased after the bandits relentlessly to retrieve it.

“How can we get in touch with them?”

“They said to make a signal fire at the site of the attack.”

“Hmm... We obviously can’t give in to their demands, so I suppose there’s no choice but to kill every last one of them. The only question is how. Should we send a few hundred soldiers and surround them, or should we send in a small team to sneak into their camp and rescue the Princess that way?”

A few hundred soldiers might be perceived as overkill when dealing with only thirty or so bandits, but the enemy was strong enough to have taken down ten very skilled knights. If they were going to attack them in their own hideout, making sure not a single one of them could escape, that kind of power in numbers was necessary. There was no room for error.

“Wait a second! If we surrounded them like that, what would happen to the Princess?!” screamed Giuseppe. It sounded more like a desperate plea than a question.

Gerhard shook his head. “If they were to surrender quietly...” While Gerhard himself said it, he knew it was nearly impossible. From the moment those bandits laid their hands on royalty, they had dug their own grave. They weren’t going to surrender.

“Gerhard, I ask on my own behalf, as well. Please bring Princess Listill back safe and sound.”

“Your Grace...”

Gerhard couldn’t turn down a request directly from his lord. If something were to happen to the Princess, it would mean the destruction of the house of Shander. It wasn’t a matter of whether they could do it, they had to do it.

“In that case, let’s go in with a small but specialized team,” said Claudia.

She said it so casually that Maximillion questioned whether she had really been listening to anything they had just been talking about.

“Don’t worry. I assure you, I’m perfectly sane. We have the perfect person to act as a decoy on our side, do we not?”

If they were to surround the bandits, they might get desperate and end up harming the Princess. However, if it were just a single person who showed up on their doorstep, they’d get complacent, thinking they could handle him. They could use that to drag the bandits into their trap, a battle as dirty as a bloody swamp.

“While he is drawing everyone’s attention, a separate team will sneak into their hideout and save the Princess. It’s simple, but the most effective plans often are.”

“I see... My only concern is that the plan places a lot of responsibility on the man serving as a decoy.” Maximilian furrowed his brows.

“We’re going up against thirty elite soldiers. I’m afraid a bit of recklessness will be unavoidable. Of course, such an operation would also require a considerable reward upon completion.” Claudia held up three fingers.

“Thirty gold?”

“Three hundred gold,” she corrected.

“To an adventurer?” Maximillion sputtered.

“To a hero.”

Maximillion held his head in his hands. Just the other day, he had finalized plans to expand the walled city. If he bled any more money than he already had, the construction would be put off for quite a while.

There was no shortage of things he wanted to do that needed to be done. The one thing that all of those ambitions had in common was the fact that they had a price attached. Figuring out how to distribute those funds was a constant headache, but such was the world of politics. Even still, compared to bringing about the fall of his domain, three hundred gold was a small price to pay.

“I understand. I’ll prepare the reward money somehow.”

Guess I’ll have to go around the domain making excuses to everyone again, huh?

A copper coin was comparable to a drop of one’s blood. Claudia knew the value of that money, the hardship it took to acquire it, more than anyone. She gave the Count a strong nod to show her respect.

Gerhard looked around the room before opening his mouth to speak. “We can’t waste much more time discussing the matter. Let’s form a small team. The participants will be Ricardo, me and Djoser...and that’s about all, I suppose.”

Lutz wasn’t exactly filled with reassurance. He had stayed quiet up until then, but he steeled himself and raised his hand. “I’ll go too.”

“Can you do it?” Gerhard narrowed his eyes at Lutz.

Lutz wasn’t a knight, nor was he an adventurer. He was a blacksmith. From the way he walked and the definition of his muscles, Gerhard could tell that Lutz had some martial arts training, but he still wasn’t sure exactly how strong he was in a fight.

“All I can say is that I’ll be more useful than any of the thug knights you could pick up around here.”

“Better than a rabid dog, huh? That’s enough for me.”

Claudia looked at the two of them with contempt. Lutz’s leaving wasn’t part of the plan. “Wait, wait, just a second. There’s no reason for Lutzy to go along too. You’re a blacksmith; it’s not your job to fight.”

“True, but I have technically received an honorary knighthood.”

“Yeah? Guess what? So did Patrick. Are you planning on bringing that licky licky sex pest along with you too?”

“Well, no, but...”

Claudia took a deep breath. “I haven’t been running around doing all of this planning just so you could go and put yourself in harm’s way...” Her voice was tinted with melancholy.

“I’m doing this to give your plan even a little greater chance of success.”

“Why do you have to go that far?”

“I’m a guy. It’s what we do.” Lutz shrugged his shoulders with a smile. What else could he say?

Claudia grabbed onto Lutz’s cheeks with both hands. “When men go off to battle for their romantic ideals, don’t assume that the women left behind see things the same way.”

“I’m sorry... I know I’m placing a burden on you too.”

“Even if you lose your arms and legs, you’d better drag yourself home alive. In return, I promise that I’ll care for you for the rest of my life.”

“Deal. I’ll come back alive. That much I can promise.” Lutz nodded confidently.

With that, the fourth member of the team had been decided. Having the extra help was reassuring, but Gerhard’s face still displayed a strange mixture of emotions. “I feel like your reaction was a good bit calmer when we said we would go.”

“There’s nothing strange about people in a combat role going to die, anyway. You guys can do as you please.”

“You know that I’m still technically an enchanter, right? A noncombatant...”

“Semantics,” said Claudia coldly. At the end of the day, Lutz’s well-being was the only thing that mattered.

Once that was decided, the rest fell into place rather quickly. They called for the hero Ricardo and the high-ranking knight Djoser, and they all crammed into a carriage. All together, they had Gerhard, Lutz, Djoser, and Ricardo, as well as Claudia and Giuseppe.

“It was around here that we were attacked,” said Giuseppe, pointing to a map he had spread across his lap as the carriage shook side to side.

“Walking around with the Princess in tow stands out too much. I suspect that their hideout can’t be far from there.”

“Is there perhaps a cave somewhere around the surrounding mountains?” said Djoser from the driver’s seat, holding firmly to the reins.

“Anyway, let’s just get ourselves to the site of the attack. It’s not exactly easy to cover the tracks of a thirty-man unit. Once we get there, the way to their hideout should be pretty obvious.”

Hearing Gerhard’s plan, everyone gave an affirming nod. The only one who still looked uneasy about the whole thing was Ricardo.

“Claudia and Giuseppe, when we get to the scene, you two take the carriage and head back to the village we just passed by. We can’t have anything happening to the carriage, after all.”

“Remember that I’m only letting you borrow Lutzy. I expect you to return him in perfect condition.”

Gerhard was a bit shaken by the bloodlust in her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it. We won’t be doing anything too rash.”

While Claudia didn’t exactly have any fighting prowess, her ability to drive someone to ruin through financial means made her more formidable and, quite frankly, a more terrifying opponent than anyone. Gerhard certainly didn’t want to get on her bad side.

“You hear that, Lutz? Please don’t die on me, okay? If you die, Claudia’s going to kill me in my sleep.”

“Do you think we could ask the enemy to go easy on us?”

They all shared a laugh, except for Giuseppe, who looked upon the scene with unease. He wondered how they could be laughing when they were about to set out on a mission to rescue the Princess, a battle of life and death between them and the bandits. Giuseppe alone reacted in a way that any normal person would. Whether that kind of common sense was suited to the battlefield was an altogether different question.

***

A young man walked through a dark cave, placing torches on the cave walls as he went. He placed a torch every twenty feet or so and replaced them with new ones whenever they went out. Nobody had told him to do this; he just didn’t want to spend all of his time in the dark.

He pulled out one of the many torches he carried under his arm, placed it on the wall, and set it alight. The gentle light of the torch exposed nothing but the eerie contours of the cave, but even still, it was better than being in the dark.

“Even if you brighten up a tunnel, it doesn’t mean there’s a light at the end of it, Eir.” A burly man called out to him from behind.

“What’s the harm, Dros? Spending all day in the dark just makes me feel like I’m living a pitiful existence,” said the young man, Eir.

The large man, Dros, just let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Pitiful, you say? Sounds fitting enough for the likes of us. That’s just the truth of the matter. Well, it’s not like we wanted to end up like this, but that’s life for ya.”

They were both soldiers who were relieved of their duties after the peace treaty was signed. The reward money they received was nothing more than a pittance, and even when they returned to their homes, they were unable to adjust back into everyday life, so they banded together. Every one of them had a similar story.

They were first pulled together by orders from the kingdom, and they had fought to protect it. They bathed in the blood of the enemy, were showered with the guts of their comrades, and fought desperately to see the sun dawn on the next day.

There were times when they would even have to cut down comrades who had lost their minds from the trauma of battle, and this wasn’t something that only occurred once or twice. All the while, they questioned why they themselves hadn’t gone insane. The answer was, of course, that they had already lost their sanity long ago.

One day, a noble whose face Eir didn’t even recognize showed up and told them that the war was over. He didn’t understand what the man was saying. The enemy was still alive and well, just a few miles to the south.

It seemed that the kingdom and the federation had talked it out. He wasn’t sure of the details, but apparently the kingdom got some land out of the deal. Now, the kingdom no longer had any use for them. He was handed ten silver and sent on his way.

When Eir returned home, his parents gave him a warm welcome, but after a few days, they came over to him with a smile and asked, “So, when are you going to leave?”

Eir’s younger brother and his wife were already set to inherit the farm. His childhood friend, who had promised to marry him, had moved in with another man only one month after he was deployed. The hometown he had longed to return to no longer existed, or at the very least, it had no place for him.

“You have the face of a killer now.”

His father’s words stung him. Eir didn’t feel like he had changed that much, but maybe his father was right. Even if he had changed, he did it to protect his country, to keep fighting for everyone waiting back home. Why? Why were people looking at him as if he were some kind of freak?

“I fought to protect you all.”

Eir pleaded with his eyes, but they returned a cold, disdainful stare. Apparently, they didn’t remember asking him to fight for their sake.

Why did that war have to come to an end?

The battlefield was hell, but he had carved out a place for himself there. His friends were there, bearing the same face as him, the face of a killer. The enemy had the very same look in their eyes as they did. No matter how much anger and hatred they directed at each other, not once did they ever treat each other as if they were out of place.

Eir didn’t enjoy the war. It was just the place he felt he belonged. As he walked from his village, each step carried him closer to the southern border. It wasn’t like he believed there was a war waiting for him there, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe... Carrying a feeling closer to delusion than hope, as if sleepwalking, he kept on moving.

On the way there, he was attacked by bandits in the mountains, but after he cut down only three of them, the rest ran away. It was so shameful that Eir worried they might receive some form of punishment for running in the face of the enemy.

When he finally made it close to the border, he found that there were many like him, men who could no longer fit into the mold they had left behind. His old captain was there. Dros, a veteran soldier he always looked up to, was there. They were ready to go to war at any moment, but there was no battle to be fought.

They all grumbled to each other about how their country had abandoned them, betrayed them.

As they all wandered like lost sheep, their old captain, Kill Code, called out to them. He gathered the soldiers who no longer had a place to call home and told them that they were going to negotiate directly with the kingdom to improve the treatment of all returning soldiers. They went straight into planning. Finally, they had found a place where they belonged again. Even knowing that there was no way it was going to end well for them, it didn’t change how they felt. That was just fine. It only meant the place they were supposed to die had changed a bit.

They heard that the third princess of the kingdom, Princess Listill, had made plans to travel to the Shander domain and swiftly enacted an operation to abduct her. There were ten armed knights assigned to guard her, but they were no match for Kill Code’s team of battle-hardened warriors.

We are all still standing on the battlefield.

The knights weren’t weak by any means, but in terms of their mentality toward battle, the difference was like night and day. Kill Code’s team didn’t show a single second of hesitation when taking a life. It had been beaten into their bodies that hesitation led to death.

In that way, they abducted the Princess, then built a rough yet sturdy wooden cage to confine her.

Everything went so smoothly, they almost couldn’t believe it. Maybe they could even get the King to crawl out of his hole and listen to their demands. Maybe their lives didn’t have to end there, after all. As the light of hope grew brighter inside of them, so too did the fear of death. To ease that fear even a little bit, Eir continued lighting torches in that dark cave.

We aren’t just worms, wriggling around in the dark. We are warriors, men who fight to defend our honor.

When he saw Eir darting around the cave, a pained smile formed on Dros’s face, but he said nothing more about the matter.

Dros, don’t you feel afraid? Don’t you have any regrets?

Eir wanted so badly to ask him, but he stopped himself. To pry so deeply into a soldier’s heart was poor etiquette.

“Do you think the Captain is really trying to negotiate with the King for us?”

“Well, of course he is! He’s serious as it gets!” responded Dros brightly.

Eir looked at him a bit funny, but Dros seemed to be enjoying his reaction.

“The Captain’s told us not to lay a hand on the Princess too. It seems he isn’t thinkin’ of going full bandit and planting the seed of a filthy commoner in her while she puts on a brave face.”

“Um, right...” Eir lifted a brow after hearing Dros’s gross remarks, but Dros didn’t seem to bother.

“He even let the maids go free without having any fun with them first. In other words, he doesn’t want to dirty his hands any more than he has to.”

“Well, he couldn’t exactly talk with the King about restoring our honor after ruthlessly shaming and having his way with people connected to royalty.”

“That’s right. We’re not really looking to threaten the King; we just want to take back what’s rightfully ours. There’s a world of difference between being able to proudly proclaim that we are warriors and being forced to admit we’re barbaric rapists. After kidnapping the Princess, I doubt they’ll have much sympathy for us either way, but it’s also important that we can be proud of our own way of life.”

“You aren’t wrong there. It still feels like a bit of a missed opportunity, though...” Eir joked.

Dros threw back his head and let out a hearty laugh. “Gya ha ha! It’s all a part of being human. Restraint is always at the core of a real man’s life!” Suddenly, Dros’s face turned serious. “When I do finally die, I’m sure the last thought to go through my head will be this: God, I’m glad I never did something so shameful.” Leaving Eir with those words, Dros waved his hand as he wandered off.

To be honest, there was still more that Eir wanted to talk about, but following him would have been inconsiderate. Instead, he made his way to where the Princess’s makeshift cell was.

“I’ll replace these torches for you,” said Eir.

The warm light of the torch illuminated the black-haired girl. Despite her youth, she bore an air of elegance. Her dress was covered in dirt, but it didn’t detract from her beauty. If anything, when placed in the garbage heap they were calling home, her beauty only became clearer. To think that such a pretty girl had been caught up in their last act of desperation... Eir was assaulted by guilt, like dozens of needles pricking his chest.

The third princess of the kingdom, Princess Listill, sat there emotionlessly. Moving only her eyes, she rested her sight on Eir. “Your name is Eir, is that right?”

“Huh? Um, yes.” He was shocked that a princess would go out of her way to remember the name of a lowly soldier like him.

“Are you worried about something?”

“Excuse me?”

“People often say that the end justifies the means, don’t they?” continued Listill with calm indifference. “However, there are times when, far from justifying the means, one’s methods can contradict their goal entirely.”

“What do you...mean by that?” Eir’s throat suddenly felt dry, painfully so. He could have just ignored the Princess and gone on his way, but somehow, he felt as though his feet were nailed to the ground.

“No matter how noble the goal, as soon as you resort to violence, that lofty ideal is dragged through the mud. If you make yourself into a villain, anything you say will be the words of a villain. People won’t feel the need to listen.”

“Shut up! Have you forgotten that you’re aligned with the people that threw us away and left us to rot?!” Eir suddenly burst out in anger.

His recognition of the fact that what they were doing was likely futile, the guilt he felt for dragging such a pretty girl into it all... It all built up inside of him to the point where he couldn’t respond to Listill’s words through anything but an explosion of emotions.

It was shameful of him. He hadn’t come there to shout at her.

I wonder if she’s had it with me...

Eir wanted to apologize, but the words just wouldn’t come out.

“What are you doing over there?” A low and commanding voice came from behind him.

Eir turned around to see a tall, thin man, his sharp eyes staring directly through him. It was their captain, Kill Code.

“Um, I was just changing out the torches...”

“I see.” It seemed that Kill Code had a general grasp of the situation, as he soon directed his cold gaze to Listill. “I’d like you to refrain from putting any strange ideas in this young man’s mind.”

Listill remained completely silent, giving Kill Code nothing but an emotionless stare in return.

“Captain, have we heard anything back from the Count yet?” said Eir.

“Not yet. It’s about the time I would expect them to make a move, though...” Kill Code stroked his pointed chin with his fingers. He always did that when he was deep in thought. “On the other hand, it’s possible those servants just chose to go on the run.”

Considering they managed to get away alive after failing to protect the Princess, it certainly wasn’t a good look for them. If they were caught, it wasn’t impossible that they’d be sent to the chopping block. In that case, they might have simply chosen to defect to the federation or the empire instead.

“If that were the case, what would happen to the Princess?” Eir quickly glanced at Listill, who was sitting as still as a porcelain doll.

“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to,” said Kill Code with frigid apathy before returning to his rounds.

“I’m sorry...” The words slipped out of Eir’s mouth, but he wasn’t sure to whom or for what he was apologizing.

He didn’t know what his future held, but if someone from the palace was going to come, he wished that they’d do so quickly.

Chapter 2: The Rebels’ Prayer

When Lutz and the rest of the rescue team arrived at the scene of the Princess’s abduction, they saw a torn-apart carriage and the scattered remnants of her entourage all over the ground.

“I don’t remember the royal knights dressing so lightly,” said Lutz, his eyes narrowing at the bodies.

The knights were all left naked, seemingly stripped of anything valuable by the folk of the nearby village. The carriage was left without its wheels, and its interior had been ransacked. The bodies of the horses were nowhere to be seen, so they were likely carried off as food. From the looks of the bloodstained ground, the villagers had likely butchered the horses right there to make them easier to carry.

“Those filthy commoners... How dare they desecrate the bodies of knights who fought so bravely!” screamed Djoser as he swatted at flies. Those brave and honorable knights who gave their lives to defend the Princess had even their clothes stripped from them in death. That was something that Djoser simply couldn’t forgive. In the eyes of the people, had they not earned a proper burial?

“We’re going, Djoser,” said Gerhard emotionlessly. It seemed he had no interest in mere corpses. “If something were to happen to the Princess, that would be a true disgrace to their lives.”

Djoser growled under his breath, then crossed himself before the bodies of his fallen comrades. “Forgive me. I promise I will return to give you a proper burial and put you to rest. I will call a priest and hold a funeral for you. Just wait a little longer!” yelled Djoser passionately. He had more than enough motivation to strike those bandits down.

Claudia, on the other hand, stood and stared at the scene, her usual smile missing from her face. It seemed like something was worrying her to no end. “Lutzy, do you remember when Ricardo stopped by the house and we talked about all of those returning soldiers?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I think these bandits are probably them. Considering the timing, I couldn’t think of anyone else who would demand an audience with the King.”

“So, that’s why you were so opposed to me going...”

Claudia dove into Lutz’s chest, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close to her. Lutz gently brushed his fingers through her soft hair.

Claudia knew that Lutz was rather skilled with a katana. Gerhard and Ricardo were also formidable adventurers. Even still, she was far from calm. If they were to go up against battle-hardened soldiers, there was no telling what could happen.

“I’ll prioritize staying alive over anything else, I promise. Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it,” said Lutz softly.

Claudia gave him a little nod in return. With that, she and Giuseppe climbed back into the carriage and set off to the nearby village where they intended to await everyone’s return.

Gerhard walked on ahead, taking the lead. Djoser, Ricardo, and Lutz followed close behind.

“I feel like if we left you two alone there, you’d be getting it on about now.” Ricardo put on a suggestive smirk.

“Hey, even we couldn’t get too intimate in a place like that.”

It’d be one thing if they were in a flower field with butterflies dancing around them, but being surrounded by flies and corpses didn’t exactly make for a romantic atmosphere.

“Can’t argue with that.” Ricardo laughed.

“By the way, Gerhard, have you already figured out where the bandits’ hideout is?” Lutz thought it strange how confidently Gerhard was pushing forward.

“What are you saying? They left behind so much evidence; there are practically huge arrows pointing to where they went. Moving in large numbers has its disadvantages, I suppose.” Gerhard gave him a proud smirk.

Ricardo followed Gerhard’s lead, saying, “That’s right, Lutz. This sort of tracking is like the very basics of adventuring. You’ll have to go back to the beginner’s course and relearn the ropes.”

“What do you mean by going back to the beginner’s course? I’m not even an adventurer to begin with.”

Lutz glanced over at Djoser, but he just shook his head. It seemed he wasn’t sure what tracks they were following either. Even if thirty of them had passed through, that would have been several days ago.

Lutz felt a bit reassured. The two adventurers in front of them were the weird ones, without a doubt.

After walking for about half an hour, they made it to the edge of the forest and saw a suspicious-looking cave ahead of them. They could see the silhouettes of a few men by the entrance too. They were likely posted there to look out for any signal fires.

“Ricardo, you’re up.” Djoser patted Ricardo on the shoulder.

“Are we really going with this plan?” Ricardo was going to go up against a band of experienced soldiers all on his own, acting as a decoy. It wasn’t the sort of plan that fell into the realm of sanity.

“Too late to complain about it. Claudia convinced the Count to cough up three hundred gold coins for you, so you’d better thank her later.”

“I’ll make sure to do that...if I survive that long, that is.” Ricardo made sure that his beloved katana, Tsubaki, was attached firmly to his hip before walking toward the opening of the cave.

Noticing an unexpected visitor approaching, two bandits ran outside the cave.

“Who the hell are you? Are you a messenger from the King, or maybe the Count?”

They hadn’t told anyone the whereabouts of their hideout. The two of them stared at Ricardo with suspicion.

“I’m a messenger from hell.” Ricardo drew his katana without hesitation.

Seeing this, the two men jumped backward and held their swords at the ready. They reacted as fast as Ricardo would have expected of veteran soldiers. However, it seemed that they were unable to see through Tsubaki’s true nature.

“So, that’s your answer, huh?!” yelled one of the men. They didn’t think that the King was really going to just let them waltz into the palace and have a chat with him. It was unfortunate, but not unexpected. “I’ll turn you and your precious princess into mincemeat, then send you back home as a present for the King.”

The man held up his sword, preparing to split Ricardo’s skull in two. Then, holding the grip of his sword with both hands, he stabbed himself right in his own stomach.

“Huh?”

Even he wasn’t sure why he had done such a thing. Weirder still, it didn’t hurt. Actually, it kind of felt...good. He turned around to look at his partner and saw that he had the blade of his sword in his mouth, sucking on it as if it were the most delicious thing in the world.

“Licky, licky, licky...”

His partner’s pupils rolled back into his head as he kept on licking around the blade. Most fearsome of all, the man realized that the tip of the sword was sticking out of the back of his partner’s head.

The sweet smell in the air around him dulled his senses. An irresistible pleasure radiated from the open wound in his stomach, making all of his worries seem like nothing at all. His partner’s unnatural death, even his own life, none of it mattered any longer.

The two men collapsed to the ground, their faces frozen in pleasure.

The bewitching katana, Tsubaki, could force its target to commit suicide as it turned pain into pleasure. It was a cursed blade.

“It’s absolutely terrifying...” spat Gerhard, who was watching from a distance in the cover of the forest. He had been told of Tsubaki’s merciless ferocity, but it was his first time seeing its powers with his own eyes. When standing on the battlefield, there was no such thing as a clean or dirty fight, but was a katana that could drive a person to such an ignoble death really something that should be allowed to exist?

“If the church were to find out about this, he’d be burned at the stake,” said Djoser, who held even stronger ideals than Gerhard about what was acceptable in battle. He stared at the hellish scene with disgust.

“If that guy ever tries to cross us, let’s give him up to the church.”

“Gerhard, you realize that we’d be burned right beside him, right?” reminded Lutz, unsure if Gerhard was just joking or not.

While they were all sitting back there calling it horrible or terrifying, Lutz was the one who forged the katana, and Gerhard was the one who enchanted it. No matter how you looked at it, they were accessories, perhaps even willing partners in crime. At the very least, from an outside perspective, they would sure look like that.

Picking up on the fact that something wasn’t quite right, a third man ran out from the cave. He drew his sword and ran toward Ricardo, but as soon as he fell into Tsubaki’s effective radius of around sixteen feet, he cut deep into his own carotid artery, falling to the ground shortly after.

As the blood poured from his enemy’s neck, staining the bottom of Ricardo’s boots, he found himself lost in thought.

At this rate, I might actually just wipe them all out by myself...

He heard something flying through the air. Reflexively, he bent backward, and an arrow flew mere inches in front of his face. If it had taken him even one more second to wake up from his daydream, it would have pierced through his brain like a skewer.

A second, then a third arrow came flying toward him. Ricardo blocked them with his katana and ran into the forest. If he really concentrated, he could extend the range of Tsubaki’s curse to attack a specific target in his line of sight. However, the archers appeared to be concealing themselves behind some form of shield as they shot at him.

They were different from any of the reckless bandits he had fought before, much smarter. Furthermore, there seemed to be several archers stationed around the area.

“Can’t you let a guy dream?! Goddamn it!”

The enemy must have figured it would be trouble if they let Ricardo get away, as soldiers kept pouring out of the cave one after another. Around half of them were carrying shortbows. They still weren’t exactly sure what was going on, but it looked like getting too close to him was dangerous.

Ricardo continued to run, ensuring there were plenty of trees between him and his pursuers so they wouldn’t have a clean shot. He felt the murderous gazes of his enemies from behind him. He was in their territory. How long would he be able to keep running while fighting them off?

I’m strong. With Tsubaki by my side, unstoppable. While that may be the case, please, hurry up and help me!

Ricardo shot a glance over to where Gerhard and everyone had been hiding before, but no one was there. It seemed they had already made their move.

The sound of footsteps grew closer. Ricardo peeked his face out from behind a tree for only a moment, but an arrow was hurled toward him. Even though he was in such a dangerous situation, he found that a smile had naturally formed on his face.

Do you guys have a weapon you’re willing to trust your life with? I do.

Ricardo gripped Tsubaki’s tsuka. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared, but he still had the courage left in him to counterbalance that fear. He felt that courage overflowing deep in his heart.

***

From a safe distance, Gerhard and everyone watched as Ricardo drew away the enemy, then snuck into the cave. Ricardo had managed to lure about fifteen bandits away from the hideout, so only around half of them remained. Unfortunately, they seemed smart enough not to leave the cave completely undefended, but it was better than nothing. Asking for anything more would be unreasonable.

“Wow...” As they progressed a little farther into the cave, Gerhard’s eyes widened. It was far more spacious in there than he had imagined. Right before them was an underground lake. Though it likely wasn’t clean enough to drink straight from it, having such a vast water supply made it an ideal hideout.

“Oh, this is nice!”

“Everyone loves a good secret hideout.”

Djoser watched with disinterest as Gerhard and Lutz gave each other an affirming nod. “Who would want to live in such a dark and moldy place?” he said with a sigh.

Gerhard shook his head at him. “You just don’t get it. Doesn’t it stir your soul? Doesn’t it fill you with the romantic ideals of boyhood?”

“Romantic ideals don’t make it any easier to eat in some musty cave.”

“There’s a certain romance in eating in a place like this too!”

They walked around the underground lake while continuing their admittedly stupid argument and peered into one of the many narrow paths leading deeper into the cave. Suddenly, they saw the tip of a sword poke out from the darkness. Gerhard dodged the incoming attack and kicked the enemy in the stomach, sending them flying backward.

It appeared they had stumbled upon the soldiers’ sleeping quarters. The soldiers in the room woke up one after the other, getting up from their makeshift beds, which were constructed from dried foliage, and drawing their swords.

There were five soldiers in total. Gerhard drew his beloved katana, Ittetsu, and attacked them head-on. He didn’t bother to ask who they were. He could sort all of that out after they were dead.

Lutz and Djoser took the left and right flanks. They gave Gerhard enough room that they wouldn’t get in the way but made sure the enemy couldn’t surround them either. That was the sort of balance they maintained.

Gerhard brought his katana down on the enemy closest to him. The soldier held his sword up horizontally and blocked the attack. At least, that was his intention.

The splendid katana Ittetsu, forged by Gerhard’s friend, honed by his comrade, and enchanted by his own hands, split the soldier’s well-used sword in two. The sword didn’t shatter; it was cleanly cut through. Gerhard’s blade continued its way through the soldier’s head, and he fell to the cold ground.

The soldier was a skilled veteran. He had surely spent much of his life walking the line between life and death. He showed no hesitation toward taking a life, nor did he display any reservations about charging to his death. Unfortunately, however, his weapon was just a mass-produced piece of junk.

If the kingdom had properly appraised the soldier’s talents and given him a weapon fitting for a hero, Gerhard surely would have struggled. But as things were, that just wasn’t the case.

While Gerhard was fighting that one soldier, Djoser managed to cut down two others, and Lutz drove his katana directly into another soldier’s throat. It all happened in the blink of an eye.

The soldier who had first been sent flying by Gerhard’s kick tried to get back up, but before he was able to, Gerhard pressed his boot onto the soldier’s chest. It seemed that Gerhard had some sort of trick for stepping directly onto someone’s heart, limiting the flow of blood through the soldier’s body and making it nearly impossible for him to move.

“Where is the Princess?” asked Gerhard in a vicious tone, pointing the tip of his katana at the man’s throat.

The man opened and closed his mouth, but the words wouldn’t come out. Without much other choice, Gerhard decided to shift some of his weight off his right foot, which was pinning the man down.

“Fucking bastard!”

The instant the words left the soldier’s mouth, Gerhard slit his throat. Fresh blood gushed through the hole in the man’s neck, which had opened like a second mouth. Eventually, he drowned in a sea of his own blood.

“I shouldn’t have done that...” Gerhard whispered, voice heavy with regret. It wasn’t the killing itself or asking a proud soldier to sell out his comrades. Rather, he lamented resorting to using such cheap tricks against the man. He should have just killed him directly.

“Hey, what the hell’s going on over there?!”

Picking up the smell of blood in the air, another soldier rushed in, his sword drawn and at the ready.

Lutz charged directly at him and sliced upward as he drew his katana, sending sparks flying in the dark cave as the soldier attempted to parry his blade.

The soldier lost his balance and suddenly felt someone put their hand over his mouth, holding him from behind. A relatively short but thick blade cut through his throat. Without even being able to let out a final wail of regret, the man collapsed to the ground. Behind him was Djoser, wearing a look of discontent.

“What’s wrong, Djoser? I thought that was some pretty nice teamwork. Is there something that’s bothered you?” asked Gerhard.

Djoser looked down apologetically. “I just thought that attack wasn’t very knightly of me...” Far from being chivalrous, it was closer to the methods of an assassin. Djoser’s sword, Knight Killer, which was specialized for close-quarters indoor combat, was feeling more and more comfortable in his hands. His body unconsciously understood that attacking the enemy from behind would allow him to use the blade most efficiently, and he immediately acted on that impulse.

“Doing everything you can to stay alive, putting your entire self into that one goal—that’s the most important bit of etiquette when on the battlefield. No matter what anyone says, that was a splendid attack.”

“Besides, with the enemy outnumbering us thirty to four, surely they can’t complain if we don’t fight completely one-on-one, right?”

Gerhard and Lutz were doing their best to affirm him, so Djoser couldn’t very well continue sulking over it. However, it didn’t stop a seed of doubt from being planted in his heart.

Unable to put the mission on hold any longer to accommodate his apprentice’s sentimentalism, Gerhard moved on to the next chamber of the cave. It looked like another sleeping quarter, but nobody was there. It was likely the place where everyone who ran out to chase Ricardo had been sleeping.

The next chamber was also empty. After that, they found a storage area. There was a stock of food and wine, and it didn’t seem like it was all procured legally either. In the next chamber, they noticed there were more torches set up along the wall than they had seen up until then.

Proceeding carefully farther into the chamber, they came across a rough, yet sturdy-looking, wooden construction. Looking inside, they saw the small silhouette of a person.

Gerhard held up a torch, lighting up the inside of the wooden cage. “Princess, we have come to save you,” he whispered.

Sitting in the middle of the cage, the small figure lifted her head to face them. Illuminated by the light of the torch, they could tell that it was indeed the face of Princess Listill, whom they had met briefly before. Forced to live in her underground cell for days, she was covered head to toe in dirt, but she had not lost even a bit of her elegance.

“Master Gerhard, I commend you for coming this far to rescue me.” The young girl gave Gerhard a nod.

Lutz and Djoser both smiled at her warmly. Seeing her calm reaction reminded Lutz that she really was a person of royal blood. It was impressive, but at the same time, he thought it to be rather pitiable. At a time like that, surely she would want to jump up in joy or break down and cry tears of relief. At least, that was what Lutz would have likely done.

Unable to laugh when she wanted to, unable to cry when she needed to... Being in a position where you were expected to maintain a constant air of elegance and grace must have been so unbearably difficult. Lutz couldn’t even imagine it.

“Princess, step back for a moment.” Gerhard drew his beloved katana and cut through the bars of the wooden prison cell. He swung again and again, the katana letting off a faint flash of light with each strike. The bars of her cell fell to the ground one by one, and by the time Gerhard sheathed his katana, a hole big enough to fit a fully grown man through had opened up.

“Did he really need to be so flashy about it?”

“He probably wanted to look cool for the Princess,” said Djoser, answering Lutz’s question with a grin. His master had that kind of childish side to him after all.

Lutz wondered if that was really all there was to it, though, and a thought popped into his mind. Maybe Gerhard had put on such a flashy performance to put the Princess at ease, to let her know that everything was going to be just fine and that she was in good hands. Lutz didn’t know Gerhard’s true reasoning behind it. Even if he asked, he doubted that Gerhard would give him a straight answer, anyway.

“I suppose he’s got that kind of side to him, huh...” said Lutz under his breath with a faint smile.

As Princess Listill was about to step out of her cage, Gerhard felt a tingle run up his spine. “Princess, I am afraid I will have to ask you to stay in that cage for just a little longer.”

“Huh?”

Gerhard heard the footsteps of several men approaching from behind them. Their footsteps were slow, even calm, which seemed unfitting for a battlefield that reeked of blood and guts. Thinking about it, that was only natural. Gerhard and everyone had wandered right into their home, the belly of the beast.

A tall man with a sharp look in his eyes came into view, eight men following behind him. They were completely blocking off any possible escape route.

“We can’t have you taking our hostage. It wasn’t easy to get our hands on her, you know?” The tall man, who appeared to be their leader, spoke with a voice so deep and commanding that it threatened to shake the very ground. With sunken eyes and concave cheeks that looked as if the flesh had been carved out of them, the man was the spitting image of the grim reaper himself.

Even when surrounded in the enemy’s hideout, the three men of the Shander domain didn’t falter.

This is where a man tests his mettle.

Lutz grinned. “Sorry to break it to you, but the Princess made plans to hang out with us first.” He just wanted that little girl to be able to smile. A man didn’t need any more reason to put his life on the line.

***

A few minutes before, several soldiers had gathered together in what they referred to as their meeting room, though there wasn’t really much left to discuss. Thinking about what the future held for them was an anxiety-inducing endeavor. Unless they were around other people, they felt as though they wouldn’t be able to hold it all in, so they stayed together as much as possible.

Even though they called it their meeting room, it was nothing more than another chamber of the cave. Their table was constructed from some random boards, and they sat around it on barrels and wooden crates. While they were all lazing around, the youngest member of the team, Eir, burst in.

“Captain, the enemy has launched an attack!”

“What are their numbers?”

The faces of all the soldiers, who had been relaxing until then, suddenly turned serious, and several of them immediately went to take up arms.

“Um, you see, it looks like there’s only one of them...”

The hell?

Everyone sat back down after hearing Eir’s anticlimactic response.

“The problem is that more than ten men left the cave to chase him down...”

Hearing that, Captain Kill Code furrowed his brows, but the veteran soldier Dros let out a hearty laugh.

“Being young comes with a lot of energy, or maybe I should call it an overflowing desire for action. Also, we let all of those women go, so the men are a bit pent up with frustration.”

“I believe that everyone here came together because we share the same goal, isn’t that correct?” Kill Code shot him a glare.

Dros shrugged in response. “Of course. Everyone understands that much. That’s why not one of them suggested they pillage the nearby village and drag away all the young women, right?”

“If one of them did, I’d cut him down on the spot.”

“Everyone is listening properly to your commands, Captain. And that’s exactly why we should let them blow off a little steam with a bit of hunting. You can’t contain that many men in the prime of their youth. You have to let them get some energy out of them now and again.”

“That in itself is fine, but...” Something didn’t feel right. Kill Code stroked his chin in thought. “Could it be a diversion?”

It wasn’t out of the question. It was a bit strange for a single person to act as a decoy, but it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

“We’re going to the Princess’s cell. Follow me.”

“What about the guys who were on night watch?” asked one of the soldiers.

The soldiers who had been guarding the cave overnight were probably sleeping so soundly by then that they had become one with the dirt.

“Wake them up and bring them along with you to her cell. No matter how many of them there really are or what their plan is, it doesn’t change the fact that their ultimate goal is the Princess.”

One of the soldiers ran toward the sleeping quarters, and the remaining nine of them made their way to the Princess’s cell. They moved slowly, carefully taking in their surroundings as they continued forward. They wouldn’t be able to forgive themselves if they allowed the enemy to get the drop on them in their own hideout after all.

When they approached the cell room, they heard strange noises and could see shadows moving in the flickering light of the torches.

“Looks like someone got here first. They might already have the Princess in their custody,” Dros whispered to Kill Code.

“Doesn’t matter. They’re caught in our trap now. The men who went out hunting should also be returning shortly.”

Kill Code had thought that the man serving as a decoy had been sent on a suicide mission, that the enemy had sent him out to draw their attention, knowing full well that he would die. Kill Code didn’t know anything about the bewitching katana Tsubaki’s strange power, so it was only natural to think as much.

As the men who went out hunting and the men who were on night watch would never show up to support them, Kill Code had made a couple of miscalculations, but it didn’t change the fact that they were in an advantageous position.

In this way, the nine men walked into the Princess’s cell, prepared to face off with the rescue team.

***

Gerhard put his back to the Princess’s cell. Having to block the opening that he had made for himself was a bit ironic, but their original plan was to get the Princess out as stealthily as possible; it couldn’t be helped.

Also, if the enemy were to get their hands on the Princess in their current situation, it would all be over. It would be their loss. At that moment, it made the most sense for Gerhard, the strongest fighter out of the three of them, to hold the back line.

“I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to lend much of a hand,” said Gerhard.

Lutz gave him a confident smile. “You’re saying you’re willing to share some of the glory with us young folk, huh? You must be feeling rather generous today.”

Gerhard snorted. “Don’t be getting ahead of yourself now.”

Djoser ignored the dim-witted exchanges of the other two and took a few controlled breaths as he stared down the enemy leader. His calm focus was also a source of reassurance.

Dros tapped the back of his hatchet against his shoulder with an unsettling grin. “Captain, it looks like that guy’s calling for me.”

“All right, you take care of that young one, Dros. Everyone else, focus on getting a hold of the Princess.” Kill Code drew his rapier, signaling the start of the battle.

Djoser pointed the tip of Knight Killer directly at Kill Code. “I am Djoser, a high-ranking knight serving the house of Shander. I request a duel.”

Kill Code refused to name himself, simply staring back at Djoser with his dead eyes. “I’m afraid I don’t have a name worth proclaiming.”

“You bastard, have you thrown away your pride as a warrior?!”

“Pride, you say? My pride was stolen from me long ago.” Sharply contrasting his lazy manner of speech, the tip of his rapier radiated hatred and murderous intent.

The word rapier was used to describe a rather broad subset of swords. Some rapiers were as thin as needles, and there were some so thick that they were closer to being clubs than swords. Kill Code’s rapier had a thicker blade, and while it was obviously designed with stabbing in mind, it seemed more than capable of slashing or being used as a blunt object, as well.

Stabbing weapons were advantageous in indoor combat because there was little worry of them getting caught on anything during an attack. Furthermore, one-handed swords allowed their wielder to reduce the area of their body that was exposed to the enemy, making it harder for them to find an opening.

The tip of Kill Code’s rapier came within inches of Djoser’s eyes. He twisted his body to the side, evading the attack somehow. Djoser tried to launch a counterattack, but he couldn’t see an opening in Kill Code’s stance.

The attack just seemed to happen. In other words, Djoser couldn’t see any preliminary movements that would indicate the course of his strike. Instead of a line of attack, the tip of the rapier seemed to jump almost instantly between two points. If he took his eyes off it for even a second, he would instantly be impaled.

If I’m forced to go on the defensive, it’s over.

Djoser swung Knight Killer downward, but Kill Code backstepped to dodge it, moving only the bare minimum, then immediately went back on the attack. Kill Code seemed to perfectly understand Djoser’s reach, carefully controlling the distance between them.

Kill Code unleashed a barrage of thrusts, the tip of his blade moving like lightning. Djoser was forced backward, desperately swinging Knight Killer in an attempt to parry the strikes. It was a feat that was only possible thanks to Knight Killer’s versatility. If the blade had been only a few inches longer, it would have become more unruly to wield, leading directly to Djoser’s death.

Djoser had no choice but to admit it. He was fighting a man out of his league. When it came down to sheer skill, he was losing. The man was an expert at controlling the space between them. He also seemed adept at fighting in dark environments such as that before, but it was an entirely new experience for Djoser.

Isn’t there anything? Do I have no advantage, no strengths to turn to?

The tip of the rapier continued to fly toward him. Djoser was so desperately blocking each strike that he didn’t have any time to think.

A sharp pain assaulted Djoser’s cheek as if he had been struck by a branding iron. It seemed he hadn’t quite managed to dodge the rapier in time. Perhaps his movements had begun to dull from the fatigue, or maybe Kill Code had just gotten used to Djoser’s habits. Either way, Djoser couldn’t hold out much longer if he continued to stay on the defensive.

The pain actually managed to clear Djoser’s thoughts somewhat, and his master’s fight from moments before popped into his head. There was indeed one thing that Djoser had an advantage in. He planted both of his feet firmly into the ground. He wouldn’t fall back any further. There was no need to run from that spot.

The tip of the rapier shot directly toward his throat, but he parried it with Knight Killer. Kill Code quickly corrected his stance and continued his attack with a downward slash. The rapier tore through the skin of Djoser’s arm, his blood dripping to the ground.

But this isn’t too bad.

Djoser launched a decisive counterattack. Knight Killer couldn’t reach as far as the man’s body, but it was more than long enough to strike his rapier. Djoser focused entirely on striking away his enemy’s sword with as much strength as he could muster. The sparks from their swords illuminated the dark cave, and the sound of clashing metal reverberated throughout it.

There were times when Djoser’s consciousness began to fade due to loss of blood, but the pain dragged him right back. He had already passed his limit. It took everything he had to stay standing.

Thinking it was over, Kill Code unleashed one last ferocious strike. Djoser protected his face with his left arm. The tip of the rapier dipped down, piercing directly through Djoser’s heart, which was left wide open.

Or at least, that was what should have happened. Kill Code was confident that his rapier would be able to pierce through an iron breastplate. The partner that he had fought through countless battles with had betrayed him in the worst way possible. His rapier had broken in half in the center of the blade. In his mind, he had already seen the blade piercing Djoser’s heart. He had seen him coughing up blood and collapsing to the ground. All of it was nothing but a hopeful illusion.

Why is this happening?

Kill Code’s mind went blank with shock. He had realized that Djoser was attempting to damage his rapier; however, he had predicted that it should have held up just fine. He had read the situation wrong. Unable to form a true connection with his beloved rapier, he couldn’t accurately assess the damage that had been done to it.

“I suppose I’m the one who betrayed you...”

Kill Code no longer had his pride as a warrior. That was why he lost.

Djoser brought down his sword. In the next moment, Kill Code’s right hand fell to the ground, still holding tightly to the handle of his rapier.

Kill Code didn’t cry out in pain, nor did he scream profanities at Djoser. He just looked down mournfully at his right hand. A stream of blood poured from his open wrist, but he calmly applied pressure with his left hand to slow down the bleeding.

“I’m sorry...” whispered Kill Code to the rapier on the ground. He knew he was no longer worthy of wielding it.

***

While Djoser was fighting the enemy’s captain, Lutz took on the man who appeared to be second-in-command. That man, Dros, was allowing his arm to dangle along with the axe he was holding on to. It was far from what Lutz would call being at the ready.

Lutz, on the other hand, wore a full-sized katana and a smaller katana called a wakizashi on his hip. Carrying two katana like this was known as nihonzashi, but both of his katana were still sheathed.

“Are you sure you’re all right like that?” asked Dros, amused.

“I’m ready whenever,” Lutz answered.

Lutz’s voice carried a clear confidence. He certainly didn’t seem like someone with a death wish. However, more than just leaving himself wide open, he didn’t even have his weapon drawn. Yet, Dros somehow found himself unable to launch an attack. He felt a strange kind of energy permeating from his opponent.

Silently staring at another man wasn’t Dros’s idea of a good time, though, so he regripped the handle of his hatchet. No matter what his opponent was planning, it would all be for nothing if he split his head in two. Dros kicked off the cave floor, quickly closing the distance between them. Letting out a battle cry, he swung the hatchet down directly toward Lutz.

Unlike his captain, Dros’s fighting style relied heavily on brute force. On the battlefield, he had cut down dozens of men in that very way. It was a simple yet effective kind of attack.

Lutz shifted his weight onto the tips of his toes. In a single motion, he drew his blade and parried Dros’s hatchet mid-swing.

“What?!”

Sparks flying as it scraped against the katana, the hatchet was guided to the side diagonally, clipping Lutz’s shoulder.

Deflect, then counter. Not only were katana effective weapons in attack and defense, but they could accomplish both in the same breath. Utilizing the remaining momentum from deflecting the hatchet, Lutz brought the katana down directly toward the top of Dros’s head.

The blade cracked through Dros’s skull and sank into his head. The attack he had planned to enact on Lutz had reflected right back to him. Fresh blood spurted from the open wound, staining the blade of Lutz’s katana.

Lutz was confident he had won. Or perhaps it wasn’t confidence he was feeling, but arrogance.

Lutz saw something white peeking through the oozing dark red blood that covered Dros’s face. His eyes were fixated on Lutz. He wasn’t dead yet.

Dros had grabbed onto the blade of the katana with his left hand, cutting deep into his fingers to the point they were barely hanging on, but Dros didn’t even seem to care.

That shouldn’t be possible! Why can he still move?!

The katana had cut through his skull, but it didn’t reach all the way to his brain. Even still, it was incredibly strange that he still had the strength to move, to attempt a counterattack.

Dros used all of his strength to throw the katana to the side, and several of his thick grub-like fingers fell to the ground. Wearing a cruel and merciless smile on his face, Dros lifted up his hatchet.

This isn’t good. At this rate, I’m going to be killed.

Even though Lutz understood this well, he felt such immense pressure coming from Dros that he could hardly move a muscle.

Am I really going to die here? No, I can’t die yet.

Claudia had told him over and over not to die on her, hadn’t she? The one thing that Lutz absolutely couldn’t allow himself to do was betray her trust in him.

“Aaaaagh!” Lutz let out a roar to motivate his spirit. He let go of the katana in his hand and drew his wakizashi, immediately driving it into Dros’s neck. Lutz could feel the blade break through skin and pierce deep into the back of his throat.

Dros’s face, once reminiscent of an angered demon, began to relax into a peaceful smile. A few seconds later, he dropped to the cave floor, motionless. Maybe he had been glad he was able to die in battle instead of unceremoniously starving to death. Maybe he just wanted to convince himself he was happy in his final moment. No one would ever know how he really felt.

Lutz’s whole body was shaking from exhaustion and fear. The only reason Lutz had been able to land that final blow was because of the blood loss and head damage that Dros had experienced. If Dros hadn’t been inhibited by his injuries, Lutz’s head would have been split in two by the ferocious swing of his hatchet. Lutz’s first attack might only have landed because Dros had little to no experience fighting an opponent who wielded a katana.

In terms of pure skill, he might have had me beat...

Lutz had cut down several bandits in the past. However, that was his first time fighting against—no, killing a true warrior.

Lutz picked up his katana and directed his attention to its blade. It had been chipped. It had sustained substantial damage when Lutz parried Dros’s hatchet. That was why he wasn’t able to cut all the way through Dros’s head.

I really am an idiot...

Lutz let out a huge sigh. He had put off making a truly great katana for himself for so long now, and as a result, he nearly lost his life. Doing everything you could to stay alive was the most basic principle of battle, wasn’t it? While Lutz had forged several incredible katana, he still didn’t fully understand the power that wielding one would give him.

When I get back, I’m going to get straight to making a katana of my own, a katana I can trust my life with.

Lutz had found new determination and conviction. When he looked down at his feet, he saw Dros’s hatchet, half sunken into a pool of blood. “I’ll be taking this with me, Dros.” Lutz lifted it from the warm puddle and placed it on his belt.

That day, Lutz had learned what it meant to truly do battle with someone, and he felt as though he had taken a step forward as a katana smith because of it. Surely, he would never forget that battle, nor would he forget Dros for as long as he lived.

“Sorry, everyone! I’m afraid it’s our loss.”

Lutz turned around to the source of the voice and saw the enemy captain standing unarmed. Taking a closer look, he saw that he had lost his right hand entirely. Seemingly, they had wrapped things up over there as well. Seeing the pained expression on Djoser’s face, though, it was difficult to tell who the winner was.

The men who were fighting Gerhard to get to the Princess dropped their weapons one by one. With their captain defeated, they knew that all hope was lost.

“Are we really going to just...give up?” asked Eir, relaxing his stance, but still clinging firmly to his sword.

The rest of the soldiers just gave him a defeated smile.

“I’m afraid this is it. Our dream ends here.”

The end of their dream. At the sound of those words, all the strength left Eir’s hand, and his sword slipped from his grip. The clanging of metal rang throughout the cave. The sound was hollow, almost like Eir himself in that moment.

“Lutz, Djoser, pick up their weapons and gather everyone who is still alive together into a single spot.”

They did as Gerhard instructed, ensuring everything was safe before releasing Princess Listill from her cell.

Listill sat calmly on top of a wooden box. Lutz and Djoser stood on either side of her. While they were weakened, covered in blood and dirt, the scene looked as though the Princess were sitting on her throne, her royal knights surrounding her.

Sitting before them as criminals were Kill Code, Eir, and four other surviving members of Kill Code’s team. Lutz had taken out their second-in-command, and Gerhard had cut down two other soldiers.

“Your Highness, what shall we do with these rebels?” asked Gerhard.

When it came to such official matters, Lutz knew they could count on Gerhard.

Those who plotted to assassinate or kidnap a royal were generally taken to the capital, where they would be subjected to unspeakable methods of torture, but they didn’t have the manpower to carry that many people with them. In their current situation, it was more reasonable to execute the soldiers there on the spot and take the captain along with them.

It was a cruel thing to ask a thirteen-year-old girl to decide their fate. If at all possible, Gerhard wished that she would just say she would leave it up to him.

However, Listill said no such thing. She thought for a moment before finally opening her mouth to speak. “Will you tell us your side of this story?”

“Huh?” Kill Code lifted his head. His face had gone beyond pale and now bore the color of the dirt itself. While Djoser had applied a tourniquet to his arm to stop the bleeding, he obviously didn’t have long to live.

“What was it that you wanted to accomplish? What did you wish to speak with my father about? Will you tell me? I don’t want this all to end without knowing why it happened in the first place.”

“That’s a bit...”

“I’m aware that I am powerless,” Listill continued. “However, I can at least pass along a message to my father.”

Kill Code hadn’t said a single thing to Listill that entire time. He had decided that there would be no point in talking to her about it from the very beginning. He didn’t see her as anything but a hostage.

It would have been easy to give up and accept the hopelessness of their situation, but for the sake of all the men who followed Kill Code to their deaths, for all of his fellow soldiers still suffering in obscurity around the kingdom, he couldn’t allow himself to give up just yet.

Even if it was hopeless, even if it meant shamefully pleading with that young girl, that was just fine. As the person who started that battle, he would have to take responsibility for it. Kill Code clung onto a final speck of hope. After being kidnapped, watching men fight to the death right in front of her, then finally being rescued, the first thing that she said was that she wanted to hear the words of her abductors. This wasn’t something just any child could do.

Kill Code told Listill about the terrible strife facing the returning soldiers, how they put their lives on the line for the kingdom, and how the only thing they received in return was a few silver coins. He spoke about how even when they returned home, there was no place left for them there, and how many of them were still suffering from the lasting trauma of war. He told her about how all of those proud soldiers were looked at with hatred and disgust by the people they protected, seen as nothing but a band of murderers after the war had come to an end. That was more maddening than anything. It was unforgivable. They just wanted people to see them for who they were. They at least wanted to be treated as fellow humans.

Kill Code kept speaking on and on with burdened breath. Partway through, one of his men offered to tell their story on his behalf, but Kill Code refused. Speaking their grievances to the royal family would be his final act as their captain.

Listill quietly listened to every word Kill Code said. When he was finished, she gave him a solemn nod. “I understand the situation. I swear that I will relay your story of strife and hardship to my father and that we will take some form of action to improve conditions for returning soldiers.”

“Some form of action? What do you mean specifically?” Kill Code knew that speaking directly back to royalty was disrespectful, but he couldn’t let things end with such a nebulous response.

“We will legally protect the returning soldiers and provide those who have no place to go with housing and farmland. We will also guarantee the provision of food supplies until they can attain self-sufficiency.”

At that point, Listill wasn’t aware of this, but that was almost exactly how the federation had handled the same issue.

“Thank...you...” Although it was painful just to move his head, Kill Code bowed deeply to the Princess. They had nothing in writing; it was just a simple promise. Even still, they were able to get a member of the royal family to give them her word. That was as much as Kill Code could do for them.

“However...” continued Listill.

Kill Code knew what she was going to say. There was one more thing that she would need to make clear. Kill Code quietly accepted his fate.

“I’m afraid all of you must die here.” Tears welled in Listill’s eyes, glistening like black jewels. However, she didn’t waver. “You will all die as nameless bandits. That is how it must be.” The words came out as if she were spitting up blood.

If she were to forgive them for their crimes, it would set a precedent that any time anyone had a demand for the kingdom, they could try to capture a member of the royal family and hold them hostage. Such an example could damage the authority of the government and shake the foundations of order in the kingdom.

Also, if it were found out that the ones who abducted the Princess were returning soldiers, it could actually make life harder for the other returning soldiers who were just trying to get by. Kill Code and his team wouldn’t only have to lose their lives, they would have to be stripped of their names, their honor, as well. No one would know how they laid down their lives for the future of their comrades. They would be executed as savage bandits.

Kill Code’s team had no complaints. They’d known it would end up like that from the very beginning.

“I have one more plea,” said Kill Code in a hoarse voice.

“What would it be?”

“Your Highness, we are infinitely grateful for your generosity and understanding. However, we have no way to guarantee that anything will truly be done, that you will keep your promise to us.”

What Kill Code was suggesting was that they could no longer simply trust the words of royalty. While she said that she would protect the other returning soldiers, she could very well forget all about it the instant she left that cave. If anything, that was what most members of royalty or the nobility would surely do.

“You ungrateful...” Djoser put his hand on the grip of his sword. After committing the heinous crime of kidnapping a member of the royal family, he had the audacity to return the Princess’s mercy and kindness with further disrespect. It was no longer just an issue of the other party being royalty. That kind of behavior would be unforgivable no matter who it was directed toward.

Djoser was filled with rage, but Listill held out her hand to stop him. Just how long was she planning to listen to the words of that cockroach?

“What kind of guarantee could I give to men who are about to die?”

“We want to leave behind a witness. The very youngest among us, Eir... I wish that it would be treated as though he were never here!”

Eir was shocked at the sudden proposal, but the other soldiers nodded with a smile.

“That’s a fine idea.”

“It sure beats dying without leaving anything behind.”

“If my memory can live on in the form of a young life, that ain’t a bad way to go.”

They were all in agreement.

Kill Code continued, barely holding on to consciousness. “I’m aware that we have made one selfish request after another. However, in return for my ten years of honorable and loyal service, I beg of you!”

Kill Code saw something glimmer in a puddle of blood. It was the broken blade of his rapier. He took the blade up in his hands and drove the tip into his own stomach.

“Kill Code?!”

It was so sudden, it felt like it happened in an instant.

“I beg of you...”

“Very well. If a single bandit out of thirty were to escape, we wouldn’t chase him down.”

“Thank you...for your kind...” Halfway through, blood poured from Kill Code’s mouth. They could no longer understand what he was attempting to say.

“Gerhard, put him to rest.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The exchange between them made it seem like Gerhard had been her retainer since birth, but no one commented on it, as it felt entirely natural given the circumstances.

Gerhard stood behind Kill Code and held up his beloved katana, Ittetsu. It was a katana that could cut through iron, even boulders. Surely it could offer Kill Code a painless death with a single swing.

A smile spread across Kill Code’s face. Unfitting of a man once called the grim reaper, it was such a very kind and gentle smile.

I have no complaints. I’ve done everything that I had to do. No, perhaps I do have one regret. I know now that I dedicated my long years of service to the wrong lord. To leave a man with regret at the very end of his life, what a cruel young lady she is...

Gerhard swung his katana, and Kill Code’s head fell to the ground.

Djoser ever so carefully picked up his head. “I’ll go and advise the rest to surrender,” he said, leaving the rest of them behind. Ricardo was likely still fighting outside.

“Go ahead and chop off my head next, Gramps. Do it nice and quick,” said one of the soldiers, his voice unusually bright for how dark the occasion was.

Eir leaned forward and let out a pained wail. “Wait, let me die along with them! Don’t make it out like I wasn’t a member of this team too!”

“Sorry, Eir. Looks like hell’s all booked up for today.”

“I am a full member of Kill Code’s squad!”

“That’s exactly why we want you to be our witness.”

Eir’s comrades refused to accept his plea. All Eir could do was watch as his fellow soldiers were decapitated one by one, a somber smile on their faces even in death. The executions soon finished. The rowdy bunch of proud warriors would never say another word.

Listill directed an emotionless expression at Eir. “Go now. You were never here. That is what your comrades wanted for you.”

“Am I not even permitted to grieve? To die?”

“How you interpret their final wish is entirely up to you. It isn’t something for me to intervene with. However...”

Eir held his breath, waiting for Listill’s next words.

“When you have made peace with everything that has happened today, our kingdom will proudly accept you as a returning soldier.”

“Ah...” That single sound was all that would come out of Eir’s mouth. He picked up his sword and ran out of the cave.

Asking someone to live on was, at times, a curse. Even if Eir wanted to cry, he couldn’t. He was never there in the first place. He would have no reason to cry over the deaths of a few nameless bandits.

“Kids these days... You’d think he could’ve mustered a thank-you,” grumbled Gerhard.

“Surely this wasn’t the kind of situation where he could sincerely show gratitude. He’s still young. He has a lot of thinking left to do about the nature of life,” said Lutz, allowing his shoulders to relax.

“Lutz, you’re sounding older than I do. You’re practically a baby still too.”

“I’ll have you know, there’s a fair difference between being in your early twenties and late twenties.”

“It’s all the same in my eyes. A man’s life only really begins at the age of sixty.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure when you turn eighty, you’ll start saying that it starts at seventy, am I right?”

Trying to return to their usual banter, the two of them shared a laugh. However, there was still a tangible tension in their voices. Both of them just wanted to lighten the atmosphere, if only a little bit.

As if trading places with Eir, Djoser and Ricardo came into the chamber, four other soldiers in tow.

“What happened to the rest of them?” asked Gerhard.

“Out of the fifteen of them, Ricardo took down seven, I cut down three others who refused to surrender, and one managed to escape,” answered Djoser.

“I suppose we should call that a job well done.”

The fact that a soldier other than Eir managed to get away was a cause for some concern, but there was little they could do about it at that time. With only a four-man team, they launched an attack on their hideout and emerged victorious. What more could they have hoped for?

“The three who attacked after refusing to surrender looked to me as if they were fully prepared to die as well.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that was the case.”

The four men who allowed themselves to be taken prisoner were seated before Princess Listill, who informed them of everything that had happened. When they learned of the Princess’s promise to them, their faces lit up with joy. Their fight, their struggle, wasn’t going to meet a meaningless end. Their fellow soldiers would be saved. Their will would live on inside of Eir, even if he was the only one who would see tomorrow.

While they would usually be subjected to nightmarish torture for their crimes, they would be allowed to die painlessly and with dignity. They would die as nameless bandits, which meant no harm would befall their families either. For many, their families no longer accepted them, but they didn’t resent them enough to want them burned at the stake.

They were lucky. Even when told they were fated to die right there and then, they truly felt lucky.

Gerhard once again raised his katana above his head.

“We leave our fellow soldiers in your care.”

Leaving behind those words alone, they drew their last breath. It was a strange sight to behold. So many headless corpses were lined up in the chamber of that cave. Their heads were piled up next to the corpses, and each of them looked entirely at peace. As if they were still praying.

“Your Highness. I have finished the executions,” said Gerhard as he wiped the blood from his katana.

“It’s all...over. Is that right?”

“Yes, it’s all over now.”

Hearing those words, Listill covered her face with her hands, her shoulders trembling. The fear she had swallowed down, the fact that it was the royal family that drove those men to the point of desperation, and most of all, the fact that regardless of how she felt about the issue, she had to put those men to death... It all rested on the tiny shoulders of a young girl. With everything over, she finally allowed herself to cry.

The four men around her didn’t say a word. They couldn’t do anything but quietly watch over her as she wept.

Chapter 3: The Blood of a Princess

The four valiant warriors of the Shander domain had successfully rescued the third princess of the kingdom. At least, they would have liked to call themselves valiant warriors if they didn’t look like they had their asses handed to them. The Princess and her saviors limped through the dark forest, carefully watching their every exhausted step.

Ricardo, who had fulfilled his role as a solitary decoy, was on the verge of passing out from the prolonged anxiety of being chased down by a small army.

Djoser was covered from head to toe in cuts from his battle with the enemy captain. The wound on his left cheek was particularly deep, so they did their best to stitch it up with what they had, but blood was still seeping through the cloth he was holding to it.

Gerhard had constantly been at the vanguard throughout the mission, taking down several men. After beheading almost a dozen men, he had lost feeling in his hands, making it difficult to use them. He was also mentally drained.

Lutz had fought a battle to the death with their second-in-command, but his wounds were comparatively light, so he carried Princess Listill on his back. Listill had told him that she could walk on her own, but when she stood, her legs shook, making it difficult for her to walk straight. Considering she had been trapped in that small cell for quite a while and had to behold such a terrifying sight, it was only natural.

“Am I not too heavy for you?” asked Listill hesitantly.

Lutz tried to clear her worries with as bright a voice as he could muster. “Compared to batches of charcoal and iron sand, you’re as light as a feather, Your Highness.”

“I just feel like I’ve been nothing but a burden to you all...” Listill wasn’t just talking about the events of that day. They had also saved her from being sent off to the federation as a bride during the recent peace talks.

“Well, I’ll admit it hasn’t exactly been easy, but now that we’ve come this far, we absolutely have to ensure that you get to live a happy life. Until then, we’ll always be around to lend a helping hand.”

“Oh my...”

“Claudia was worried about you too. Make sure to give her a big smile when you see her, okay?”

Listill gave him a little nod. Ever since Claudia had told Listill that she had a right to love freely, she had thought of Claudia very fondly.

They continued walking in silence for a while, but Listill suddenly went to whisper in Lutz’s ear. “Um, Lutz...would you mind putting me down for a moment?”

“Is something wrong? If at all possible, I’d like to keep moving so we can reach the village before sundow—”

“You see, um... Oh, no...”

Lutz could feel Listill’s small body tremble as a warm sensation spread across his lower back, and something began to drip from his hands, which were supporting her.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry...”

From Lutz’s position, he couldn’t tell for certain what had happened, but given how Listill’s face had flushed, he could guess.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve heard that the same thing happens to most people who stand on the battlefield for the first time.”

“Is that really a fair comparison?”

To be honest, after being covered in blood and dirt, there was little that could have bothered Lutz at that moment. He decided it was best not to say that to the Princess, though. “It’s okay. Really, there’s nothing you need to worry about.”

Gerhard had also noticed what happened, but he had the good grace to pretend that he hadn’t seen a thing.

In order to avoid the area where Listill’s carriage was originally attacked, they took a bit of a longer route back. The bodies of the royal knights were still lying there. It wasn’t something that they wanted Listill to have to relive.

When they finally got onto a main road, they allowed themselves to breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone sat themselves down on the ground with a thud. Ricardo pulled some tinder from his waistpouch and prepared a campfire.

“Why do you have that with you?” asked Lutz.

Ricardo gave him a proud smirk. “It’s the basics of adventuring! The basics, I tell you.”

“So this is what people mean when they talk about a face that’s asking for a fist...”

Even into spring, the nights were still rather frigid. Everyone gathered around the fire and warmed their hands. Listill especially had a few things that she wanted to get dry.

Perhaps campfires had some kind of strange power that put people’s hearts at ease. Illuminated by the warm flickering light, everyone’s expressions took on an air of calm.

After resting for only five minutes, Lutz stood back up. “I’ll go ahead and get Claudia and the rest. They should still be at the nearby village. We’ll bring the carriage over here.”

“What? You can’t stand to be away from your wife for another second?” teased Ricardo.

Lutz looked at Ricardo as if he had just asked him the most obvious question in the world. “Of course I can’t!” he said before running off.

“There’s no point in trying to tease him,” said Djoser, still holding on to his left cheek. “All he’ll do is boast in return.”

“It sure seems that way...” Ricardo let out a defeated sigh.

***

Lutz finally made it to the village, his breath heavy from exhaustion.

Claudia spotted him almost immediately and ran over to him. “Lutzy!” She dove into his chest with the full momentum of her frantic sprint and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck.

Lutz almost fell over from the sheer force of it, but somehow he stayed upright. If he had fallen over there, he wouldn’t have been able to act cool in front of her.

“I’m so glad... I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“What did you expect? I made you a promise, didn’t I?”

“Hmm? And why do you have all of that cloth wrapped around your shoulder, then?”

“I got a bit of a nasty bug bite, you see...”

Lutz did his best to brush it off with a joke, but Claudia just stared at him with tears welling in her eyes. She pulled Lutz even tighter to her to the point where Lutz could barely move a muscle.

“I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“You should be.”

Giuseppe, the butler, ran over with unsteady steps. “Master Lutz! The Princess! Is Princess Listill safe?!”

“She’s safe and sound. Right now, she’s just relaxing around a campfire on the side of the road with the rest of the guys. Let’s get the carriage around and pick them up, shall we?”

“Oh, thank God... Thank God...” Giuseppe squatted down on the spot. It was a mystery how he kept his legs from giving out, sending him collapsing to the ground in relief.

“Oh, also, I’m sure it’s a pretty important thing for royalty, so I just want to let you know...” Lutz scratched his head, trying to figure out the right way to phrase it. “The Princess’s, um—I suppose you’d call it chastity? Anyway, it hasn’t been violated. The bandits didn’t do anything to her.”

“Really?”

While Listill was only thirteen, she had a very charming appearance. Having an elegant and beautiful girl like Listill around a bunch of bandits, who’d hump a tree if it had a hole in it, was like throwing fresh meat to a pack of hungry wolves. Of course, Giuseppe had hoped and prayed that nothing of the sort would happen to her, so Lutz’s words were of great comfort to him.

“Was it because they were really returning soldiers?” asked Claudia, still clinging to Lutz.

Honestly, Lutz found it difficult to have a serious conversation with her practically fused to him. “Let’s talk about that in the carriage. If we don’t hurry up, we won’t make it in time for the Princess’s bedtime.”

Lutz was absolutely terrible at handling the reins, so Claudia drove the carriage. As they made their way to the rest of the team, Lutz filled Claudia in on everything that happened with the returning soldiers and the wish they left behind. He also told her about the dutiful actions of Listill, truly fitting of a Princess.

After hearing the whole story, Claudia whispered to Lutz with downcast eyes, “I fear that the road ahead of Princess Listill is one lined with many thorns...”

Giuseppe leaned forward through the window of the carriage. “Wait, wait, just a second! If we are treating those soldiers as normal bandits, how are we supposed to convince everyone of the fact that the Princess preserved her chastity?!”

“That’s why I let you in on everything too. I wanted the people who work closely with her to know the truth. Don’t go telling everyone about this, though. That would go directly against the Princess’s will.”

“What am I to do...” Giuseppe’s mind seemed to freeze from the gravity of it all.

From now on, people would surely spread rumors behind Listill’s back, saying that she was defiled by filthy bandits. Of course, it would be nearly impossible for her to find someone willing to get betrothed to her. That was the path that the thirteen-year-old girl had chosen. It was a fate far too horrible to be explained away as a natural burden of royalty.

The campfire came into sight. When Giuseppe was finally able to see Listill’s face, he jumped from the carriage and ran over to his lady, falling to his hands and knees to beg for her forgiveness. “Princess! Words cannot express how sorry I am that I was unable to protect you!” he yelled, pressing his forehead into the dirt.

Listill gently placed her small hand on his shoulder and gave him a kind smile. “What are you talking about? It is only because you dutifully reported what had occurred to the Count that I am now safe and sound.”

“Princess!”

“Giuseppe, I commend you for your allegiance.”

Giuseppe’s face was completely covered in mud and dirt, but for some reason, Djoser seemed almost tearful at the sight. It seemed he was rather weak to displays of strong bonds between a lord and their retainers.

“All right, get in the carriage, everyone,” said Claudia. “We’ll spend one night in the nearby village and set out for the walled city in the morning.”

Everyone did as Claudia suggested and climbed into the carriage. In a word, it was cramped. They certainly couldn’t call it comfortable, even if they were trying to be polite. Even still, sitting on Claudia’s lap, Listill nodded off into a calm and peaceful slumber.

***

In the royal capital, a certain unsettling rumor was spreading around: the rumor that the third princess, Listill, had been captured by bandits. As news could only travel as fast as a horse could gallop, the flow of information was slow and unreliable. This made it especially difficult to make decisions on time-sensitive matters. There were those who said it was all baseless drivel and even some who said the Count had likely betrayed the kingdom.

However, the contents of the rumors were far too significant to just irresponsibly dismiss as mere gossip. King Rathbard Wollscheid was preparing to send a messenger to the Count’s domain when Princess Listill herself showed up out of the blue.

Thank God, it really was just a rumor. I’ll have to find whoever started it and have them hanged.

However, when Rathbard thought about it, there was still something strange about the whole thing. First, Listill returned in a carriage that was different from the one she departed in. It didn’t bear the royal crest, and the design was rather old-fashioned. It was the sort of carriage that a backwater noble would use to try to show off.

Also, the knights who were sent to guard her were nowhere to be seen. Instead, Listill was accompanied by Count Maximillion Shander, the craftsmen who were present during the peace talks with the federation, a sharp-looking woman, a single knight, and an adventurer. King Rathbard had no clue what was going on.

Listill held out her hand to stop all of the servants and nobles that came out to greet her in their tracks, and she marched boldly straight to the palace. Before, she had been seen as nothing but an adorable little doll, but suddenly, she radiated a strong determination that made everyone stop and stare.

“I request an audience with my father,” said Listill to the man standing guard before the King’s court.

The man smiled at her as if he were staring at a small kitten. “Princess, surely you are tired from your long journey. Might I suggest you get a good night’s rest before—”

“Silence!” commanded Listill.

The man stood in shock, wondering how such a powerful voice came from such a small body. He quickly fixed his posture, straightening his spine, and rushed into the King’s court.

“Did I...go a bit too far, I wonder...” said Listill apologetically.

Claudia shook her head in response. “A quick scolding is at least preferable to losing his head.”

Ever since being rescued, Listill had turned to Claudia for advice on a wide variety of subjects. She had thought fondly of Claudia since the day they had met, and there were some things that Listill only felt comfortable discussing with another woman. Claudia was also motivated to do anything she could to be of some assistance to her.

Surely worried he had earned the ire of a royal, the man quickly returned. “Please, Your Highness, right this way. His Majesty will see you now. I’m afraid everyone else will have to wait outside, though.”

“Of course, you don’t mind if I come along, right?” said Maximillion.

Before the man could answer, Listill said, “Come on, let’s go in,” making it impossible for him to refuse.

***

Listill entered the King’s court, and Rathbard greeted his beloved daughter with a huge smile.

“Listill, I’m so glad that you’re home. I heard the most terrible rumors while you were gone, so I was getting worried.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Huh?”

“Unfortunately, ten of our royal knights lost their lives defending me. I give my word that they valiantly fought to the very end. I ask that no manner of punishment be given to their families in any way.”

“Wha... Wait. Wait a second, Listill,” said Rathbard, stopping his daughter as she attempted to calmly explain everything that had happened. “When you say it was the truth, are you telling me that you really were abducted by bandits?”

“Yes. I was imprisoned by a group of bandits, but everyone from the Shander domain came to my rescue.”

Rathbard glared over at Maximillion, who was standing behind Listill as stiff as a scarecrow.

You launched a reckless rescue mission without my approval?

That was the message embedded in King Rathbard’s icy stare.

“I’m afraid time was of the essence, so we had to act quickly. I apologize that we are only just informing you of the situation now, Your Majesty.” Maximillion was so nervous he could barely move. He had spoken with the King on several occasions, but this was his first time falling under the King’s scrutiny.

“Hmm...” Rathbard grumbled.

Maximillion had made an entirely unilateral decision in that case, but it was true that there wouldn’t have been time to sit back and wait for a messenger between the Count’s domain and the capital. Rathbard understood this well. He decided to drop the issue for the time being and defer any potential disciplinary action to a later date.

“Listill, do you understand the gravity of what you are telling me right now? When you say you were captured by bandits, doesn’t that mean—”

“Other than throwing me in a cage, none of them laid a finger on me. Surely they decided that I could be sold for a higher price that way.” That was the excuse that Listill settled on when she discussed it with Claudia. It was the most convincing reason they could devise.

If they were to try to sell damaged goods, the price would have to go down, or a deal could fall through altogether, leaving them with no way to profit. It was a good enough reason for a group of bandits to show a bit of restraint.

“And do you expect people will believe that?” Rathbard’s face was filled with anguish. “How can you be so calm about this? If word of this gets out, your life will be ruined! Do you really understand the position you are in right now?!”

“I had already given up hope for my future once. Compared to that, this is nothing.”

Hearing those words leave his daughter’s lips, Rathbard could say nothing more. She had already been on the brink of being sent off to the federation as a bride for a seventy-year-old man. But it was precisely because she had evaded that horrible fate that Rathbard wished she could pursue a happy life. While it may have been selfish of him, it was just the natural desire of any father.

“I have returned here to fulfill my role as a member of the royal family.” Listill gazed at her father with eyes that glistened like black jewels.

That simple gesture shook Rathbard’s heart. Even after going through such a torturous event, she wouldn’t allow herself to break down into tears. He wished for her to come running to him and jump into his arms like any other young girl would. He didn’t want to see his young daughter bear the eyes of a ruler yet.

Rathbard had prayed that all of that talk about Listill’s capture was nothing but drivel, but with ten royal knights killed in action, there was no choice but to accept it as the truth.

Listill must have picked up on what her father was feeling and gave him a somber smile. “Father, if you truly love me, then listen to what I am about to say.”

“I understand. Please, continue.”

Listill started off with the disclaimer that she had heard this from many places around the kingdom during her recent travels, then proceeded to tell the King about the strife faced by the returning soldiers. Of course, she couldn’t tell him that she had actually heard it all from the people who abducted her.

“We must provide ample assistance to those men. Please, take their needs into consideration.”

After hearing Listill’s passionate speech, Rathbard seemed far from impressed. It wasn’t a look of apathy, but more of exhaustion, like she had brought up a troublesome matter that he was trying his best to avoid.

“We gave them their reward money and sent them home. After that, shouldn’t all responsibility fall on the individual? Whether they go back to working in the fields or end up drunk in a ditch is their prerogative.”

“If a ruler is to speak about personal responsibility, they should only do so after fulfilling their own obligations to the people. We are the ones who have driven these proud soldiers to the point of desperation. Are you really able to say with confidence that you have provided those warriors with a reward worthy of their ten long years of service?!”

“And just where are we supposed to find that kind of money? Should we raise taxes on our citizens to provide for them? If we tried to do such a thing, the people would rebel!” All of the joy Rathbard felt when he saw that Listill had gotten home safe had blown off into the wind. Hearing his young daughter talk about politics as if it were compatible with such trifling emotions as empathy made his blood boil. He felt guilty about yelling at her, but he hadn’t said anything except the truth.

“Those who haven’t done a day of labor in their lives have no right to speak of the value of money,” said Listill, refusing to back down. It was almost as if there were some invisible force behind her, supporting her and cheering her on. “Father, have you ever worried about whether you will be able to eat tomorrow?”

“What?”

“I’m talking about people who face that question every day of their lives. These are soldiers who have had their honor trampled on, and I have seen their struggles with my own eyes. I’ve spoken with these men. We must do something to save them. Can we truly say we have a right to rule if we can’t even honor the efforts of our brave warriors?!”

Moved by an intense anger that he himself didn’t fully understand, Rathbard stood up from his throne, walked toward Listill, and slapped her on the cheek with all his might.

Listill’s small frame was sent flying to the side, and she fell onto the floor. Maximillion rushed over to her in a state of panic.

Go ahead, apologize with tears in your eyes. I will forgive you for everything you have said.

However, things did not go as Rathbard had expected. Listill lifted herself off the floor, her expression calm and resolute. She appeared so incredibly strong, so much so that Rathbard questioned whether she was really the same girl he had so cautiously raised, the flower that had never left her warm greenhouse.

“Please grant these men your mercy and understanding. Make them proud to have served the royal family of this kingdom. I beg of you!”

Listill did ask for mercy, but not for herself. She asked on behalf of the thousands of returning soldiers who were living in obscurity. In that moment, King Rathbard felt so very small indeed.

Rathbard sat himself back down on his throne. “What is it that you are requesting? I will hear your proposal.”

“I ask that you provide these men with land, housing, and financial support until they can sustain themselves.”

“Are you saying we should copy what those barbarians have done?”

“If something is a good idea, it shouldn’t matter where it has come from.”

“I’ll give them a portion of the land we got from the federation,” the King relented. “In terms of financial support, I can provide them two thousand gold coins—no more than that.”

The land Rathbard was speaking of was technically left under the governance of Marquis Eldenburger, but he was only interested in creating a trading post, so there was still a huge excess of barren land that nobody knew what to do with. Far from being upset, Beowulf would be overjoyed if the King asked him to return some of that land.

“Thank you, Father. I am deeply grateful for your kindness.” Listill proudly gave him a curtsy.

Rathbard averted his eyes from his daughter’s reddened cheek, unable to say anything in return.

Listill left the room, but Maximillion was still standing there trying to figure out whether he should be following her or whether he should be staying by the dejected-looking Rathbard.

That was when Rathbard spoke to Maximillion in a voice as quiet as a mosquito. “Please, continue to support that child of mine.”

Rathbard hadn’t wanted to get as upset as he did. He just wanted to hold his daughter close to him, relieved that she had made it back home safely. He just wanted to welcome her home. Why had things turned out so differently? Who had driven Listill to go that far? Was it Rathbard himself? He just wanted her to be healthy, happy, and safe. Rathbard knew that feeling alone to be true.

“Leave it to me, Your Majesty.” Maximillion gave him a strong nod.

***

A young man swung his hoe into the dirt. The fields were all left desolate and infertile. It would be some time before they could recultivate it into healthy soil. Looking around, many others were hoeing alongside him, people were picking up waste, and others still were building simple huts. Everyone moved busily about to complete their various tasks.

They were all returning soldiers who had answered Princess Listill’s call to gather in their new territory. In all, they numbered around five hundred, but that number would surely grow.

They had taken up residence in a village that had been abandoned due to the war. The houses had been burned down, the fields trampled, and corpses had been thrown into the existing wells, so they had to secure a new source of fresh water.

The irony in it all was that it had been them, the army of the kingdom, who had done all of that.

The young man swung his hoe with a look of sorrow. All around him was the proof of their sins. They had done terrible deeds, convinced that they alone were the victims of that war.

Cleaning it all up was quite the effort, but it was still easier than starting a new village from scratch. If he left his hands idle for even a moment, all sorts of unpleasant thoughts would come to him, so he single-mindedly continued to till the soil. He wasn’t only trying to breathe new life into the soil, but into himself as well.

The soldiers who had been drafted to serve in that long war had come from a variety of backgrounds. From farmers to carpenters, they possessed a broad range of skills. They had also been accustomed to building such simple structures through their military service, so that kind of work wasn’t completely new to any of them.

Some men were preparing a meal for all five hundred of them in a large pot. To be in the army was to be a single part of a greater whole. Perhaps building a village together was an extension of that philosophy.

The young man heard some people talking and looked up to see them. There were a few soldiers who were slacking off, sharing some gossip. Following their line of sight, the young man arrived at a small girl with beautiful black hair, the third princess of the kingdom, Princess Listill. Next to her stood an illustrious young woman. She had the sort of ass that involuntarily made him want to bury his face inside it. The two of them were talking about something while pointing at a house that had been burned down.

A little farther behind them were two men with bored expressions, an adventurer and a blacksmith. The young man recognized one of the men, but he didn’t go up to talk to him. He couldn’t. At least officially, they were perfect strangers.

He heard the gossip of the other returning soldiers loud and clear.

“That princess, she’s pretty cute, isn’t she? It’s a shame that those bandits already had their way with her.”

“I must say, I’m a bit jealous. I wonder if I’d have a chance with her too.”

Before the young man could even stop to think about it, his body moved on its own. He threw down his hoe and drove his fist directly into the other man’s face to erase the vulgar grin.

Caught completely off guard by the attack, the man fell backward, blood spilling from his nose. His expression quickly turned from one of confusion to one of blistering anger. “You bastard, what do you think you’re doing?!”

However, the young man’s rage was far greater. His stare alone was enough to shut the other man up.

They had done no such thing. The Princess had in no way been defiled, in body or spirit. They remained true to their honor as warriors to the very end. However, he couldn’t let those words leave his lips. As much as he wanted to defend his comrades, to do so would be to betray their trust in him.

“Don’t you dare say anything like that again. If we can’t offer the Princess our full support, just who in the hell will? Don’t forget, she’s the one who saved us all.” The young man picked his hoe back up and returned to work. If the other men continued to fight back, he was planning on using the hoe to till their brains, but luckily, there was no need.

“I’m sorry, all right? God...” said the man under his breath before going back to work.

What looked like a few drops of rain absorbed into the dry dirt. The young man let the tears pour down as he swung his hoe.

Captain, Dros, everyone... The Princess kept her promise. Now I promise to protect this land, to die here. Please, watch over me.

Even long after that day, the young man continued to set an example for his fellow soldiers. If anyone said anything negative about the Princess, he would punch them on the spot. There were times when the other men fought back, ganging up on him and beating him mercilessly. At times, he would have his bones broken, and his weakened body would succumb to terrible fevers. Even still, he stayed true to his way of life.

***

Listill wasn’t wearing a single accessory or piece of jewelry. She had sold it all to raise funds for the returning soldiers. The two thousand gold coins that the King supplied were a large sum indeed, but when trying to rebuild an entire village, money soon ran out. At the moment, there were only five hundred men, but Listill predicted that as more people gathered there, their numbers would soon reach a thousand. It took a considerable amount of money to even feed that many people.

They had to rebuild houses, dig new wells, plant crops in the fields, and eventually harvest them. Until they were able to finish establishing the village, they would be running everything in the red.

“It would probably be best not to expect a very good harvest in the first year,” said Claudia, speaking entirely like an official advisor to the Princess.

No matter how much money you had, it was never enough. Listill had previously criticized her father for not knowing the real value of money, but those words now weighed heavily on her shoulders.

She had thought about selling off all of her expensive dresses as well, but Claudia advised against it.

“If you lose all of your symbols of authority, no one will listen to a word that you say. You have to retain your appearance as a blooming flower in this wasteland.”

If a thirteen-year-old dressed like a normal village girl started giving orders, no one would feel the need to follow them. They needed to give people a reason to listen to her despite her young age, which was a title and a clear symbol of authority.

Listill had come all the way there personally because of her qualms with how the royal family was currently running things, but, at the end of the day, she still needed to rely on her title as Princess. The contradiction wore on her mind.

When she talked about it with Claudia, she said, “We have to use everything at our disposal. Your authority is just one of many tools to that end,” summing it all up in a few sentences.

Thinking back on it, it was quite an outrageous statement that could be seen as an insult to the power of the royal family, but Listill found herself saved by those words.

Within upper-class society, Listill was now completely alone. The reason most nobles wore white gloves was to show others that they didn’t do any dirty work. They would use canes, not because of problems with their legs or because they were traversing tough terrain, but to show that they had no intention of carrying their own baggage. Their dresses always had to be brand-new, and their accessories had to be aligned with the current trends. It was the job of nobles to show those around them just what a luxurious life they led. They would even go into debt to that end. Such were the sensibilities of the noble class.

Princess Listill had thrown away all of those twisted ideals. To other nobles, however, it seemed as if she were denying their entire way of life, much to their displeasure. Of course, they couldn’t do anything to her directly, but most started to ignore her, not even trying to hide their disapproval. They would spread rumors about her having been defiled by bandits and laugh behind her back. They would go as far as to say that such a person was unfit for the position of royalty, and they would do it all in the name of loyalty to the kingdom.

Her own father had distanced himself from her, and the other nobles spoke poorly of her behind her back. She would be lying if she said it wasn’t difficult to bear. Listill’s affection for Claudia had almost turned into dependence. She looked up to her as if she were an older sister, but she didn’t really want to phrase it that way. That was because she despised her real older sister.

The first princess of the kingdom had been sent off to the empire as a bride, so Listill didn’t really know much about her. The second princess had a habit of looking down on all those around her and was the sort of person who couldn’t maintain confidence in herself if she didn’t trample on the confidence of others. Listill wondered how two people born of the same womb could be so different. Just knowing the same blood ran through her veins was enough to make her want to vomit. It was also Listill’s own sister who spoke loudest about wanting to have her stripped of her title.

At the same time, saying that Listill looked up to Claudia as a mother figure also felt like somewhat of an insult. She wasn’t that much older than Listill herself.

Several days had passed since they had arrived at the once-abandoned village. Looking at how much progress had already been made, she wouldn’t have believed what it started like if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.

When everything had been cleaned up for the most part and all of the logistics around delivering food supplies had been sorted out, Claudia met Listill’s gaze with a somber expression and said, “Princess Listill, I’m afraid that we will have to go home before long.”

Listill knew that day would come, but she was unable to truly accept it. She had held in her tears when her own father had hit her, but now she allowed them to flow freely. “Claudia, couldn’t you stay by my side forever? You and Lutz could come to the royal capital as my retainers.”

“Unfortunately, we can’t do that. I have my place in this world, and Princess Listill, you have yours.”

“I don’t want to return to the royal capital...” Not wanting to hear any more words of rejection, Listill looked down at her feet.

Claudia removed one of her earrings, sparkling with every color of the rainbow, and handed it over to Listill.

“What is this?”

“I was just thinking that you could use at least one fashionable accessory. Even when we are apart, please don’t forget that I’ll always be on your side. Whenever you’re really in trouble, I’ll rush straight over to you, wherever you may be.”

Listill was still teary-eyed and sniffling, but Claudia bent down to put the earring on her left ear.

“It’s...a matching pair.” Listill smiled through her tears.

“With enemies around every corner, I’m sure it will be incredibly difficult for you, but don’t forget the fact that you have many allies as well. All of the returning soldiers, your butlers, and I... We all love you, Princess Listill.”

Listill gave her a huge hug, and Claudia gently patted her back. After a moment, Listill pulled away, and, while she was still inexperienced, she bore the face of a ruler.

“How should we plan to develop the village from here on out?”

“Let’s expand the viable farmland so wide it almost looks stupid. We should aim for so much that everyone starts questioning if we’ve overdone it.”

“If we produce too many crops, will they not rot and go to waste?”

“Right to our south, there’s a bunch of people who practically start civil wars for fun. If we have extra, we can just sell it to them.”

If trade relations with the federation were officially normalized, they could surely sell as much food as they could produce. That village held an incredible amount of potential for further development, and Claudia wasn’t one to miss such an opportunity.

The two of them embraced once more, and Listill gave Claudia a determined nod before parting ways.

On the road home, Claudia glanced over at Lutz apologetically. “I’m sorry, Lutzy. It was such a lovely present that you gave me, but I gave one of them away...”

It was a gift from her beloved husband, so she regretted that she hadn’t at least talked with him about it beforehand.

However, Lutz didn’t seem at all upset. He just gave her a little smile. “It was something that you wanted to do for her, right? In that case, I have no problem at all. I think you did the right thing.”

After receiving such kind words, Claudia felt somewhat embarrassed and turned her head to look outside the carriage. “There’s an old adage among soldiers. They say that once all of the rabbits are caught, the hunting dogs are roasted alongside them. I’m glad those proud hunting dogs found a kind person to take them in instead. Although that might be a little maudlin...”

The next time they visited that village, it would surely have sprawled into a lovely town. Assured of that, Claudia watched as the village slowly disappeared from her view.

Chapter 4: The Warriors’ Gravestone

With the matters relating to the Princess’s abduction settled for the time being, Lutz and the others returned to the Shander domain. One day, soon after their return, Lutz was swinging around an axe on a stony riverbank.

Bandits, he had to remember to call them bandits. The axe he was swinging around was the one he had picked up at the bandits’ hideout. It was the hatchet of their second-in-command, Dros. Lutz had killed him by driving his wakizashi through his throat. With that, the hatchet fell into his possession.

Dros was a formidable opponent. If Lutz had made a single misstep, it would have been he who was killed on that day. In terms of sheer combat skill, Lutz was entirely outmatched. The only reason he was still standing was due to the quality of his blade and his compatibility with it.

Lutz had defeated many bandits in his time, but it was his first time going out of his way to assault a group of them like that. It was his first time fighting to the death with real warriors.

Even with a broken skull, Dros didn’t lose the will to fight. Even with his fingers dangling by a thread, after grabbing onto Lutz’s katana with his bare hands, he did not waver. Just thinking back on that sight caused feelings of fear and deep respect to well up inside of Lutz.

Lutz had become the personal blacksmith of the Count. He had acquainted himself with Princess Listill. Surely there would be no shortage of trouble to be dragged back into. He would no longer be able to shrug off responsibility based solely on his humble occupation. Besides, trouble wasn’t something that one needed to go looking for; it was an unwanted guest that arrived without warning and always overstayed its welcome.

If he was to have any hope of surviving, Lutz needed a truly great katana of his own. Up until then, he had made countless excuses, putting it off to some uncertain future date, but he could no longer avoid the matter.

While Lutz recognized this fact, he still couldn’t settle on an image for the blade in his mind. He thought that if he swung the axe of a real warrior, he might get some hints as to what direction he should go in, so he had been coming to the river every day. However, he had yet to have any real sparks of inspiration.

After an hour of swinging the axe, his body was covered in sweat. He took off his overshirt and dove into the river to wash it off. It was one of the few pleasures that truly couldn’t be experienced within the walled city.

Lutz guided his little donkey, which had been calmly chewing on some grass nearby, to the riverside and washed it down. After letting the donkey dry for a bit, they made their way home. It had been some good exercise, but unfortunately, Lutz was still no closer to an idea for his katana.

What should I do, I wonder...

It wasn’t like he was working against a deadline, but he somehow still felt burdened by the passing of time.

When he returned home, Claudia prepared some warming vegetable soup and bread for them. Lutz looked down at the bread in front of him. It was pure white bread that had been baked that very morning, without a hint of sawdust or other fillers mixed into the dough. It was simple things like that which really reminded Lutz how far they had come. It wasn’t too long ago that Lutz’s idea of bread was a hard, dark, somewhat foul-smelling mass of poorly sieved grains.

“Do you feel like you’ll be able to make your new katana yet?” asked Claudia between spoonfuls of soup.

“To be honest with you, I don’t have a clue. I’ll tell you, running out of ideas is a constant worry for people in any creative profession.” Due to those worries, Lutz couldn’t properly enjoy his food, and the bread he had put into his soup began to dissolve. It seemed his old habit of trying to soften their hard bread hadn’t quite left him yet. “I thought that if I swung around the weapon of a real warrior, something might just come to me, but...”

“Was it helpful?”

“I can say that I’ve gotten used to handling an axe, anyway.” Lutz forced a smile, one that was tinted with exhaustion and desperation.

Several times before, talking things out with Claudia had borne fruit. He had hoped that she might give him some inspiration this time as well, but it would be unfair of him to depend on her for ideas every time he was in a slump.

“Trying to figure out what I really want and giving it a physical form can be such a difficult thing. Whoever said that people know themselves best was either a liar or an idiot. I don’t think there’s anyone I know less about than myself.”

“Why not just try forging a katana without anything specific in mind? I mean, it wasn’t like you were trying to create some crazy bewitching katana when you forged Tsubaki, right?”

“I was trying to make it as beautiful as I could, but that was the extent of my thought process, really.”

When faced with uncertainty, it was often better to try something than to just keep thinking about it, but Lutz had found it so much easier to work on a project if he had some kind of theme in mind. Relying on muscle memory alone wasn’t something he wanted to get in the habit of doing.

“If you’re struggling to forge a katana, why not try forging an axe?”

“Huh?”

“You might get a little closer to understanding how that one soldier felt.” Claudia let out a little laugh, letting Lutz know she wasn’t seriously suggesting he forge an axe, then went to wash the dishes.

While Claudia may have meant it as a joke, Lutz carefully thought the idea over. That hatchet wasn’t some mass-produced axe made from cast metal; it was forged. Made from steel that was hammered out by hand. However, even if he were trying to be polite, Lutz couldn’t say that the smith who forged it was very skilled.

What would an axe fit for a hero look like?

As Lutz ruminated on the idea, he became more and more curious. Of course, Lutz had made many axes before, but they were mainly cheap ones that he made for Claudia when she was still a traveling merchant. They were all axes that he made by pouring molten metal into casts. If Lutz poured all of his knowledge of smithing and metallurgy into making the greatest axe he was capable of, what would the finished product be like?

It was quite different from his original goal of forging a great katana, but it would only be a little detour on the way to it. The effort wouldn’t be in vain.

“Dear, I don’t think I’ll be going to the riverbank tomorrow. I’m going to shut myself in the workshop for a bit!”

“Oh, really?” Claudia tilted her head in confusion. She wasn’t sure what part of their conversation had him so chipper all of a sudden. “By the way, Lutzy, it seems like there’s been a suspicious man hanging around nearby, so be careful when you go out, okay?”

“There’s someone shady going around this town of craftsmen?”

If someone wanted to commit theft, they’d surely go to the more affluent areas of the city. Even if they were trying to go for some smaller scores, it didn’t sit right with Lutz. Craftsmen were a lively bunch, so the chances of somebody handing over anything without a fight were as low as they could get. If anything, most people around there would be licking their lips at the opportunity to beat someone down.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye out. You too, dear. If anything happens, make sure to scream as loud as you can and run into one of the nearby workshops if you can.”

“I’m sure most of the workshops around here would be happy to help. There’s no shortage of people who want to place us in their debt,” said Claudia with a little chuckle.

It was a bit concerning, but there was nothing that Lutz could really do about it at the time, so he just kept it in the corner of his mind.

***

Lutz heated the steel, hammered it flat, folded it, then hammered it back out again. It was no different from how he would start working on a new katana. He separated the harder kawagane and the softer shingane, then forge-welded them together, again, exactly as he would have done with a katana.

Actually getting the steel into the shape of an axe took him quite a long time, however. Of course, not everything would be comparable to his usual workflow. He fought with the steel a good bit, but he managed to get it looking like an axe eventually.

When Lutz finished sharpening and polishing the axe, it took on a terrifying form that looked like it could easily cut through any neck or split any skull in half. If he were to accidentally drop it, he felt like he might lose a hand or part of his foot. Just thinking about it made him tense up so badly his stomach began to hurt. It was brutal, grotesque, yet somehow beautiful as well. When he stared into the blade, he couldn’t quite tell if it was his own image staring back at him or the face of the grim reaper himself.

Lutz decided to test it out by cutting a log, but there was no need to even put any power into his swing. The axe split straight through the log with little more than its own weight behind it.

This is insane...

Lutz was reminded just how terrifying a weapon an axe could be, feeling a shiver run up his back at the sight. If Dros had been wielding that axe during their fight, Lutz would have surely been killed. No matter how many times he played out the scenario in his head, all he could see was that axe cutting straight through his katana and lopping off his arms.

Lutz felt a bit apologetic for thinking it, but the axe made Dros’s hatchet look like a piece of scrap metal. Dros hadn’t been given a weapon fit for a hero. That was what killed him in the end. Of course, Lutz hadn’t forgotten that it was he who ultimately carried out the act, but there was more to it than that. Dros was also being beaten on by society and fate itself, giant-sized opponents that couldn’t be seen with the eye, invisible shackles that weighed down his every step.

“I wonder, if I were to call this piece a gravestone to you all, would it only be a bother to you?” Lutz asked the axe.

Of course, there was no answer.

***

Lutz attached a long pole to the axe, one that you would use for a spear. It was what they called a poleaxe.

When Lutz took a closer look at Dros’s hatchet, removing the wrappings around the grip, he found signs that the handle had been cut short. Lutz figured that when it was being used on the battlefield, it was most likely attached to a long pole. While such an axe would surely be powerful on the battlefield, it would be inconvenient to carry while he was wandering the kingdom and difficult to use while traversing forests and caves, so he probably cut it short.

I wonder how he must have felt when he cut the poleaxe down to a hatchet...

He would never know for sure. It was all nothing but pure conjecture.

Lutz returned to the riverbank to practice swinging the poleaxe. The center of gravity was rather unique, so it took him some time to get used to it. If he could put together the weight of the axe, the centrifugal force, and the sharpness of the blade it would be a weapon that could take down most enemies in a single blow. Having a long reach was also a clear advantage on an open battlefield.

On the first day of Lutz’s training with the poleaxe, he felt as though the axe was swinging him around. He even made a fool of himself by falling to the ground after being thrown off by the massive weight of the axe’s centrifugal force.

On the second day, he somehow managed to rein in the unwieldy force of the axe, but he was still unable to accurately hit a target with it.

He continued practicing on the third and fourth days. Repeatedly swinging the axe was incredibly draining, and he eventually lost the strength to properly grip the pole. However, through diligent training, he felt as if he were getting more comfortable with the weapon. When he started off, he was only able to keep going for ten minutes at a time, but that soon became twenty minutes, then thirty.

Lutz became so engrossed in his training that the skin on his hands began to peel off in places, and blisters formed at the base of his fingers. Claudia scolded him afterward, saying that a craftsman should take better care of their hands.

After ten days, Lutz was finally able to control the poleaxe as he envisioned. He certainly couldn’t say that he had mastered it, but he felt like he had at least set foot into the world that Dros and the other soldiers had lived in.

During his training that day, he decided it was probably best to focus back on his main job as a blacksmith, but before he could set off back home, Lutz saw a man, wrapped in a grimy robe and staring at Lutz with a disconcerting smile.

The man walked closer to Lutz. “Hi there! I can see you’re hard at work.”

Lutz had seen most people in town once or twice by then, but he didn’t recognize the man’s face. Feeling an air of danger around him, Lutz held his poleaxe at the ready. “Don’t come any closer!” he yelled. “If you do, I’ll kill you on the spot!”

“Hey, hey, that’s not very nice, now is it? I just want to talk to you a bit about martial arts...”

“That’s all well and good, but before we can have a chat about that, I’d appreciate it if you explained why you have blood on the hem of your cloak.”

The man was quiet for a moment, and his painted smile twisted into the kind of grin that one would use when making a fool of others. “Well, you can’t say I didn’t try... You’ve got a good head on your shoulders for a blacksmith, don’t ya?”

Lutz didn’t respond, scanning his surroundings for any other irregularities. It seemed the man didn’t have any backup.

Seeing that Lutz wasn’t looking to chat, the man snorted disappointedly. “I just thought of this, but what would you have done if I told you I was an adventurer and this was just the blood of some monster?”

“It wouldn’t change the fact that you’re shady as hell. I’ll have to ask you to leave now.”

“God, you’re so boring.” The man lifted his cloak, laughing at Lutz mockingly and revealing his waist.

There, Lutz could see the distinct shape of a saya and a tsuka wrapped with string. When the man drew the blade, Lutz could see the hamon running along it. It was unmistakable. The man wielded a katana.

Lutz hadn’t seen that katana before, so at the very least, it wasn’t one that he had forged. It was probably one made by one of the other masters of the Shander domain. It definitely wasn’t some cheap knockoff, though. Was it really something that the man before him could have afforded? No. The blood on his cloak was making more sense by the second.

“Did you kill a traveling merchant and steal it from them?”

“If you want something, all you got to do is take it by force and kill whoever stands in your way. It was the royal family that taught me that valuable lesson.” The man didn’t show a shred of guilt. If anything, he sounded like he enjoyed it.

“The puzzle pieces are coming together now. You’re a survivor from Kill Code’s team, huh? Or rather, the one that ran away.”

“You don’t have to say it like that, do you? I survived so that I would get the chance to avenge everyone else. I’d say that’s a lot harder than dying for the cause. You see, once you’re dead, you can’t do anything for anybody. Even for someone as strong as the Captain, once you’re dead, you’re a thing of the past.”

“Those men didn’t die in vain. They left behind their unbreakable will. You’re the one who’s insulting their legacy.”

“That’s it! That’s the thing! That’s what I just can’t stand!” The man put his rage on full display, pointing the tip of his katana at Lutz. “The very people who killed the Captain get to go on about their unbreakable will, interpreting it all so conveniently, using it as a tool! You took their lives, and now you want to take the memory of them and use it however you want? That, I can’t forgive!”

The man’s fury was almost tangible, as if it were making the very air around them tremble. While he had strayed far from the path they followed, Lutz was reminded that the man was indeed a member of Kill Code’s team.

“I’ll be taking back the glory that you stole from our Captain!”

“There is nothing to return! The Princess has ensured that their will lives on!”

“What can that little girl do, anyway? She could never understand our suffering!”

“You’re the one who doesn’t understand. You have no idea how determined the Princess is, what she had to sacrifice!”

It seemed any further exchange of words was pointless. The man lifted up his katana and charged at Lutz, who took advantage of his axe’s longer reach to keep him at bay. Lutz wielded an axe, and his enemy wielded a katana. It was the exact opposite of how it was back in that cave.

After clashing blades several times, they put some distance between themselves and stood still, staring at each other. The only movement was in the slight twitching of their blades, each of them looking for an opening. When fighting an opponent of equal skill, it was common to look for an opportunity to riposte, leaving both of them unable to make the first move. In other words, they were both aiming for a counterattack.

When an opponent went for an attack and their posture crumbled, it was the prime opportunity to strike. When it came to close-quarters combat, those who were able to riposte effectively held a huge advantage. Of course, that was only if you could actually avoid the opponent’s attack in the first place, making it useless when facing opponents who were far more skilled than you. In such cases, waiting for your opponent to strike was no different from standing there staring off into space.

There was a limit to how long they could simply stand and glare at each other. Lutz’s weapon was far heavier. If they were to drag out the fight too long, he would start to fatigue, slowing his movements.

Carefully analyzing his opponent’s face, Lutz suddenly realized something strange.

This guy isn’t looking at my face at all.

If that was the case, where was he looking? Was he watching the blade of the axe? No, his gaze was a little lower.

Lutz had at least some idea of what the man was aiming for. He was trying to cut through the long handle of the poleaxe. It was made of wood, meaning that if the man could land a clean strike, the katana could certainly cut through it. If that were to happen, it would be Lutz’s loss.

Lutz took a single step backward to lure his opponent into attacking. The man closed the distance between them and brought down his katana. If Lutz attempted to block the attack, it would cut through the handle of the poleaxe. If he chose not to block it, the blade of the katana would tear through his shoulder.

Lutz loosened his grip on the poleaxe, allowing the head of the axe to slide down to the top of his hand and blocking the man’s katana with the blade of the axe. In a shower of sparks, the man’s katana split in two.

The man was in complete shock, but he only allowed that confusion to shake him for a single moment. He quickly threw the katana to the side and attempted to grab onto Lutz. He was a battle-hardened warrior; it would take more than that to make him lose the will to fight. However, that single moment of confusion would be his downfall.

Lutz swung around his poleaxe and drove the base of the handle into the man’s stomach. The base of the handle was reinforced with steel and came to a sharp point, which tore through the man’s skin, ripped through his muscles, and pierced into his intestines.

The man bent over and coughed up blood. Lutz ripped the poleaxe out of the man’s stomach, making him think that he was going to stab him again, then abruptly punched the man straight in the jaw.

The man was sent flying backward and landed face up on the ground. If memory served, the sky was supposed to be gloriously blue that day, but for some reason it now appeared to be dark red. He simply lay down on the ground with his limbs spread wide. Even if he wanted to get back up, he could no longer move a single finger. From the looks of the wound in his stomach, he figured that he should have probably been in great pain, but all he felt was the steady pulsing of his warm blood.

“You only won...because of that weapon. Don’t mistake it for combat skill...”

“I’m a blacksmith, after all. I’d rather have someone compliment my weapons than my form any day.”

“God, I hate you. Shit...” The man’s eyes began to lose focus.

Lutz brought down his poleaxe directly on the man’s head. This time around, he split his head down the center like a watermelon, not a single bit of damage being done to the blade. Lutz stared down coldly at the corpse as blood and brain matter spilled onto the ground. He couldn’t bring himself to just cleanly chop off his head and give him a proper burial.

The man had killed a traveling merchant out of his own greed. Luckily, it was Lutz whom he had chosen to attack that day, but there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t have gone after Claudia if he had been given the chance. If that soldier wanted to act like a bandit, Lutz was going to treat him as one, even if he did have his own reasons and sense of justice.

“I now know what it is like to cut someone down with a truly great blade. For that alone, you have my gratitude.” Lutz wiped the blood off his axe with the man’s cloak. He then called over to his donkey, who had just been chewing on grass the whole time, completely unfazed.

Seeing his donkey’s usual carefree face brought some peace to Lutz’s heart.

“I’ll bet you’re just thinking to yourself that humans are all idiots, am I right?” Lutz gently patted the donkey’s head.

The donkey just brayed in response.

***

“So, do you think you’ve come any closer to being able to create your greatest katana yet?” asked Claudia with a grin.

Lutz had just been sitting in his workshop and staring at the wall for quite some time by then. She had some nerve to ask such a thing while he was clearly struggling, but Lutz couldn’t do anything but smile back at her.

“I think I’ve gotten a hold of a couple of good hints, anyway. Although that’s just one part of a greater whole, and I still can’t quite see the bigger picture.”

The other day, Lutz had taken on a survivor of Kill Code’s team and emerged victorious. There were things that you simply couldn’t learn outside of a life-or-death battle. It was a valuable experience, as he was able to learn what it was like to fight with a truly incredible weapon. Although that weapon was an axe, not a katana, it didn’t change the fact that he was able to fight with one of the weapons he was most proud of.

“I can’t see myself carrying around a run-of-the-mill katana after having used this poleaxe. At least for a little while, I think I’ll keep this one as my partner.” Lutz glanced over at the axe, which was leaning against the wall.

After his victory the other day, he brought the length of the pole down to have about the same reach as a katana. That way, he could use it in a way that felt more familiar to him, gripping it in a similar way to a katana.

“I think I’ll make a leather sheath for the blade and carry it around on my back.”

“Yeah, that won’t make you look suspicious at all... Are you sure you won’t be stopped by the knights looking like that?”

“I mean, technically speaking, I’m a knight now too. Who’s going to try to arrest me?”

After becoming the Count’s personal blacksmith, Lutz received a title, a knighthood in name alone. He was also a member of the team that successfully rescued the Princess. Surely he wouldn’t be questioned for just walking around armed.

“If I were to try to put the axe on my belt, it’d probably snap, and then I’d be looking suspicious for a different reason altogether.”

“It would certainly be bad to walk around with your other blade unsheathed...”

As the two of them shared a laugh, someone started knocking loudly on the door.

“It’s me, Ricardo. Let me in!”

The Count’s personal adventurer, Ricardo, had come to visit. He was another member of the team that saved the Princess, but since they’d returned to the walled city, they hadn’t seen him at all.

Lutz lifted the latch, and Ricardo slid through the doorway before Lutz could even invite him inside. He certainly knew how to make himself at home.

“Well, hello there, Mr. Hero. What brings you here today?”

“Is it not reason enough to just want to see your ugly mug for a bit?”

“Well, you’ve seen it. Guess you can go home now, right?”

“Wait, wait, sorry! I’m bored, so I was just looking for some company. Let’s eat something!”

It was getting to be about lunchtime. It seemed that was what he was aiming for all along.

“You certainly know how to be honest with what you want, I’ll give you that.”

While they griped about it a bit, Lutz and Claudia let Ricardo up to the second floor. It wasn’t the first time that Ricardo had come to get a free lunch. In fact, they had even bought another soup bowl especially for when Ricardo came over.

For lunch, they were having warm vegetable soup and salted herring along with some soft bread and beer.

“Ricardo, haven’t you been out battling any monsters lately?” asked Claudia as they all gathered around the table.

One of the reasons that Lutz and Claudia never turned Ricardo away, even if it was a bit of an annoyance, was that they could hear rumors that only adventurers knew about.

“I haven’t heard anything from the Count in a good while. I mean, that in itself is fine by me, but...” While talking, Ricardo took a bite of the bread, and he raised his voice in surprise. “Oh, this bread is fantastic!”

“Didn’t you receive a pretty hefty pile of gold for your part in the rescue of Princess Listill? Surely you could buy as much white bread as you want.”

“Yeah, but going out to buy it is just so much work.”

“Lord, give me strength...” Claudia had become rather accustomed to how lazy men could be at times. All she could do was let out an exhausted sigh.

“Anyway, is there some reason monsters haven’t been popping up as much recently?”

“There’s been a lot more adventurers going down into the labyrinth lately, you see. All the monsters are being culled before they have a chance to break out to the surface.”

“We talked about it a bit before, but I guess a lot of the returning soldiers became adventurers, huh?”

Lutz seemed satisfied with that reasoning, but Claudia still looked like she was mulling something over.

“Hmmm. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, so that’s how it is... I think I’m starting to see the bigger picture here.”

“Was there something we said that caught your attention?”

“Are you guys aware that the price of jewels is currently skyrocketing?”

Wondering why Claudia was suddenly bringing up something totally unrelated, Lutz looked at her sideways. Ricardo seemed just as confused. Neither of them was exactly an expert in economics, after all.

“After Lutzy held that open demonstration, all the other masters from the Blacksmiths Guild started hammering out katana. They certainly aren’t at the same level as Lutz’s katana, but they’ve at least started to be passable, it seems.”

The guy that Lutz fought the other day also wielded a katana, but it was cut cleanly in half by Lutz’s axe. It looked as though they still had quite a long way to go when it came to both appearance and functionality.

“Anyway, in order to make those katana look even a little bit more appealing, it sounds like they’ve been having them enchanted, not by Gerhard, but by the other enchanters in the city. Like I said before, their quality is still lacking, so they’ve been engraved with one or two runes at most, I’d assume.”

“So, you’re saying that’s why the price of jewels has risen?”

“There are only two ways to get your hands on those jewels. You can either mine for them or you can find them in the labyrinth.”

No one was really sure how the treasure chests in the labyrinth worked, but once you opened one and took its contents, the whole chest would disappear, then show up again after a few days with new things inside it. The most common items to find inside them were jewels of various sizes and qualities.

“Okay, so that’s why so many people are rushing into the labyrinth, then...”

“It might be a bit late to bring this up, but why haven’t you heard all of this yet, Ricardo?” asked Claudia.

Ricardo scratched his head awkwardly. “I didn’t hear anyone talking about that at the bar...”

“People don’t just openly talk about something that profitable. You have to pay the barkeeper to let you in on the most interesting rumors going around or casually chat up other adventurers to see if they’ll let some information slip.”

“I’m really not good at that sort of thing, to be honest.”

Adventurers generally formed parties and fought together to take down larger targets, but Ricardo worked alone. Because of that, he wasn’t able to rely on a party member who had the kind of social skills necessary to gather information. The demerits of being a lone adventurer weren’t all related to combat. However, if you were to ask Ricardo, he would say that if you had those kinds of social skills, you’d be better off quitting your shitty job as an adventurer and going into a safer, more profitable field.

“Well, that’s how it is, Ricardo, so if you find yourself with the free time, you might want to go down into the labyrinth for a bit.”

“If I feel like it, I’ll give it a try,” said Ricardo, brushing it off. As he wasn’t a big fan of crowded spaces, he wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the idea. He had also taken the most dangerous role in the recent rescue mission, so he had no shortage of funds for the time being. His current plan was to just take it easy for a bit.

However, a few days later, even that humble dream would crumble before him in the form of a summons from Count Maximillion Shander.

Chapter 5: A New Evil Takes Form

Maximillion, Gerhard the enchanter, Djoser the high-ranking knight, and Ricardo, who had received a summons, all gathered in the Count’s court.

“I would like for you to investigate the labyrinth,” said Gerhard.

Ricardo cocked his head. “Investigate, you say?”

They wanted him to investigate something, not fight it? He had never received a request like that before. Ricardo would have much preferred to receive orders to go beat the shit out of something. It would be much more straightforward.

“You’re aware that more and more adventurers have been going into the labyrinth, I assume?”

“Ah, yes. Because of the rising price of jewels, right?”

“You’ve heard that much?” Maximillion was visibly impressed by Ricardo’s response.

Ricardo chose not to disclose the fact that he had just heard it all from Claudia. If he merely kept a confident enough grin on his face, people would surely simply assume he had heard about it because he was a first-rate adventurer.

“About that labyrinth, though... It seems that compared to the number of adventurers entering it, the number of people coming back is far too low. On bad days, it sounds like only about half of the people going in actually come back out.”

“No matter how many armed social misfits die, isn’t it kind of inconsequential? If anything, as a governing body trying to maintain peace in the city, isn’t that actually great news?”

They weren’t sure if it was just Ricardo or if all adventurers were like that, but he seemed to have a shocking lack of sympathy for his fellow adventurers. Did he really realize that when he called all of those adventurers armed social misfits that he was included in that as well?

Gerhard, who had also been an adventurer forty years ago, decided that any rebuttal would just be wasted breath, so he moved the conversation along. “Even considering the fact that adventurers operate at their own risk, if there is something strange happening in the labyrinth, we have a responsibility to get to the bottom of it. There have even been rumors going around that some heathens have been doing some kind of ritual sacrifice down there.”

“Is that your idea of a joke?”

“It’s your job to make it into something we can laugh about.” Gerhard waved his hand as if shooing off a fly. It seemed he was finished talking about it.

It wasn’t like Ricardo didn’t have any experience in the labyrinth, but it would be difficult to investigate what was going on when he was completely alone. That being said, he couldn’t just admit to the Count that he didn’t have any friends either.

“What should I do...” Walking through the halls of the castle, Ricardo’s every step felt as heavy as lead.

“Master Gerhard, would you go down into the labyrinth with me to investigate it?”

“God, no.”

A few days had passed since Ricardo’s audience with the Count. He had been ordered to investigate the labyrinth and attempted to invite Gerhard to accompany him. As Gerhard was a former adventurer and the strongest swordsman in the Shander domain, if Ricardo could get him to come along, it would have been very reassuring. Still, Gerhard refused the proposal without even a moment’s thought. Actually, it was less of a refusal and more of an unequivocal rejection.

“Whyyy?!”

“Why the hell do you think? Don’t try to drag a sixty-year-old man down into the labyrinth.”

“Well, you were pretty impressive when we fought all those bandits, so...”

“If you’re asking me to go all out for an hour, I can still manage that. However, if you’re asking me to keep it up for the better part of a day or even longer, you’re insane.”

Ricardo let out a frustrated groan. He knew just how treacherous exploring the labyrinth could be, so he couldn’t downplay the seriousness of the matter. Letting loose for an hour or so was a hell of a lot different from going on a lengthy expedition while constantly keeping your head on a swivel. The exhaustion that could inspire was on another level.

“More than that, no matter how you look at it, you and your bewitching katana are far more suited to working solo,” Gerhard explained. “I’m not going to risk getting caught up in that curse.”

“As long as you don’t come within sixteen feet or so, you’ll be fine!”

“And if I accidentally step into that radius, I’ll die a horrifying death. That’s not a situation I would describe as fine.”

Ricardo’s beloved katana, Tsubaki, was a powerful blade, one that could seduce anyone in its vicinity into taking their own life. No matter how careful anyone fighting alongside him was, if Ricardo were to draw it in the heat of the moment, it could all be over in a second. Gerhard had no obligation to put his life at risk in such a manner for Ricardo.

Just in case anything were to happen, Gerhard constantly carried items on his body that increased his mental fortitude. With those, he would probably be able to resist the effects of Tsubaki’s curse for a few seconds. If, for some reason, Ricardo were to direct the curse at him, he planned to cut him down in that period of time without question. With all of that going on under the surface of their relationship, there was no way they could just enjoy a little picnic in the labyrinth.

“Oh, also...”

“There’s more?!”

“I’m currently on a bit of a sabbatical. With everything going on, I’ve been forced to put it off for a bit, but I am now on a break from my official duties. I believe you were present when the Count granted me permission for it too.”

“Oh, yeah... I guess that did happen, huh?”

“For all of those reasons, I must decline. Also, don’t think about trying to invite Djoser either. While I keep telling him that I’m going to focus on his training as an enchanter, I’ve had to keep putting all that off too. I’m really starting to feel bad for the guy.”

Having Djoser, who specialized in that kind of close-quarters combat, would have been reassuring, but it seemed like Gerhard was already one step ahead of him. But even if Ricardo were to invite him, it still wouldn’t solve all of the problems with Tsubaki, and Djoser already had all of his official duties as a knight to take care of too.

“I’m going to tell you something that should be blindingly obvious to any adventurer. If you’re looking to form a party, hit up a bar.”

With that, Gerhard wandered off, and Ricardo glared at him from behind as he went.

If I could do that, I wouldn’t be asking you in the first place...

Ricardo could speak just fine with people he was already acquainted with, but he was the sort who struggled striking up a conversation with someone he didn’t know. Even if he built up the courage to approach someone, what would he say?

“My katana is just a little cursed, but you don’t mind, right?”

He would have to explain everything from the beginning, and there was no way that some guy he just met would be okay with all of that.

That meant there was really only one other person Ricardo could go to. He knew how Tsubaki’s curse worked and even had some resistance to it. He was also well-versed in combat. The only problem was the fact that he wasn’t an adventurer, but Ricardo would just have to convince him to come along somehow.

Ricardo would have been fine going it alone if he just had to take a quick look around the labyrinth, but if he had to track down the source of whatever was happening and, depending on the circumstances, had to solve the issue, he wanted to at least have someone else with him.

***

When Lutz went to Claudia for advice on what he should name his new axe, she smiled and held up two fingers. Apparently, she already had a couple of ideas in mind.

“I’m thinking either Kubizuka or Shirayuri. Which do you prefer?”

“I’m not sure, but they both give off very different feelings from each other. Can you tell me what they mean?”

“Why, of course.” Claudia gave him an enthusiastic nod. “First, I’m right in assuming you forged that axe as a sort of epitaph to those returning soldiers, yes?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“In other words, it’s kind of like their tombstone, and also an axe so sharp that it could cleanly chop a head off in a single swing. Therefore, I figured that Kubizuka, meaning ‘head tomb,’ would be appropriate.”

“That’s a bit dark... What about Shirayuri?”

“Shirayuri, also known as the Madonna lily, is a flower deeply connected with Mother Mary and is often used at funerals.”

Lutz gazed over at the axe, which was leaning against the wall. No matter how you looked at it, it was a weapon of death.

“So, have you decided which one to go with? If you have another idea in mind, that’s fine too.”

“No, let’s go with Shirayuri, the Madonna lily.”

If the axe was made as a way of mourning the dead, the least Lutz could do was give it a name that projected beauty. Kubizuka, the head tomb, would just sound a bit too creepy, although it was perhaps a more fitting name for the terrifyingly sharp axe.

“By the way, Madonna lilies symbolize purity and dignity.”

“If you were just going by those words alone, it sounds more like something for a princess than something to honor the deaths of the returning soldiers.”

“I feel like it wouldn’t exactly make a great gift for a young girl, though, if that’s what you’re thinking...”

“It might be best to give it to that one young soldier.”

Lutz was, of course, talking about the last living member of Kill Code’s team, the young man whom the rest of the returning soldiers had begged the Princess to let live as a witness. If he had grown into a man who could truly carry the will of his lost comrades on his shoulders, Lutz wouldn’t be against giving it to him as a present. If that time came and Lutz had to let him know that the axe was named Kubizuka, the head tomb, it could make things a bit awkward. Shirayuri was definitely the one to go with.

Just as Lutz stood up to engrave the name, someone started banging on the door. Lutz had grown accustomed to that loud and unrelenting knock, so he had no need to ask who it was. After letting out a little sigh, he wandered over to the door and lifted the latch before their guest even had a chance to say his name.

“What is it? If you’re looking to get a free lunch, you’re way too early.”

As Lutz had predicted, Ricardo, the adventurer, stood in his doorway.

“Why did you say that like I’m always trying to get a free meal out of you?”

“Before I answer that, I want you to really reflect on your recent actions and see if you can still ask me that question.”

“Oh, don’t be like that! It’s you guys’ fault for always making such delicious food. The soup at the bar tastes sour for some reason, like someone threw up in it or something!” Ricardo snapped back. Letting himself inside, he wandered over to a sturdy wooden box and sat himself down on it. “Lutz, let’s do some exploring!”

“I’d really rather not...”

“Sorry, I worded that wrong. I wasn’t suggesting that we engage in homoerotic sexual exploration or anything like that.”

“Your wording is getting worse.”

Lutz and Claudia both gave him a cold stare. However, Ricardo didn’t stop there. After all, if you never stopped, you could never truly lose.

“I want you to come explore the labyrinth with me!”

“Yeah, I’d still rather not.”

“Wait, wait, wait, hear me out first!”

Ricardo explained that something strange was happening in the labyrinth and that the Count had requested he investigate it. He was, for all intents and purposes, forced to take it on, but it was still technically a request.

Ricardo prepared himself for the rejection that was sure to come out of Lutz’s mouth, just as it was when he asked Gerhard.

“Hmmm...” Lutz grumbled contemplatively.

If he was thinking about it, did that mean there was a chance he would actually accept it? While it was Ricardo himself who had asked him for help, he couldn’t help but wonder why Lutz didn’t just flat out reject the idea. Lutz didn’t really have anything to gain from helping out, after all. That was why Ricardo thought he would have no choice but to appeal to his emotions so he would follow him out of pity.

Even a perfect stranger would have noticed that Lutz’s reaction was unusual, so there was no way that Claudia would have missed it either.

“Is there something that you were looking to try out, Lutzy?”

“It’s my axe... No, Shirayuri. I want to get more accustomed to using Shirayuri. To put it more bluntly, I want to use it in more real, life-or-death situations.”

“So, you want to get that experience by taking on some monsters?”

“I just kind of feel like if I gain more practical combat experience, I’ll get closer to the truly great blade that I’m trying to envision for myself. Probably... Maybe...” The volume of Lutz’s voice, along with his confidence, started to plummet toward the end. Whenever Lutz tried to picture what the greatest katana would look like, he found that his image of it was still surrounded by a thick fog.

He didn’t need any real reason to help Ricardo outside of getting to fight. After learning that, Ricardo decided it was best to try to aggrandize the labyrinth as much as he could.

“The labyrinth is a great place to test your mettle! It’s an all-you-can-kill buffet! No matter how many monsters you cut down or beat to a pulp, they just keep coming, as if it leads all the way to the pits of hell or something!”

From Claudia’s sharp glare, Ricardo guessed that he was probably making his intentions too obvious.

“I would really rather Lutzy not have to do anything so dangerous. However, I’m also not sure if it’s my place to stop a man from going to battle...” Claudia thought about it as she twirled her long hair. “All right, let’s go with this, then. You can go investigate the labyrinth, but don’t go any lower than the third floor.”

Ricardo furrowed his brow at the proposal. “Do you really think we’ll be able to find the root of the problem without going any deeper than that?”

“Surely it should be enough to at least get a hint as to what’s happening. After all, it’s not just veteran adventurers going missing, right? From what you were saying, it sounds like a lot of novice adventurers have fallen victim to something as well. Surely they wouldn’t have gone down terribly deep. Either there is a problem with the floors closer to the surface, too, or there’s a band of kidnappers or something hanging around.”

That settled it for Lutz. He gave Claudia a strong nod and said, “If you’re looking to go for a leisurely stroll through the labyrinth, I don’t mind tagging along. Although if we’re only going down to the third floor anyway, wouldn’t you be fine going alone?”

Ricardo could be a little awkward around people at times, but his combat skills were the real deal. He had even gone down to the fifth floor on his own before. In that case, would it be better to go on his own, after all? He would be able to use Tsubaki’s curse whenever he wanted without having to worry about accidentally hurting anyone, which was a bonus.

No.

Ricardo thought better of it. He was being charged with investigating a mysterious threat that had seemingly taken several lives already. It wouldn’t hurt to be a little cautious. While there wasn’t any particular reason behind it, Ricardo couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad might happen. As an adventurer, it was always best to rely on your senses.

“A leisurely stroll doesn’t sound too bad. We can even bring a picnic basket if you like.” Ricardo let out a little laugh.

As Lutz was in some way a father to Tsubaki, he had a certain amount of resistance to her curse. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to do Tsubaki’s maintenance and come out with his life.

Still, even Lutz wasn’t entirely immune. When Lutz sharpened Tsubaki, he always felt a murderous presence behind him, as well as the feeling of a woman’s delicate fingers wrapping around his neck, making it somewhat difficult to breathe. He certainly had never been able to look the naked and blood-covered visage of Tsubaki in the eye and tell her, “I’m your daddy!”

Ricardo had spoken of Tsubaki as a gorgeous woman with the prettiest eyes, but he was about the only person in the world who would make such an evil presence his life partner just because she looked cute.

“Give me a little bit of time, though,” said Lutz. “We can set out next week.”

If Ricardo had his way, he would have preferred to head straight to the labyrinth, so he was disappointed by Lutz’s stipulation. “Isn’t that a bit long? Even a woman could get ready faster than that!”

“I want to get the axe enchanted first. It’s not like the Count gave you a date that it had to be done by, right?”

“There isn’t a deadline per se, but if Gerhard or someone saw me lazing around and day-drinking at the bar, that’d be a bit awkward. No, unbearably awkward...”

“Drink at home.”

Lutz chose to ignore Ricardo, who was holding his head in his hands, and looked over at Claudia apologetically. “Sorry, dear. Looks like I’m going to have to dip into our savings again.”

“I don’t mind spending money on something that’s going to help you come home safe.”

Grateful for her understanding, Lutz gave her a nod.

***

When Lutz showed Gerhard his new axe, he accepted the job enthusiastically.

“Oh, this is nice! This is one nice axe!”

Lutz then told Gerhard how he had fought and killed one of the survivors from Kill Code’s team, and Gerhard listened with great interest.

“Ah, so you intend this axe to be something like a gravestone for Kill Code’s team, huh? That’s a nice idea!”

“Gerhard, I feel like your vocabulary has been a bit more limited than usual...”

“When it comes to enchantment, words are nothing more than a distraction!”

Lutz sighed at the sight of Gerhard’s skyrocketing excitement, but it was also reassuring. When an artist such as Gerhard relinquished all common sense, that was a sign they were about to give birth to something truly special. Lutz had experienced something similar with his own work.

Lutz left behind Gerhard, who was so enamored with the axe that he was basically drooling over it, and made his way back home. When he returned, he saw that Claudia was staring at a piece of parchment, deep in thought.

“What is it, dear?”

“While you were out, Lutzy, I went around to different merchants and looked into the market price of jewels.” Claudia put the parchment down on the table.

Lutz picked it up and looked it over, but he wasn’t really able to make out anything meaningful from what was written there.

“The price of jewels hasn’t even really gone up that much. I mean, they have steadily gained a bit of value, but it’s not like the price has suddenly shot up or anything.”

“That is to say...what, exactly?”

“It means that the supply has been able to keep up with the demand for the most part. Even though there have been way more people wanting to get their katana enchanted, causing a spike in demand, there are still enough jewels to go around for everyone. The question is, where are people getting them all from?”

“From the way you said that, I suppose that it can’t just be explained by the surge of adventurers going down into the labyrinth, am I right?”

Claudia gave him a little nod. “Even if more adventurers are going into the labyrinth, that doesn’t change the number of treasure chests that are inside the labyrinth at any one time. There might be a few more jewels going around the market as a result, but that’s about all.”

“If that’s the case, where are all these jewels coming from, then? It is a bit strange...”

“I’m still not completely sure if this is connected in some way to the strange occurrences inside the labyrinth or not either. I really don’t feel like I know anything yet. Please be careful down there, Lutzy.”

“Don’t worry. If something seems off, I’ll run straight back up to the surface.”

“I suppose it all could just end up being adventurers killing each other over those jewels...” said Claudia, though you could tell that she didn’t believe a word of it.

***

Exactly one week after Ricardo came to Lutz for help, the two of them made their way to the entrance of the labyrinth. Observing his surroundings, Lutz saw several groups of adventurers gathered together and even more extinguished fires scattered around the area, suggesting that a few groups had already entered the labyrinth.

“If you opened a shop around here, I bet it would do good business.”

Lutz had said that as a joke, but Ricardo pointed his finger straight in front of them and said, “There already is a little repair shop over there.”

On closer inspection, Lutz saw a whetstone, an anvil, and a man sitting by them, laying out a variety of other tools. From the metal dust on the ground, Lutz could tell that he had already done a few jobs that morning.

“You want to get in on the action, Lutz?”

“No, I’ll pass. I’m not really one for trying to encroach on other people’s territory.”

The man at the little maintenance shop glared over at Lutz in a way that said, “If you aren’t a customer, then get lost.”

Ricardo seemed somewhat offended, but Lutz just gave his fellow blacksmith a little bow and walked off.

“By the way, Lutz, you remembered to bring something to light your way, right? There are places in the labyrinth where glowmoss grows naturally, but it’s best not to expect any kindness from this shitty dungeon.”

“Claudia made sure to put a lantern in my bag. She filled it to the brim with oil too.”

“You have yourself a fine woman, my friend. Is she truly so flawless?”

“I can’t think of anything,” Lutz said with a quick grin. “Outside of her taste in men, of course.”

The two of them exchanged a laugh.

“If you had forgotten to bring something, you would have been stuck buying something from there.” Ricardo pointed at another stall, which appeared to be selling torches. In a barrel, there were several long pieces of wood with pieces of oil-soaked cloth wrapped around them.

“Five silver for a torch, huh? That’s one hell of a scam. What are they, priests or something?” Lutz furrowed his brow.

“Well, it’s still quite a bit better than having to go all the way back to town to buy some. If you can get your hands on even a single jewel, those five silver will look like a pittance.”

“That sounds like the ramblings of a poor gambler. To put that another way, they’d have no choice but to find at least one jewel to make the trip worth it, making it impossible for them to head back even if they wanted to.”

To retreat at the first sight of real danger was the golden rule of any adventurer. The ones who couldn’t tell when it was time to call it a day were the first to die.

“I won’t tell you not to use Tsubaki, but make sure to let me know when you are planning on drawing the blade. Just in case, I did borrow an item from Gerhard to increase my mental fortitude, so we should be okay, but still...”

“He let you borrow that? He didn’t make you agree to some sketchy conditions or anything, did he?”

“No, nothing like that. He just seemed concerned for my safety and told me to be extra careful down there.”

“Really?! I can’t help but feel like that old geezer treats the two of us a bit too differently...”

“Do you want to switch careers and start down the path to becoming a craftsman? If you do, Gerhard might even give you a bit of preferential treatment too.”

“Don’t even joke about it.”

Eventually, the two of them reached the entrance to the labyrinth. It looked like nothing more than a normal cave, but something radiated from the labyrinth, a strange feeling suffusing the air that told Lutz the place he was about to walk into was anything but normal. It almost felt like a doorway connecting the world of the living to the world of the dead.

Until then, the two of them had been carefree and jovial, but in an instant, they took on the visage of focused warriors.

Lutz pulled his axe off his back and lit the lantern that was dangling from his hip. Ricardo also lit a torch and held it in his left hand.

“All right, let’s go.”

“Time to open this mystery up and see what’s inside.”

“No matter what pops out, it’s all the same once we chop it into pieces.”

The two of them locked step, almost as though they had been adventuring together for the past ten years. Of their own volition, they took their first steps into hell itself.

***

The distinct sound of footsteps against stone reverberated through the darkness. There was not a single ray of sunlight that penetrated down that deep, nor was there any glowmoss to provide a bit of natural light. All they could rely on was the dim, flickering light of the torch Ricardo held in his hand.

What little they could see wasn’t a very pretty sight either. There were dark red bloodstains, several varieties of mold growing on the cave walls, and the faint silhouettes of rats darting about.

However, no matter how terrible the sight of it was, it paled in comparison to the smell. The stench of the mold, the various beasts that called the labyrinth home, and rotting flesh all permeated through the stagnant air, slowly blending into the worst fragrance imaginable. After taking a single step into the labyrinth, Lutz already felt like he might throw up. After walking through it for around twenty minutes, he still couldn’t get used to it.

“If you told me that we had just wandered into a demon’s asshole, I’d believe you,” said Lutz, his expression demonstrating his consternation. He immediately regretted opening his mouth, though, as he could almost taste the foul air. “Have you actually gotten used to this smell, Ricardo?”

“I’m just relying on sheer willpower, to be honest.”

In other words, there really was no getting used to it.

“I had heard that criminals and bandits sometimes ran into the labyrinth and took up residence here to avoid being caught, but are those guys really in their right minds?”

“All I’ll say is it’s best to stay on your guard. It isn’t just the monsters you have to worry about down here.”

“What, do they want to cut down adventurers so they can wear them as a skin suit and get back to the surface or something?”

“They aren’t after the skin. I’d imagine it’s the meat they want.”

It didn’t sound like Ricardo was joking. Lutz began to wonder just what kind of horrors Ricardo had witnessed in his years as an adventurer. He was incredibly curious, but it wasn’t good etiquette to pry too far into a man’s past.

Suddenly, Ricardo stopped in his tracks. With his right hand, he drew the sword that was on his right hip. A moment later, Lutz also noticed a presence coming from up ahead, and he held on to Shirayuri with both hands.

A single doglike creature came running out at them. From the neck up, it had no skin or muscle, only bone. A skullhound. Due to their unfortunate anatomy, they were unable to eat, but that didn’t stop the burning hunger that constantly assaulted them. They would tear through the flesh of adventurers with their sharp teeth, and all of the blood and meat would just pour through the bottom of their jaw.

The skullhound leaped toward them, but Ricardo seemed entirely calm. Even with his hands full, a torch in his left hand and a sword in his right, he dodged the skullhound’s attack with ease, then cut deeply into its body.

As the skullhound had no vocal cords, it screamed out in silence before collapsing on the ground. Its limbs still twitching, it fought to hold on to life, but there was no longer any hope for it.

Another skullhound attacked from behind. It displayed the strange ability of being able to run along the side of the cave walls, but Lutz quickly adapted his stance to counter it. No matter how he moved, though, the skullhound continued sprinting straight toward the smell of fresh meat.

Because Lutz’s lantern was being dangled from his hip, he was able to use both of his hands freely. He brought his axe down on the bare skull of the undead dog. The instant his axe made contact, the skullhound’s body burst into flames.

Ricardo widened his eyes in surprise as he wondered what had just happened.

Lutz left the corpse of the burning skullhound behind him and ran over to the one that Ricardo had taken down, bringing his axe down on that one as well. The monster drew its final breath in a ball of flames, finally being allowed to die. When the flames dissipated, all that was left was the skeleton of a normal dog.

“Is that your idea of a cremation?” said Ricardo quietly. He had heard Lutz created his axe as a way to pay his respects to the dead.

“You see, I quite like dogs...” It wasn’t exactly an elaborate funeral, but Lutz at least wanted to put their souls to rest.

Were the two of them able to die, not as monsters, but as normal dogs? He would have liked to think that they did.

Lutz and Ricardo continued their investigation. Perhaps because of the recent influx of adventurers, they were unable to find a single treasure chest, and they only ran into a few other monsters.

“I guess that’s it for the first floor, anyway,” said Ricardo calmly.

They walked down the long stairway to the second floor, the horrid stench and damp chill progressively worsening. When they illuminated the second floor with torchlight, the view was no different from the one on the first floor.

Walking through a place with so little variation could take a certain toll on one’s mind. You would start to question whether you were walking forward or heading back. Even such a simple thing felt confusing. Lutz could understand why some adventurers went crazy down there.

“The key to exploring the labyrinth is to not lose sight of yourself,” said Ricardo confidently.

It was at that moment that Lutz truly recognized that Ricardo was indeed a veteran adventurer. On the surface, he appeared to be nothing but a katana-loving pervert, so his cool composure in the labyrinth was rather surprising, indeed.

They ran into a few more monsters on the second floor as well, but nothing that posed a serious problem.

“I’ve got to say, you’ve got some good form. Why don’t you just hang up your hammer and go into adventuring full-time?”

“Yeah, no. I have now realized what an insane job this really is. I’m so tired, and I can’t catch my breath. I mean, I can breathe, but if I inhale too deeply, I’m going to vomit.”

The two of them both let out an awkward laugh, doing their very best not to open their mouths too wide.

The silhouette of a person came into view. Ricardo lifted his torch to get a better look, and it appeared to be a normal human. The silhouette slowly approached them.

“Is it an enemy?” asked Lutz.

The man looked like an ordinary adventurer, but he was bent over and limping toward them. It looked as though he might have been injured, as there was a considerable amount of blood staining his chest. In his right hand was a longsword, which he was dragging along behind him. His left hand was empty. He had no torch, nor did he have a lantern dangling from his belt like Lutz.

“He’s either lost or a ghost. What do you make of it?” asked Ricardo, a noticeable tension coming to his voice.

He was walking through the dark labyrinth without any source of light. No matter how you looked at it, he wasn’t in his right mind.

Ricardo dropped his torch onto the ground and placed his left hand on Tsubaki’s tsuka, drawing the blade only an inch. The terrible stench around them was somewhat neutralized by the sweet smell of Tsubaki’s alluring curse.

“Get ready.”

“Got it.” Lutz ran back outside of Tsubaki’s range. Sixteen feet sure felt a lot farther in the narrow halls of the labyrinth than it did outside.

“Hey, buddy, if you’ve got something you want to say, you better say it now. Get any closer and I’ll kill you where you stand!” Ricardo stood at the ready, his hand still holding firmly to Tsubaki, prepared to draw the blade at any moment.

Ricardo wasn’t sure whether the man could hear him or not as he kept approaching at the same pace. Finally, the man looked up at him. The first thing Ricardo noticed was his eyes. They were sparkling and beautiful, like a jewel. No, they really were jewels. It was as though someone had shoved two large jewels into his eye sockets, crushing his eyeballs. Tears of blood streamed down the man’s face, his expression one of agony.

“Aargh, aaaaaah!”

The man let out a sound akin to a dying roar and ran at Ricardo, bearing his sword. By all logic, he shouldn’t have been able to see at all, but he ran directly toward him.

Ricardo drew the bewitching katana, Tsubaki. The sweet smell grew even stronger, and the temperature of the air around them quickly dropped. He had put up a barrier around himself, containing the sweetest of deaths. Anyone who stepped foot into Tsubaki’s range would drown in the irresistible pleasure, taking their own life with any weapon they had on hand.

However, the man did not stop. He continued running and swung his sword, aiming precisely for Ricardo’s neck.

“Whoa!”

Why was he suddenly able to move so quickly? When they first saw him, he had been limping.

Ricardo was pushed back on the defensive, blocking attack after attack. Was the man really that strong, or had Ricardo just been relying on Tsubaki’s curse too much as of late?

Wait, am I going to die?

Just as Ricardo was thinking that, something flew in from the side. The strange man, distracted by his fight with Ricardo, wasn’t able to avoid Lutz’s axe. The blade split straight through the man’s head and all the way down to his sternum. Then came the flames, engulfing his body.

Lutz kicked the burning man away and screamed out, “Sheathe Tsubaki!”

Ricardo snapped back to his senses and quickly sheathed the blade. If it had taken him even a moment longer, he would have inadvertently forced Lutz, who had come to his rescue despite knowing the risks, to take his own life.

A pain rushed through Lutz’s left arm. When he looked down at it, he saw that cracks had formed in the bangle that Gerhard had given him to strengthen his mental fortitude.

“When I go to apologize, you’d better come with me...”

“Yeah... I’ll get on my hands and knees if I have to.”

The two of them redirected their attention to the burning corpse on the ground. When the flames died down, all that was left was a pile of bones and two jewels.

“Don’t tell me that these are the jewels that are circulating throughout the city...” said Lutz, a shiver running up his spine.

What were those jewels? Who was that man? How did he end up like that? There were just too many questions left unanswered. Only a few hours ago, Lutz’s objective was to gain some combat experience and get accustomed to using his axe, but now that idea felt laughably naive.

Lutz figured that it could be dangerous to touch the jewels with his bare hands, so he used a cloth to pick them up and wrap them tightly, then placed them in his bag.

“Let’s head back to the surface for now. This doesn’t seem like a problem that two guys can solve while taking a relaxing stroll.”

Ricardo gave Lutz an exhausted nod, his face pale and devoid of emotion.

***

The two of them remained entirely silent until they exited the labyrinth. Only when they felt the warmth of the sun on their skin and were able to take a deep breath of fresh air did they truly allow themselves to relax the tension in their shoulders. They had made it back safely.

The two men jumped into a river, wearing nothing but what they were born with. They wanted to rid themselves of the terrible smell that had stuck to every inch of them. Maybe more than that, they also wanted to wash away the unsettling feeling they had endured while they were down there.

“I feel alive again.” Lutz let some of the river water flow into his mouth, gargled it, then spit it back out. He couldn’t exactly say the water was pristine, but compared to the wretched air of the labyrinth, it was like drinking from the fountain of youth.

“So...what the hell was that back there?” Asked Ricardo, a twinge of fear in his voice. If at all possible, he wanted to forget about it, but since he was the one who was charged with investigating it, he couldn’t very well do that.

“I’d like to just write it off as a weird nightmare... Should I check my bag? Who knows, maybe the jewels will have disappeared or something.”

“Best not to get your hopes up. You’ll just end up disappointed.” Ricardo stepped out of the river, still completely naked, and grabbed onto Tsubaki’s saya. “Tsubaki’s curse didn’t work on it...”

“I guess it wouldn’t work on something that’s already dead.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they’d have a hard time feeling any sexual pleasure, that’s for sure.”

Sex was something directly connected to the circle of life, after all. Ricardo was still unsure of some of the specifics, but it made sense for undead creatures to be unaffected by Tsubaki’s curse. At its heart was an illusion that turned self-inflicted pain into sexual pleasure, both of which could only be experienced by the living.

Ricardo gently placed Tsubaki back down and slapped his cheeks a couple of times to psych himself back up. “Okay, I’m good. I’m ready to go again any time!”

“That was fast. I was kind of expecting it to bring you down a bit more, to be honest.”

“There’s something dangerous that’s made its home in the labyrinth. Tsubaki’s curse won’t work against it. We also have to apologize to Gerhard for breaking his expensive bangle. On top of it all, I’m naked. However, once you understand a problem, that’s when you can finally start to solve it. It’s important to carefully ponder some things in life, but there’s no point in overthinking them!”

“Is that one of the rules of adventuring?”

Ricardo really was a strange fellow, but the whole experience reminded Lutz of his expertise in his field. The contradiction brought a little grin to Lutz’s face as he dried off his body. He felt as though he had been saved in some way by Ricardo’s unrelenting positivity, though he would never admit it.

“All right, we’ve got a mountainous pile of problems on our hands. Where should we start?!” yelled Ricardo, trying to squeeze out as much energy as he could.

Lutz looked him up and down before responding. “You might want to put on some underwear first.”

***

The day after they returned from the labyrinth, they went to Gerhard’s workshop. They thought about maybe taking two or three days of rest first, but they couldn’t have slept soundly while holding on to such a disturbing story.

After Lutz told Claudia everything that had happened, she advised him, “When you run into that kind of trouble, the wisest workers throw the job to the higher-ups and forget about it,” and Lutz decided to take those words to heart.

Lutz, Claudia, Ricardo, and Gerhard, in addition to the ornamentalist, Patrick, all gathered in the small workshop.

“If you’ve finished with your investigation, shouldn’t you be reporting directly to His Grace instead of bothering me with it?” As Gerhard had stressed on several occasions, he was on a sabbatical. However, very few seemed to care.

“We really are very sorry to disturb you, Gerhard, but we figured it wouldn’t be good to hand over jewels that might be cursed to the Count without checking over them first.” Lutz gave him an apologetic bow and pulled the cloth-covered jewels out of his bag. He carefully unwrapped them and placed them on the table.

The jewels had a beautiful glow to them, the likes of which none of them had ever seen before. Were they diamonds? Emeralds or rubies? None of those felt right.

“You see, we found these in the labyrinth...” Lutz continued to explain everything that they had seen on their little stroll through hell. He wasn’t doing a great job of it, though, so Ricardo filled in a few blanks here and there. By the end, it seemed as though they were able to properly convey the terror of the ordeal.

“So, there was a man with jewels shoved into his eye sockets, and Tsubaki’s curse wouldn’t work on him, huh? In my opinion, I would say he was probably an undead monster. What I’m not sure of is whether he had these jewels shoved into his eyes while he was alive or after he died.” Gerhard crossed his arms and let out a groan in thought. He had seen all manner of troublesome cases in his long life and had delved deep into the labyrinth too. Even still, he had never seen anything like what the two of them were describing.

“Does the order really matter that much?” Ricardo cocked his head.

“It’s not so much the order, you see. I’m curious about whether someone used those jewels to create a zombie or if someone used a corpse to make those jewels. Those jewels are either the means or the goal—there is no in between.”

“Good point.” Claudia nodded at Gerhard’s conjecture. “Considering the influx of jewels going around the town market, I’d say that the latter seems more likely.”

“A curse that can produce jewels from human remains... It does sound like the most likely case, but we’ll need more evidence to be sure. What kind of jewels are going around? Who is selling them? There’s still a lot to investigate.”

“Leave that to me.” Claudia showed them all a grin and pounded her chest proudly.

“And I’m assuming that you guys called me to take a look at the jewels, is that right?” Patrick quickly scooped one of the jewels up into his hand.

“Patrick!” yelled Lutz. “We just told you those might be cursed!”

“Not to worry, I’m an ornamentalist, after all.”

“Do you have some kind of countermeasure in place to ward off potential curses?”

“Nope, but if I die doing what I love, I couldn’t ask for anything more!”

Lutz was completely lost for words at Patrick’s insane proclamation.

Considering how this guy is, if anything, the curse might be more afraid of him...

Ignoring Lutz’s disapproving sigh, Patrick took out his loupe, a type of monocle, and carefully looked over the jewels. “This appears to be an emerald—or rather, a variety in the same class of jewels. It isn’t strictly an emerald per se, but it is unmistakably something of similar value.”

Gerhard picked up the remaining jewel. It seemed as though everyone had just completely given up on treating them cautiously. “It looks high-quality enough to use in enchanting.”

With that, they had confirmation from two skilled craftsmen; however, they both seemed somewhat disappointed as well.

When Lutz asked them what was bothering them about it, Patrick started by saying that it was just a kind of feeling he got, then said, “I mean, if you asked me if it was pretty or not, I’d say it was pretty. But no matter how I look at it, it just feels like something else that’s taken the shape of a jewel.” Sure, it looked like a jewel, but it felt entirely different.

Maybe they really had been made from some kind of curse. If someone was offering human lives to produce those jewels, the Count wouldn’t be able to look the other way.

“I guess we’ll just have to look further into everything...” Gerhard let out a huge sigh. At the moment, he only knew two things for sure. First, while they didn’t know all the details, it was certain that something strange was happening in the labyrinth. And second, he would yet again have to put off his sabbatical to a later date. “I’ll go report everything to the Count. Claudia, you keep digging into the sale of these jewels. And Lutz, I’m sorry, but I think it would be best if you accompanied Ricardo on his next visit to the labyrinth as well.”

“You guys know that I’m a blacksmith, right?”

“Yeah, and I’m an enchanter. Right now, our domain lacks the resources to get caught up in semantics. We’ll need every person we can get, so give it up.”

“That does sound pretty convincing coming from you...”

“Right? Anyway, we’ve already boarded the ship, so we’ll just have to see where the winds take us.”

“I’d rather try to swim away while I can...” The last thing Lutz wanted to do was go back into that labyrinth, but it seemed there was no other choice. He would also be lying if he said that he wasn’t a little bit curious as to how this mystery was going to unfold. He didn’t want to leave all the work to Gerhard and Ricardo either.

“By the way, Ricardo, when adventurers retrieve jewels from the labyrinth, where do they usually sell them?” asked Claudia.

“They offer to buy them at the bars that are frequented by adventurers sometimes, but the service charge is quite high, so people often try to avoid that. Adventurers who have connections with merchants will sell directly to them, and I just sell them to the Count for the most part.”

“Connections with merchants, huh?” Claudia figured that there might be a strong connection between whoever was making those jewels and the merchants who were buying them.

After investigating the flow of the suspicious jewels, Claudia figured out that it was Tubris Trading Company that had been putting them into circulation. The company had a relatively long history within the Shander domain, but as of late, it had been losing influence within the local market to its competitors.

Claudia paid a visit to the trading company to have a chat with the man in charge, but when she arrived, a servant turned her away immediately.

“The master is very busy, I’m afraid...”

Claudia recognized that just turning up at their door and asking for a chat was pushing it a bit, so she asked the servant when the master might be free.

“It’s difficult to say for sure. The master is often traveling around the country, you see,” the servant said evasively.

That’s interesting...

Claudia was the wife of the Count’s personal blacksmith, and she made sure to let the servant know as much. At a time when so many jewels were being used to enchant weapons, she was an incredibly valuable connection to make. There was no way that a trading company that was down on its luck wouldn’t want to get her on its side.

“Sorry to disturb you, then. I’ll check back at a later date,” said Claudia. There wasn’t any point in sticking around longer than that, so she decided to head back for the time being.

As she walked home, she went back over all the information that they had collected until then. It was Tubris Trading Company that had been selling the suspicious jewels. She had checked this by asking several of the town’s enchanters, so there was no mistaking it.

It seemed that the enchanters had been ordered not to disclose the source of this influx of jewels. However, after receiving a visit from a pretty woman with the Count’s backing and a few bottles of black pepper in hand, they opened up pretty quickly.

She asked one of them why he had been told not to say anything about it, and he said, “They told me that if other people in the same line of business were to find out they were selling them so cheaply, it would be a huge headache for everyone.”

Merchants generally negotiated to maintain consistent prices across the board. To lower the price of something so significantly was seen as an attempt to underhandedly get ahead of the competition.

Their excuse checked out, though she was hardly convinced.

Claudia had a look at one of the jewels that an enchanter had purchased from Tubris Trading Company. While she wasn’t exactly an expert in appraising jewels, it seemed similar to the one Lutz had brought back, anyway.

Tubris Trading Company was selling the jewels at a reduced price on the condition that anyone who purchased them would keep quiet about them. They also seemed like they didn’t intend to do any business directly with the Count. The three craftsmen of the Shander domain weren’t so much as approached by the trading company, after all.

Is the trading company aware of the fact that there is something dark behind the production of these jewels?

It seemed likely.

Claudia would have really liked to ask around to see which adventurers were selling the jewels to the trading company, but if you grab a lizard’s tail too firmly, it just sacrifices it to get away. The trading company would say that they were entirely unaware of the dark nature of those jewels and were just another well-meaning victim of the incident. It wasn’t a crime for merchants to buy jewels from adventurers, after all.

She wanted to extend her walk a bit to really work things out in her head, so she changed directions and set course for the city gates. However, as she was walking, she passed a woman in worn-out leather armor, one who appeared to be an adventurer.

Claudia stopped in her tracks. It wasn’t unusual to see an adventurer in the walled city, but what caught her attention was the woman’s scent.

First and foremost, she smelled rancid. It was the same blend of mold and rotten flesh that had clung to Lutz when he returned from the labyrinth. He had said that he washed the smell off in a river afterward, but it wasn’t the sort of odor that would come off so easily. She’d had him thoroughly scrub his body from the top of his head straight down to his asshole.

The second thing Claudia noticed was the hint of perfume attempting to cut through the stench. While nobles used perfume all the time, it wasn’t something that a peasant could just use whenever they pleased, especially for adventurers, the social outcasts of the world.

Perhaps she just had an unusual amount of money to her name? Opening up the possibilities even further, Claudia figured the woman might be meeting with a person of higher status, wanting to hide the stench of the labyrinth as much as possible. She would have to be meeting with someone powerful enough to warrant using such an expensive item, as well.

Claudia wanted to look back, but she felt Love Letter through her clothes to calm herself down. If she were to look back, the woman would likely notice. Adventurers had keen senses for that kind of thing. It was dangerous for an amateur sleuth like her to let her guard down and take a peek.

Never misjudge when it’s time to back down; that’s one of the ironclad rules of business.

Claudia went around a market close to the city gates, bought a few things that she didn’t even need, and returned home.

***

“So, what did that woman have to say?” Tubris asked, sinking into a sofa in his spacious quarters.

While Tubris was the name of the trading company, it was also the name that was passed down through the generations to every head of the company. He had forgotten his real name long ago.

Tubris was a bit over fifty years old. He sat there, stroking his unkept beard anxiously.

“She just said she was looking to introduce herself,” said the servant calmly.

The man had served Tubris’s house since his father’s generation, and Tubris could have sworn that he hadn’t aged a day in the past thirty years.

When a merchant came to greet another, it was never just to say a simple hello. It was to assess what they could gain from each other and to create an opportunity for further business negotiations.

“When it comes to craftsmen, it’s not unusual for their wives to have their balls in a vise. It’s not strange for a merchant to want to introduce themselves either. There is one thing that concerns me, though...” The servant cut himself off there, waiting for Tubris to speak next. It was similar to how a teacher would await a response from one of his students.

“Why now, of all times, right?”

Tubris counted on his fingers. First, she could have approached their trading company because of its recent success. Second, she could harbor some suspicions as to where the jewels were coming from. Third, it could all just be a coincidence.

“Do you think it could really be a coincidence?” asked the servant as if he were enjoying the little thought exercise.

Tubris wanted to scold him, asserting that it wasn’t the time or place to be making a game of things, but knowing how that man was, he knew it would be pointless.

“Well, coincidences do happen. If you are too swayed by suspicion, you can end up chasing them like a dog chases its tail. It’s a fool’s errand,” said Tubris.

“However, I don’t think it’s productive to write everything off as a coincidence from the get-go either.”

“In that case, let’s proceed as though we’re under some scrutiny. If nothing comes of it, then we can rethink the possibility that it’s all a coincidence.”

The servant gave Tubris a satisfied nod. “Also, Rouge came by this evening.”

From the sudden motion of his eyebrows, you could tell he was displeased by the news. “I have no intention of seeing her. I’ll leave it up to you guys to deal with it all.”

Rouge was the female adventurer who always brought them large amounts of jewels to sell. She also claimed to be Tubris’s daughter, a child of one of the mistresses that Tubris had thrown away when he got bored with her.

Tubris had no recollection of this. Of course, he didn’t care to remember every woman he had thrown to the curb. He really tried to dig through his memories, but nothing was coming to him.

Even still, Rouge had said that she wanted to be of some use to her father. She had found a magic item that could turn the life force of human beings into jewels deep within the labyrinth. She proposed that they could use it to get rich.

To be honest, the thought of relying on some strange woman who claimed to be his daughter felt a bit off. Shoving humans inside a giant pot and turning them into jewel-eyed zombies felt even more bizarre. However, he didn’t have any choice but to accept Rouge’s proposal.

Tubris Trading Company had been operating in the red for the past several years. Becoming desperate, they branched out into several other business ventures, but none of them got off the ground.

The reason that Tubris’s quarters were so spacious was that he had to sell off every single painting and statue that once adorned it.

He couldn’t let the trading company end with his generation. Without any other way out, he shook the devil’s hand.

They sold most of the jewels to the enchanters of the city. After being used as a catalyst for enchanting, the jewels would shatter and turn to dust, without any way of returning them to their original form.

As for the jewels that they had used to make rings or necklaces, they had merchants go and sell them in different domains to avoid the eyes of the Shander house.

Things were going smoothly. Still, if they continued down that path, there would come a time when everything came to light. If it were found out that they were selling cursed jewels, they wouldn’t be able to avoid criticism from the public. They could even be arrested by the church and burned at the stake.

After they built up sufficient savings and their business got back on track, they would have to find some way to get rid of Rouge, along with that magic item of hers. When that time came, would Tubris really be able to slit the golden goose’s throat? He wasn’t sure. He felt as though he might be dragged along by his greed forevermore. However, if he misjudged when it was time to pull away, all that would be waiting for him was his own downfall.

“It’s just until we can make something besides these jewels profitable. Just until then...”

Tubris didn’t have a specific number in mind as to what he would consider profitable, though he didn’t realize that himself. Or perhaps he just didn’t want to admit it.

Chapter 6: A Pure Red Confession

My mother had an unfortunate habit of overspending. Even though she had no steady source of income, she would buy opulent jewels, pretty clothes, and all kinds of cosmetics. When she heard of a new beauty trick, she would run around town spending money as if it were as abundant as air.

When a certain wealthy merchant broke things off with her, she was given several hundred gold coins as a parting gift. However, by the time I was fourteen, her savings had run dry. Any ordinary mother and daughter would have been able to live a good life on that small fortune alone.

According to my mother, it wasn’t wasteful spending—it was an investment. She firmly believed that if she were to look even prettier, then Tubris would come back to her.

Even after she had depleted her savings, she showed no signs of slowing down. She put herself into debt with anyone who would lend to her and bought new clothes that she would barely wear. She didn’t even stop her spending when we could hardly afford to eat anymore.

I had to work. As a young woman without any connections or formal education, there were only two lines of work that I could realistically pursue. I could be an adventurer or a prostitute. I did both.

During the day, I made my living as an adventurer, and when night came, I would put on some skimpy clothes and stand on a street corner. My chastity was taken by some middle-aged guy with rancid breath. He paid me five silver in exchange, so I suppose you could say that he didn’t cheap out, at least.

After working myself half to death, I would return home to find that my mother had collected some new clothing, along with some new debts. Those days played on repeat.

One day, as I was trying to sell off some of the clothes gathering dust in my mother’s wardrobe, she got furious and hit me. She said that she needed those clothes for when Tubris came to take her back, that the wife of a wealthy merchant couldn’t be wearing rags.

At that time, my mother’s face looked red and swollen, like that of some kind of goblin. It wasn’t the face of a woman whom a wealthy merchant would accept as a mistress or a second wife.

“I’m sorry, mom...” I apologized reflexively. Seeing my mother reduced to something so pitiful, pathetic, and sad, I sat there and wept as I repeated my apology endlessly.

No matter how many times she hit me, I could barely feel it. She was nothing but skin and bones at that point. The only thing to break was my heart.

She must have recognized that she had gone too far that day, because the day after, she came home with some new clothes as a present for me. The money that I had hidden deep inside a trunk had disappeared.

I had reached my limit. No matter how hard I worked, the money would slip through my fingers like fine grains of sand. I continued living only because I didn’t have a compelling enough reason to die. That was all.

Then came one peculiar morning. I still don’t fully understand what brought it on. I had slept in a bit and woke up after the sun had risen. When I got up, I saw that my mother was preparing our breakfast. My mother, who for more than a decade hadn’t done anything except dress herself up, was making me breakfast.

She greeted me with a kind smile and called me by my name. The light shining in from the window illuminated her profile. At that moment, she looked radiant.

That was why I decided to kill her while she was still beautiful.

My eyes wandered to her terribly thin neck. After years of training as an adventurer, it seemed as fragile as a twig to me. I grabbed her head from behind and quickly twisted her neck. With a little pop, it easily snapped.

I’m sure that my mother had no idea what had even happened. I was relieved that I was able to end her life painlessly.

“Aren’t you glad, mom?” I looked down at my mother’s contorted face with a smile. When I think of my mother, I will forever see her as she was that morning, smiling and beautiful.

***

I no longer had to worry about the money I made suddenly disappearing. I was free, liberated from it all. However, I couldn’t ignore the hole that had opened up in my heart either.

More than just for the money, I sought out danger in the labyrinth. Only when I put myself in that kind of danger was I able to completely forget about my past.

To be concise, the environment of the labyrinth was awful. There was mold, waste, and rotten flesh, and the stench of it all would mix in the air, clinging to the body of anyone who entered. It felt as though it would enter each pore of my body. Once, I scrubbed my skin until it bled, but the smell remained.

Maybe it really did work its way deep into my skin, or perhaps I was merely hallucinating it. I wasn’t quite sure either way. What I did understand was that I was no longer fit to live in a world that was touched by the light of day.

There were days in the labyrinth that I hardly encountered any monsters. With a little bit of luck, there were times the labyrinth could be kind as well. I found the staircase to the lower floors rather quickly, and before I knew it, I was on the fifth floor. There, I found a mysterious and spacious cavern. It was almost like a shrine to a heathen god.

Our party of four investigated the shrine, but we were unable to determine its age or even the identity of the object of worship. None of us had the opportunity to get an education. That was why we had no choice but to put our lives on the line as adventurers in the first place. Of course, none of us was able to read ancient runes.

In the middle of the shrine was a large pot, big enough to easily fit two grown adults. When I touched the pot, I could hear a voice reverberating from inside it.

“Form a covenant with me. I will bring you a fortune that you could not spend in a lifetime.”

I looked around. The voice was quite loud, but it seemed as though my party members couldn’t hear it.

“Don’t worry about them. You’re the only one who can hear me.”

I looked inside the pot. Even when I held up my torch, the inside of it was pitch black, as if it were filled with darkness given form.

“Why did you choose me?” I asked.

“Don’t be so full of yourself. There is no special reason it had to be you. I simply spoke to you because you were the first to touch the pot. It is as though I randomly threw a stone and it happened to hit you. Nothing more than that.”

The demon of the pot. As I have no other name to call it by, I will refer to it as such. The demon ridiculed me, but I didn’t feel any irritation. My emotions had stripped down to the point of numbness by that time. I fully recognized that I was being insulted by the demon, but I thought nothing of it.

“What do you say? Will you form a covenant with me?” asked the demon, seemingly amused. However, it appeared less interested in me personally than in how such a foolish human would respond.

I couldn’t believe its promise of a bottomless fortune without further proof. My mother had also received an amount of money that most would consider infinite for all intents and purposes, but it seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye. That was just how money was.

I was curious how big a fortune the demon was talking about.

“All right, then. Let’s do it.”

“That didn’t take you very long,” said the demon. “I like that. The ones who win in life are the ones who quickly pocket opportunities for success before anyone else can.”

“What do I have to do?”

“Are you able to kill your party members for the sake of money?”

The demon surely meant it as some grand moral dilemma, but I felt nothing of the sort.

“I can easily just walk over there now and stab them in the back. What do I do after that?”

“Throw the freshly killed corpses into the pot. In about thirty minutes, their souls will be processed into stunning jewels.”

I acted before the demon had even finished speaking. One of the men had grown bored of looking around the shrine and was yawning defenselessly. I slipped behind him and drove my knife into his neck. Blood spurted from the open wound, and the man fell to the ground.

One of the other party members turned around to see what the commotion was, so I thrust my sword through his mouth. I could almost feel each individual tooth breaking as it pierced through him. The tip of my sword stuck out of the back of his head, and he died soon after, his mouth still around my blade.

I couldn’t quite pull my sword out of his skull, so I grabbed the sword that was on his waist.

The last remaining woman had only just realized what was happening and let out a scream. She had a look on her face that said, “Why? How could you? I don’t understand!”

I was actually rather close to her compared to the other party members. At least, I think we were close. That’s not important anymore, though.

The woman swung around her metal staff in a panic, but there was no way that she would have been able to hit me in my strangely calm state.

My sword pierced through her throat almost as if it were being sucked into that very spot. The woman opened and closed her mouth as though she were trying to say something, but it didn’t take long for life to leave her eyes. I would at least like to think that she died painlessly, but I’ll never be sure.

The room was deafeningly quiet. I was all alone in that underground shrine. The demon in the pot was no kind of company, and the only other humans, my onetime comrades, were now just empty vessels.

While it was a bit of a struggle, I managed to lift the first man I had killed into the large pot. Even with him inside, all I could see was pitch-black darkness swirling around. I heard the faint sound of chewing, as though whatever was inside was eating the man. I simply stood there and waited for it to finish.

When the noises finally subsided, I saw a hand wrap around the edge of the pot. The man who I was sure I had killed crawled out of it, but looking somewhat different from how he had been in life. His skin was the color of soil, and it looked as though two large jewels had been shoved into his eye sockets.

“He is now an undead puppet that will obey your every command. If you remove the jewels in his eyes, they should sell for a good profit; however, he will return to being just another corpse.”

Tempted by the demon’s words, I reached my hand out to the walking cadaver. I shoved my fingers under his eyelids and pulled out the jewel, ripping it from the optic nerve. The man fell on the spot, nothing more than a spent shell.

In my hand was a pure red ruby. The demon now had my interest. With that pot, surely I could get my life back. A smile naturally came to my face.

My name is Rouge. I’m the sort of woman who looks best in a red as vibrant as blood.

Being able to control those undead puppets was something that proved to be more useful than I had originally imagined. They would walk through the labyrinth and carry any corpses that they found to the pot all on their own. All I had to do was wait at the shrine. When there were too many puppets around, I would rip the jewels from their eye sockets and let them finally die for good.

I would take their soulless corpses down to a lower floor where the monsters would cleanly eat any of the evidence. What a gloriously convenient food chain it was down there.

At my feet was a mountainous pile of jewels. Each and every one of them was so gorgeous that it would steal your breath away, but when you piled them up like that, they looked like little more than cheap trinkets.

At first, I brought one or two jewels at a time to bars that were frequented by adventurers. That way, I wouldn’t draw too much attention to myself. However, the money I got from that felt minuscule in comparison to what I could get from selling that mountain of jewels. I just had no good way to sell them. I was once again reminded that I was at the very bottom of the country’s social hierarchy as an adventurer.

Adventurers were always armed and spread around the stench of the labyrinth wherever they went. While they did the important job of killing off monsters before they could become a problem, the average citizen didn’t look at them very favorably. In reality, it wasn’t rare for adventurers to start trouble within the city walls, so I couldn’t really blame people for thinking that way.

I needed a partner in crime, one who wouldn’t care about the suspicious origins of those jewels. At that moment, the name of my father happened to pop into my head. The father who threw my mother to the side after getting bored with her, the father whose face I had never even seen.

I had always done my best not to get involved with him, but I was unable to stifle my curiosity entirely, so I had looked into Tubris Trading Company on several occasions. It seemed that the company was on the decline; however, to simply blame everything on the incompetence of the current Tubris head felt reductive. He was an incredibly unlucky man. If anything, it was impressive. He could probably flip a coin, call heads, and end up getting tails ten times in a row. Then, the very second he decided to call tails, it would finally land on heads. That was the kind of man he was.

One year, he purchased an enormous amount of wheat only for the next harvest to be the most bountiful in ages, causing the price of wheat to take a nosedive. He sold it all off as quickly as he could and pulled out of the wheat market entirely, and the next year, war broke out. Wanting to capitalize on the opportunity, he bought up weapons and armor, but all of his competitors were thinking the same thing, meaning he had no choice but to sell those at a loss too.

Figuring that it would take a vast amount of wood to build forts and siege weapons for the war effort, he bought up as much wood as possible. This time, he sold it for an incredible profit of several hundred gold coins. It was enough to make up for every one of his recent failures, with a little extra change. The carriage that was carrying that fortune passed through a mountain road that had become unstable due to the unusual amount of rain in the area and ended up falling off a cliff.

No matter what he did, no matter how he did it, it would never go his way. Surely, he must have been at a complete loss as to what path he should take next. Still, he never abandoned his duties as the head of the trading company. He deeply respected his ancestors and parents, and he never lost the will to protect the company that they had passed to him.

How very convenient that was.

I paid Tubris Trading Company a visit and requested to speak with the person in charge. Even if I weren’t a filthy adventurer, there was no way that they would have allowed some random person to see the master of a large trading company without an appointment. I opened a leather bag that I had stuffed with jewels and handed one of them to the servant I was speaking with. He flew off like an arrow and quickly returned with permission from his master to see me in.

The power of wealth was not to be underestimated. It was a moment that also taught me why it was so hard to put an end to all the bribery in the world.

I was brought to a reception room and saw my father’s face for the first time in my life. I had heard that women were often attracted to men with a dark side, but I didn’t feel anything mysterious or dangerous from Tubris. If anything, he just seemed like a tired old man who had been thrown around by a turbulent life. I almost felt disappointed. My mother had spent all that money and plunged my life into chaos all for his sake? If he were at least a bit more attractive, I could have understood it.

“I heard that you have a profitable idea to share.” The irritation in Tubris’s voice was evident. He looked down at my waist, but there wasn’t an ounce of lust in his gaze. It was almost as if he were trying to decide whether he was going to throw away the chair that I was sitting on after I left to get rid of the smell.

I opened my bag as wide as I could and placed it on the table. Tubris must have heard about the jewels from his servant, but seeing all of them in real life was different. He couldn’t fully conceal his surprise.

“I would like you to buy these off of me. Not as just a onetime deal either. I will prepare more for you on a regular basis.”

Tubris’s face turned serious. He calculated how much profit he could squeeze out of that amount of jewels during the current increase in demand and what he could do with those profits as well.

I had to admit that when displaying such a sharp focus, he looked a bit more fitting of admiration, but not so much as to warrant a woman throwing her life away for him.

“Where did you get hold of these?”

“I have an independent source.”

“I’m going to need you to be a bit more specific than that. I can’t be caught selling stolen goods, after all.” He proceeded carefully, refusing to leap with greed at the fortune in front of him. The person who brought him that proposal was just a suspicious-looking adventurer, so being a bit cautious was the obvious course of action.

I told him that I had found a way to turn corpses into jewels deep down in the labyrinth. While it might have been a bit hasty of me, I wanted my father to shoulder the burden of my crime with me. I couldn’t have him washing his hands of me after turning a bit of a profit.

My father looked at me as though he were staring at a monster. “Do you think that doing such a thing is forgivable?”

“And just whose forgiveness do you imagine I need?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s not like it’s against the law or anything.”

Anything that occurred inside the labyrinth was outside of the Count’s prosecutorial jurisdiction. You could kill and steal as much as you liked, and no one could say anything about it. They couldn’t afford to do an investigation of the labyrinth every time something like that happened, after all.

If a noble were to get harmed, then it would be another matter altogether, but a noble would never approach such a filthy cave in the first place. Also, it would only be adventurers being killed. It wasn’t like I would be abducting citizens of the city from their homes and sacrificing them in the labyrinth. No matter how many social outcasts were killed, the people who held political influence in the domain would hardly bat an eye.

“But if it were found out that these jewels came from the eyes of zombies, our company’s reputation would—”

“All you have to do is keep quiet about it.”

Tubris, again, took some time to think. There was no point in pretending to be conflicted about it, though. Considering the current state of the company’s finances, he had no choice but to accept.

I looked around the reception room with intent. “I think the atmosphere of this room would really benefit from a few paintings on the wall, don’t you?”

“You little...” Tubris shot me a sharp glare.

He had sold off many beautiful and expensive works of art that he had inherited from his ancestors. I figured that he would probably have had a few of them hanging around the room until recently, so I decided to prod him where it hurt the most. It looked like I was right on the mark.

“All right, I’ll accept your proposal. But I want to know why you decided to bring this matter to me specifically. Did you think that a company on the verge of collapse would be more willing to get its hands a bit dirty?”

“That was a factor in my decision, but that’s not all. I chose you because you are my father.”

“What did you say?” Tubris looked more troubled by my declaration than surprised. I told him about my mother, whom he had thrown away long ago, but his expression didn’t change.

“I’m afraid I have no recollection of any of that.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Are you sure you don’t have me confused with someone else?”

“Don’t you dare try to deny my mother’s tragedy!” I brought my fist down on the table with a bang. The atmosphere of the room grew so heavy that it was hard to breathe.

“It just doesn’t add up. I would never give away a few hundred gold coins as a parting gift. That’s about how much some nobles give as a dowry! It’s normal to give around a couple of dozen gold for such a thing. Even if I gave her a little extra as an apology for getting her pregnant, it wouldn’t have been nearly that much.” Tubris counted on his fingers. It seemed he was trying to remember all of the mistresses he had thrown to the curb. My mother mustn’t have been that memorable to him.

The man was a scumbag. I hadn’t expected him to welcome his daughter with a warm and tearful embrace, nor had I even wanted it. Still, I hadn’t expected our first meeting to leave such an awful taste in my mouth either. I wished that he had at least spared an apology to my mother. Apparently, that was asking for too much.

“I’ll get the money,” said Tubris before leaving the room.

After some time, a servant walked in carrying a large bag of coins. Since then, I had come back there several times to sell my jewels, but it was always his servants who had spoken with me. I didn’t see Tubris’s face even once after that day.

I passed a certain woman in town who caught my attention. We didn’t exchange any words. I didn’t even get a good look at her face. I don’t know who she was. She seemed to notice my scent, but didn’t turn back to look at me. It felt as though there was some kind of intention behind that.

There was no point in overthinking it, though. It wasn’t like I would be able to keep up what I was doing forever, anyway. Still, that woman left a certain unsettled feeling in my heart, as if she were the harbinger of ruin.

Chapter 7: A Wish upon a Star

Claudia had figured out that it was Tubris Trading Company that was selling the suspicious jewels, but there was little action that they could take for the time being. There wasn’t any specific problem with the jewels themselves, and no one had filed any kind of official complaint about them either.

They had no choice but to collect direct evidence that someone was turning people into bejeweled zombies.

It was as lively as ever near the entrance to the labyrinth, and in the mix of rowdy adventurers was a rather peculiar group of three men.

“Who would have thought the day would come when I’d be delving back into this labyrinth...” said Gerhard, looking as though he hated the idea from the bottom of his heart.

“You’ve been down there before?” Lutz asked, a bit of hope coming to his voice. If Gerhard were familiar enough with the labyrinth to guide them, that would have been reassuring.

“That was over forty years ago. I’m sure the labyrinth has changed a good bit since then, so don’t expect much out of me.”

No one was really sure how it worked, but the labyrinth changed little by little every day. A wall would pop up where nothing was blocking the way before. The whole labyrinth would even expand at times.

There wasn’t even a way to keep updated maps in circulation among active adventurers. There was no way that memories from forty years ago were going to help them. They might even have the opposite effect.

“How far did you go down in your time?” asked Ricardo, failing to hide his curiosity.

“Down to the tenth floor.”

“Whoa, that’s awesome!”

Lutz didn’t have a good feel for how deep that really was, but based on Ricardo’s excited reaction, it must have been quite an achievement. However, Gerhard didn’t seem proud of it. On the contrary, it seemed like he was holding back some kind of painful memory.

“It’s nothing to boast about. The deeper you go, the darker it all gets. That’s it.”

Ricardo seemed like he still had countless questions to ask him, but Gerhard didn’t appear to be in the mood to answer a single one of them, so he held himself back.

“It’s a shame that Djoser couldn’t have come along too.” Lutz did his best to change the subject.

Djoser used a shortsword that was specialized for that kind of close-quarters combat, so it would have been helpful to have him with them, but he was off guarding the Count on a trip to a different domain.

“Well, he’s got his own job to do, after all.” Gerhard showed them a grin.

“If you want to think of it that way, there’s only one actual adventurer here. What about our jobs?”

“Shall we just leave Ricardo here and head back, then?”

“Wait! Don’t go!” Ricardo panicked, not at all amused by Gerhard and Lutz’s banter. If they really decided to head home, he didn’t know what he would do.

“We’re just joking around. If the Count gets back home and there’s still been nothing done about this whole thing, I’ll have to share some of the blame too,” said Gerhard.

“Do you get some kind of sick kick out of teasing and scaring the youth?”

“Absolutely, I do.”

“You’re one messed-up geezer, you know that?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fully aware.”

After Gerhard admitted to it without a hint of remorse, there was little more that Ricardo could say.

“Anyway, I understand that you might be a bit concerned that we weren’t able to get the whole gang together, but exploring the labyrinth isn’t exactly a numbers game.”

“Are you talking about that one party of ten that fell for a spear trap and ended up becoming tombmates?”

“They all got skewered onto the same spear, huh? That’s one dumb way to put it, though!”

Gerhard and Ricardo shared a hearty laugh. It seemed that most adventurer jokes just revolved around the deaths of other adventurers. Lutz still found it hard to keep up with that kind of dark humor.

It wasn’t like they were making light of those deaths, though. Even if people called you trash, scum, or said that your existence had no value, there was nothing more important than your own life. That didn’t mean that adventurers didn’t mourn the deaths of their comrades. They simply lived a life that was far too close to death, leaving them no choice but to fight that darkness with levity.

It was a burden that all adventurers had to bear.

“All right, then. Shall we get going?” From the way Ricardo spoke, you could tell he still wasn’t very enthusiastic about the idea.

The other two slowly stood to their feet. They had hoped that a messenger from the Shander house might suddenly arrive on horseback and tell them that the problem seemed to have solved itself, but life was never that easy. It was as pointless as hoping gold coins would suddenly fall from the sky.

The three men set off on their journey through the labyrinth. No matter how many times they ventured down, none of them could get used to the awful stench.

This time around, all three had lanterns dangling from their hips. They would likely have to engage in more vigorous combat, so they wanted to keep both hands free as much as possible.

Canine-type monsters attacked first. Then came werewolves, a giant lizard, and a pink hippopotamus doing a handstand. The three of them managed to fight off all of them with relative ease.

“Would you guys be open to forming an official party and switching over to adventuring for a bit?” asked Ricardo, only half joking. Honestly, it didn’t sound like a bad idea.

“Absolutely not.”

“I couldn’t think of anything worse.”

Lutz and Gerhard answered without even a moment’s thought. They were craftsmen at heart. If there were at least some good materials they could get their hands on, they might think about an occasional trip down there, but there wasn’t anything in that labyrinth that would make it worth the effort.

Gerhard furrowed his brow. “I’ve said it before, but if you’re looking for party members, hit up a bar.”

“I don’t want to come down here with complete strangers...”

“Are you saying that the man who lived through the experience of being used as bait for a small army of returning soldiers is afraid of a bit of chitchat with some strangers?”

“Look, everyone has stuff that they’re good at and stuff that they struggle with! That’s just how people work!”

“Don’t go trying to rationalize it, you loon.”

It wasn’t exactly the most enthralling of conversations, but it was way better than enduring the silence. Quietly walking through that darkness for hours on end would be enough to drive anyone insane.

They took the staircase from the third floor to the fourth floor. They were now entering the realm that was out of reach for the majority of adventurers out there.

“If there is something fishy going on, it’ll be from here on out,” said Lutz anxiously.

Gerhard gave him a little nod in return. “If we assume that they are carrying down corpses from the first three floors, there’s a good chance it’ll be down on the fourth or fifth floor, whatever it is...”

If it were any lower than that, carrying a corpse down from the first couple of floors wouldn’t be very efficient. Also, considering that someone would need to bring all those jewels back up to the surface to sell to Tubris Trading Company, the very farthest they could regularly travel back and forth from would likely be the fifth floor. Of course, they had no proof to support that assumption. It was all just an educated estimate.

“There’s probably not much point in blindly searching through this entire floor, so should we maybe make our way down to the fifth floor, then if we don’t see anything strange down there, head back up for now?”

Gerhard considered Lutz’s idea for a moment. If they were going down any deeper than the fifth floor, it would likely require further preparation. At the very least, they’d need Djoser with them, even if they had to drag him there with a rope around his neck.

Gerhard felt a twinge of pain in the back of his head. He was being prodded by some old memories. In his youth, he had proceeded deep into the labyrinth, emboldened by their relatively smooth descent. As a result, his comrades lost their lives. It was a memory from a long-gone time, but his guilt had not lost any of its potency over time.

“You’ve got a good point. It’s important to set limits here.”

Would that mean they might not get to the bottom of it all on that trip? It probably wasn’t good to think that way. It was at least better than adding another regret to his list. Adventurers didn’t make it very long if they didn’t display a bit of cowardice.

By the faint light of their lanterns, they saw a wobbly figure up ahead. It seemed human, but something was off. It was carrying another person.

“Is that a normal person or one of those bejeweled zombies? Should we just kill first and ask questions later?” Ricardo suggested, placing his hand on the grip of his sword.

It would be ruthless, but they were in the labyrinth, a place unable to be governed by law. Ricardo’s idea was probably the most efficient way to go about it. Gerhard didn’t seem to be in opposition to it either.

Still, Lutz shook his head. “Let’s at least give them a word of warning.”

“And throw away an opportunity to get the drop on them?”

“They have their hands full anyway. With the three of us together, surely it wouldn’t pose an issue. Also, if it does happen to be a normal person, we can maybe get some information out of them.”

“All right, that does make some good sense. Now tell me the real reason you’re against it.”

“If it does turn out to be a normal person, it’ll leave a bad taste in my mouth.”

“Well said.” Ricardo let go of the grip of his sword and walked a few steps forward. While there would be no legal ramifications either way, he wasn’t a big fan of meaningless killing either. “Hey buddy, you dropped your wallet!”

The figure stopped immediately on the spot. He was probably just reacting to the loud noise, not to Ricardo’s warning about the wallet. He slowly turned to face them, and the light of the lanterns reflected in his glistening eyes. The man dropped the person he was carrying and went to draw his sword, but before he could, Gerhard slipped past him as quickly as a gust of wind.

The man’s intestines plopped to the ground through the open wound in his stomach. The shambling figure tried to move, but Lutz delivered a clean strike to his head with Shirayuri. The man was split down the center from his head to his crotch. Before either half of his body could fall to the ground, they were engulfed in flames.

“You certainly don’t work in half measures, do you?” said Ricardo quietly, his voice tinted with awe and a twinge of terror. The profile of Lutz’s face, illuminated by the blazing inferno, made him appear to be some kind of man-eating demon.

Gerhard flipped over the body of the man that the zombie had been carrying with his feet. It might have seemed a bit rough, but they still had no way of knowing whether he was an enemy as well. Fortunately, the man didn’t have jewels in either of his eyes.

“Save...me...” the man begged, blood dripping from his neck.

If they applied pressure to the wound, they might have been able to stop the bleeding long enough to help him, but that would only be possible in a place far safer than where they currently were. In the rancid environment of the labyrinth, the wound would likely start to fester. More than anything, they weren’t confident they could even get back up to the surface with an injured adventurer in tow.

Gerhard looked at the man, his eyes frigid. With a single slash, Gerhard’s Ittetsu cleanly cut through the man’s neck, and his life painlessly came to an end.

“Did that guy say something?” asked Lutz.

“He asked me to put him to rest.” Gerhard’s voice was devoid of emotion.

“Oh, right...” Lutz wasn’t going to press the issue any further. Even if he were to know the full truth of the matter, it wouldn’t change anything. Lutz was an amateur when it came to adventuring, but he understood the rules of men.

“All right, let’s get moving.” Gerhard walked forward, taking the vanguard. Perhaps he just didn’t want to show his face.

After following for a few steps, Lutz turned back and drove his axe into the man’s body. It was immediately wreathed in flame, illuminating the dingy walls of the labyrinth and the three men they encompassed.

When a person lost their life, that was the end. Even still, if that corpse were to be used for some dark purpose or eaten by monsters, that would have been regretful, indeed. At the very least, Lutz wouldn’t have wanted such a terrible fate.

“Do you think that I did something unnecessary?” asked Lutz, still not entirely sure of the etiquette among adventurers in those kinds of situations.

Gerhard didn’t answer the question directly, but rested his eyes on Lutz’s axe and said, “That one turned out to be a fine weapon.” By that, of course, he meant to say that it was exactly how that axe was meant to be used.

The three men again ventured forward, faint smiles forming on their lips.

***

As they descended to the fifth floor, the miasma got thicker and thicker. It felt like a realm that man was never meant to set foot into. But they couldn’t exactly bid the labyrinth farewell just yet, although it was a hard reality to embrace.

The monsters that appeared on the deeper floors were more ferocious and further removed from the natural order of the world. A werewolf might have two heads, a giant spider might have a dog’s head, or the hind legs of a horse might be replaced with human limbs. They were abominations that had strayed so far from life that they forgot the very fundamentals of it.

And then there were the three of them, cutting down all of those pitiful creatures without thought as they went. Just what did that make them? As soon as the question entered Lutz’s mind, he shook his head to drive it away. If he were to start losing his sense of self, he would surely become good friends with all of the other poor souls down there.

I don’t even want to think about it. One should choose their friends wisely.

Lutz decided that the best way to maintain his sanity was just to keep talking. “Gerhard, after coming down this far myself, I have no idea how you reached the tenth floor.”

“Forty years ago, this place didn’t sprawl as wide as it does now. The miasma wasn’t as prevalent either. It’s changed a hell of a lot, I’ll tell you that.”

“So the gates of hell are spreading wider and wider, huh? If it’s some kind of joke, I’m not laughing.”

“If they ask us to investigate why this labyrinth is growing next, I’m going to decline flat out. No matter how much anyone begs,” added Ricardo, holding on to his forehead as if he were trying to ease a nasty headache. He felt like he might go crazy too, if he didn’t talk about something.

“That being said, it’s not like they could rely on the knights’ order to investigate it either. If you were to ask those guys to take a dog on a walk, the dog would end up coming back home first without them. That’s how incompetent those dimwits are.”

“Well, at least that doesn’t have anything to do with us. When you say that you want to use every person at your disposal, it sounds like a productive thing, but if you don’t even try to educate or discipline those people, it’ll come back to bite you. Honestly, I don’t give a shit anymore.”

“Is it fair to interpret that as a criticism of the Shander house?”

“If he’s got a complaint, he can come down here and tell it to me himself. I’ll listen.”

The three of them let out a dry laugh. That would certainly be asking a bit much of him.

Progressing farther through the fifth floor, they came to a sudden opening. It was a spacious cavern that appeared to be some kind of shrine. It felt as though the space was sacred and cursed all at the same time.

“Well, boys, it looks like we’ll be pulling overtime today,” said Ricardo, fairly certain that they had found the source of their problem. Perhaps his humor was just a bit too sophisticated for the other two, as they didn’t so much as chuckle. It was lonely at the heights of genius.

Gerhard at the vanguard, the three of them moved forward.

“It seems like this is a shrine to a different god than the federation worships.”

When Gerhard had been down there forty years ago, there was nothing like that on the fifth floor. Ricardo also shook his head to say he had never seen it before either. Did such a huge place really just pop up one day? It would have been nice if the mysteries of the labyrinth could at least be in line with common sense.

There was no noise except for their footsteps reverberating in the cavern, but they felt as though someone was hiding nearby.

Right in front of them was an altar of some sort, and on top of it was a giant pot. Perhaps most notably, dozens of glimmering stones were scattered around the pot, all of them precious jewels.

They had found what they were looking for, but when they approached it, a figure emerged from behind the pot.

“Can I ask you guys not to touch anything, please?” said the woman in a tired voice. She was rather young, with short red hair and heavily worn leather armor. It was exactly how Claudia had described the suspicious woman she had seen in town.

“What do you think?” whispered Gerhard to Ricardo.

“I think she’s my type.”

“Sorry, it was dumb of me to even ask.”

The woman’s unsettling eyes fixed on Gerhard. Draped in metaphor, Rogue’s eyes were glass; equal parts disturbing and fragile.

“Well, I guess there’s no harm in asking... Just what are you guys doing all the way down here?” asked Rouge.

Lutz took a step forward. “On behalf of the Shander house, we are here to investigate the recent increase in adventurers going missing, as well as the cursed jewels that have been making their way into the market. Sorry, but I’m afraid we’re going to have to arrest you and take you back up to the surface as a person of interest. No matter how you answer, we’re going to break that pot into pieces.”

It seemed that there wasn’t any room for negotiation. They sure were a hasty bunch.

“I’m sorry, I can’t let that happen.” It almost sounded like she was in a trance. She picked up one of the jewels on the ground and threw it in their direction.

A jewel so big that Lutz couldn’t even imagine what he could buy with it rolled to their feet.

“Why don’t you guys drop this whole investigation thing and join up with me? I don’t know how much the Count is paying you, but I can promise you so much money that it’ll look like spare change in comparison. Actually, I wouldn’t even be against letting the Count get in on this too. Why don’t we use this little wealth generator to overthrow the whole country?”

It was just too unreal a proposal. Seeing her laugh wildly while spitting such nonsense, Lutz couldn’t think of her as being in her right mind.

“It does hurt a bit to turn down a proposal from such a lovely woman, but...” Lutz gave his axe a quick spin and directed the blade at her. “I have a policy of finishing any job that I accept.”

“What a boring policy...” Rouge tapped her fingers against the pot.

A hand reached up from inside the pot and grasped the rim. Next came another hand, then a face with two glimmering eyes. The undead adventurer crawled its way out of the pot and plopped to the floor like a newborn, its skin the color of dirt.

That settled it. It was the pot that was turning adventurers into bejeweled zombies, and it was Rouge who was the mastermind behind it all.

It was a truly horrifying sight. It was an insult to adventurers everywhere and a desecration of life itself. The three men all gripped the handles of their weapons tightly.

“If that’s how it is, we’re going to have to kill you right here.”

“That’s more like it. I prefer to keep things as straightforward as I can. However...” With a wave of Rouge’s hand, her undead puppets began to emerge from every corner of the shrine.

There were at least twenty of them. Gerhard clicked his tongue. How could he not have noticed them when there were so many? Of course. They were already dead. There was no way that he would have felt any kind of presence from them.

“I won’t waste my time saying goodbye. After you all become my puppets, we can live happily together.” Rouge swung her hand down, signaling the zombies to all attack at once.

The three men arranged themselves in a triangle formation. A zombie that was wearing an iron breastplate swung its sword at them. The zombie’s swordsmanship felt somewhat familiar to Lutz. In life, was he perhaps a returning soldier? Lutz imagined how he might have been forced to retire from the battlefield, driven away from his home, and finally ended up becoming an adventurer, only to be forced to fight them in that cursed form. What reason could there be to trample on the sanctity of one’s life?

It was easy to just say that life was cruel at times, but Lutz didn’t want to accept that. There was no way it was acceptable, no way it could be forgiven. His heart filled with anger and grief, Lutz put all of his power into a swing of his grand axe, Shirayuri. The blade cut straight through the zombie’s sword and continued through its arm, setting the zombie ablaze.

Without even a moment’s pause for simple sentiments, another zombie trampled over the burning corpse. Lutz somehow managed to block the zombie’s sword, but in the next moment, a short spear came flying at him from the side. Lutz twisted his body out of the way, but the tip of the spear grazed the side of his abdomen, drawing blood.

Faced with attack after attack, the three men drew closer to each other as the zombies encircled them. At that rate, they would be completely overwhelmed. Lutz felt the fear of death build up from deep within his stomach, but he somehow managed to withstand it.

“Both of you have your mental fortitude items on you, right?!” yelled Ricardo. It seemed that he had some kind of idea in mind to overcome their incredible disadvantage.

“Only three seconds! That’s all, you hear?!” said Gerhard while parrying the zombie’s strikes. It seemed as though he might have injured his right arm because his movements were slower than usual.

“Do it!” Lutz agreed. If they were able to kill the puppet master, maybe the zombies would fall like stringless marionettes. That was the hope, at least.

Ricardo stuck the sword he had been using into the ground. Next, he drew the bewitching katana Tsubaki and pointed the tip of the blade directly at Rouge, who had been watching them struggle from her place on the altar. Ricardo concentrated as hard as he could.

With that, she would end her own life. Or at least, that was how it was supposed to have gone.

Not a single thing happened. Rouge tilted her head at Ricardo, clearly confused as to what he was trying to accomplish.

It wasn’t possible. There was no way. Why wasn’t it working? Questions began swirling around Ricardo’s brain. He wanted to give it one more try, but his comrades were at their limit.

Lutz kicked away a zombie that was trying to lunge at Ricardo.

Ricardo couldn’t burden the other two any longer. Swallowing his own shame, he sheathed Tsubaki. The tsuba and saya met with a pronounced ka-chink, sounding Ricardo’s frustration and desperation on his behalf.

“Sorry, I don’t know what’s going on!” said Ricardo with a pained expression as he pulled his sword back out of the ground.

The three of them could not know that Rogue was already under the demon of the pot’s curse, and so Tsubaki’s curse was unable to overwrite it.

“I don’t think that going after the root of the curse is a bad idea, though!” yelled Lutz as he swung his axe horizontally, trying to put some distance between him and the zombies.

Ricardo swung his sword as well, but his movements were far from sharp. His exhaustion was finally starting to show. “Don’t go trying to cheer me up. I’m not that fragile!”

“You think I have the time to worry about your feelings right now?” Lutz overtly looked to the side as if he were hinting at something.

Ricardo followed his line of sight. Lutz was looking directly at the ghastly, cursed pot, which was practically overflowing with thick miasma.

Lutz lifted the axe above his head with one hand. He was winding up to throw it, his aim fixed on the giant pot.

“Lutz, there’s no way that’s going to work—it’s insane!” Ricardo yelled so loud, it sounded closer to a shriek.

There was no guarantee that he would hit his mark. Even if it did hit, while a normal pot would easily crack, they had no idea how durable a cursed item like that would be. The only reason the three of them were able to hold back the horde of zombies attacking them was the quality of their weapons. To purposefully let go of one of those weapons was as far from sanity as you could get. If Lutz were to fall, the remaining two of them would be completely overwhelmed.

However, Lutz didn’t stop. He showed them a grin and yelled, “If I were sane, I wouldn’t have followed you guys down here in the first place!”

One of the zombies lunged at Lutz, but Gerhard cut off its legs with his beloved katana, Ittetsu. There was a strong look in his eyes that said, “Do it.”

“Haa!” Lutz yelled as he hurled the axe. Because the center of weight was in the head of the axe, it spun steadily toward the cursed pot, letting out a whoosh as it traveled. Next, the sound of metal clashing against metal reverberated in the cavern, loud enough to make you want to cover your ears. The sharp and weighty blade of the axe stuck into the side of the pot. A crack formed in it, but that was all.

Was it not enough?

Despair welling inside of him, Lutz picked up a sword that one of the zombies had been using. They didn’t have the option of giving up there.

At that moment, something came flying through Lutz’s field of vision. It was Ricardo. He bounded directly toward the giant pot and kicked it with all of his might, his leather boot pushing on the back of Shirayuri.

The crack grew larger, creeping up the pot and branching off in different directions.

“There’s no way!” Rouge had just been confidently watching it all unfold until then, but her eyes were now wide with shock. It wasn’t just some pot—it was a cursed item. Surely it wasn’t something that could be destroyed so easily.

However, there was much that Rouge didn’t know. That axe, made by the great blacksmith Lutz, was forged with the hope of putting the souls of true warriors to rest. It was far too strong a match for a curse that defiled the lives and deaths of those poor adventurers.

The zombies that had been defending Rouge went to attack Ricardo while he was defenseless, but at that moment, the pot shattered into pieces.

“Aaaaagh!” Not just one of the zombies, but every single one of them in the shrine screamed out in agony. Blood poured from their eyes as they continued to wail.

“Hey, what are you doing? Get them!” Rouge approached one of the zombies.

The zombie shifted its focus to Rouge, clasped the grip of its sword, and cut deeply into Rouge’s flesh.

“Huh?” Fresh blood spurted from her with each heartbeat, jetting to the side. It was a fatal wound.

All at once, Rouge’s undead puppets fell to the ground as if their strings had been cut. In the unsettling quiet, the only thing that could be heard was the frantic breathing of the three men.

“Is it...over?” asked Gerhard quietly.

Lutz and Ricardo still hadn’t processed everything that had just happened, so they were unable to say for sure either.

The jewels that were scattered about the shrine were all engulfed in black smoke. It soon dissipated, but when it did, what remained were no longer the brilliant jewels that they once were, but eyeballs.

There were so many of them scattered around without care. Even the pile of jewels by the pot was now a gruesome sight.

“Just what is all of this?”

It didn’t feel like they were witnessing something that was born from the world of man. Lutz and Gerhard felt glued to the spot, and Ricardo quickly rushed back over to them.

“Aha... Ha ha ha...” A woman’s laugh rang out. Moving only her head, Rouge took in the sight, cackling between burdened breaths. “Aha ha... I did it. It came true. My wish came true! Who would have thought it would be granted like this? It’s wonderful. I did it...mom...” Rouge had a twisted smile on her face as she coughed up blood and drew her final shallow breath.

Careful not to step on any of the eyes, Lutz slowly walked over to pick up his axe. “At times like this, do we need to bring back the head of the criminal?”

Gerhard shook his head, a terribly exhausted look on his face. “No, it shouldn’t matter. Go ahead.”

Lutz nodded, then thrust his axe into Rouge’s corpse. She had died with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. No one would ever understand the reason behind that smile or those tears. Her corpse lit up in flames.

Next, Lutz did the same for all of the other adventurers who had been used as her puppets. He couldn’t have left them there, crying tears of blood. It took a while to cremate all twenty of them, but it was all that he could do for those poor souls. Lutz continued swinging his axe.

With all the corpses burning so brightly, the shrine seemed to be illuminated by the midday sun. The three men put the light to their backs and began their journey back from hell. They felt the floor trembling and heard the shrine collapsing behind them, but not one of them turned back to look.

***

At a certain noble’s mansion, a woman’s shriek rang out in the middle of a dance party. She had ripped the necklace she was wearing off her neck in a panic and thrown it to the floor. No, it was far too gruesome to call a necklace. It was simply five eyeballs connected by a chain.

Until just a moment ago, they had been opulent jewels. Suddenly, they were engulfed in black smoke and changed into human eyes.

The woman fell backward onto her rear and began hyperventilating. The woman who came over to see what the matter was also had a pair of eyes dangling from her ears. It seemed she hadn’t yet noticed that her earrings had changed.

In another place far removed from that mansion, the light disappeared from the runes of an enchanted sword, and blood began to leak from the engraving.

Chaos broke out simultaneously all around the country. People began looking for whoever was behind it all. The people who sold them those cursed jewels, the people who used them to craft jewelry, the people who used them for enchanting... All in all, hundreds of people were brought in for questioning.

Every last one of them took the stance that they were just victims in the case. Of course, they had no reservations about pointing the finger at the one who had sold the jewels to them originally. Following the supply chain up to the top, it didn’t take long to reach Tubris Trading Company.

Tubris’s mansion had been burned to the ground. The rioters pushed their way in and took all of his household goods before setting fire to everything. The rioters, of course, felt no guilt. Tubris was a vile man, and anything he had was purchased with blood money, so they had no qualms about stealing it.

The vast majority of the rioters had zero connection to the incident with the cursed jewels. Why they were so angry was anyone’s guess, but that must have been their idea of justice.

The servants all grabbed what they could and quickly ran away. Most of them had figured that something like that could happen soon, so they had a good idea of what they were going to steal from the mansion on their way out too. Perhaps you could say it was good fortune enough that nobody was killed.

Tubris took a trusted servant with him and navigated through the forest by the dim light of a lantern. The forest was dangerous at night, but with the rioters closing in on them, they were left with no choice.

“Why did it come to this? Why is this happening to me?! Damn it!” For quite some time, Tubris had been spouting the same complaints.

His older, most trusted servant just stared at him with a frigid gaze.

“If I went to the Count and explained everything, do you think he might forgive me? I was simply tricked by that vile woman—I’m a victim too!”

The servant sighed at Tubris’s stubbornness. “Tubris, you knew from the start that those jewels were made at the sacrifice of human lives. They don’t call people like that a victim; they call them an accomplice.” There was no longer an ounce of respect in the servant’s voice.

“Well, she sure as hell didn’t tell me that they would go back to being eyeballs! If I had only known, I would have never gotten involved...”

As the servant continued to stare at Tubris, his eyes became tinted with contempt. Tubris was not a lucky man. But more than that, he lacked the integrity to take responsibility for his mistakes.

Ah, that’s right. Tubris Trading Company has truly come to an end.

If Tubris had been a man worthy of leading the company, the servant would have followed him to the pits of hell. But now, he didn’t want to even breathe the same air as Tubris, the man who brought it all crumbling down on himself.

The servant turned his back to Tubris as if to hide the fact that he was holding back tears. “This is the end, Tubris. I will be leaving you now.” With those few parting words, the servant ran away as fast as he could.

Tubris tried to call for him to wait a moment, but the servant disappeared deep into the forest.

“Damn it! Why does everyone betray me in the end?!” screamed Tubris, kicking the trunk of a tree. Giving in to his anger, he kicked the tree over and over. All he gained from that outburst was an injured foot.

“Oh, to hell with it! As long as I have money, I can start over somewhere new. If I just have the money...” Tubris grumbled with emotionless eyes. He reached into the bag he had grabbed from the mansion in the chaos of it all, but was met with an unexpectedly slimy sensation. “Huh? Aaah...” Tubris fell to his hands and knees.

He really had lost everything. Throughout his life, he had blamed all his past failures on bad luck and vented all his frustrations on women. Knowing full well that it was all a scam, he got his hands dirty with those cursed jewels. Life had come to collect on all of his debts at once.

Tubris stayed there on the damp ground, his mind completely blank. After a while, he saw a faint light leaking through the trees. Had his servant come back for him?

He frantically waved his lantern, which had almost run out of oil, to draw their attention. “Hey, I’m over here! Right here!”

The light drew closer. However, it seemed quite bright for a lantern. What emerged from the brush wasn’t his servant at all, but a man who seemed as tall and thick as the grand trees around them. He held a torch in his left hand and a terrifying axe in his right.

Having found his prey, the man gave Tubris a menacing smile and lifted his hatchet. If he were to bring the head of a major criminal like Tubris to the authorities, it would earn him a fine reward.

From Tubris’s terrified face, you could tell exactly what was going through his mind.

Yet again, my judgment has betrayed me.

***

Lutz and the others finally managed to return to the walled city after their excursion in the labyrinth. Gerhard and Ricardo both seemed to be at the very limit of exhaustion itself.

It was the middle of the night when they returned. The gates to the city had long been closed, so there were quite a few groups of people camping outside of them. Sleeping outside near a city like that was basically asking to get robbed by bandits, but if it was right by the city gates, it wasn’t too dangerous.

Gerhard called out in front of the gate, and the guard who was on night duty popped out to see what the commotion was about. Luckily, he was an acquaintance and let the three of them through. It was at times like that when Lutz and Ricardo remembered what a powerful thing it was to be an advisor to the Count.

When they entered the city, the three of them each weakly waved a hand.

“See ya.”

“Yep.”

“Uh-huh.”

That was all they could muster. They certainly didn’t have the energy to seriously discuss whatever was to come next.

When Lutz got back to his workshop, Claudia was waiting for him with a bar of soap in her hand and a scary grin on her face. She had a tub full of water all ready for him as well.

“Lutzy, it’s time for you to get a wash!”

“Um, you see, I’m really tired right now, so I was wondering if we could just put it off until tomorrow...”

“And let that smell attach itself to our bed? As the protector of this household, I’m afraid I can’t allow that to happen.”

“Oh... Okay, then...”

“Feel free to fall asleep in the tub. I’ll take care of all the scrubbing.”

Lutz was fully aware of how awful he smelled, so he couldn’t fight Claudia on the matter. He didn’t want their bed smelling like rotten flesh and waste either. He had already been through Claudia’s washdown once before.

With nimble hands, Claudia covered Lutz from head to toe in bubbly soap. Before taking a bath, it was always that way. It was a pain getting all scrubbed down before going in, but once you entered that warm water, you could die without regrets. Being scrubbed all over by the dainty fingers of a beautiful woman didn’t feel bad either.

“So, do you feel like you were able to get a hint as to what your perfect katana would look like?” asked Claudia while rubbing shampoo into Lutz’s scalp.

Ordinarily, even if there were some kind of disturbance in the labyrinth, it certainly wouldn’t have been Lutz’s job to deal with it. He went along with them partly because it was hard to turn down a request from a friend, but also because he thought he might figure something out if he were to engage in real, life-or-death combat. He had tagged along on a whim but soon got himself caught up in a much bigger mess than he had bargained for.

“There isn’t much to be learned from killing, I guess.”

“You’re only just understanding that?”

“No, the rational part of me knew it just fine, but it’s a different thing entirely to learn it through experience.”

With a sizable splash, Claudia poured a bucket of water over Lutz’s head. The water even soaked the earthen floor beneath them.

“It isn’t something worth seeking out, but even understanding that, I know that there are times when you have no other choice. What I’m looking for is a katana that can help me combat the unfairness in the world.” Lutz turned toward Claudia and gave her a confident nod. Then directly after... “Achooo!” He let out a huge sneeze. While he was trying to act cool, the reality was that he was still standing there, wet and naked.

“Right now, I don’t think it’s a katana you need, but a towel and some underwear.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Lutz sniffled up some dangling snot and started laughing.

It really hit him at that moment that he had finally returned home.

***

Count Maximillion Shander sat in his private quarters, listening to Gerhard’s report. He had gone over to his associate Marquis Eldenburger’s domain to help him open up trade with the federation, but he was soon called back to his castle.

Gerhard told Maximillion about how all of those jewels turned back into eyeballs, about the ominous shrine that appeared in the dungeon, and how much larger the labyrinth was compared to forty years ago.

There wasn’t a single bit of it that put Maximillion’s mind at ease. However, he didn’t want to take his frustrations out on Gerhard either. If he were to allow himself to be controlled by his irritation and tell Gerhard to get out or reflect on his actions, that man’s face would surely light up with glee. He’d just say, “Right, I guess I’ll just be returning to my normal job as an enchanter, then!”

Finding a retainer that could so quickly get to the root of a problem and accurately report on it wasn’t an easy thing to do. No matter how difficult it was to listen to that report, taking it all in and figuring out some way of dealing with the problem was Maximillion’s job as the leader of his domain.

I know how you work. Don’t think I’ll be letting you go that easy, you old geezer.

Maximillion took a deep breath. No matter how many problems there were, he would just have to deal with them one at a time. “First, about those jewels changing into eyeballs... While the Shander domain won’t be held responsible directly, our reputation has surely taken a bit of a beating.”

“Tubris’s head has been strung up in the town square with a note detailing his crimes for all to see.”

“He’s still a criminal who came from our domain. There’s no way to avoid people making some kind of connection. I’ve heard that one woman who wore those jewels on a necklace has been suffering from convulsions every time she sees something that reminds her of the incident.”

“Why don’t we send her Tubris’s head, wrapped up in a nice box and bow? That should put her at ease.”

“Gerhard, I believe that most people only think of doing such a thing as a declaration of war.”

“Say what you will, but sweet vengeance can heal most wounds, I find.”

“There are some days that I really question your value system and morals...” Maximillion waved his hand as if to say, Enough of that, anyway. Slight fluctuations in one’s public image were inevitable for a noble. There wasn’t any point in fixating on it. “So, next... Um, you said that the labyrinth is expanding, there was a creepy temple down there, and there was some kind of cursed pot? If we don’t do something about it all, what impact would you expect it to have?”

“I have no clue. I will say, however, that it isn’t something you should be taking your eyes off of.”

“That sounds about right. But who will I charge with investigating it? You and Lutz both have jobs of your own. The hero, Ricardo, is also really only supposed to be killing off the monsters that intrude upon our domain. We can’t keep him down in that labyrinth forever either.”

“Let’s leave it with the adventurers of the city. If we provide them with a nice reward and offer a bit of material support, they should gladly lend a hand.”

“And then, we’ll just ask them to feed us any information they collect in return?”

“That’s the idea. If I were to give it a name...” Gerhard took a breath while thinking. “We can call it the ‘let’s all dive down into the labyrinth’ campaign. What do you think?”

“I mean, I guess it’s to the point, but isn’t there anything better?”

“Is there something wrong with it?”

“Put yourself in my shoes. I’m the one that’s going to have to announce the plan to all of the other retainers, after all.”

It seemed that Gerhard failed to earn Maximillion’s approval when it came to his naming sense, anyway. He certainly was in no position to laugh at Lutz’s inability on that front.

“Now that’s settled, I’m sure you know what I’m going to say next, right?”

“I’d imagine that you’re wondering where all of that money is going to come from.”

“You really do get me, Gerhard. It’s flattering,” said Maximillion in an exhausted monotone.

It always came down to that. Even though Maximillion knew exactly what he wanted to do, everything that needed to be done, it was always money that stood in his way. In the world of man, there were plenty of people who were led astray by its abundance, but even more who lost their way because they lacked it. Tubris’s case supported that idea as well.

“What about the blacksmiths in town? Have they been able to produce any decent katana yet?” Maximillion wanted to make his domain into a famous producer of those katana and sell them around the country.

However, Gerhard answered with a sunken expression. “They make decent souvenirs.”

It didn’t seem like they were on the level that people would journey from far and wide in search of fine weaponry, anyway. It would still take a while before it could become something that really enriched the domain.

“To make matters worse, with this whole eyeball incident, many of the katana that had been enchanted recently started to ooze blood and lose their enchantments, so the overall public image of katana has gone down too.”

“Gerhard, do you think I did something to deserve all of this? I thought that I had been working pretty hard recently... You know, with the peace talks and the kidnapping thing? I know that I’m far from a perfect lord of this domain, but I am trying. What is with all of this lunacy?”

His image among the nobility had suffered. The popularity of the one thing he was trying to make his domain famous for had gone down. On top of it all, there was still something strange happening in that labyrinth. These problems were not all born of Maximillion’s mismanagement. Still, he had no choice but to take responsibility for those issues and find a solution.

“When you invite misfortune, it seldom shows up alone.” Maximillion leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. The only one he could truly blame for it all was somewhere up there.

“Your Grace?”

“Sorry, I’m fine. I have no intention of running from my responsibilities. Tell me what I should be working on first. I just have no idea where to start anymore.”

Gerhard thought quietly for a moment. To be honest, he wasn’t all that sure either. “First, while the issue with the labyrinth is important, it’s not something that can be solved overnight. Let’s just keep an eye on it.”

“Makes sense.”

“Why don’t we start with trying to procure more funds? If we just had the money, about eighty percent of our problems would basically solve themselves,” said Gerhard, slowly giving up on speaking with any hint of formality.

Maximillion didn’t have the energy to reprimand him for it, though.

“Let’s give those blacksmiths a bit of a kick in their asses and tell them that they need to be able to mass-produce some decent katana as soon as humanly possible,” continued Gerhard.

“What are we going to do about their decline in popularity? Even if we mass-produce them, it won’t mean anything if no one is willing to buy them.”

“Regarding that matter... Well, it’s not like we don’t have options.”

“Go on, then. What can we do?” asked Maximillion, frustrated by Gerhard’s evasiveness.

“We could just give a grand katana as an offering to someone among the noble elite and receive some words of praise from them.”

“Not a bad idea. Who would you recommend we give it to, then?”

If Gerhard were to say what was on his mind, it would no doubt lead to more trouble. There wouldn’t be any way of avoiding it. Even knowing that, he no longer had the option of staying quiet.

Gerhard put on a nervous grin. They really were in a desperate situation. “Between the King and the Pope, who would be your preference?”

Chapter 8: The King’s Rose Garden

The three craftsmen of the Shander domain, plus another, all gathered in Patrick’s workshop. If you were to ask why they chose there, of all places, it was simply because Gerhard was getting tired of the constant, cramped meetings at his workshop.

Truthfully, Patrick’s workshop was also the most prepared to receive guests out of the three. They were brought to the reception room and even offered tea with some sweets. No one was going to be getting that kind of treatment at Gerhard or Lutz’s place.

“We’re going to make an offering to the King.” The very first few words of the meeting were a shocking revelation from Gerhard.

After being called there by Gerhard, Lutz figured that it could only be a sign of trouble on the way, but it was an even crazier request than he had imagined.

Lutz and Patrick both gave Gerhard an unamused stare.

“Don’t look at me like that. If you want to blame someone, blame Tubris and that one red-headed girl. You see, the other day I was having this conversation with the Count...”

Gerhard told them everything he had discussed with the Count before. He explained how the jewels turning back to eyeballs caused chaos among the upper class and that the overall opinion of the Shander domain and katana were both on the decline. He told them that, in order to improve their reputation, he had devised a plan to give a katana to someone with great influence in hopes that they would praise the fine craftsmanship.

“At first, we were considering the Pope as well, but we don’t really have any connections to the clergy. The Count has met with His Majesty on several occasions, so that just seemed more doable.”

“A katana might also make a strange gift for the Pope...”

Claudia chortled at Lutz’s comment. “Everyone has a soft spot for treasure.”

Lutz figured it probably wasn’t good to dive too deep into that conversation, so he just gave her a little nod and stopped there.

“If we are making a katana to give as an offering to His Majesty, I can foresee one major problem,” said Patrick, disheartened.

Gerhard turned over to him, some worry showing on his face. “Go on, then. Say it. Just try to keep my aging heart in mind as you do.”

“A little while ago, we made that katana for the king of the federation, right? If we are going to give a katana as a gift to our own king, wouldn’t it cause some kind of incident if it weren’t at least better than that one?”

“That’s easy to say, but it’s not like we can make something greater than Amaterasu on a whim.”

It wasn’t a matter of skill. The katana that was given to King Kassandros used a jewel so enormous that it was deemed to be the only one of its kind on the continent as a catalyst for the enchantment. There was simply no way to get their hands on something equivalent to or greater than that jewel. If they had access to something like that, then they wouldn’t have had to get dragged into that whole mess in the first place.

“Should we maybe just change course here? We can give something to Marquis Eldenburger or someone similar and make do with that for the time being.”

Gerhard thought over Claudia’s proposal, but then he shook his head. “I’m afraid that Marquis probably doesn’t have the kind of sway that we are looking for right now...”

“Really? I mean, to most people, a marquis is pretty high up there in society, don’t you think?”

“Let’s just say that he’s not the kind of guy that’s beloved by all. If anything, he probably has more enemies than he does friends.”

“So, you’re saying that we can’t use him as a mascot to improve our reputation, then...”

“Claudia, isn’t there a bit of a...milder way you could put that? Please?” After giving a little word of warning to Claudia, who had grown rather critical of noble society, Gerhard continued. “We’re looking for something that can turn all of this around on its head all at once. If we are looking for someone with great influence that isn’t associated with any particular faction, it’s got to be His Majesty.”

But that left them back where they started. They were going to give a katana to the King, but they had no way of making something greater than Amaterasu. Gerhard looked around the room and noticed that Lutz seemed to be quietly working something out in his head. Lutz often had his head in the clouds, but he always tackled issues concerning blacksmithing with a keen eye.

“I’m still not sure if it’s possible, but let’s at least lay out the conditions that we’d need to meet to be successful with this project,” said Lutz.

The eyes of everyone in the room were drawn in by the uncharacteristically serious tone of Lutz’s voice.

“We’d need to give it a five-rune enchantment. I’d say that’s the main hurdle that we’d absolutely have to overcome.”

“Sure, that’s the part that could make anyone understand how incredible it is at a glance.”

“Also, the reason that we needed a jewel as crazy as the Iris of the Overlord was because it had to be a light enchantment. If we just enchant it with a different element or effect, we’d be able to pull off a five-rune enchantment without having to use the greatest of royal treasures as a catalyst. Of course, if we’re doing this for the King, we’ll still need some quality materials.”

“Although it’s still not exactly easy to get your hands on those quality materials at the moment...”

“Oh, but you already have everything you need, don’t you, Gerhard? You have those shards from the Iris of the Overlord,” said Claudia.

“What are you talking about? I sold all of those to Lutz, remember?”

“Hmmm... No, no, you’ll have to try harder than that. You’re a bad liar, Gerhard.” Claudia shook her pointer finger side to side.

“And on what grounds do you believe that I’m lying to you?”

“I know because you are a true craftsman, Gerhard. There’s no way that you would just let go of such a rare material as pink diamond shards without at least keeping a little for yourself. You still have a few shards that you were planning on using for a personal enchantment, right?”

With three sets of questioning eyes on Gerhard, there was nowhere to run. He was the one who brought up the whole idea in the first place, so he couldn’t really afford to feign ignorance and refuse to cooperate.

“I have around ten shards in my possession...” said Gerhard under his breath, defeated.

“Wow, you’re even greedier than I thought you were... Right then, if we have you use all of those, we should be fine.”

Gerhard’s eyes shot wide open at Claudia’s merciless proclamation. “All of them? That’s just cruel!”

“Just think of it as returning what you stole at the peace ceremony back to the royal family. Isn’t that all it really is?”

“I didn’t steal it! I just brought it home without telling anyone about it!” Even Gerhard understood that it wasn’t much of an argument. He looked around the room, eyes pleading for mercy. Was there really no other way?

Claudia shook her head as if to say, Give it up.

“Fine, I get it. We’ll use the shards of the Iris of the Overlord. That squares away the issue with the enchantment, anyway. If we’re really going to use up my whole stock, Lutz and Patrick, I expect you two to put your all into this project too. I don’t want anyone thinking that they’re an exception, okay?” After a final warning to the other two craftsmen, Gerhard stormed out of the room so as not to show the distress on his face.

Watching Gerhard close the door behind himself, Patrick still seemed somewhat anxious. “What kind of ornamentation is fit for a king, I wonder...”

When he did the ornamentation for Amaterasu, he at least had a theme in mind. He engraved the saya with designs that were in line with the aesthetics of a self-proclaimed ruler of the sun. This time around, he didn’t have anything like that to work with. After all, King Rathbard Wollscheid wasn’t even the sort of person who would swing around a sword himself.

“For a start, it’s probably best to just cover the thing in intricate gilding until it shimmers. After that, just inlay a bunch of jewels or something. If you used that special technique of yours to cut a bunch of jewels that shine with every color of the rainbow, not even a god could complain about receiving that as a gift.”

“Hmmm...” Patrick considered Lutz’s idea for a moment, tilting his head in thought. “You see, that technique is only really possible with things like earrings or necklaces, something where the surface area that gets exposed to light is relatively large. If I were to inlay them into a saya, I’m afraid that it would look like nothing more than an ordinary jewel.”

After explaining that much, Patrick’s eyes froze on a specific point. They had just been talking about the rainbow cut earrings, so Patrick’s gaze had naturally drifted over to Claudia, but for some reason, she was only wearing one of them. “What’s up with that?” Patrick pointed at Claudia’s ear accusatorially. He couldn’t stand to think that she might have lost one of his masterpieces through carelessness. Depending on her answer, Patrick thought he might even have to reconsider his relationship with Lutz and Claudia.

“You see...” Claudia apologetically explained how she had given the other half of the set to the third princess of the kingdom, Princess Listill. She told him that Listill had sold off all of her jewelry and accessories to create a place of belonging for all of the returning soldiers in the kingdom, so she decided to give away one of the earrings to her.

Hearing this, Patrick’s stern face melted into a warm smile. “That’s so precious...”

“What was that?”

“Sorry, if that’s the case, then I have no objections. If my earrings were used to create such a precious and adorable memory for both of you, I couldn’t be happier. I feel like my soul might be purified and ascend to heaven! Oh, by the way, I don’t want anyone to be crying at my funeral. If you would just be kind enough to place a single flower on my grave, I would be a happy man.”

Lutz and Claudia were left entirely clueless as to what set him off this time around.

“A single earring to represent a hidden love! This could be the next big thing! Oh, aime-moi tendrement!” screamed Patrick, contorting his body into a strange pose.

Lutz and Claudia just decided it was best to head home. Once Patrick got like that, human language could no longer reach him. The apprentices who saw them off all looked a bit apologetic, but Lutz reassured them that it wasn’t their fault.

“You guys have it rough, don’t you?”

The sun began to set, and Lutz and Claudia walked home through the gold-tinted streets of the town, smiling as they went.

“That guy... I swear I’ll never fully understand him,” said Claudia with a giggle.

“Well, no matter what form it takes, I really do respect people who can keep a little world all to their own.”

“Huh?” Claudia gazed over at Lutz’s face. She had thought he just meant it as some kind of joke, but it seemed that he was entirely serious. The expression on Lutz’s face wasn’t one of ridicule, but one of deep respect.

“To be honest, I wasn’t exactly overjoyed when I heard I’d have to forge this katana for the King, but seeing Patrick’s focus and enthusiasm, it just makes me want to give it my all too.”

“Oh, right. Well, if it helps your motivation, that’s a fine thing indeed.” Claudia tilted her head contemplatively. Craftsmen really were creatures that eluded comprehension.

***

Two weeks after the meeting at Patrick’s workshop, Lutz still hadn’t made any progress on actually forging the katana. While there wasn’t a set date that it needed to be completed by, letting time slip by without appreciable progress added to the pressure on Lutz.

It wasn’t like he had just been lazing about those past two weeks. He had forged several katana over that time, but he couldn’t call any of them a masterpiece. He hadn’t pulled any punches with them either. He had worked the steel with the utmost earnestness. They were good katana. They were beautiful and had a fine cutting edge, but that was all. All of them had a fine form, but no soul to embody it. You couldn’t feel the passion of a craftsman radiating from them.

To get a second opinion, Lutz brought one of the katana over to Patrick’s workshop, but Patrick looked it over and said, “Ah, this is pretty nice,” without emotion.

It wasn’t how one would look at a true piece of art, but just as something to sell off. Lutz wasn’t disappointed or frustrated by Patrick’s lackluster reaction, though. He took the honest criticism in his stride, knowing that Patrick was right.

In the end, Patrick’s apprentices constructed the saya, while an enchanter other than Gerhard did the enchantment, and Claudia sold it off for a decent price. In truth, Lutz felt a bit conflicted about selling a piece he wasn’t proud of for such a good price, but, at the end of the day, they were running a business. It was Lutz’s fault for not forging a better katana.

One day, Lutz and Claudia were sitting around a table in the living room.

“How the hell does one ominous incident lead to people losing interest in katana, anyway? I mean, it wasn’t just katana that lost their enchantments, right?” Grumbled Lutz, looking deflated.

Claudia returned a concerned gaze. “Our country doesn’t have any kind of cultural connection to katana, I’m afraid. It just happened to catch on as a trend for a while. Once people start to see anything negative associated with it, popularity will fall as quickly as it spikes.”

“And it’ll do so without the quality of the weapon even being taken into account, huh?”

“I’m sure that even you have things that you’d forgive an old friend for, but you’d never forgive a stranger for, right?”

Lutz had no choice but to accept that Claudia was speaking the hard truth. The kingdom just didn’t have a culture of katana. In the past, he had considered it a strength that he was the only one who held the techniques necessary to forge katana. However, it would go against his pride as a craftsman to complain about it now that it had turned into a weakness.

“Lutzy, I’m sorry about all this.”

“Hmm? What for?”

Claudia wore a gloomy expression, one that was so very uncharacteristic of her. “Holding that open demonstration for the other masters might have been a mistake, after all. If you were still the only person able to forge a katana, then their popularity wouldn’t have taken a hit like this.”

“What are you talking about? Who could have predicted something like this would happen? And if you are going to call it a mistake, dear, then I carry just as much of the blame for actually putting on the demonstration. If we couldn’t meet the demand for katana, then people would have eventually given up on wanting to buy one for themselves. I still think that is a pretty convincing argument.”

“There was always a risk that we would get caught up in another smith’s mistakes. It’s my fault for being so drunk on the giant scale of the plan that I failed to account for those risks.”

Lutz no longer cared about the problems with the Count, the King, or the sinking value of katana. The only problem he cared about was that Claudia’s guilt was so heavily weighing on her. What’s worse, it was all because of his inexperience and carelessness.

Lutz tried to speak to her in as bright a voice as he could. “It’s no problem—no problem at all. We already have a plan in place to fix their reputation, right? If the King can just put those nasty rumors to rest, it’ll be smooth sailing again.”

“But forging a katana that can be given to a king is still no easy feat, right?”

“About that, I think that we might be misunderstanding something pretty important here.”

“Misunderstanding?” Claudia tilted her head. What could they have missed?

“This time around, it’s not like the King has actually asked us to forge him a katana. The Count is just going to be giving him a katana out of the kindness of his heart or whatever. In other words, even if it turns out to be something that the King doesn’t like, we should at least be able to keep our heads attached firmly to our necks. Worst case, we just lose a little influence.”

“Well, when you put it like that, I suppose it isn’t as bad as the time when we only had one shot to make a katana for the peace ceremony.”

“Right? That’s why I think we should take it just a bit easier on ourselves. If anything, if I’m so anxious while hammering out that steel that wrinkles start forming in my forehead, then I have no chance of making anything good. I need a certain balance of tension and calm intent. That’s when I’ll do my best work. Yeah.”

Lutz had started with the goal of cheering Claudia up, but as he kept talking, he ended up cheering himself up a bit too. It was true that whenever he tried to forge that katana, he had been holding an unusual amount of tension in his shoulders.

“I’m sorry, Lutzy, for making you stay positive for my sake.”

“For our sake.” Lutz showed her a grin and stood up from his chair. It was like the motivation he had been looking for was surging through his whole body. If he got to work right then, he could make a masterpiece. That was the feeling that he got.

***

Lutz walked over to his workshop, cheerfully whistling as he went, and lit the forge. He quietly thought to himself as he sent air pumping into the forge with the bellows.

Right, what kind of katana shall we make today?

“Who cares if it’s supposed to be a gift for the King? That’s not the important part.”

Lutz had only really just seen King Rathbard Wollscheid in passing at the peace ceremony. No matter how important a figure he was, Lutz saw him as just some random old guy. If you asked Lutz to make a katana tailored for the King’s tastes, of course, that would be impossible.

Until then, Lutz hadn’t fully understood that most obvious fact of the matter. In hindsight, his desperation might have caused him to get tunnel vision.

No matter the theme he settled on, at the end of the day, he just needed to give birth to a beautiful masterpiece. When he was forging the peace offering to the federation, Amaterasu, he hammered his desire to correct the unjustness of the world into the steel. He certainly couldn’t say that he made it entirely with the federation’s king in mind.

“You know what, I might as well imagine that I’m making this one as a present for Claudia.”

That was just the mood he was in. It was like all the puzzle pieces floating around his mind were coming together one by one. This was going to be a good one; he could feel it.

A smile naturally came to Lutz’s face. Creating a masterpiece with your own two hands was the kind of joy that only a craftsman could understand. Lutz had chosen the life of a katana smith for times such as this.

Lutz checked that the forge had reached the correct temperature, then placed the tamahagane into it.

***

A few days later, Lutz brought his new katana to Patrick’s workshop, and Patrick looked the blade over while breathing erratically through his nostrils. To make sure he didn’t let his breath tarnish the blade, he held his mouth and nose with one hand. You could clearly hear the sound of his breath pushing through the gaps in his fingers, and it looked as though he were holding back his urge to lick the blade as he stared deeply into it.

He appeared about as unsavory an individual as someone could. If someone from the knights’ order were to see him now, they would surely arrest him on the spot. Actually, if they didn’t arrest him, it would likely be considered neglect of duty.

However, Lutz didn’t even consider Patrick’s behavior strange at that point. If anything, he looked at him with great respect.

I can always count on Patrick to recognize the value of a fine piece.

Lutz trusted Patrick’s appraisal, and watching Patrick’s reaction to his latest work put his heart at ease.

The blade was honed to a razor-sharp edge, yet there was a smoothness to it reminiscent of a girl’s bare skin. Even Lutz didn’t quite remember how he crafted something that had such tempting beauty.

“Wow, you’ve really given me a feast for my eyes here. I feel like my lifespan has increased by ten whole years,” said Patrick with a satisfied look in his eyes. He was breathing so hard through his nostrils that it kicked up some dust from the table. “I have to ask, though, are you planning on proposing to the King or something?”

“Um, why would you think that?”

“I just feel overflowing love coming from this katana.”

Lutz opened his eyes wide in shock. Why were both Gerhard and Patrick able to pick up on such things in his work? Was it just something that they attained over time as veteran craftsmen? Whatever it was, it was a realm that Lutz had yet to reach. Even if they were masters of different crafts, there was still much to learn from them.

“I want him to project his love for all the citizens of this kingdom. That was the emotion that I hammered into the steel.”

“You’re lying, right?”

“Of course.”

The two of them burst into laughter. Neither of them was dumb enough to expect love from a ruler.

Lutz wasn’t planning on staying to chat for too long, so he told Patrick that he would leave the rest to him and entrusted the katana to his capable hands.

The theme was love. Left with those words to think over, the gears in Patrick’s head began turning. He’d be able to make something great, that alone he was sure of.

***

“What the hell is this thing?”

Patrick had come by Gerhard’s workshop and handed him a katana with a fully ornamented saya. Gerhard narrowed his eyes as he inspected the work.

On the saya was the relief of several roses, intertwined with ivy and done up in plentiful goldwork. It was truly a wonderful piece of art. Gerhard was genuinely impressed that Patrick could create such a window to another world on such an unconventionally shaped canvas.

The only problem was that it was supposed to be a present for the King.

“Um, why did you go with roses?” asked Gerhard, addressing the elephant in the room.

Patrick returned a serious gaze. “Gerhard, why do you think that roses are so beautiful?”

“Huh? Erm, I haven’t a clue.”

“It’s because of the loving care that they are given as they grow. In other words, as we pour more and more love into them, they bloom bigger and more radiant.”

“Ah, right... So, what connection do roses have to the King, exactly?”

“Honestly, not a lot.”

“What was all of that nonsense, then?!”

Nearly every time Gerhard spoke to Patrick, he left with a headache.

“Lutz pretty much said the same thing, but the truth of the matter is none of us really know the King that well, anyway.”

“You’re not wrong there.”

Gerhard had been traveling all around the kingdom with the Count, but not even Gerhard was permitted to join the Count in his meetings with the King. As a result, he had only really caught a glimpse of the King’s face at the peace ceremony and exchanged a few simple words.

Though the comparison would be disrespectful, bordering on treasonous, King Rathbard Wollscheid was rather lacking in vigor when viewed next to King Kassandros. Gerhard would keep such thoughts to himself. Although it would also be troublesome if he were a bit too lively and got assassinated because of it, so maybe he had the right kind of balance for a ruler.

“I don’t know how to match the tastes of some random old guy, and quite frankly, I don’t care to. Therefore, I just tried to make something as valuable as I could.”

“That sure is a flippant attitude. Although it’s not like I know the guy any better, so I can’t really say anything either.” Gerhard drew the blade from its saya and found himself ensnared by its beauty. He had seen so many gorgeous blades as of late, but this was something truly special. Rather than merely holding beauty as a katana, it was more akin to staring out at a splendid view.

It felt thrilling, yet somehow immoral, like peeping on a fine woman as she bathed. Of course, Gerhard was probably just overthinking.

“Pretty raunchy, right?” Patrick gave him a knowing smirk.

“I certainly have never used that word to describe a katana.”

“I wonder if he was thinking about Claudia while he was making it,” Patrick mused.

“Well, for that guy, there isn’t anything in this world more valuable than her, after all.”

Thinking about a katana that stirs up those kinds of emotions, the bewitching katana, Tsubaki, comes to mind, though the katana in Gerhard’s hands was far different. At the very least, he didn’t feel like cutting into himself when he stared at this one. It was the sort of warm beauty that you could just stare at forever.

“So it started with the image of a woman, then a rose... What kind of enchantment would complement those sentiments? Moreover, it’s got to be something worthy of using those shards of the Iris of the Overlord on...”

“If you were to think of it like a word association game, the next word would probably be love or wine, I suppose.”

“And what exactly am I supposed to do with that? It’s got nothing to do with any enchantment I can think of.”

“Don’t overthink it. All you have to do is imbue it with your own personal taste. That’s how we always do our best work, right?” With that, Patrick stood up from his chair.

“What, you’re leaving already?”

“If an actor who has finished his part to play never leaves the stage, the curtains can never come up on the next act, after all.”

Patrick left the workshop behind him, and Gerhard was all alone with the katana. He felt as though Patrick had told him that he was free to do as he pleased and then just abandoned him in the middle of the wilderness. What the hell was he supposed to do with a katana that was made with the image of a woman and a rose in mind?

The basic enchantments that one could apply to a weapon were the four elements of fire, water, wind, and earth, as well as light and dark. Applying an elemental enchantment to a weapon could produce a wide variety of effects.

On the other hand, you could simply engrave the effect directly into the blade. You could increase its sharpness, reinforce its strength, or make it lighter and easier to wield, for example. While they were rather unusual, you could also enchant a weapon with charm, sleep, paralysis, or poison magic.

Of all of those, light and dark enchantments took several times the normal amount of mana, so they were off the table this time around. He had also previously made the mistake of enchanting a beautiful katana with a powerful charm enchantment, so he decided it was best to eliminate that possibility as well. Ordinarily, it was an enchantment that only really showed its effects when you sliced into an enemy, but the quality of the katana was so great that it turned into a terrifying blade that cursed all who came near it. He certainly couldn’t give something as dangerous as that to the King. If the worst were to happen, Gerhard would have to part with his head.

“I probably shouldn’t go with a wind enchantment either...”

If he were to engrave it with a five-rune wind enchantment, it would end up far too similar to the Count’s katana. No matter which one of them turned out to be the better weapon, it would put Gerhard in an awkward place. Gerhard wanted to go with something that would better protect his station.

“A woman, roses, and a katana... Not exactly a typical combination,” said Gerhard under his breath, unable to take his eyes off the blade.

Lutz and Patrick both just did whatever they wanted with the project. In that case, he would just have to do the same. An ominous smile spread across Gerhard’s face.

***

The next day, the usual members were all called to meet in the courtyard of the Count’s castle. Gerhard held the finished katana in his hands, and Lutz, Claudia, and Patrick watched him with bated breath.

There was a barrel of water that Gerhard had prepared beforehand. He drew the katana and pointed the tip of it at the barrel. Nothing happened. No, something was happening, but nobody could tell quite what.

Soon, they heard the faint cracking of wood, like the boards of the barrel were slowly breaking. Water began to pour from the cracks. It was likely a barrel that was made to store wine, so it wasn’t something that could be broken easily.

Gerhard remained completely still, the tip of the katana still trained on the barrel.

The boards began to snap one by one, and soon, the barrel had fallen to pieces, a large puddle of water forming around it. However, there even seemed to be something strange about how the water was spreading on the ground.

“Gerhard, what just happened there?” asked Lutz on behalf of everyone else.

Gerhard took a deep breath and sheathed the katana back into its saya. “To start, I have engraved this katana with an earth enchantment. I must say, the power of a five-rune enchantment and the quality of the Iris of the Overlord are not to be underestimated. This is some terrifying power,” said Gerhard, unable to contain a little chuckle. He was rather proud of his work.

If they were going with the theme of roses, he pretty much had to give it an earth or water enchantment. There wasn’t much deeper meaning behind the choice itself, but it turned out much better than Gerhard had imagined it would.

“An earth enchantment, huh? I don’t know, I just still can’t get my head around what the actual effect is,” said Claudia.

A fire enchantment could burn things, a wind enchantment could make things lighter or send out a shock wave through the air—all relatively easy-to-understand effects. However, when it came to earth enchantments, what did they really do? Did it send pebbles at your opponent or something? Honestly, it wasn’t a very popular enchantment. There certainly weren’t many who would go to an enchanter’s workshop and ask for one to be done on their weapon.

“One- or two-rune earth enchantments hardly do anything at all, but it’s the type of enchantment that suddenly becomes incredibly powerful when you put enough mana into it.”

“So, what actually happened to this barrel?” asked Patrick, picking up some of the pieces of wood.

“That barrel, you see, collapsed under its own weight. When you point this katana at something, the target becomes terrifyingly heavy, enough so that a normal person wouldn’t be able to move at all. After your enemy has been reduced to something akin to an unmoving practice dummy, all you have to do is walk over and cut them down. Heh heh...”

“So that’s what happened... That really is an effect worthy of a five-rune enchantment. However, I feel like there isn’t a whole lot of connection to roses.”

“That’s not entirely true. The motifs of roses and femininity, along with the implied nobility of such elegance, makes this katana akin to a powerful queen. Such an image pairs well with the act of making men crumble to their knees. Ga ha ha!”

Gerhard felt such immense satisfaction from his latest masterpiece that he was going crazy. The fact that he had been so busy putting out political fires that he hadn’t been able to actually work on any projects he could be proud of was probably a large contributor to this.

This was what he wanted to do. This was why he was called the greatest enchanter in the Count’s domain. Gerhard let out a blissful belly laugh.

Lutz and Patrick exchanged glances.

“There’s definitely something to be learned from that katana.”

“Go on, Patrick, say it. I’m probably thinking the very same thing.” Lutz smirked.

Patrick gave him a little nod. “God, women are scary.”

***

After some consideration, they decided to name the katana Rose Garden. Perhaps it was far too graceful a name for a weapon that could mercilessly crush its targets under tremendous weight, but the three craftsmen who made it were extremely satisfied with that lovely name.

They had made a wonderful work of art. That was more important than anything. No matter what happened after that, it didn’t really concern them.

Gerhard, Djoser, and Ricardo were chosen to escort the Count on his way to the royal capital. The three of them had successfully defended the Count from bandits in the past, so they were the obvious choice.

The day before they were set to leave, Claudia paid Gerhard’s workshop a visit.

“I have a favor to ask.”

“What kind of favor?” Gerhard cocked his head. It was rather rare for Claudia to ask for a personal favor, so he had no idea what it could be.

“I want you to look into how the Princess is being talked about in the royal capital. If you would just keep your ear to the ground and listen out for any rumors, that would be really helpful.”

By the Princess, Claudia meant the third princess of the kingdom, Princess Listill, of course. They had all formed a deep connection with Listill after rescuing her from her kidnappers.

The fact that Listill had been abducted by bandits was well known throughout the capital. The royal family had attempted to quiet those rumors by force, but to the masses, that only gave the rumors more validity, and they spread even farther.

Listill adored Claudia as though she were her older sister. Claudia had also grown incredibly fond of her over their time together.

“Well, I certainly don’t mind, but...” Gerhard gave her a suspicious look. “Claudia, do you think that you might be getting yourself a bit too involved?” By this, Gerhard was tactfully reminding Claudia that they both served the Count as their lord, not the Princess.

However, Claudia didn’t budge. “Let’s just say I’m a fan of the Princess.”

“Hypothetically speaking, if something were to happen that put the Shander house and the Princess at odds, whose side would you and Lutz take?”

“Well, I plan on working toward a future where that doesn’t have to happen, and I suggest you do the same.” She gave him a bewitching grin, then left Gerhard’s workshop behind her.

Gerhard furrowed his brow as he stared at the door that the alluring witch had just exited through.

“God, women are scary...”

There wasn’t a single one of them who could just listen to reason and follow the simplest course. While Gerhard found that somewhat frustrating, it also never failed to keep life interesting.

***

In the throne room of the royal castle, King Rathbard Wollscheid gazed down on Count Maximillion Shander. He had met with the King on several occasions before, but he was still far from accustomed to the pressure that came with it. The anxiety of it all ravaged Maximillion’s frail body, pushing him to his limit.

One of the ten royal guards surrounding the King approached Maximillion and took the katana up in his hands. Even though Maximillion had the noble station of a Count, they still couldn’t allow him to come near the King with a blade in hand.

When he was in his own domain, being a Count put Maximillion above all, but in the royal castle, he was nothing more than an ordinary subject of the kingdom.

The royal guard carefully handed the enchanted katana, Rose Garden, to the King. They had, of course, explained the effects of the enchantment beforehand, so there was little risk of the King accidentally injuring himself or others.

Rathbard could tell just by looking at the intricate design of intertwining ivy on the saya that the katana was of tremendous value. “I certainly am delighted to receive such a wonderful offering, Count Shander, but I must ask, what is it that you seek in return?”

“It is because of your great influence as the leader of this kingdom that the people live peaceful and fulfilling lives. This is merely a show of gratitude from our domain.”

“You can stop with the platitudes. Or are you truly fine with me accepting this and doing nothing for you in return?” asked Rathbard, obviously getting some enjoyment out of playing with him.

Maximillion had no choice but to admit the King had seen through him. “There is one thing that I desire. If someone were to ask how that katana came into your possession, I would be eternally grateful if you were to tell them that it was an offering from the Shander domain.”

“Is that the extent of your request?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Rathbard thought for a moment. Just what would that guy really get out of something as simple as that? Then one of his royal guards whispered something into his ear, and everything suddenly made sense. “I understand,” he said with a nod. “So, you wish to use me as free advertisement, is that right?”

“No, we would never think of doing such a...” A stream of sweat dripped down Maximillion’s back. If it were decided that it was an act of disrespect to the royal family, far from improving their reputation, it would close off all possible doors to the future of the Shander domain.

“You’re looking to recover from that incident with the eyeballs, I take it? There is a fair amount of merit for both of us in the deal, so you should present it with a little more bravado, I believe. If it were Marquis Eldenburger, he would just say, ‘Well, you got me! Ah ha ha!’ and laugh the whole thing off.”

Rathbard still couldn’t take his eyes off the gorgeous relief on the saya. He certainly had no intention of giving back such a wonderful gift. While he was aware that being used for marketing was perhaps something he should be ashamed of, he just couldn’t resist the allure of that treasure. Especially in recent years, financial struggles had left the royal vault looking rather bare, without a single named treasure left at their disposal. To have a great katana like that was a peerless joy.

Rathbard’s playful expression suddenly turned serious. “Very well. I will carry Rose Garden as my personal katana. However, if an even greater sword falls into my possession, I will swap it out immediately,” he said, declaring that, while he was grateful for the gift, he wouldn’t be tied down by the whims of the Shander domain.

However, Maximillion’s gaze remained steadfast. “Such a thing simply wouldn’t be possible.”

“What did you say?”

“There is no finer sword in existence. Rose Garden has the power to overcome even Amaterasu, the sun god.”

Maximillion’s assurance that it was even greater than King Arsames’s katana stimulated something deep inside Rathbard. While it was a necessary act of diplomacy, the fact that the king of the barbarians had a much finer blade on his hip had bothered him for some time.

While Maximillion wasn’t lying, there was some sly reasoning behind his phrasing. Amaterasu was a katana that greatly increased the charisma of its wielder, while Rose Garden was a katana that shone more in one-on-one battles. If the two of them were to clash head-on, Rose Garden would likely win out in the end. That was why he said that it could overcome Amaterasu, but didn’t necessarily say that it was a more excellent katana on the whole.

“You said that it has the ability to control the weight of its target, right?” Rathbard’s eyes were tinted with greed and curiosity as he gazed at the golden roses adorning the saya. Was that katana really greater than even Amaterasu? What would happen if it were to be used on a real person?

He couldn’t help but be curious. At the end of the day, a katana was a tool for killing, especially when the katana had such a unique effect to it.

“Fetch me a random prisoner,” said Rathbard to one of the guards.

The guard seemed to catch on quickly to the King’s intent and got right to it.

It was an unexpected turn of events for Maximillion, who found his gaze anxiously wandering around the throne room. He just wanted to go home, but King Wollscheid wouldn’t allow it. He couldn’t allow him to leave before even testing out the effectiveness of the katana, after all.

“Count Shander, there was a knight who accompanied you here, correct? What was his name again?”

“His name is Djoser, Your Majesty, a high-ranking knight from our domain.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right. I would like to have Djoser engage in a duel using this katana.”

Rathbard was asking Djoser to test the effectiveness of the blade against a prisoner. He still didn’t fully comprehend the strange power of the katana, so before putting himself or his guards at risk, he wanted Maximillion to prove it was safe to use with one of his own vassals’ lives on the line.

Maximillion was about to say that it wouldn’t be appropriate for a lowly knight to touch the personal katana of the King, but he stopped himself. Rathbard was staring at him with sharp and frigid eyes. If Maximillion slipped up, he feared that he might even be seen as an enemy to the royal family, someone who handed off a strange and powerful katana without taking any responsibility for what could happen as a result. Now that it had come to that, he couldn’t say that he just didn’t want Djoser to have to do something so brutal.

“I understand. I will go call for Djoser immediately.”

“No need. I will send one of my guards. I only needed for you to grant permission to borrow him.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Maximillion bowed deeply to hide the pained expression on his face.

Before, Marquis Eldenburger had gotten upset with Maximillion over how incredible Amaterasu turned out to be. At the time, Maximillion thought that the anger directed at him was entirely undeserved, and he was rather frustrated by the interaction, but now, he felt as though he was able to understand the Marquis’s position a little better.

I told you guys to make a great katana, but couldn’t you have made something a little milder?

The sparring grounds of the royal capital were dozens of times larger and more opulent than those of the Shander domain. They were spacious enough for a few thousand soldiers to spar at once. To complete the image of an ostentatious installation befitting a king, there were even seats prepared for noble spectators. The King sat there along with a couple of his advisors and waited for the fun to begin.

Taking in the sight, Maximillion was feeling very small indeed. “This makes our sparring grounds look like a doghouse.”

“That’s nothing to be concerned about. Our knights are worse than dogs, after all.” The old enchanter turned trusted advisor, Gerhard, sat beside Maximillion, letting out a sigh. It seemed his statement was at least meant to console, if not heal, the Count’s wounded pride.

“Are they really...that bad?” asked Maximillion apprehensively. He put forth the question, but honestly, he didn’t want to hear the answer.

The high-ranking knight Djoser had tried on several occasions to fundamentally change the nature of the knights’ order, but each time that he did, the noble parents of those knights would complain to the Count. Everyone had already given up on the issue. That was just the way of things.

“Your Grace, why was it that you didn’t send the knights down into the labyrinth to investigate it? I believe that through answering my question, you should arrive at the answer to yours.”

“Because they’re no use at all.”

“Precisely.”

Not only were they weak, but it was doubtful that they would even be able to deliver an accurate report on their findings. If you were to trust them with the task, they would probably just go out, find a nice place to take a little nap, then return home, saying that they didn’t find anything suspicious. Maximillion could just see it now.

“I just thought up a way to instantly increase the public safety and financial security of the Shander domain.”

“What would that be?” Maximillion didn’t seem like he was expecting much from Gerhard’s idea. Judging by the flow of the conversation, surely he wasn’t about to make a serious proposal.

“We fire every last one of those moronic knights, then pick up as many useful adventurers as we can to replace them. Also, we could give Claudia a proper position in the castle and let her run the budget. That would solve all our problems overnight.”

“What a brilliant plan—if you just overlook reality.”

Gerhard didn’t attempt to answer back. He knew that it wouldn’t actually be feasible from the get-go. He just meant it as a bit of small talk.

If Maximillion were to really fire every one of those knights, there would be furious opposition from the rest of his retainers. Giving Claudia full rein over the budget would have the same effect. It was also worth mentioning that while Maximillion was beginning to understand how talented Claudia was, he still didn’t trust her.

Maximillion wasn’t an autocratic tyrant. If he were to try to push those initiatives through, he would lose the support of his retainers, and the Shander domain would no longer be able to function effectively.

It was all a matter of maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships. Maximillion understood the problems and the potential solutions. Still, he couldn’t afford to act on them. There were too many conflicting interests at play. Maximillion’s retainers, mostly consisting of lower-class nobles, wanted anything but reform, even if it was the kind of plan that could better the lives of all who lived in the domain. The thing that was most important to them was to protect and maintain their standards of living. Any new, young talent would be seen as something even worse than an obstacle to maintaining the status quo; they would be an enemy.

“We just have to work on these things one by one. There’s no other way, I’m afraid,” Gerhard muttered, his exhaustion evident. It sounded like he was trying to convince not just Maximillion, but himself as well.

“Yeah, you aren’t wrong there.” Maximillion nodded.

A few hundred soldiers formed a circle on the sparring grounds, and Djoser stepped into the very center of them all. Wearing a katana with the potential to serve at the hand of royalty was cultivating a festering anxiety within him.

“Look at him—his eyes darting all over the place... He’s still acting that green at his age?”

“Cut him some slack, Gerhard. Anyone would be a bit uncomfortable if they were suddenly ordered to duel with someone using the King’s own blade.”

As Gerhard and Maximillion were talking, a prisoner bound by shackles was escorted over by soldiers from the opposite side of the arena.

“If I beat that guy, you’ll drop my charges and set me free, right? You’re not trying to trick me?” asked the prisoner in a hoarse voice.

His hair was long and unkempt, his clothes nothing but filthy rags. Perhaps due to prolonged periods of malnutrition, his arms and legs seemed so very thin for a man of his stature. His eyes alone shone with greed-fueled vitality. It was the face of someone who had made a living through murder.

“I keep my promises,” said one of the soldiers, undoing the prisoner’s shackles. From his tone, his apathy toward the prisoner was evident.

Of course, they had no intention of letting such a dangerous individual roam free. It was simply a promise from a lowly soldier, not from the King. Through that twisted logic, no matter what happened, the King wouldn’t be held responsible.

The prisoner took an average-looking shortsword from one of the soldiers and showed Djoser an unsettling smirk. Even if it was just a rusty knife he was given, he was comfortable in his ability to murder anyone who stood in his way. With a halfway-decent sword, he felt invincible.

He had the brains to know that they didn’t really intend to release him. However, if they were going to throw him back into that pit anyway, he wanted to at least murder the dog in front of him and bring some shame to its owner first. An evil passion was set ablaze within.

“Begin,” signaled a royal knight.

Djoser drew the katana from its opulent saya and pointed it at the prisoner, who readied his sword, preparing to quickly close the distance between them and slice Djoser into pieces. However, for some reason, the prisoner couldn’t move a single step.

“What is this? My body won’t...move right...” It seemed like it wasn’t just the weeks of hunger catching up to him. He didn’t understand what was going on. As he pondered, his body grew heavier and heavier, bringing him down to his knees.

Right before his eyes, his enemy charged toward him, a katana raised above his head. However, he still couldn’t move. He could see everything going on around him and was of sound mind, but that only made the experience all the more terrifying. He couldn’t even move his jaw well enough to scream out in fear.

A powerful blow drove into his shoulder, and he groaned as the pain of his collarbone turning to dust rushed through his body.

“Gah, uuuugh...” The prisoner fell flat to the ground, like a frog that had been trodden on.

Djoser had struck him with the back of the katana, a technique called mineuchi. He hesitated to cut down someone so defenseless, so he changed his grip mid-swing.

The prisoner twisted his face in anguish, and Djoser, the man who defeated him, looked over him with a conflicted gaze.

What is this katana? A bloodthirsty serial killer snaps as easily as a carrot under its blade.

It was so peculiar, so anticlimactic, that the crowd around them had gone completely silent. Djoser sheathed the katana and threw the prisoner’s sword out of reach to be safe.

All of the weight suddenly lifted from the prisoner’s body, but it didn’t seem like he had the will left to fight back. The bloodlust in his eyes had turned to pure horror.

Could he go back into his cell now? The prisoner looked up at the royal knight who was serving as the adjudicator of the match, hoping he would say something, but the knight was turned the other way. Following his line of sight, the prisoner saw a man approaching at a ferocious speed.

“Oh, God...”

The man approaching them was wearing fine garments with brilliant gold thread braided throughout. It was Rathbard Wollscheid, the King himself. Compared to a backwater knight such as Djoser, the King was a god among men. Several of his advisors were chasing after him in a panic, so it likely wasn’t something that they expected to happen either.

Rathbard came right up to Djoser. However, more than feeling honored to meet him face-to-face, Djoser just wanted to get out of there quickly to avoid any more trouble.

“Hand it over.” Without so much as a hello, Rathbard barked out the order.

“Huh?”

“My katana.”

“Ah, yes! Of course! My apologies!”

Djoser removed the katana, still sheathed in its saya, from his hip and offered it to the King, carefully holding it with both hands. The King haphazardly grabbed the saya, drew the blade of the katana, and directed it at the prisoner.

The prisoner once again felt overcome by the tremendous weight. “Aaagh, gha, uuuugh...”

The King coldly kept the katana trained on the prisoner, steadily increasing the weight placed on his body. The sound of bones cracking mixed with his anguished whimpers. Every one of his fingers bent in strange and unnatural ways. Then came his arms, then his legs. You could clearly see the white of his bones sticking out as they contorted. The prisoner’s tongue stuck outward as pressure built in his eyeballs. Then came an awful deflating noise as his crushed organs spilled from his mouth along with clumps of meat and thick, black blood. The puddle spread to Rathbard’s feet before the prisoner was finally granted the release of death.

Unable to understand why the King had suddenly done such a thing, his advisors exchanged glances with each other. People in their position strived to always find ways of complimenting the King to keep on his good side, but even they were lost for words at the hellish sight.

The King’s vision remained fixed on this trampled frog that seemed to have retched out its own organs. A shiver came to his shoulders. It started as a sense of fear but soon turned to bliss. “Ha ha... Ah ha ha ha ha!” Rathbard opened his mouth wide and laughed in enjoyment.

Taking in the sight, the King’s advisors, the royal guards, as well as the men from the Shander domain, only grew more puzzled. The King had ordered the execution of many in the past, but he had never before taken a life with his own hands.

The pitiful corpse that lay at Rathbard’s feet was a masterpiece of his own creation. He came to the realization that this was the true duty of a king; furthermore, the pleasure of one. Even after his many years on the throne, it was the first time that he truly felt like he had become a king.

Just as Maximillion was thinking that it would be best to leave the scene as soon as possible to prevent himself from getting caught up in anything, Rathbard’s piercing gaze suddenly stopped on him. Maximillion felt as though he had made eye contact with an owl in the middle of a dark forest.

“I like this one, Lord Shander.”

“A-Ah, yes. I’m glad to meet your expectations...” He couldn’t run now.

They had met their original goal of offering a katana to the King and getting him to like it enough to spread the word; however, they had created some new problems for themselves as well.

The King must have really loved the gift, as he had Maximillion attend a royal feast. The whole time, Rathbard was surveying the room as if he were looking for his next prey. Maximillion was hardly able to swallow a bite of food that night.

***

“Why did things turn out like this?” Maximillion held his head in his hands as the carriage shook from side to side. He found that he had been asking himself that question a lot lately.

Gerhard and Djoser were in the carriage with him, but neither of them knew what to say. They just exchanged a glance and decided to keep quiet.

Giving the King that katana as an offering sowed the seeds of further distress. They wanted him to be pleased with the gift and let everyone know how fantastic the weapons of the Shander domain were, but the enchantment was so insanely powerful that it seemed a latent sadism had been awakened in the King.

They had once appraised the King as a boring aristocrat who was somewhat lacking in vigor, but after having such tremendous power fall into his hands, it seemed madness had gripped his royal personage.

Of course, that katana alone wasn’t powerful enough to start aiming for world conquest, but he had gotten his hands on a way of crushing anyone who wasn’t blessed with his favor into a meaty pulp. That kind of power probably had more of an influence on his psyche than even the authority he gained at his coronation.

Now, if something were to happen to the King, or if that illustrious katana started some kind of conflict, of course, Maximillion would be the one held responsible. Every time they put out one fire, another one seemed to spring up elsewhere. Living in the world of politics was like running a marathon while coughing up blood. Even after fully grasping that truth, Maximillion was no longer allowed to stop running.

“It’s not fitting for a person in power to complain that things haven’t gone their way. It just shows a lack of imagination on my part. After all, it’s my job to always have my sight fixed on the future and take the best course of action toward it, but still... Even still...” Maximillion rubbed his tired eyes with the tips of his fingers. He didn’t even know if his fatigue came from physical or mental exhaustion, but everything just hurt. “There was no way I could have predicted this...”

Could the King simply tolerate being called normal and boring all of his life? Of course he couldn’t. Surely he strived to become a great and powerful king. Having people call him boring behind his back for so long, a hidden darkness must have built up deep within his heart.

After King Kassandros showed off what a tremendous difference there was between them at the peace ceremony, and more people began to talk behind Rathbard’s back, it must have weighed increasingly heavily on his soul.

Having a wonderful katana of his own—in other words, gaining the power to directly kill whoever he wanted—rejuvenated his pride as a ruler, filling him with overflowing confidence.

With all of that built-up tension, just what would the King do next? Whatever was about to occur, Maximillion didn’t want to get caught up in it, so all the men of the Shander domain ran from the royal capital as fast as they could.

They had come to give the King a katana, and they had completed that mission. Now it was time to go home. That was all. Nothing less, nothing more. Whatever happened next wasn’t their fault.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t be overthinking this,” said Gerhard, trying to cheer Maximillion up. “He’s just got a bunch of blood rushing to his head because he lost his virginity.”

“Virgini... What did you say?”

“Oh, sorry. That’s what soldiers tend to say after someone kills a person for the first time. In a way, it was a good opportunity for the King to learn a bit about the weight of life and death, so it could even be a good thing in the end.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“No, not in the slightest.”

Maximillion shook his head. What was he to do with that old geezer?

“It’s true that we shouldn’t just be looking at the downsides, though,” Gerhard continued. “You have also experienced how your positivity can improve dramatically just from having a fine katana in your hands, isn’t that right, Your Grace?”

Maximillion had been frail all of his life, but when he was given a lightweight and incredibly sharp katana, the Kikokuto, he began to practice with it every single day, allowing him to finally gain some interest in strengthening his body and overall health.

Maximillion did consider Gerhard’s point, but only for a moment. No matter how you dressed it up, taking that much pleasure in brutally crushing a man to death couldn’t be healthy. Watching the King laugh over a corpse as squashed-up organs poured from its mouth sent chills running up Maximillion’s spine.

“How about we just gather up everyone who owns one of these insane katana and hold a tournament where they all fight to the death? If we just kill the last one standing, then peace will befall this accursed world once more.”

“Your Grace, you do realize that you are included in those numbers, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right. Back to the drawing board.” Maximillion let out a little chuckle. He had at least calmed down enough to joke about it. That was an improvement. “Right then, when we get back home, what should we be working on first?” he said under his breath as he gazed out the window of the carriage. It was the voice of a man who had already accepted his fate.

***

King Rathbard Wollscheid sat in his private quarters, gazing upon the blade of his new katana. His reflection showed an ominous smile spreading across his aging face.

The carefully forged katana was so beautiful and glossy. Of course, he was well aware of the danger folded into it. It was comparable to a passionate night with a deadly witch.

Rathbard glanced over at the window and saw that the sun was beginning to set. As he was admiring the katana, the time must have slipped away from him. Since the day he’d crushed the life from that wretch, he had continued testing the wondrous katana’s capabilities. However, he didn’t use people as his test subjects. He had heard that the craftsmen of the Shander domain had used barrels of water as practice dummies, so he did the same.

He felt a certain thrill just from watching as the strong barrels eventually gave out under the pressure and collapsed. He tried it with a marble statue next, and while it took a bit of time, he managed to shatter it into pieces too. It made for a rather expensive dummy, though, so it wasn’t something he intended to do too regularly.

Feeling apologetic for disrupting his lord’s fun, a butler who had served the King for many years gave the door a gentle knock. “Your Majesty, Marquis Eldenburger has arrived.”

“Let him through.”

“Right away.”

It was a sign of trust for a person of noble standing to invite someone into their private quarters, or perhaps just a way of getting one to believe that you trusted them. While the butler was surprised by the King’s order, he didn’t allow it to show and did as he was instructed.

Less than five minutes later, another knock came at the door. Rathbard ever so regretfully sheathed his beloved katana, Rose Garden, back into its saya. If he hadn’t, surely Beowulf wouldn’t have been able to relax.

“It’s Beowulf Eldenburger. I beg your pardon for the intrusion, Your Majesty.”

“Come in.”

Beowulf walked through the door, his eyes wandering around the room until they stopped on Rose Garden.

Ah, so that’s what he’s after.

Rathbard could feel it in his gut.

“I am deeply honored that you agreed to see me today.”

“Oh, stop with the formalities. It’s not like you.” Rathbard’s voice was strangely bright.

Beowulf suspected that this was also due to the influence of that magnificent katana, which made him even more concerned.

“So, what is the purpose of your visit today?”

“I heard that you had gotten hold of a fantastic blade, Your Majesty, and I simply couldn’t stop myself from coming to take a look at it.”

“Heh heh... Don’t you lie to me. That is, unless you want me to direct this katana at you.” Rathbard laughed while tracing his finger over the elegant saya, which was resting on the table in front of him. If Beowulf had heard about the demonstration at the sparring grounds, then surely he had also heard how it ended. There was no way that he simply wanted to see the katana. “I’d say that you’re more likely here to see if I have retained my sanity, am I right?”

“Nothing of the sort, I assure yo—”

“I told you not to lie to me. If you continue to prattle on under these false pretenses, I’ll have no choice but to reevaluate you as a two-faced con man and never place my trust in you again.”

“I was concerned that the effects of that illustrious katana may have been negatively impacting your body...” Even when urged to speak the truth, Beowulf couldn’t just say that he thought the King might have gone crazy.

Rathbard let out a discontented snort. “Allow me to put your concerns to rest. Just because I have taken a liking to this katana doesn’t mean that I have developed a taste for blood. I have no interest in mindlessly starting wars, and I certainly won’t be asking for daily sacrifices.”

Beowulf could tell from the look in his eyes that nothing had clouded his judgment. He placed his hand to his chest and let out a sigh of relief. At the same time, he grew furious with the three craftsmen of the Shander domain. When would those idiots learn?

“I, the man who has been dismissed as a dull and weak functionary, have finally attained the power to kill anyone I like. While it’s true that it has bolstered my confidence as a man, that doesn’t mean that I’ve lost my mind, right?”

“Your Majesty...”

“Don’t make that face. I have eyes and ears, just like anyone else. There was no way that I could remain ignorant of what people discussed behind closed doors. However, that ends today.” Rathbard grabbed hold of the saya, placed his other hand on the tsuka, and pretended to begin drawing the blade.

Beowulf shuddered at the sudden action. Watching his reaction, a twisted smile came to Rathbard’s face. It seemed that it was exactly the reaction that he had wanted to see.

“With this, I’ll be able to take a firmer hold of the nobility’s reins. Those who have treated me like I’m no more than a passive throne, an empty seat, will be brought to heel. While it might sound a bit strange coming from a man who has never had much interest in this kind of weaponry, once you attain a weapon capable of so easily taking a man’s life, you just want to have it on you at all times.” Rathbard nodded contentedly before redirecting his attention to Beowulf and giving him a little wave. It was his way of signaling that he could leave now.

Beowulf gave a bow and quietly left the room.

While it was good that the King hadn’t been taken over by some hypnotic ability, it was hard to predict what would happen to the power balance between him and the twelve nobles now that he had that katana in his possession. Beowulf would have to continue monitoring how things played out.

At the very least, it would surely cause some friction with the nobles who were trying to make the King into their personal puppet. Beowulf also had to figure out how to keep his head above water through such a political crisis. Honestly, there wasn’t much choice. He couldn’t create any real distance between himself and the King now. Ever since the peace talks with the federation, Beowulf had worked closely with the King, even becoming one of his most trusted advisors as a result.

“His Majesty has finally shown an interest in weaponry,” said Beowulf under his breath “From now on, that may play a part in how he appraises the people around him too.”

He could begin to judge people based on the weapons that they were carrying on their persons. If that was the case, Beowulf wanted something that he could proudly display to anyone who asked to see it.

Wait, hadn’t Maximillion promised him that his craftsmen would make him a katana some time ago? With everything that had been going on, it seemed to have been put on the back burner, but maybe it was about time he would have Maximillion keep his promise.

Chapter 9: A Wish and a Bond

Gerhard and Claudia sat talking in the meeting room of the lord’s manor. They would have usually met in Gerhard’s workshop, but at the time, Djoser was working hard on his training as an enchanter, so they didn’t want to get in his way. Furthermore, it was unusual to turn such a small workshop into a regular meeting place in the first place.

“How was the Princess’s reputation in the capital?” asked Claudia, worry coming to her gentle and beautiful face.

Before Gerhard had left for the royal capital with the Count, she had asked him to keep his ear to the ground and see if he could pick up any information regarding Princess Listill, whom she had grown rather close to over recent months.

Gerhard grimly shook his head in response. “It’s not good, I’m afraid. More than being genuinely hated, it just seems like people think that they can say anything that they want about her.”

“God, what is wrong with people...”

“When rumors spread, they rarely grow kinder with each iteration. When given the chance to spread their own fictional reality like the wind itself, people make it as cruel as possible to garner more attention. Such is the pastime of people of leisure.”

While Gerhard wasn’t as involved with the Princess as Claudia, he still wanted her to be happy. It seemed that he was unable to conceal the frustration that had built up from engaging with the people of the capital.

“Some of the worst rumors claimed that she ran to the border to secretly give birth to a child who was conceived with one of the bandits.”

“How dare people who have never even been to the border—people who have never even met the Princess—spew such garbage...”

“That was the talk among the people that a lowly enchanter such as myself could directly speak with. I’m sure it gets even worse among those of the higher class.”

“That’s...hard to hear.”

“I’m sorry to say that things will only be getting worse from here on too. Now that the King has that incredible katana in his hands, he seems to have gained a fair deal of confidence. He’ll probably end up causing more friction between him and the more powerful families of the kingdom. However, they won’t be able to directly criticize the King himself, as that would be like asking to be hanged for treason.”

“So, they’ll go after the Princess instead.”

“Exactly.”

Claudia clenched her jaw. She would need to meet with Listill again at the border soon.

Gerhard understood Claudia’s feelings toward the matter, but he didn’t want to lose her as an asset to the Shander domain either. He didn’t know what the future would bring them, and Claudia and Lutz were retainers of the Count, not Princess Listill. It seemed that Claudia was still misunderstanding her position in the grand scheme of things.

They heard the door suddenly open behind them and turned to see the lord of the castle, Maximillion. Following behind him was his guest, Marquis Beowulf Eldenburger.

“I’m terribly sorry, Your Grace, we’ll clear out of here immediately.” Gerhard rose from his seat.

Maximillion held up his hand to stop him. “No, it’s fine. Stay where you are. This is actually excellent timing—we’re about to discuss a matter that concerns you two as well.” Claudia might have been a different case, but he intended to call for Gerhard anyway. While there was a large difference in their social statuses, it would be a shame to make Gerhard feel like he had to sneak out of the room as soon as he came in.

Beowulf plopped down into a chair. “I want you to make me a katana,” he said without so much as a simple greeting.

It didn’t seem like he was giving them the option to decline. Gerhard and Claudia exchanged glances.

“It looks like we’re going to have to accept this one...”

“Sure seems that way...”

They were both aware that they had been putting off the Marquis’s request for some time. Now that they had finished with the offering to the King, they didn’t have any excuse.

Maximillion also gave them a nod as if to say, Accept your fate.

“I understand. We’ll gladly accept your request. Do you have any particular preferences as to the size and shape you are hoping for?”

“I believe that I have already made my preferences clear, haven’t I?” A bit of vengeful teasing animated Beowulf’s voice.

However, Gerhard remembered the order just fine. He wanted an extremely sharp katana that would match his great stature. “Very well, is it okay to take that to mean that you haven’t changed your preferences since then?” he asked, assuring Beowulf that he was just checking.

Beowulf thought for a moment before answering. “There is one thing. It’s not exactly a specific instruction, but more of a reference point.” Beowulf began to recount an event from his past. It was a tale that Beowulf had already told Maximillion in private.

Some twenty years before, a katana smith had visited the Marquis’s domain to offer them a katana. As they were watching a demonstration of the katana’s incredible ability, Beowulf’s drunken brother shattered the katana in two. The katana smith was banished from the domain as a result.

Thinking about how it would have been the Eldenburger domain that was making a name for itself in the world of weaponry, not the Shander domain, if they had just hired that katana smith on that fateful day was still a source of frustration for Beowulf. He wasn’t only mad at his foolish brother, but at his father for choosing to banish the katana smith, calling it an unavoidable compromise.

“Anyway, I would love more than anything to have the katana that I never got the chance to hold in my hands that day, a katana that could cut through boulders or armor with ease.”

As Claudia quietly listened to the story, she cocked her head to the side. She felt as though she had heard a similar story before, and she soon remembered who it was from. “Would that story happen to be about Lutzy’s papa, I wonder?”

“What did you just say?!” Beowulf leaned over the table.

Claudia was a bit taken aback, thinking that it wasn’t a crazy enough revelation to warrant that kind of reaction. “It’s just... I heard a similar story from Lutzy before, you see?”

Rufus, Lutz’s father and katana smithing master, had once been driven out of the manor of a noble. After that, he wandered the country until he finally settled down in the Shander domain. There, he worked outside of the city walls as an unlicensed smith, taking on jobs for lumberjacks and poor farmers to make ends meet. Eventually, he lost all of his passion and motivation toward his craft.

He taught his only son everything he knew about forging katana, but he never attempted to forge one for his own enjoyment. At most, he would make something to serve as a reference for Lutz, and even then, he would melt it down afterward.

The stories lined up. After hearing it all, Beowulf let out a huge sigh. A feeling of deep regret and guilt took root in his chest, along with just an inkling of relief. Even after being banished from the Eldenburger domain, he kept on living. He succeeded in passing on his tremendous skills to his son. Beowulf felt redemption in such a revelation.

“So, what is Rufus doing now?”

“I’m afraid that he died of illness a few years back.”

“I’m sorry to hear that...” Beowulf had suspected that Lutz might have had some kind of connection to that katana smith. After all, there weren’t that many people on the continent who could claim to be full-fledged katana smiths. Still, now that his suspicions had been confirmed, he could no longer hold himself back. “Right, I’m heading off to Lutz’s workshop.”

“Right now?”

He certainly was an impatient man. It was also very strange indeed for a Marquis to go out of his way to visit a lowly craftsman. He could have just called him over to the castle.

“Let’s get someone to fetch him for us,” said Maximillion, suggesting the obvious course of action for any noble.

However, Beowulf rejected the idea outright. “Lead me there.” He promptly got up from his chair and left the meeting room.

Knowing that they couldn’t just let him roam free, Claudia said, “I’ll go after him,” giving Maximillion a little bow before sprinting out of the room herself.

“What just happened, exactly?” said Maximillion, cocking his head to the side.

To tell the truth, Gerhard hadn’t a clue either.

***

Lutz was in his workshop, sharpening axes. It was a job from his longtime clients, the lumberjacks from the settlement. While he was first and foremost a katana smith, he also felt that he had improved his sharpening skills lately.

“Right, then.” Lutz inspected the blade of the axe he had just finished and nodded in satisfaction.

It always felt great to do work that you were proud of. While he was at it, he figured he might as well do a little work on the handle too. Free of charge, of course. Just then, he heard the sound of someone unlocking the front door.

Since he had just wrapped up the brunt of his work, he decided to get up from his workstation and head over there.

The front door opened, and standing there was his beloved wife, but for some reason, she didn’t seem to be in very high spirits.

“Hey, dear, welcome back.”

“Lutzy, we’ve got a new client. It’s a bit of a shame, but I’m afraid we’ll have to put off the welcome home kisses until next time.”

Looking behind her, Lutz noticed a man whom he could have sworn he had seen somewhere before, along with several knights guarding him. “Did you get arrested again?!”

“Well, something like that, I guess.”

Lutz didn’t understand what she was saying. It seemed like Claudia was thinking about how to better explain the situation, but the man pushed past her and walked into the house.

“I’m Beowulf Eldenburger. I do believe it’s been a while, Lutz.”

Only after the man said his name did Lutz remember that he was the Marquis with whom Maximillion often worked. He had heard the name plenty of times but had only briefly met with him at the peace ceremony.

“Ah, good to see you. I’m the katana smith, Lutz...” Giving that clumsy response, Lutz once again attempted to make some sense of the situation, to no avail.

They went up the stairs and gathered around a table on the second floor. That table had seen many peculiar guests and many new orders for weapons, as well. Of course, he never would have expected that a marquis would be sitting at it.

Lutz and Claudia sat down next to each other, and Marquis Beowulf Eldenburger sat opposite them. Two of the knights stood a short distance away but continued to glare at Lutz and Claudia with discontent. The rest of the knights were waiting by the entrance.

Knowing both of their circumstances, Claudia deftly explained what had happened, along with the connections to Lutz’s father.

When she finished, Lutz forgot all about the huge difference in their status and slammed his fist down on the table, staring daggers at Beowulf. “You’re the one who banished my father?!”

Lutz knew that his father had suffered greatly from the idiotic rulings of a noble house, but he had never heard which house, exactly. Now, the man who ended his father’s life as a craftsman was right before his eyes.

Reacting to Lutz’s almost murderous gaze, the knights readied their weapons.

It felt as though the movement could set off a fight, but Claudia waved her hand, trying to dispel the misunderstanding. “Lutzy, his older brother was the one who broke the katana in a drunken stupor. The one who made the decision to banish your papa was the previous head of the house, not Beowulf.”

“He’s still one of them...” The last thing that Lutz wanted to do was direct his anger at Claudia, so he held himself back as much as he could.

“I’m so sorry...” said Beowulf weakly, seeing what effect his family’s carelessness had brought upon Lutz.

Did Lutz hear that wrong? Did such a high-ranking noble, someone who worked peasants as if they were no more than ants, someone who saw craftsmen as no more than tools, just apologize? There was just no way. Lutz would have found it easier to believe someone if they said they saw a horse playing a violin. Lutz remained frozen, his lips parted in astonishment.

Beowulf continued speaking as if he were confessing to a crime. “I was unable to stop those two. Even though that was only obvious given the imbalance of power between us, I should have at least been able to support Rufus from the shadows. In my youth, I didn’t have the forethought to realize that. By the time I figured out that I could have done that, nobody knew where your father had gone.”

If Rufus had continued forging such splendid katana, surely it wouldn’t have been that hard to find him. However, he never did return to the Guild, and instead he continued his work as an unlicensed smith, living a quiet and unremarkable life. It was impossible to ask people of different domains to find such a man.

Seeing that Beowulf had also lived in regret since that day slowly quelled the anger inside of Lutz. “Can I just ask you one thing?”

“What is it?”

“Did you kill your brother?”

It was pretty much an open secret within the kingdom, but to ask it so bluntly was beyond disrespectful. The knights narrowed their eyes at him and placed their hands on their weapons.

“Stop,” Beowulf commanded the knights. His voice bellowed with authority and conviction.

The knights took their hands off their swords and stood up so straight, you would have thought they had swallowed a long pole.

After taking some time to think, Beowulf once again opened his mouth to speak. “That’s right. I killed him.”

“In that case, you are neither an enemy to me nor my father. On the contrary, perhaps I should say that you are the man who has avenged him.” Lutz stood up and pulled something that was carefully wrapped in cloth out of a chest. He placed it on the table and unwrapped it, revealing the broken katana.

“Oh, is this...” Beowulf’s eyes shot open in surprise. The katana he had missed the opportunity to hold in his hands more than twenty years ago was right before his eyes. Deep down, he had always felt that he had been trapped in a cage of regret, but suddenly, he was free. That mysterious sense of glee spread throughout his entire body. “You still have it, I see.”

“My father always kept this, saying that it was a reminder of a painful lesson he had learned.”

“So, he realized that it wasn’t yet a perfect katana, then?”

It was a fantastic blade, but it had the flaw of being far too fragile. Rufus knew this well. Still, he never managed to regain his passion for the craft and strive to make something even greater.

No matter how splendidly a blade is forged, nothing can be done with it unless someone appreciates your work enough to buy it. Rufus had lost all hope in the nobility.

“Lutz, would you forge me a katana?” asked Beowulf sincerely.

Lutz just quietly gave him a nod.

“I had previously just asked for as sharp a blade as possible, but I want to change my order slightly. What I really desire is what would have happened if things had been different that day. If we had made Rufus the personal blacksmith of the Eldenburger house and he continued to improve upon that katana, what masterpiece would he have arrived at? That’s what I want to see.”

“I will see that it is done, with every fiber of my being.”

Beowulf liked the look in Lutz’s eyes. He didn’t know much about the world of craftsmen, but the man in front of him was someone he could count on. He was certain of that. Feeling that further words were meaningless, Beowulf simply said, “I’ll leave it in your capable hands,” and left the workshop behind him.

The knights rushed after him, still bearing a look of utter confusion.

The room returned to silence until Claudia let out a little chuckle. “Quite a strange twist of fate, wouldn’t you say?”

“It’s a piece of work that my father left to me. I’ll make sure that I see it through to the end.” Lutz’s eyes wandered over to the broken katana on the table.

If his father hadn’t been banished from the Marquis’s domain, if he had just been given one more chance, what kind of katana would he have forged? Surely, he would have made something great. The Eldenburger house would have raised its hands in celebration and sung its praises. Lutz was going to bring that dream to reality.

“Oh, that’s right. Speaking of unfinished business...” said Lutz as if he had just remembered something.

Claudia looked at him suspiciously. She couldn’t think of anything else that they had been putting off.

“I believe we missed the opportunity for that welcome home kiss.”

It took some time for Claudia to process Lutz’s words, but soon she let out a little sigh and brought her face close to his. “You’re an idiot sometimes, you know?”

“Oh, I know.”

Claudia sealed off his ramblings with a kiss from her rosy lips. The forge would have to wait until tomorrow.

After a somewhat tiring, though not at all unpleasant, night with Claudia, Lutz sat himself in front of the brightly burning forge. He was resolved; he would finish his father’s work, fulfill the promise that banishment had stalled. It all happened before Lutz was even born, but for some reason, it filled him with nostalgia.

His father had single-mindedly pursued the sharpest blade possible, failing to address the resulting fragility. A katana was a weapon. If it could break so easily when you needed it most, how could you entrust your life to it? If it couldn’t hold up to the abuse of battle, it could hardly be called a weapon. Even if you failed to cut all the way through your opponent, even if you slammed it against a boulder, it shouldn’t bend or break; that was the ideal to which all katana were compared.

“I’m going to clear all of those lingering regrets of yours. Right here, right now.” Lutz picked up his father’s broken katana, stared at it longingly for a moment, then threw it into the forge. He would melt it down, break it into pieces, and form it into a katana once more.

Until then, every time Lutz had something on his mind, he would sort through his thoughts while looking upon that katana, but no longer.

“I’m going to forge this into the greatest katana ever made. When I do, will you recognize me as a full-fledged katana smith, dad?” Lutz spoke to the flickering blaze of the forge.

Of course, no answer came, but that was okay. Lutz felt as though he could converse with the forge just by staring deeply into it.

A katana was a tool for cutting people. Therefore, it absolutely had to be sharp. A katana was used on the battlefield. Therefore, it had to be durable. There was no need to seek beauty in a katana. Through the pursuit of supreme practicality, there was a certain beauty that resided in the blade, anyway.

For that most important job, a request from the Marquis to carry on his father’s work, Lutz chose not to strive for spectacle, but to stay faithful to the basics, the heart of a katana.

He would simply make it as sharp and as strong as physically possible. It would take a sublime balance of the contradicting properties of hardness and strength. Lutz hammered every one of his father’s teachings into the steel.

When Lutz finished stretching the steel out, he used his graver to score a line in it, broke it cleanly in half, then stacked the two pieces together. He put them back in the forge until they were red-hot, hammered them out to forge weld them, and broke the result in two once more.

To hammer out all of the impurities, you really only had to repeat this process a few times, but Lutz did this dozens of times over, until he felt as though his consciousness was drifting somewhere far away.

Lutz was so focused that he could see each and every spark flying off the steel as they danced through the air. On the verge of overheating, his thoughts grew hazy, so he dumped a bucket of water over his head and continued. The frightening intensity of the work made him feel as though the steel was taking him over.

When Lutz had finished getting the katana into its basic shape, a process called hizukuri, he collapsed directly onto the floor. Surprised by the sudden thud, Claudia rushed in and sat Lutz up.

Lutz was terribly pale, but there was a grin plastered on his face. “This one is going to be incredible, I know it alre—”

Before he could even finish, Claudia whacked him on the head.

“Dear, what are we going to do if you make me any dumber than I already feel right now?”

“Well, at least you do have the self-awareness to see your own stupidity. Get your ass to bed. Rest. The reason you finally allowed yourself to collapse was because you’ve finished the part you were working on, right? It’s not like there is some kind of time constraint.”

“Well, you’ve got a point, but—”

“If you’ve got any complaints, I’ll be more than happy to listen to them tomorrow. Come on now, off to bed.” Claudia dragged Lutz up to their bedroom on the third floor.

Lutz was afraid that if he stopped halfway through, he might lose his focus, but as soon as his body made contact with the mattress, he slipped into a comfortable sleep. He must have surpassed his physical limits without even realizing it.

“What am I going to do with this incorrigible man of mine?” whispered Claudia with a little smirk.

Would these unhealthy habits of his start to get better over time? No, he would, in all likelihood, be like that for the rest of his life. Furthermore, she would have to put up with those habits for the rest of her life. That didn’t sound too bad to her, though.

***

After the blade was hardened and sharpened, the finished katana looked unremarkable at first glance, without any peculiarities to set it apart from the rest. The blade itself was a little on the long side, in order to match the height of its eventual wielder, Marquis Eldenburger, and make it easier to amass power at the tip of the blade when swinging it.

You certainly wouldn’t be so entranced by its beauty that you would want to cut yourself with it, nor would you be so overwhelmed by its power that you couldn’t stop swinging for hours on end. It was just a normal katana.

“What a difficult katana to appraise...” said Claudia under her breath as she drew it from its plain wooden saya and gave it a few swings.

A katana was merely a tool for cutting people. That was the sentiment, the core around which Lutz shaped the practical masterwork. It was beautiful, but not in the sense that most would expect from a piece of art. It was the kind of beauty that came from pure functionality.

Even a skilled merchant like Claudia couldn’t put a realistic price on it. If she were some high-ranking noble and a merchant came around with that katana, saying that she could pay whatever she thought was appropriate for it, what would she say? Ten gold coins? A thousand? She just wasn’t sure. It was the most magnificent, ordinary katana that she had ever seen.

“I’m hooome.”

Claudia turned around to the source of the drawn-out voice to see Lutz, who had been absent since that morning. He was carrying a rock that was about the size of a person’s head under one arm.

When Claudia asked why he was carrying such a thing, he said that he had found it by the river.

“I’m thinking of using this to properly christen that katana.”

“Wait, are you saying...”

“I’m going to cut it in half.”

He had to be joking. Claudia stared at Lutz’s face, waiting for him to crack, but he seemed entirely serious. In her heart, she knew it already. That man would never tell a lie when it came to his katana.

“Wait, just wait a second, Lutzy. I’m about to say something painfully obvious, but listen up. When you whack a katana into a huge rock, the blade gets chipped. Worst case, it could break into pieces on the spot.”

“I believe that I forged this katana in a way that such a thing wouldn’t happen. Besides, from what I heard, it sounds like my father’s katana sliced right through even stone. If I can’t manage at least that much, I can’t very well call it a success.”

“But your papa’s katana was focused purely on sharpness, right?”

“Apparently, Gerhard also cut through a boulder with Ittetsu.”

“That was only after it had been enchanted. This katana is... How should I say it? It’s an incredibly well-balanced, but super normal katana.”

“That’s exactly why I have to see this through. I want to prove the true worth of a pure katana.”

Lutz went around back to the donkey’s stable and carried over an old barrel with holes in it. He must have picked that up from somewhere too. He placed the stone on top of the barrel, and Claudia, ever so reluctantly, handed over the katana.

“What do you plan on doing if it shatters?”

“If that happens, I’ll just throw the whole thing in the forge and turn it back into raw steel. Then I’ll start back up from scratch.”

“Even though you put all of that work into it already?!”

Just watching Lutz on the verge of collapse as he pursued the root of his craft, Claudia could feel the intensity of the work. He was prepared to go through all of that again from the start? It was nothing to make light of.

“The hardest part about putting in that kind of effort is that there is never any guarantee of success. Still, you have to press on, even if you’re just feeling your way through the dark. That’s what I’ve always done. I’m sure that’s what my father had to do too.”

As Lutz spoke, he adjusted his grip around the plain wooden tsuka several times. He at least had to make sure that the blade wouldn’t unceremoniously slip out of it when he swung it down.

“I believe that what people call ‘talent’ is really just having the heart not to be afraid of fruitless labor.” Lutz squared up in front of the barrel and brought the katana above his head. “Dear, take a few steps back, okay? If this katana were to break and the shards put a single scratch on your face, I’d have no choice but to drive this katana into my stomach to repent for it.”

Claudia couldn’t tell how much of that was a joke or how much of it was serious, so she erred on the side of caution and did as he asked. Lutz was about to do battle with his own craft. She wasn’t insensitive enough to try to stop him, no matter how stupid it might have seemed to a random onlooker.

Lutz let out a deep breath, then became entirely still. Power built up deep within his belly, but he still didn’t so much as breathe. Just when Claudia became worried that he might suffocate, he brought down the katana, letting out a voice as powerful and sudden as thunder.

“Kiyaaaa!”

Claudia prepared herself, thinking that the sound of the katana clashing with the stone would be ear-piercing, but to her surprise, all she heard was a gentle slicing.

After the swing, Lutz again straightened out his back and corrected his stance. A moment later, the barrel crumbled to pieces.

Claudia crouched down to examine the stone and found that it had been split perfectly in two, the cross sections looking as if they had been filed smooth and polished. “This is amazing! You cut straight through them!”

Only after hearing Claudia’s excited confirmation did Lutz allow his stance to relax, sitting himself on the floor with a thud. With just that single swing, Lutz was drenched in sweat.

“Lutzy?!”

“I’m okay. It just took all my focus; I’m completely drained.” He paused and looked at Claudia seriously. “More importantly, dear, I want you to give this katana a name.”

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to have a say in something tied so deeply to your family?”

“You are my family. Please, give it a name.”

Claudia spent a few moments looking back and forth between the katana and the stone. “Hmm... How about Ishigurai, the stone eater?”

“That’s pretty straightforward, but that might just be the best way to go about this one. This katana doesn’t need any fancy features or hidden meanings.” Lutz smiled.

Claudia gave a little nod in return.

Lutz then made sure to carefully inspect the blade. There wasn’t even the faintest of chipping or dents. It almost seemed to be glowing, as if to say that it was ready to take on its next foe.

“With this, is it okay to call myself a master of your teachings?” Lutz looked up at the ceiling, which was only now beginning to collect soot.

Of course, no answer came, but Lutz knew what his father would say at such a time. Surely, he would just say, Do whatever you want.

***

The next day, the three craftsmen gathered at Patrick’s workshop. After seeing Lutz’s newest work, Patrick and Gerhard may not have been bouncing off the walls like they usually did, but they stared intently at it while muttering something under their breath.

“It’s fantastic. I’m just not sure how else to describe it. I feel like a young boy who’s just seen a naked woman for the first time. Yes, that’s how it feels.” As usual, Patrick came out with a description that nobody wanted to agree with, but also couldn’t object to outright.

“I’m afraid that it’s not the kind of beauty that I could sit down and write sonnets about, but I can tell that this piece is the result of you tackling the very heart and nature of a katana.” Gerhard also didn’t quite know how to put what he was feeling into words. “Well, there’s no harm in asking, so would you be willing to sell me this katana? You could always just forge another one for the Marquis, right?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to decline. This katana was made for Marquis Eldenburger, directly to his order.”

After Lutz said that much, there was no point in pushing the issue. Gerhard had also heard about the Marquis’s connection with Lutz and his father.

“I know that you weren’t seriously suggesting that I sell you this one, Gerhard. That was just your way of subtly complimenting my work, right?”

“Hmph, who could say?”

Lutz understood that the greatest compliment one could give a katana was to show that you wanted it for yourself. Gerhard didn’t reject the idea either. After all, there just might have been a little bit of sincerity in his bid for that katana as well.

“I know, I get it. Come to think of it, you were like this from the day that we met, weren’t you, Lutz?”

Even though the Count’s personal enchanter, Gerhard, came to Lutz with an order, Lutz ensured that he finished the sharpening job he accepted from the lumberjacks first. That was just the sort of man Lutz was. Did it come from a strong sense of duty, or was he just the clumsy sort? Or perhaps it was just a display of his stubbornness. Gerhard wasn’t sure. It was probably all three of those combined.

If Lutz had given him preferential treatment that day, how would their relationship be now? It probably would have been a good bit colder and more reserved.

“Lutz, what kind of adorable clothes do you want me to dress this little one up in?” asked Patrick, unable to take his eyes off the blade.

“Ah, the ornamentation...” Lutz couldn’t answer without a bit more thought.

The fact that he was going to be giving it to a high-ranking noble suggested that it should be heavily gilded, sparkling. However, if he was truly going to finish the work that his father started, maybe it didn’t need any ornamentation done at all.

His father didn’t really have any preferences when it came to ornamentation, nor did he seem to have any real interest in it. In that case, should Lutz follow the same path? No, this was a case of Lutz giving his own personal twist to his father’s unfinished work. There wouldn’t be any art in just mindlessly following in the footsteps of his father.

“I would like an engraving to be done on the saya, but in the end, it should be painted in a glossy black.”

“If we were to do that, the relief on the saya wouldn’t show very well, making it just look like a plain old katana from a distance. Are you okay with that?”

“That’s exactly what I’m after. Something that looks ordinary at a glance, but when you look up close, you can see how much care and creativity went into it. That’s the kind of saya that I want you to make for me.”

“Hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm... I suppose that something too flashy can lack class. That kind of hidden allure might not be too bad either. I understand; do you have any requests as to what I should be engraving?”

“Something worthy of resting on the hip of a warrior from a noble house, something that exudes bravery and strength.”

“That I can do. Right, off you go now.”

“Huh?”

I’m about to start work on it, so go home. Lutz knew that was probably what Patrick was trying to say, but it was just so sudden. He still couldn’t get used to how quickly Patrick’s mood could change. It seemed like Patrick no longer even recognized Lutz or Gerhard’s presence.

Lutz and Gerhard exchanged a little nod, agreeing that it would be rude of them to intrude any longer now that the fire had been lit inside of their fellow craftsman. While it still felt a bit anticlimactic, they decided to leave the workshop behind them.

“All right, we’ll see you later,” said Lutz, figuring that he should at least say that much before heading out.

All that Patrick returned was an unintelligible “Ngaah.”

It was a lost cause. He had already set foot into the treacherous swamp known as art, losing all humanity and reason.

On the way back, the setting sun illuminated the streets as the two men, young and old, walked side by side. It was a scene that might have seemed rather romantic if it featured any other pair. The shops in the market were all beginning to close for the night, and people were quickly passing by, as if rushed by the dwindling light of day. For one reason or another, it all had Lutz feeling somewhat sentimental.

“What are we going to do with that lunatic?” Gerhard put on a grin.

While Gerhard didn’t say his name, Lutz knew instantly who he was talking about. “Don’t you think it’s also kind of reassuring how he can so quickly drift off into a world of his own?”

Gerhard stared at Lutz in confusion. “I’ve thought this for some time, but you really do have an unusual amount of respect for Patrick, don’t you, Lutz?”

“Does it seem that way? Well, I suppose you might be right. I indeed have a lot of faith in his ability as an ornamentalist, but what I really respect is his passion for the craft.”

“Passion...you say? It feels a bit more like perversion from where I’m standing.”

“You can call it whatever you like. He can find motivation for a project so quickly. When I get a new job, I always end up worrying about what kind of theme I should go with or end up rolling around on the floor with my head in my hands, unable to find the motivation to even begin, so I’ve always admired how Patrick can just start sprinting toward his ideal. You could even say that I’m jealous.”

Gerhard gave Lutz a nod. That much was certainly true. He had never seen Patrick show any uncertainty toward his work. Surely there wasn’t an artist alive who could dedicate themselves to the craft without spending at least a few sleepless nights pondering over their work, so he must have been doing all of his worrying away from prying eyes. Even so, the fact that he had never once missed a deadline was a testament to his outstanding motivation. You could even call it a superpower. From Gerhard’s perspective, a craftsman who always met their deadlines was as mysterious as a talking cat or a dog that walked on its hind legs.

“Lutz, just promise me that you won’t suddenly start saying things like ‘Oh, what a cute little katana! Licky licky,’ okay?”

“Ah, right. I can definitely promise that much.”

There was a line that wasn’t to be crossed, and the two of them were both confident in their ability to recognize where that line was.

They arrived at a large intersection in the center of the walled city. One way led to the castle, and the other way led to the town of craftsmen.

“Well then, I’ll see you soon.”

With a little bow and some parting words, Lutz was about to head home, but Gerhard stopped him before he could leave.

“Oh, I might as well ask you now. What kind of enchantment were you wanting for this katana?”

“Engrave a sharpness enchantment. I’m not looking for something that’ll just crack some helmets either. I want it to be able to slice straight through a suit of armor, along with the knight who is wearing it, symmetrically down the center. Of course, I’d expect no less from an enchantment of yours.”

“Are you sure it’s all right for me to go that far? It’s supposed to be a continuation of your father’s work, right?”

“I’ll do anything to make it even a bit stronger. That’s another lesson that I’ve learned from my experiences lately.”

Lutz had fought off the Princess’s kidnappers and even delved deep into the labyrinth with Gerhard. Through those experiences, he had arrived at that simple answer. If he meant that katana to be a full display of his skills, he wasn’t going to hold back now.

“Heh... I must say it’s still a bit of a shame that this katana is going to the Marquis.”

“I feel the same way, but this is the way it has to be. We’re craftsmen, after all.” Lutz couldn’t break his promise.

Gerhard watched as Lutz turned around and walked away. For a moment, he squinted his eyes at the sight. It almost seemed blindingly bright to him.

***

There was a revealing party at the lord’s manor of the Shander domain. A very important guest and friend of the Shander house, Marquis Beowulf Eldenburger, was invited to join Maximillion and the three craftsmen in the courtyard. The knights who were serving as Beowulf’s guards formed a circle around them and kept close watch.

“Please, Your Grace.” Lutz respectfully offered Beowulf the katana, holding it out with both hands.

Ordinarily, this would be Gerhard’s responsibility, but since the whole project was born of the bond between the two of them, they’d decided it was best to have Lutz do the honors. Gerhard didn’t miss the dubious pleasure of the act; he wasn’t the type to consider handing a katana to a noble to be an honor.

“It’s a bit plainer than I expected,” said Beowulf, grasping the saya.

Looking at it from afar, it just looked like an ordinary black saya. However, upon closer inspection, there was a tremendous relief of a ferocious dragon carved into it. It wasn’t something that was suited to showing off to others, but that in itself gave it a feeling of class.

“Is it not to your liking?”

“No, I couldn’t have asked for better.”

Hearing Beowulf’s answer, Lutz gave him a strong nod, then smoothly moved back to where the others were standing.

Beowulf drew the katana and inspected the blade. Surprisingly, even that seemed to be completely normal. Lutz’s father, Rufus, had forged as thin a blade as humanly possible in order to maximize its sharpness. Could the katana that he was holding in his hands really beat out the katana that he witnessed all those years ago? Just looking at it, he couldn’t imagine that to be so.

A five-rune enchantment had been engraved into the blade. From the strength of its glow, Beowulf could tell that it must have taken a great deal of mana to enchant it.

As Beowulf was lost in thought, the preparations for the first test cut proceeded right before him. They rested a large stone, about the size of a person’s head, right on top of a wooden box.

Beowulf’s lips twinged ever so slightly in worry and discontent. This unfortunate story had all begun when his drunken brother smashed Rufus’s katana against a suit of armor. While he didn’t want to compare himself to his brother, the thought of it still brought on a tightness in his chest.

When he turned around to face the rest of them, he saw that Maximillion was looking terribly pale. Beowulf couldn’t blame him. If the katana in his hands were to break now, the Shander domain’s reputation would crumble beyond repair. They would face such embarrassment that they would never be able to claim themselves to be a producer of fine weapons ever again.

On the other hand, the two craftsmen by his side, Gerhard and Patrick, looked entirely confident. They were turning their noses up at the target as if to say, “What, are we really going to stop at cutting through a little stone?” It seemed that there wasn’t an ounce of doubt in their hearts.

Finally, Beowulf directed his attention to Lutz. He seemed to simply be in his most natural state, devoid of any anxiety or eagerness. It was when Beowulf saw this that all of the built-up tension, all of the apprehension, left his body.

He gripped the tsuka tightly and brought the katana above his head. Everything around him returned to silence except for the bated breath of several dozen men. The stone in front of him took on the image of his father’s face, then his brother’s. Finally, it took on the appearance of his own face. This was an illusion brought on by his lingering trepidation. He would simply have to cut through that too.

A katana knows no hesitation or fear. Those are merely obstacles placed in the way of man.

He brought the katana down with great momentum, but he hardly felt any resistance at all. For a second, he worried that he had missed the target entirely in his anxious state. However, the remains of his illusion came tumbling to his feet. He had cut straight through the stone; there was no questioning it.

After a moment’s pause, the crowd burst out in amazement. It all happened so quickly that it probably took a second for the knights to get their heads around what had actually occurred.

Beowulf looked back and forth between the stone’s cross section and the blade. The cut was clean, perfect, and there wasn’t any sign of chipping on the blade. Slowly, he felt an indescribable mixture of sentiment and joy bloom in his chest. What he had lost some twenty years ago had now returned to his hands.

“Would you like to go for seconds?” asked Lutz as he approached Beowulf.

It was certainly a strange way of phrasing it. Looking at where he was gesturing, Beowulf saw a large pile of stones of around the same size. They were well prepared, at least. A bit too prepared, even.

“I’ll have to decline for today. A person in my position can’t afford to let loose much more than I already have,” responded Beowulf with a laugh. He sheathed the katana back into its saya, and even that simple action was an enjoyment in itself.

Unlike the illustrious katana he had seen so far—magnificent blades such as Amaterasu or Rose Garden—that katana didn’t seem to have any peculiar power to it. Still, having a katana with such an unparalleled cutting edge made it the finest blade he could ever wear on his hip. Receiving that katana was surely going to be an event of great importance to him, a fortunate twist of fate.

“Hey, Lutz, would you ever consider coming over to the Eldenburger domain?” Beowulf didn’t mean it as an invitation to go drinking either. He wanted Lutz as his personal blacksmith. Furthermore, he extended the offer even though Lutz’s current lord was standing right next to them. It was a rather bold offer indeed.

To be honest, it wasn’t a bad deal for Lutz either. They had cleared up all of the grudges and misgivings of the past, so he would surely receive a warm welcome to the Marquis’s domain. Aligning himself with a major power in the kingdom would surely bring him more opportunities than he would have in the more rural Shander domain, allowing him to take on even bigger projects.

After a moment of thought, Lutz quietly shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I’ve settled quite nicely into my life here.”

“I see. I suppose you aren’t Rufus, after all.”

“That’s right. I’m just Lutz, the humble katana smith.”

Beowulf was able to get his hands on the katana for which he had longed for over twenty years. However, there were still some things that would never return to him. People changed over time, both their stances and their hearts.

With the power of a marquis, he could easily poach a few retainers here and there, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to do that. More than it being a moral issue, Beowulf was just a bit on the clumsy side.

“Well, I suppose there’s nothing I can say to convince you, then. If Maximillion ever starts treating you poorly, though, run right over to my domain. We’ll protect you from any scrutiny, I assure you. Although I get the feeling that it might actually be Maximillion that gets flung around by the whims of you craftsmen.”

“No, no, I assure you we do nothing of the sort.”

“That statement proves it for me. Having such skilled craftsmen under your purview must be a laborious thing indeed,” said Beowulf with a smile.

Looking up somewhere above the clouds, Beowulf seemed less like a noble elite and more like a cheerful uncle. Of course, it would be far too familiar for Lutz to say such a thing, so he kept his mouth shut.

“If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. With this katana you have made for me, I owe you a great debt; don’t forget it.” Beowulf turned around and started walking off with confident strides. There was nothing left for him to say or do. That was the sentiment his broad shoulders were projecting.

The knights serving as his guards all hurriedly followed after him.

With that, Lutz had finished another major job. The relief he felt was massive, but just a drop of loneliness found its way into his heart as well. Just then, someone patted him on the shoulder. Lutz turned around to see Gerhard there, with Patrick right behind him.

“Good work, Lutz. Although it is a bit hard to accept that the katana you made the Marquis cuts better than mine.”

“If you have any complaints, I think it would be best to take it up with the man who did the enchantment.”

The three of them shared a very relieved laugh.

***

“I’m free!”

Claudia watched as her husband let out a joyful cry, bursting through the door with both fists in the air upon his return from the castle. She wondered for a moment how she should respond but was unable to find an answer, so she just froze in place.

“God, what a wonderful day that was! I got to settle my father’s unfinished work and got a marquis to approve of my craftsmanship. This might be the third greatest day of my life!”

Claudia watched Lutz rant and rave with a sigh, but a little smile came to her face too. “Hmmm, it seems that you’re in pretty high spirits. Might I ask what the second greatest day of your life was?”

“That would be the day I forged my first katana. Looking back at it now, it was as good as scrap metal, but still, it made me so happy.”

“And what would number one be?”

Lutz gently lifted Claudia’s delicate chin with the tips of his fingers. “I’ll tell you all about it tonight—how does that sound?”

“Oh my, I do like it when you get that fire in your eyes.” Claudia outstretched her hands and gave Lutz a couple of pats on his cheek before taking a step back. “Dinner comes first, though. You haven’t eaten anything since this morning, right?”

“Now that you mention it, I guess not. I suppose I was a bit more nervous than I thought I was.” Lutz scratched his head. It wasn’t like him.

Claudia gave him a suspicious look. “Nervous, you say? When you finished that katana, it seemed to me like you were entirely confident in your work.”

“I knew what a fantastic katana it was, but earning other people’s approval is another matter altogether. There are plenty of cases of people presenting their work to the world, their nostrils flaring with pride, only to be met with cold stares and despondency from the masses. I’m starting to feel depressed just talking about it.”

“Being a craftsman sure has its difficulties, it seems...”

The two of them went up to the second floor while they chatted. The bread and soup laid out on the table may have been the same as it was on any other day, but it tasted better than ever. Lutz finally felt like he had returned home.

“So, what actually happened at the castle?” asked Claudia.

Lutz explained everything that happened at the revealing party down to the last detail. While it served as an ordinary conversation between husband and wife, it was also Claudia’s way of gathering information about the movements of the noble elites. Lutz didn’t gloss over a single thing or consider anything not important enough to mention. Even if it wasn’t the most pertinent of details, that was just fine. That kind of information only really gained importance when you gathered enough of it to connect everything. As of late, Lutz had begun to understand how critical that information was.

Claudia nodded along to Lutz’s story with great interest. She was especially intrigued by the fact that Marquis Beowulf Eldenburger had taken such a liking to Lutz.

“Did the Marquis really say that he was in your debt now?”

“I can’t say that I remember everything verbatim, but he definitely said something along those lines. However...” Lutz took a moment to gather his thoughts. “Regardless of what he said, I think that whether we choose to believe a simple verbal promise from a noble or not is an entirely different matter.”

A promise between two people of similar stature would be one thing, but there was simply too large a gap between a marquis and a common craftsman. It would be foolish to think such a promise would be set in stone. If they demanded that the Marquis stay true to his word, he could simply cast them out as tactless ruffians.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got my head screwed on straight. I have no interest in indulging the fantasy of a noble actually keeping a promise,” said Claudia with a belittling grin. Compared to only a little while ago, her position in society had changed quite drastically. However, her stance on the nobility hadn’t changed one bit. “For me, the image that always pops in my mind when I think about Marquis Eldenburger is that terrible glare that he gave us at the peace ceremony after we successfully enchanted Amaterasu. Although, as a person in his position, he probably had every right to bear some discontent, and it’s true that Amaterasu became the source of a fair bit of chaos.”

By this, of course, Claudia was referring to the assassination of King Kassandros. It was something that felt quite distant from them, but there was no denying that it was a major event that would change the flow of history to come.

“It’s not like we asked for someone to kill him off. It was just a result of many years of tension between a father and his son coming to a head, right?”

“But of course. It’s not like we were requested to make a katana to bring the two of them together either. I’m not even sure that’s possible.”

“If they asked for something like that, I think Gerhard would blow his top.”

The two of them let out a monotone laugh.

“Sorry, I got a bit off topic there,” said Claudia. “When that Marquis Eldenburger that I had heard so much about first came to me asking to put in an order for a katana, he seemed like a rather serious—or perhaps I should say earnest—type of man.”

Lutz nodded in agreement. He could see where she was coming from.

“That’s why I think he really was touched by your work, Lutzy, and probably really is grateful enough to feel indebted to you. At the very least, if you went to see him, I doubt that he’d turn you away at the gates.”

“Is there something that you would want to discuss with the Marquis?”

“Ah, about that...” Claudia tapped her fingers on the table, her eyes wandering around the room. “Lutzy, you don’t have any big jobs lined up for a while, right?”

“Hmm? Um, I guess not for now, anyway. At least, I’m sure that everyone should give me a bit of time now that this latest job is over. Even if they didn’t, I’d just give them some excuse like ‘An artist needs time to look within after such a major project’ and try to wriggle myself out of it.”

“Would you come with me to see how the Princess is doing?”

They had become rather closely affiliated with the third princess of the kingdom, Princess Listill, who was doing her best to develop a place for all of the returning soldiers to call home at the moment. It was all work that she had never done before, so it seemed like it was taking a toll on her. Claudia had grown very fond of Listill, so she wanted to check up on her in person.

“Ah, so that’s where the connection to Marquis Eldenburger comes in...”

“I haven’t settled on the specifics of what we would do if we went down there yet, though.”

Listill had built up a village by the southern border, and Marquis Eldenburger also planned to use the area as a trading post with the federation. Even though they were situated right next to each other, they had yet to form a working relationship of any kind.

While Claudia would have ideally liked to bring the two of them together, she still hadn’t quite sorted out the logic and mutual benefit required to do so. Listill was currently in a difficult position, politically speaking. To put it in harsher terms, she had little value to contribute. Marquis Eldenburger also seemed like the kind of guy who would try to avoid getting himself caught up in more trouble.

If she were to leverage the Marquis’s feelings toward Lutz, though, what would happen? She didn’t know for sure, but she would just have to think that through when they got down there.

“All right. I’ll go to the castle to get permission from the Count tomorrow,” said Lutz, giving Claudia his full support. He probably wouldn’t be speaking with Count Shander directly, but he would have Gerhard deliver the message for him. In the end, it was all the same, anyway.

“It’s decided, then.” Claudia stood up with a beaming smile, then slipped around behind Lutz. She brought her lips close to his ear and lovingly whispered, “Now that’s settled, why don’t you tell me all about the day you consider to be the best day of your life?” Claudia’s fingers glided down to Lutz’s chest.

“Even without me saying it, I’m sure you could guess, right?”

“Oh, sure, I could, but I want to hear you say it. You men probably all think stuff like ‘Well, I told her that I love her three days ago, so surely she understands,’ but that’s what they call complacency.”

“No, I don’t think that wa... Actually, maybe I have once or twice.”

“I’m not trying to say that it shows a lack of love or compassion, but I’d like you to meet me halfway with this one, anyway. This is the sort of thing that words are meant for. Go on, say it for me.”

“I consider the day that I met you to be the most fortunate day of my life.” It was entirely the truth, but Lutz still found himself a bit embarrassed to put it into words.

Claudia let out a gentle giggle into Lutz’s bright-red ear. “Hee hee, I know.”

Chapter 10: Tomorrow’s Dream, Today’s Bread

Thanks to the tremendous labor of the returning soldiers, the once-abandoned village by the southern border had developed quite rapidly, though admittedly, the long rows of orderly living quarters made it look more like a military outpost. Because of their many years on the battlefield, most of them at least had some experience in construction, but they had only ever placed importance on pure practicality.

Regardless of how it looked, it provided shelter from the wind and rain for over eight hundred people who now occupied the village, so it was hard to ask for more than that. The new villagers themselves felt far more comfortable than they did at war, so they were overjoyed with their new home.

In the center of the village stood the largest building out of them all. From its appearance, you could perhaps call it the officers’ barracks. Inside that grand construction, a princess with beautiful black hair was staring at a bunch of small, thinly cut wooden planks, furrowing her brow.

These were called wooden slips, a substitute for parchment. The thin wooden slips were bound together, and you would carve into them with a pointed writing instrument called a stylus. They weren’t suited to long-term preservation, and it was often difficult to read what was written on them. However, it was far cheaper to procure than parchment.

When Listill was in the royal castle, she would often use parchment just for some random doodles, then scrunch it up and throw it away. She never once questioned that behavior. Now she was in a position where she had to take every opportunity to cut costs where she could.

It wasn’t like anyone had ordered her to do so. She simply compared the cost of parchment to the remaining assets at her disposal and was terrified at the thought of using it so carelessly. However, she had also made the mistake of failing to record necessary information in order to save on parchment in the early days.

Fortunately, there was a man among the returning soldiers who was skilled in cutting wood that thin.

When Listill called for the man in question and personally complimented his craftsmanship, he said, “After years of working as an apprentice furniture maker, I had finally become able to handle some basic jobs on my own, but then I got drafted, so...” A sad smile came to the man’s face.

At the time, Listill wasn’t sure what to say, so she stayed silent. It wasn’t just the man in front of her. Everyone who had gathered in that village had a similar story.

An older man proudly admired the young, yet valiant face of his lady in the faint torchlight. The man’s name was Giuseppe, Listill’s butler, who had come with her from the capital. He was also the leader of the five survivors of the Princess’s kidnapping by Kill Code’s team, who disguised themselves as bandits at the time.

Their carriages were ambushed, the Princess was abducted, and all of the knights were slaughtered. Even though they were noncombatants, they knew that simply returning alive from such an incident could be seen as a crime, but nevertheless, instead of running to hide their shame, they ran straight to the Shander domain to request assistance. As a result, the Princess was brought back home safely by the elite fighters of the Shander domain. Giuseppe and the other servants who went along with him had prepared themselves to receive any manner of punishment for running from the scene of the incident, but the Princess never once reprimanded them.

“You didn’t simply run from danger; you fought for your survival so that you could live on and fulfill your duty.”

The Princess’s words were few. If she had praised the survivors too heavily, it could have also been seen as an insult to the knights who fought to their deaths to defend her.

A butler, a servant, and three maids. While they or their families received no punishment for their actions, they also received no form of commendation.

They considered themselves lucky just to be alive, but a few days later, the five of them were all called to the Princess’s private quarters. First, Listill apologized for not being able to praise their efforts publicly. Then she expressed her deepest gratitude to each of them individually and handed them gold coins, rings, and necklaces as a reward.

At this time, the five of them had already made up their minds. Their allegiance wasn’t to the royal family, but to Princess Listill herself. When Listill went to rebuild a village for all of the returning soldiers with no place to go, even though they had received no orders, the five of them followed the Princess as if it were a normal extension of their duties.

One of the maids in her forties apparently got into an argument with her husband over it, but she said, “I gave him one hell of a whacking, I’ll tell you that!” and let out a powerful laugh as if she were recounting some valiant tale from the battlefield. She claimed that she kept an open hand, but from her build and the gestures she was making while telling the story, it must have been quite the slap. All they could do was pray for her husband’s swift recovery.

To be honest, until recently, Giuseppe hadn’t been too fond of the other four. He considered one of them to be a dull man who was only good for carrying things around. And as for the other three women, around twenty, thirty, and forty years old respectively, he considered one of them to be a depressing woman whose mental state was always a mystery, the next woman to be a lazy, irresponsible slob, and the last woman to be a needlessly loud oaf without a hint of delicacy or tact.

Giuseppe was technically from a noble background, although his parents were only low-ranking nobles. They held so little power that even the act of calling himself a noble was laughable to most, though he still considered himself to be different in some way from the other four. But no longer.

They watched each other’s backs on the long road to the Shander domain and swore an oath that they would do anything in their power to save the Princess. They were comrades.

Since they had arrived in the village, Giuseppe had grown to exchange greetings with the servant he once so openly looked down on, even having a few longer conversations. Soon, they could grow close enough to joke with each other, and Giuseppe didn’t mind that thought one bit.

The maid who he once thought to be lazy now had a fire inside of her that made her almost unrecognizable to Giuseppe, working long hours without complaint. When he asked her what had changed, she told him, “I can’t help it, I just love the Princess soooo much,” lingering on practically every word. While Giuseppe did lecture her about speaking with a little more decorum when talking about royalty, he couldn’t disagree with the sentiment. She had grown to admire Princess Listill, and so she wanted to help her. If Giuseppe were to put his own feelings into words, they would be quite similar indeed.

There were shockingly few creature comforts in that village compared to the royal capital, but regardless, Giuseppe felt as though he was living each day to the fullest. He had finally met a lady, a master, whom he could respect from the bottom of his heart and serve with pride. There was nothing that could make him happier.

Giuseppe couldn’t imagine anything worse than having to dedicate his life to someone whom he hated. Thinking about all of the people in his line of work who stumbled their way to the castle every morning with eyes as lifeless as a corpse, that drafty wooden palace of theirs felt very comfortable indeed.

“Princess, you must be feeling tired after such a long day. Don’t you think it might be best to rest for the night?”

“I’m sorry, Giuseppe, just a little longer,” answered Listill, organizing the several wooden slips laid out on the table.

Giuseppe wondered if she realized that they’d had the exact same exchange thirty minutes prior.

“Excuse my intrusion.” An apprehensive voice came from the doorway. A young maid walked into the room and gave a letter to Listill.

“For me?” asked Listill in surprise.

The maid simply nodded in response.

Who would send such an official-looking parchment letter to a fallen royal, someone who was practically treated like a blight upon noble society?

Wait, could it be a summons from His Majesty?

If Listill were called back to the royal capital during that most crucial of times, she might never be able to fully regain the trust of the returning soldiers. People who were ignorant of the situation on the ground often gave out the most ridiculous orders. While Giuseppe knew that it was a breach of etiquette, he craned his neck to take a peek.

Listill’s face lit up with joy when she took the letter up in her hands. The wax seal on the letter bore some unusual imagery, a design that featured two katana crossing each other. This was the seal of Lutz’s workshop, meaning that the sender of the letter was most likely his wife, Claudia.

Claudia was an important friend and ally to Listill, but she had also become somewhat of a role model for her. Claudia had little experience in the way of building up a town or village, but when it came to the flow of money, she was more knowledgeable than anyone. Surely she would become a great asset to Princess Listill.

Seeing Listill break the wax seal and so eagerly read through the contents of the letter, Giuseppe felt a twinge of pain in his chest, born of envy.

No matter how ardently the five of them displayed their fealty, no matter how diligently the returning soldiers worked, they were unable to bring a smile back to Listill’s face. However, that smile came to bloom the very moment Claudia wrote her a single letter.

No, this is fine... As long as something can bring the Princess happiness, we couldn’t ask for more.

Giuseppe mentally shook his head to banish the ugly feelings that sprouted inside of him.

“Claudia says that she will be visiting the village soon!” said Listill with a beaming smile.

Giuseppe was assured of his conclusion. It really was a joyous thing. “That is incredible news. It’s as though she is a goddess that’s descended in our time of need.”

“Right?! That’s exactly what I was thinking!” said Listill as though it was herself who was being complimented. She gave Giuseppe an innocent grin, a rare glimpse of a face befitting a girl of her age.

“In that case, Princess Listill, I believe it would be best to rest for the night. If you greet Claudia with dark bags under your eyes, it will only serve to worry her, after all.”

“I know, but...” Listill redirected her tired gaze to the pile of wooden slips.

“Get some good sleep tonight, and from tomorrow you can start thinking about what you are going to ask Claudia about when she gets here,” said the young maid. “Th-That will probably make things move the smoothest... I think...”

Toward the end, it seemed like the maid was losing some confidence, but Listill gave her an affirming nod. “I understand; I’ll go get some rest. I want to thank you two for your loyalty and your advice.”

“Um, also...” the maid started. “About my request to sleep next to you...”

Giuseppe let out a sigh. It seemed that she was even more impertinent than he had thought. He grabbed her by the back of her neck and dragged her out of the room.

***

It wasn’t long before a very plain-looking carriage with the Count’s crest showed up in the village. It felt somewhat contradictory, but when you saw something right before your eyes, there was no choice but to accept it.

It did reaffirm to Listill that, in governance, the lack of funds she was wrestling with was a universal problem. If she were to call the carriage a contradiction, so too would be her current life as a princess living in a wooden hut. Once she thought about it that far, there really was nothing left for her to question.

“It’s been a while, Princess Listill,” said Claudia, stepping out of the back of the beat-up carriage. Somehow, she managed to make even that look elegant and graceful.

As always, Listill was entranced by her kind smile, but she was also relieved to see her beautifully sparkling earring dangling from one ear. The pair of earrings was a clear symbol of their connection, a bond between them.

Listill utilized every last bit of reasoning left within her to hold herself back from jumping into Claudia’s arms out of the sheer joy of their reunion. She was being watched by her five confidants and several hundred soldiers. She couldn’t afford to have her dignified image shatter due to her selfish wishes.

“We’ve been excitedly awaiting your visit, Claudia. While it isn’t the most spacious of places, please treat this village like it’s your own home.”

“Well, I’ve come to make this home a bit more spacious, anyway.”

In other words, she was going to make them a fortune. What reassuring words those were. Listill took Claudia’s hand, a big smile on her face, and hurriedly pulled her over to the small hut that was currently serving as a government office.

The soldiers who had come after Claudia left the village all looked upon the adorable scene with some confusion, wondering just who that woman was.

“I’ve never seen her before, but do you think she’s maybe the second princess of the kingdom?”

“No, I’ve heard that the second princess is rotten to the core. There’s no way that Princess Listill would take to her like that. It must be someone else.”

The soldiers exchanged several theories until eventually arriving at the conclusion that she must have been an illegitimate child of the King and a long-lost older sister of Listill.

As there wasn’t much in the way of entertainment in the village, those kinds of irresponsible rumors were the bread and butter of the masses, although the fact that those rumors never included negative sentiments toward the Princess at least made them far better than the scum in the capital.

***

Is a princess truly living in such a manner?

Claudia opened her eyes wide in shock after being led to the government office. The room was just a simple square construction adorned with nothing but a table and a chair. On top of the table was a small mountain of wooden slips for record keeping.

With money running dry, Listill had no choice but to live this way. Claudia understood that well. However, that was just a matter of basic logic. To see that a princess who had never wanted for anything had fully adjusted to and accepted this lifestyle was a far more shocking matter. Was it not the way of the noble elite to value the aesthetics of power over all, even going into debt to preserve that image?

Listill was serious. She was carrying on the will of those soldiers who had given their honor and their very names to achieve their dream. She was seriously attempting to save every returning soldier, to give them a place to belong.

“Sorry for the mess...” said Listill with a touch of embarrassment.

The sight was just so unbearably adorable. Claudia got down on her knees, held Listill by the hand, and brought her in for a deep embrace.

“Um... Claudia?!” Listill was surprised, but she couldn’t hide the delight in her voice.

She couldn’t remember the last time someone had simply hugged her like that. It might have even been the first time. She had only ever interacted with her father and mother through the lens of royal duties, and her siblings only ever seemed to look at her as a potential pawn to use in their games.

“You really have been working so hard, haven’t you?”

Hearing Claudia’s gentle words of recognition, Listill’s eyes began to well with tears as she tried to hold herself back with a little sniffle. All it took was for Claudia to see that room to understand the painstaking effort and sleepless nights she had put in. She felt as though that hard work mustn’t have been for nothing.

Claudia slowly pulled herself away and stood up straight. “Is the overall management of this village still going smoothly?”

“Actually, there are quite a few things that I would like your advice on regarding that. Do you mind?”

“Of course, you can ask me anything.”

Listill sat in her chair and laid out several wooden slips while explaining their current situation. She had always written quite quickly, so her handwriting wasn’t the cleanest, unfortunately. She worried that Claudia might struggle to read them, but it seemed that she deciphered Listill’s hurried scribbles with ease.

“It doesn’t seem like there are any major issues anyway.”

“No, at least for now...” Listill’s voice was quiet, as if it were being suppressed by the enormous weight of her anxiety.

Currently, they were only just at the stage of trying to prepare the fields for large-scale agriculture, so they couldn’t expect much out of the first year’s harvest. They had been buying food supplies from neighboring domains to feed the massive population of returning soldiers, but without any money coming in, that wasn’t sustainable forever.

Listill had encouraged hunting and foraging for nuts and wild herbs to conserve some of their food supply, but that could only make up for a small percentage of their overall food needs. It wasn’t an easy thing to satisfy the appetites of over eight hundred strong men.

During the war, there were five thousand soldiers stationed at the border who needed to be fed, but that was only possible with the full support of the state. It was a tremendous burden for a single individual to attempt the same.

The two thousand gold coins that Listill had received from the King, along with the five hundred gold that she was able to secure from selling her own assets, had now dwindled to a total of a thousand.

It was now a matter of trying to slow the bleeding as much as possible. Even if next year’s harvest provided a good yield, would it be enough to alleviate their food shortages? If they managed to produce an excess of food, would they be able to sell it all off without letting it go to waste? Would the soldiers be able to maintain such a strenuous lifestyle for that long?

Listill spent hours staring at those wooden slips, but she couldn’t see a future for her village. No matter how many times she ran the numbers, no matter how much they tried to conserve resources, about halfway through the next year, the village would reach financial collapse.

Furthermore, the number of soldiers joining the village would surely only grow with time. Considering the circumstances around the creation of that village, its objective, and its overarching philosophy, she certainly couldn’t turn down returning soldiers who were seeking salvation there.

This was one of the many reasons Listill was practically throwing her hands in the air with joy when she heard about Claudia’s plans to visit. Listill wanted to put measures in place to prevent the worst from happening, but she was still young and inexperienced as a leader. She had run entirely out of ideas.

After hearing Listill’s explanation and giving all of the wooden slips a look over, Claudia calmly said, “Okay, I understand. Allow me to alleviate all of your worries and heartache right this minute.”

“Huh?”

While Listill had hoped to get Claudia’s advice on the matter, she had a hard time believing it was really something that could so easily be redressed.

After asking permission from Listill, who still seemed rather puzzled, Claudia left the room for a moment.

It was only five minutes, but to Listill they felt like a lifetime. During that time, the gears in Listill’s head were turning so fast it felt as though they were about to give out. Just what was Claudia planning to do? Certainly, she couldn’t just be misleading her with mindless optimism. Had she missed something so important that it could solve all of their troubles?

The door opened, and Claudia walked back in with Lutz in tow.

Lutz placed down a heavy-looking wooden box that he had been carrying over his shoulder and said, “Right, I’ll leave you to it, then,” before going back outside. He figured it was best to let the two of them handle it, not just because he wasn’t the most politically minded person, but more because he wanted to give them as much time alone together as he could.

“Um... What exactly is in that box?” Listill tilted her head.

Claudia smirked and pried the box open with a knife. She lifted the lid to reveal that it was completely filled with beautifully shimmering gold coins. “Princess Listill, this is a little gift from us, one thousand gold coins.”

Claudia’s plan was to use the brute force of capital. It was the simplest, yet most effective solution to their problems. However, Listill was left in such shock by the magnitude of it that she was at a loss for words. It certainly wasn’t something that she could just accept with a cool and collected demeanor.

“Where did you get this kind of money? Is it intended as assistance from Count Shander?”

Despite Listill being the one who asked, she would have a hard time believing that it could be from the Shander house. Count Shander had to think about his position in the grand scheme of things, after all. More than anything, she just got the feeling that he didn’t like her too much.

“No, nothing like that. This is our money. This assistance is all coming directly from our workshop.”

That made even less sense to Listill. While Lutz was directly employed by the Count, it wasn’t the sort of cash that a craftsman could just gather together on a whim.

“We’ve had order after order from royalty and noble elites, all of them earning us several hundred gold each. With an excess of money to play around with, I made some decent investments, and the result is the thousand gold coins in front of us.”

Common sense would dictate that such an amount was unattainable by most craftsmen, but when so many orders that threw common sense to the wind came one after another, gold piled up rather quickly.

“What did Lutz say about using this much money?” While Claudia had invested it smartly, it originally came from Lutz’s arduous labor. Surely she wouldn’t make such a huge decision without his approval as well. It was Lutz himself who’d carried it all that way, after all.

“He said that as long as I left us enough to put food on the table, I could do whatever I wanted with the rest.”

“That is certainly a bold...”

“I swear, I fall more and more in love with that man every day. Almost troublingly so,” said Claudia, showing a proud smile. “All right then, Princess Listill. As I’m sure you know, having the funds alone isn’t enough to solve everything overnight. We have simply delayed the collapse of this village from next year to the year after that.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“What this money does afford us are the three most important luxuries: the luxury of time, the luxury of careful consideration, and the luxury of momentary calm,” said Claudia, counting on her fingers.

At the very least, Listill could already feel her frantic heart slowing, and that was indeed a luxury. Listill nodded deeply.

“Now that we have some room to breathe, let’s just kick back, relax, and find a way of making a killing.”

“Is such a thing really possible?”

“Maybe not for most, but for me and you, there’s no question.”

Listill couldn’t help but be in utter awe of how Claudia could proclaim something with such certainty. She was the perfect woman, the object of Listill’s admiration. Reminded of why she had felt that way, Listill’s cheeks flushed with a twinge of embarrassment.

***

Spending forevermore in a dark, dingy room wasn’t conducive to creative thought, so Listill and Claudia stepped outside and took a seat on a log. The top of the log had been shaved away to create a simple bench.

The warmth of spring was finally coming to the air. It was so lovely that it almost made them want to take a nap right then and there, but that would surely be complacency on their part. A short distance away, they could see several of the soldiers hurriedly passing by, busy at work. If Listill were to give in and laze the day away, what would become of them?

It likely wouldn’t stop at them just losing their trust in Listill. It would surely have negative impacts on the entire kingdom. If the soldiers believed themselves to have been abandoned once again, without a copper to their names, Listill knew from experience how far off the path they could wander. There was no option for her to give up now.

While being poor wasn’t enough to justify resorting to a life of crime in Listill’s eyes, she believed that there was a kind of crime that was necessitated by poverty and that those who created those conditions had a duty to shoulder the responsibility for those crimes. Listill was resolute in this belief.

“It’s not like I had never thought about how to make more money,” started Listill suddenly.

Claudia just quietly nodded, urging her to continue.

“In order to utilize the full strength of these veteran soldiers, I had thought about offering our services for escorting caravans and that sort of thing, but...”

“This is a good thing to examine more closely. Why is it that you decided not to follow through with that?” asked Claudia as if she were a royal tutor. It wasn’t a bad line of thought, but it wasn’t the kind of answer that she was looking for either. That was the nuance that you could read from her tone of voice.

“This isn’t the kind of place many merchants or caravans pass through, anyway. The only people we get all the way out here are people who have come to sell us food supplies.”

“It certainly would be hard to sell your services to someone trying to sell you something already.”

Listill gave her a little nod. “I also thought about starting to raise livestock, but the soldiers all convinced me otherwise.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. It takes a lot of endurance to raise livestock.”

If it was endurance that they needed, they had more than eight hundred strapping young men that should have more than accounted for it, but Listill was getting the feeling that wasn’t what Claudia was getting at.

Claudia waved her hand to the side. “Ah, sorry. I’m referring to a kind of financial endurance. In other words, how long you can survive bleeding money before seeing a profit from your efforts.”

“It always comes down to money...”

“First, you’d have to have the initial capital to purchase the animals and build the necessary infrastructure to keep them, such as stables and fences. No matter if you waited for them to give birth to produce meat, sheared them, or milked them, it all takes a good deal of time to show results. All the while, you would need to feed and maintain them. Until you get everything on track, it will run you heavily in the red.”

“Oh, okay, financial endurance, huh? I suppose it would be unrealistic to afford feed for the animals when we are struggling to procure enough food for the people who would be taking care of them.”

“However, I do think that it would be a shame to rule out the idea altogether. After we have succeeded in considerably expanding our farmland, let’s plan on building up some stables and a workshop to process the resulting raw wool and hides into usable products. It might be nice to start up some restaurants that use locally produced meat, milk, and vegetables as well. That way, we could employ even more people and... Anyway, when the groundwork is finished, it means that this village will be able to support the comfortable lives of more and more residents.”

“That all just sounds like such a dream.”

“That’s right—it is a dream. Right now, this barren land has little to offer, but that just means that it is a blank slate for you to build this town up however you want, Princess Listill.”

“However I want?”

“Everything exactly to your ideals, whatever direction you feel like taking it.”

“Could I build up a bunch of confectioneries?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea. Let’s gather the materials that we need to start beekeeping for the honey. Of course, we will use our locally sourced flour as well. It is within the rights of the lord of a domain to set the fees for using the mills, after all. Perhaps we could make it more affordable, or even allow people to use it for free. That way, confectioners from around the kingdom will all be drooling at the opportunity to set up shop here.”

“Wow!”

Speaking with Claudia was so much fun that it always naturally brought a smile to Listill’s face. No matter what idea she presented to Claudia, she never rejected it outright. Claudia entertained all of the possibilities the future could hold. Listill could speak about her wildest dreams, and Claudia would help her lay out the steps to making that a reality.

However, Listill couldn’t allow herself to get lost in those dreams forever. While talking about it all, she couldn’t help but notice Claudia always mentioned how things could play out in the distant future, not about how they were going to fill everyone’s stomachs with bread that day.

While Listill found it almost sad to change the topic, she braced herself to face their current reality. “Claudia, if we are to make all of those dreams come true, I know that we need to think about stabilizing our current situation first. If you have any specific ideas about how we can start to produce revenue in the short term, please tell me.”

“Specific ideas...huh?” Claudia was unable to answer directly off the top of her head.

While they had bought themselves some time with the thousand gold coins, they were far from being out of the woods yet. They were expanding their fields rapidly, but if they didn’t produce a bountiful harvest next year, it would put them in a difficult position. If the year after that was still a poor harvest, it would all be over.

Among the men, many had come from families of farmers, but when more than half of their workforce was still new to agriculture, it just wasn’t enough. It was best to consider their chances of success in the first couple of harvests to be rather low.

There was little more support that Lutz and Claudia could provide her. While Claudia had kept her cool when she handed out that tremendous sum, making it sound like it was nothing, she was sweating bullets on the inside. Even though they had received several orders from some very wealthy clients, a thousand gold coins was an insane amount of money. It was as risky an action as selling off your house to make a long-term investment. Actually, calling it risky was an understatement. It was practically financial suicide. Making up for such a loss would be nearly impossible. If it weren’t for Listill’s sake, Claudia would have chortled at the idea and not given it another second’s thought.

The only reason she made such an investment was that she wanted to be someone who could support Listill. That was it. In other words, it was a purely emotional decision. If someone were to call her a failure as a merchant, she would have no words to defend herself. However, Claudia simply couldn’t feign ignorance while the weight of their kingdom’s failures was all being placed on the tiny shoulders of a young girl. She had often looked at Lutz somewhat critically as he pushed himself to the limits for the sake of his romantic ideals or his manly spirit, but what she was doing right now could perhaps be said to result from her womanly spirit.

“I’ve thought about it for quite some time, but I think there isn’t much choice but to get on board with Marquis Eldenburger’s plan to build up trade with the federation.”

“Marquis Eldenburger?” asked Listill, tilting her head to the side. Listill was well aware of her reputation among the noble elite at the moment, Marquis Beowulf Eldenburger being no exception.

Some time ago, Beowulf had objected to handing Listill over as a bride to the federation’s aging king, but that was less out of pity for Listill herself and more about ensuring that the federation didn’t get their hands on a royal hostage.

After the peace ceremony, Listill went to offer her gratitude to him, but when she finally saw him, she felt as though his eyes were cold, as though they were staring straight through her. He wasn’t looking at her as a full person, but as a royal doll.

Even if they were to ask for his assistance, surely he would just find some roundabout way to decline. While Listill was a princess, she held little political value or skill.

“Not to worry. We just happen to have a bit of a connection with Marquis Eldenburger.” Perhaps in an attempt to cheer Listill up, Claudia seemed to intentionally brighten her tone of voice. She told Listill about how they had received an order from the Marquis for a katana and about the connection he had with Lutz’s father. Finally, she told her how the Marquis had been so moved by the incredible katana that he said that he owed Lutz a debt.

As Claudia spoke, the months of worry slowly slipped from Listill’s face.

“I’ll take Lutz with me over to the Marquis’s domain and see if I can’t lure him in with a certain lucrative business proposition. If he does manage to establish a successful trading post, that will result in more merchants traveling through this region. Once that happens, there will finally be a demand for skilled escorts. In short, more people will be requiring those services.”

“Instead of hiring people from the Marquis’s domain, it would be far cheaper to use our services since we are already based in this area... That’s what you’re getting at, right?”

Claudia gave her a satisfied nod, overjoyed by what a fast learner her young apprentice was. “If the scale of his trading post expands even further, there will be a need for workers to build up and maintain the roads. Let’s forge a contract with the Marquis and have him pay for that work too.”

Listill was moved by how Claudia could seemingly take one small opportunity and snowball it into an empire. However, she also knew that all depended on whether they could really get the Marquis on their side. “Claudia, when you go to speak with the Marquis, would it be okay if I were present in those negotiations as well?”

“I certainly don’t mind, but...I can’t promise that it will be a very fun experience.”

Marquis Eldenburger was likely to view Princess Listill as nothing but a nuisance. Claudia was well aware of that fact.

“I am the representative leader of this village. Thinking about our future, I can’t afford to run from these kinds of things forever.”

“I have to say, Princess Listill, I really love that side of you,” whispered Claudia in a gentle voice.

Surely, Claudia didn’t mean anything too special by it, but Listill so seldom heard the word “love” directed at her that she had to turn away to hide her embarrassment.

***

Marquis Beowulf Eldenburger had finished his official duties for the day, so he sat in his private quarters, simply staring at his katana. No matter how long he gazed at it, he never found himself bored. On the contrary, every time he took it out to admire it, it seemed more beautiful than the last time. It was the katana that relieved him of twenty long years of regret. Just holding it in his hands, he could feel the wheels of fate turning in his direction.

When he first laid eyes on it, he thought the black relief of the dragon to be somewhat plain, but now it was one of his favorite features. If he was planning on carrying something daily, it was best to have something a bit more subdued that wouldn’t draw too much attention.

While he would never say it out loud, Ishigurai was far more to his liking than even the King’s Rose Garden or Amaterasu, the katana that was given to the federation.

Now that things have settled down a bit, perhaps I’ll even start those gatherings of weapon fanatics back up.

If he were to show off his beloved katana, Ishigurai, there, his reputation among his cohorts would certainly improve even further. If he told a few key individuals about how the King had acquired a new katana that was to his liking, he could put them in his debt as well.

It wasn’t a bad idea. While it was just a passing thought, it might have more potential than he had initially believed it to. As he gazed at his own reflection in the blade, a grin spread on his face.

“Master, pardon the intrusion,” said Beowulf’s butler from the other side of the door with a knock.

“Come in.”

After permission was given, the door opened to reveal the man who had served the Eldenburger house since before Beowulf had even become its head. In his hands was a letter. Was it perhaps a love letter from some angel, or an invitation from the devil? If things played out as they usually did, Beowulf assumed it to be the latter. He just got the feeling that trouble was on the horizon.

“We received a letter for you from Her Highness the Princess.”

“Which one? Do you mean the one who spread her legs for the empire, the one who’s rotten to the core, or the one who everyone is calling a blight on society?”

“Master, please refrain from that kind of wording.”

“I know, I know. That’s why I only say this stuff to you.”

The butler directed an annoyed smile at his incorrigible master and handed over the letter. “It’s from the third.”

“That doesn’t surprise me...” Beowulf anxiously broke the wax seal on the letter and opened it.

What in the world could Princess Listill be reaching out to him for at such a time, though? Was it a request for monetary assistance? Or had she maybe written to him to say that she had given up on her little project and was going to leave the rest in Beowulf’s hands? No matter what it was, it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

Beowulf parsed through the contents of the single sheet of parchment, murmuring to himself as he read. It said that Listill wanted to speak about the management of their domains, but that alone didn’t tell Beowulf much of anything. One other thing did catch his attention, though. It seemed that Lutz and Claudia would also be present for the discussion.

Beowulf felt a couple of admittedly unfavorable emotions grow in his heart. There was just a bit of irritation, mixed with some watered-down jealousy.

Lutz rejected my offer, but now he is acting on the whims of the Princess?

When Lutz made his beloved katana Ishigurai, Beowulf extended an invitation to come to the Eldenburger domain as his personal smith, but Lutz turned him down. As he was already employed by the Shander house, Beowulf was able to accept that as unavoidable.

Beowulf had even considered adopting Lutz. Of course, he wouldn’t be allowed the right of succession, but he wanted to place him in a position where he could guide the Blacksmiths Guild in a more positive direction. It would also allow Beowulf to, in some capacity, make up for not being able to do anything for Lutz’s father, Rufus, when he was banished.

“Their messenger is still waiting. How will you respond?”

Beowulf’s mind was brought back to the present by his butler’s gentle reminder. “Tell them that I am awaiting their arrival,” he said languidly. “Don’t bother writing it down—word of mouth should be fine.”

The butler gave a quick bow and left the room.

After making sure he had gone, Beowulf once again drew his katana and gazed at the blade. That katana had finally returned to his hands. He didn’t want to believe such an event could be a mere coincidence.

***

A few days later, Listill, Lutz, and Claudia arrived at the Marquis’s manor. As they stepped out of the carriage, they were greeted by servants and let through to a conference room.

Beowulf made the excuse that it would be far too cramped in his private quarters to receive so many people, but he honestly just didn’t trust Listill enough to invite her in there.

“Lord Beowulf, it’s been too long.”

“It has indeed. I’m glad to see you are still in good health, Princess Listill. Well then, may I inquire about the purpose of today’s visit?” Beowulf’s greeting was simply a formality. There was no real warmth in his voice.

Claudia figured that letting those kinds of roundabout pleasantries continue for much longer would only negatively impact Marquis Eldenburger’s overall impression of Listill, so Claudia asked her if it would be all right if she took over from there, to which Listill gave a deep nod of approval.

“Allow me to reintroduce myself. I’m Claudia, the wife of Count Shander’s personal blacksmith, Lutz. We have come with a business proposal, so from here on out, would you allow me to speak on the Princess’s behalf?”

Beowulf was already somewhat acquainted with Claudia. He knew that if he left it up to her, the discussions would surely proceed smoothly, but there was also the danger of her controlling the flow of the conversation a bit too well.

Beowulf thought for a moment about what he should do, but he didn’t really have a choice in the end. He certainly couldn’t say that it wasn’t the place for a woman to speak when the Princess herself was directly beside her. Also, if he were to say such a thing, it wouldn’t leave a very favorable impression on Lutz—whom he had planned on maybe even adopting—either. While he wanted to decline with every bone in his body, he reluctantly gave Claudia a nod.

“I’ll get straight to the point of our visit. We would like to offer our aid in your efforts to build up trade relations between the kingdom and the federation.”

“Are you trying to bait me with a lucrative offer?”

“If I were to sum it up in a word, yes,” conceded Claudia.

Beowulf was an even more impatient individual than she had originally thought. It was also likely that their presence wasn’t very appreciated at the moment, so Claudia assumed he wanted to keep the conversation as brief as possible. Either way, it didn’t seem like dragging it out too long was going to work in their favor. She needed to convey the merits of working together as succinctly as she could.

“So, you’re looking to profit off of the plan that I’ve taken on so much personal risk to finally achieve?”

“I believe this to be an offer that benefits you greatly, too, Your Grace.”

Claudia presented her plan to have Listill’s village offer its services for escorting carriages and maintaining the roads after the trading post got off the ground. All the while, Beowulf listened with a look of disinterest. However, Claudia noticed that his eyes alone were darting around the room anxiously. It seemed like his aloof temperament was merely a bluff. At least, that was how Claudia read the situation, so she continued with her idea.

“Right next to the designated area for your trading post, we have a force of nearly a thousand elite, combat-ready men with some degree of experience in woodwork and masonry as well. I believe it would be far cheaper and more reliable to use our services instead of trying to gather workers from the Eldenburger domain.”

“Furthermore, as they all have no other place to go, I suppose there would be little worry that they would betray us.”

Listill’s irritation at the Marquis’s belittling statements leaked out onto her face, but Claudia patted her on the shoulder to calm her down. Such provocations were part and parcel of business negotiations.

“I can guarantee you that they will be an invaluable asset, Your Grace,” said Claudia with an illustrious, yet somehow frigid smile.

Beowulf went deep into thought. Should he accept their offer? There were very few downsides that he could see. The only thing he could think of would be the fact that it would bring him closer to Princess Listill in the public eye. If it was at all possible, he wanted to distance himself, but as they were both operating on the southern border, he couldn’t exactly avoid any and all contact for much longer.

On the other hand, the proposal held merit for him. Hiring soldiers cost money even when they weren’t really doing anything, and if he were to send out the knights of his domain, that would eat through more than half of any profits they might gain. If he could hire highly experienced soldiers who were already stationed in the area, and at a discount, he couldn’t ask for anything better.

“I’ve heard enough. I’ll accept your offer.”

“Th-Thank you so much!” Listill immediately bowed her head to demonstrate her gratitude.

She really was a straightforward and honest little princess, perhaps excessively so. While it was certainly a charming characteristic, it also presented a potential risk. Beowulf must’ve allowed his emotions to be swayed more than he thought, because he almost felt sorry to have to discuss the next matter at hand.

Beowulf turned to Claudia. “There is one problem, though. This is all depending on the trading post getting itself off the ground, but...”

“Is there some kind of issue?”

“At the moment, that trading post is an incredibly small-scale operation, with only about a single carriage’s worth of imports and exports going through per month. I’m only continuing to oversee its operation so as not to cut off all avenues for trade with the federation in the future. To be totally honest, we’re running in the red.”

“Um... Huh?” Just as Claudia thought they had secured a lucrative deal, the entire basis of her plan crumbled to pieces. It was a shocking enough revelation to twist even Claudia’s silver tongue.

***

“Oh, I’ve really gone and done it now...” On the way back from the Eldenburger domain, Claudia sat in the carriage, clutching her head in her hands and groaning.

The negotiations with Marquis Eldenburger had gone almost exactly as she had planned, but there was just one final pitfall that she had failed to foresee. She planned to get on board with the Marquis’s plan to expand trade with the federation and make a killing off of offering the villages services, but she could never have expected that the most crucial trading post of his was running in the red too. No, she should have at least considered the possibility.

Since the assassination of King Kassandros, the forceful transfer of power had sparked several domestic conflicts. For that very reason, they had been expanding their fields as much as possible to meet the potential food demand. Claudda had figured it would sell as fast as they could produce it, but there was one thing that she failed to factor into the equation.

If the federation were in a state of domestic unrest, there was a chance that it wouldn’t have the resources to focus on building up international trade. They could simply be lacking in manpower, they might not have been able to produce enough exports, or they might not have been able to properly distribute and sell the imports they received from the kingdom. There were several possible causes for the current state of things.

Claudia hadn’t investigated it thoroughly enough. The reason it was so hard to get information regarding the trading post was that it was so far from their current base of operations, so they had no connections in the region to leverage. There weren’t even decent merchants traveling through that region from whom Claudia could get some information.

No matter how many times she went over it, though, she concluded that it was her own fault for being complacent.

“Princess, I’m so sorry,” apologized Claudia, her head hanging low. “I guess the only thing I’m good for is my big, stupid butt after all...”

After hearing such unusual self-deprecation, Listill had absolutely no idea how to respond. Unable to find the words to cheer her up, she just flailed her hands around in panic.

“Dear, a failure that you can still recover from isn’t a failure at all.” Lutz had just quietly observed the flow of things up until then, but he finally opened his mouth to speak his mind.

Claudia looked up at her husband in surprise. Lutz had always been reluctant to talk about the business side of things, so it was somewhat unexpected.

“It’s not like anyone has died or anything. We haven’t even lost any money yet. It’s just a case of one out of many possible plans not panning out how we thought it would. I’d have a hard time calling that a failure.”

It seemed that Lutz thought about things in a very different way. To him, everything was life or death, yes or no, one hundred percent or zero percent. He always worked in extremes. They weren’t dead yet, so everything was just fine. That’s what he was saying.

He was the type that was dangerously ill-suited to the life of a merchant, but regardless, his words of support made Claudia very happy indeed.

“Hmmm, I suppose you have a point. Perhaps I had just let our recent successes go to my head a little bit, thinking that everything would go my way no matter the external circumstances. At the young age of twenty, maybe it was far too presumptuous of me to consider myself some genius tactician. Honestly, it’s a bit embarrassing. I should have gone into this with a hundred plans prepared and been happy if a single one of them bore fruit. That’s the kind of mindset I need.” Claudia gave a strong nod, somehow managing to veer course from the negative spiral she was falling into. “All right, the time for reflection is over. Let’s put our energy into figuring out what to do next. The first order of business is to decide whether we continue to stay on board with the trading post or whether we go down a completely different route.”

“Claudia,” started Listill, “considering our proximity to the border, I doubt that we can avoid getting involved with Marquis Eldenburger and the federation in some capacity.”

“So, you want to follow down the path where we support and build each other up?”

“Exactly,” said Listill resolutely.

When by Listill’s side, every so often, you could catch a glimpse of the face of a true princess. It only made Claudia want to support her even more.

“Um...sorry... It’s not like I’ll actually be doing the hard work, but I’m talking about it as if I’m some grand leader...” murmured Listill while shriveling.

“No, no, that’s the right kind of attitude. It’s the job of those at the top to set the course and make sure the right people are in the right places. Leave the rest to me.”

“I’m not sure if you fully recognize it yet, but you really are a leader. I mean, you’re a princess, after all,” added Lutz.

After receiving such lovely words of support, Listill gave them a nod, figuring it would be rude of her to keep wallowing in her own pity.

“Right, now that’s settled, we need to find a way to stimulate trade with the federation. While I’d like to get right to action, at the moment, we don’t even know the exact reason that it’s been going so poorly.” Claudia shot Lutz a little glance to let him know that she was about to say something rather troublesome. “We might just have to travel to the federation and maybe even speak directly with whoever is in charge of trade over there.”

“But dear, we don’t really have any connections in the federation that could get us in with people in that kind of position. The only person I can think of is Gwynn.”

A little while ago, they received an order for a katana from a knight of the federation. It turned out to be such a splendid katana that he was overwhelmed with emotion. If they were to reach out to him, he would surely welcome them with open arms.

However, he was just an ordinary knight. He wasn’t a lord with his own domain. Even if they were to come to him for help, the question remained whether he actually held enough political influence to make a difference.

“About that... I wonder if it’s really appropriate to write him off as just an ordinary knight,” said Claudia while parsing through her memories. “He was a close retainer of the previous king, yet he is still serving under the current king, even after the coup. He was also involved in the execution of the third prince of the federation. Surprisingly, he might actually be better connected than most run-of-the-mill nobles over there.”

“So, you’re saying that it’s at least worth speaking with him about it.”

“Precisely.” Feeling her confidence coming back to her, Claudia gave Lutz a smirk.

Lutz was relieved to see it. She was finally acting like herself again.

“It’ll all be okay. This time I’m not just going to move under the pretense that everything will go our way. The idea that Gwynn may have the connections that we need is simply one of many possibilities. I’m not going to bet everything on that singular line of attack. We’ll just have to have another plan in place in the eventuality that it doesn’t go how we hope.” Claudia bore the proud face of a merchant. When she had that look in her eyes, there wasn’t anyone more reliable. “Right, Princess Listill, Lutz and I will have to go back to the Shander domain for a bit first. We’ll prepare everything we need there and then head straight to the federation.”

“Dear, I think it might be best to pay Marquis Eldenburger another visit on the way.”

“Oh? Why do you say that?”

“Let’s just give him a heads-up that we’re planning on helping the current trade situation. Down the road, it could make a good difference whether we let him in on it from the start or just tell him afterward. Also, if we have him send a letter to the Count, it will limit the chances that he might try to stop us from going.”

“Oh, not a bad idea! You’re starting to get a hang of this, aren’t you, Lutzy?”

“Well, I have you to thank for that.”

Listill looked at the two of them, a twinge of loneliness in her eyes. She didn’t want them to go. She wanted them to stay by her side forevermore. However, she couldn’t allow herself to put those feelings into words. The two of them were planning on going to a far-off country for her sake, after all.

Claudia must have picked up on Listill’s conflicted feelings as she gave her a warm smile and pulled her into a close embrace. Nearly suffocating in Claudia’s bosom, Listill was left bewildered by the sudden gesture.

“I promise you that we will be back soon. Until then, keep looking after that village like you always have.”

Still somewhat constricted by Claudia’s embrace, Listill managed a little nod.

Lutz wanted to joke about how that was supposed to be his spot, but he was wise enough to read the room and keep his mouth shut.

Soothed by Claudia’s gentle heartbeat, Listill regained her composure and pulled away a bit. There was a firm resolution in her beautiful, jet-black eyes. “I promise that I will keep on developing that village until each returning soldier has a comfortable and fulfilling place to live. For the sake of those who sacrificed themselves for the cause as well...”

By this, Listill was of course referring to Kill Code’s team, who had abducted her some time ago. In order to alleviate the suffering of their comrades, they fought a battle that they knew they would never see the fruits of. In the end, Listill had no choice but to order their execution. However, those brave men accepted their fates and died with smiles on their faces, happy that their lives alone were enough to save the countless lives of their brothers in arms. Listill remembered every one of their faces and would not forget them as long as she lived.

“But I know that isn’t something that I can do without the help of others. Lutz, Claudia, allow me to formally ask of you once more; please lend me your strength.” After gazing at them one by one, she bowed her head deeply.

Lutz and Claudia found themselves in a panic, not sure how to react after having a princess bow her head to them. After about ten seconds, Listill finally raised her head.

Claudia pounded her chest to stoke her inner bravery. “Leave it to us! We’ll follow you down to the pits of hell if need be. No, even if we find ourselves in hell, let’s build it up until it’s prospering so much that even heaven gets jealous.”

Lutz and Listill couldn’t laugh at Claudia’s grand proclamation. With the three of them together, they got the feeling that it really could be done.

The three of them smiled at each other and gave a strong nod in unison.

Side Story: A Rose-Colored Promise

Forty years. That is more than enough time for a person to gain anything they desire or lose everything they have.

Gerhard awoke in the middle of the night. The candles had gone out, so he and the room were cast into darkness, but he could still somehow make out the shape of the ceiling above him.

Even if he got up at that hour, there was nothing to do. He tried his best to force his eyes shut and go back to sleep, but found that he was already too alert. “Damn it... To think that when I was younger, I could sleep anywhere and at any time,” he complained to the vague outline of the ceiling. Of course, no response came back.

Carlisle, Chelsea, Borbus... Staring at that dark ceiling, Gerhard felt as though he could see the faces of his old comrades take form one by one.

He couldn’t sleep the way he wanted to. Furthermore, he was assaulted by those old wounds so late into the night.

“Have I gotten...old?” Again, he asked the ceiling above him. In his memories, he and his comrades were always running about with youthful spirit.

“That much should be obvious. Just how many years do you think have passed since then?”

“Even the way you talk is old, you geezer.”

“I can’t exactly compliment your form when you’re using my katana either.”

They never failed to speak their minds. A smile naturally spread on Gerhard’s face, along with a thin trail of tears.

I really have gotten old. I must say, it feels more tranquil than I expected. If I closed my eyes for the last time right now, I’d be able to accept that.

Those were Gerhard’s honest thoughts, but the next thing he knew, he awoke again to yet another normal morning.

“Getting all sentimental for nothing...” He looked back up at the ceiling, but those irritating faces were nowhere to be seen.

***

“Good morning, Your Grace.” Gerhard arrived at his lord’s private quarters to offer his morning greetings.

Maximillion Shander was sipping his tea with narrowed eyes, parsing through a letter that was written on an extremely thin cutting of wood. Considering it was written on wood paper and not parchment, it must have been a matter of great importance. Even so, Maximillion seemed unusually focused on it.

“Would you allow me to ask what you have there?”

It was a simple matter of Gerhard’s curiosity, so he wanted to preface his request by implying that he knew Maximillion was under no obligation to share the information.

It seemed as though Maximillion hadn’t fully woken up yet either. “Do you remember how we asked the adventurers to investigate the labyrinth and immediately report back if they found something unusual some time ago?” he asked, slurring his words in his tired state.

“Yes. Did you hear something back from the Guild?”

“It seems that there’s nothing particularly unusual going on, although there’s no shortage of baseless rumors going around. While most of it is drivel, I just can’t stop myself from reading into it.” Maximillion handed Gerhard the wooden sheet.

Gerhard didn’t usually concern himself with such rumors, but he had asked about it in the first place. He couldn’t just say that he had lost interest, so he decided to at least skim through the contents. Halfway through, however, Gerhard’s eyes stopped on a particular word.

“There’s a sacred sword somewhere deep in the labyrinth...huh?”

“Ah, that part. It’s a dumb rumor that springs up every once in a while, only for people to forget about it after no one finds anything. I mean, who exactly could vouch for such a thing, anyway? If someone saw a sacred sword down there, wouldn’t they just take it back with them? Nonsense, right?”

“Ha ha... I couldn’t say it better myself. It really is a foolish thing.”

While Maximillion was laughing the thought away, Gerhard’s face had turned dreadfully pale.

Who had spread the rumors? The answer to that question couldn’t be found in a single individual. Gerhard thought it something born from the labyrinth’s enticing evil, as though it were setting a trap for a new set of unwitting sacrifices. Gerhard had once been lured in by that most romantic of dreams. Not only did two of his comrades pay the ultimate price as a result, but the sacred sword they had fought so hard to lay hands on turned out to be nothing more than an ancient relic, that is to say, a bronze sword.

More than the pain of losing his friends, more than the disappointment of not finding what they expected, the emotion that struck Gerhard the most was shame—the shame of stepping over the corpses of his comrades in the pursuit of that treasure. It was enough to push Gerhard and Borbus, the only survivors of their party, to give up their lives as adventurers and pursue new lives as craftsmen. That was more than forty years ago.

The sacred sword that rested deep in the labyrinth. To Gerhard, it represented nothing but his shame and immeasurable regret.

As Gerhard silently handed the report back over to Maximillion, a thought came to his head, or rather, a memory. While Borbus was still alive, they had once spoken about going to visit their comrades’ graves. Of course, adventurers who lost their lives in battle rarely had physical graves. In other words, they were referring to the tenth floor of the labyrinth itself, although it wasn’t so much of a promise as a drunken rant.

I’m getting too sentimental. It’s not like me.

Even that nonsensical rant now felt like a precious bond between him and his lost companion. Only now, there was no one left to talk Gerhard down.

“Your Grace, I will be taking a brief leave of absence,” said Gerhard before even thinking it through.

Maximillion looked at him suspiciously, wondering what could have brought that on so suddenly.

“I want to go visit my friends’ graves.”

Given the nature of Gerhard’s request, Maximillion found it very difficult to decline. In the end, he reluctantly gave him a nod of approval. “And how long are you expecting it to take?”

“Considering that I’ll need some time to prepare for the journey, it should take around ten days in total.”

Maximillion’s confusion only grew stronger. Just how far away was he planning on going? What kind of preparations would someone need to visit a grave?

“Um... Just where are these graves?”

“The tenth floor of the labyrinth.”

Come to think of it, Gerhard had been an adventurer in his youth. However, that still wasn’t enough to make what he was saying sound any saner. The tenth floor of the labyrinth was the sort of place that a skilled party of adventurers could only reach after countless attempts. The thought of a man who had given up his life as an adventurer over forty years ago, going down that far just to visit a gravesite, was beyond most people’s comprehension.

“Are you being serious? No, are you sane?”

“I’m afraid that I’d have a difficult time vouching for my sanity,” Gerhard said with an air of carelessness. “However, I can assure you that I am serious.”

Maximillion gave up thinking about it. No matter what he said, it wouldn’t change that geezer’s mind. He’d just have to let him go.

“If ten days pass and I still haven’t returned, think of me as dead.”

“I won’t have that. Come back alive.”

“While I would also find that preferable, the labyrinth provides no guarantees.”

“Hmm... In that case, take Ricardo with you. Tell him that it’s a direct request from me.”

“Your Grace, thank you for your magnanimous heart and understanding.” Gerhard bowed and left the Count’s private quarters behind him.

“He must have suffered a great loss in that labyrinth. However, to have led a life alongside people so dear to you that you would go so far just to visit their grave, one might say that is a fortunate thing indeed,” whispered Maximillion. It was something that he had never experienced. All alone in his room, he finished the last drop of tea in his cup.

***

“Hey, Ricardo, are you in?!” Gerhard loudly knocked on a door on the second floor of an inn in the town of adventurers.

It was already past noon. Most adventurers were already out taking on monsters or exploring the labyrinth, but Gerhard heard the sounds of someone shuffling about coming from that room alone.

“Open up, I know you’re in there. Unless you want me to kick this door down, that is.”

Gerhard heard a deep groan come from the other side of the door, along with the lazy dragging of feet. It seemed that he had been asleep.

With a metallic click, the door unlocked and opened slightly to reveal a sliver of Ricardo’s tired face. He looked so disheveled that Gerhard wanted to strip him of his title of hero right there and then. Clad in nothing but a pair of underwear, he was putting his well-trained body on display for all to see.

“Gerhard? What do you want at this hour?”

“It’s past noon.”

“Just because the sun decided to rise, that doesn’t make it day...” Ricardo stumbled like a zombie over to his bed and took a seat.

Gerhard grabbed a chair and dragged it over closer before sitting down as well. “Wake up already. You’ve got a request from the Count.”

Ricardo suddenly bore the expression of a veteran adventurer, almost as if his slovenly appearance had peeled from his face. “Is it a monster culling, or bandits?”

“Neither. Just a visit to a gravesite.”

“Huh?” Ricardo gave him a puzzled look.

Gerhard explained that they were going down to the tenth floor of the labyrinth. However, even after hearing his explanation, Ricardo was still just as confused.

“Wait, wouldn’t that make this a request from you, not the Count?”

“The Count gave me his express permission to bring you along. It’s basically the same thing.”

“Ugghh...” groaned Ricardo, holding his head in his hands. It was an order from the Count and a request from an unusually persistent Gerhard. Unfortunately, there was no running from it.

Technically speaking, there were some ways to get out of it, but all of those plans would involve running from the Shander domain. The idea of losing his social standing, commendations, and personal relationships in one go didn’t sound too appealing either.

Furthermore, more than half of his personal wealth and collection of swords were being stored at the castle, and he couldn’t exactly just show up and ask for it all back so he could run away without worry.

“This job pays, I assume?”

“Of course. Both the Count and I will pay you fairly for your efforts.”

“Also, I’m going to tell you up front, but if it gets too dangerous, I’ll run straight back up to the surface.”

“That much is only natural. There’s no guarantee that we will actually be able to make it down to the tenth floor, anyway. I’m sure my comrades will forgive me for pulling back if it just isn’t feasible, although I’m also sure they’ll all appear in my dreams later to mock me,” said Gerhard with a lonely, nostalgic smile.

At that moment, Ricardo shook off his lethargy and firmly committed to helping Gerhard out. Going along with an old man’s romantic ideals was yet another romantic ideal in itself.

Thinking it best to get right to it, the two of them made their way into town to buy some supplies. They bought things such as water, hardtack, rope, lantern oil, a simple whetstone, and some emergency torches. They had only just delved into the labyrinth quite recently, so they were able to quickly assess what they would need.

While they were at it, they stopped by Lutz’s workshop as well to ask if he would come along, but he simply responded, “You guys know that I’m a blacksmith, right?” turning them down.

It seemed that after their dangerous escapades last time, Claudia had cracked the whip on him, perhaps in both meanings of the phrase.

Seeing Ricardo start to wander off, deflated, Lutz called out to him. “Here, you can use this if you like.” He handed over the enchanted axe of hellfire, Shirayuri. “I think that it should be of some use down there.”

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“No problem at all. Make sure to give it back, though.”

Ricardo was the proud wielder of the bewitching katana, Tsubaki, but Tsubaki’s curse was so powerful that it would affect anyone in the surrounding area, so it wasn’t something he could just pull out whenever he wanted to. For all intents and purposes, his real main weapon was just a fairly decent sword with a three-rune enchantment.

With the intimidating objective of going down to the tenth floor on the horizon, Ricardo really appreciated having a weapon with a four-rune enchantment to fall back on instead.

“Go on, borrow it from him. Entrusting your life to some run-of-the-mill weapon—now that’s what I’d call crazy!” Gerhard let out a laugh.

Ricardo narrowed his eyes at him. “Run-of-the-mill? I’ll have you know that I received this one as a reward from the Count. That is to say, you’re the one who did the enchantment on this, right?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.”

“This guy...” sighed Ricardo. He really was an incorrigible old geezer.

After gratefully receiving Shirayuri, Ricardo gave Lutz a bow and set on his way with Gerhard.

***

The inside of the labyrinth was dark, rancid, and filthy. No matter how many times they came, there was no getting used to it.

While until recently there had been an influx of adventurers trying their luck in the labyrinth, the buzz around it had calmed down somewhat. Where had everyone gone off to? Had they gotten used to the line of work and expanded to different aspects of adventuring? Had they found different jobs entirely? Had they fallen to greed and become bandits? Or had they perhaps lost their lives in that labyrinth?

Ricardo shook his head to banish the thoughts. He was but a normal adventurer. He didn’t have the power or qualifications that would let him make any difference in others’ lives, anyway.

“They might have all gone over to the Princess’s village, I suppose,” said Gerhard, as if he could read Ricardo’s mind.

The third princess of the kingdom, Princess Listill, had been building up a village that would provide a place of belonging for returning soldiers. The idea that rumors of that village might have spread, driving everyone over to the border, was a much brighter thought. Ricardo felt somewhat saved by that suggestion.

“You’re right. Yes, I’m sure that’s what it is.” Ricardo nodded deeply, then set off again with a bit more strength in his stride.

The two of them weren’t particularly close, but there was an unspoken trust between them, enough to entrust their backs to each other at the very least. Gerhard would cut down any monsters that jumped out at them with his beloved katana, Ittetsu, and Ricardo would set them ablaze with Shirayuri.

They both knew they were standing next to a partner whom they could rely on. However, they’d die before giving each other an honest compliment, or worse, words of gratitude. It really was a foolish quirk of their personalities, but they felt expressing gratitude would be an act that placed you below another.

The further they progressed into the labyrinth, the fewer words they exchanged. Honestly, it felt a little awkward. At times like that, they wished that Lutz had tagged along. To Lutz, though, swordsmanship was simply a means of testing out how comfortable his creations were to use. He didn’t have any desire to strengthen himself and gain the recognition of others in that capacity. Perhaps because of that, he was able to compliment people from the bottom of his heart without any strange hang-ups.

“Thank you, Gerhard.”

“That last strike was really impressive, Ricardo.”

If someone was around to say that kind of thing, the other person could just nod their head in agreement, indirectly affirming the compliment. That certainly made for smoother communication.

Wasn’t there something they could talk about? Ricardo didn’t consider himself to be very good at conversations, but he desperately searched through his mind for a topic. In the end, the only thing he could think of was the ultimate goal of their current journey.

“Gerhard, what are you actually planning to do once we get down to the tenth floor?”

“What do you mean? I’m visiting some graves.” Gerhard cocked his head. He had told Ricardo that from the very start.

“I know, but more specifically, what are you going to do? I’m assuming that there isn’t an actual grave down there, so to speak. If you’re looking to offer your prayers, where are you going to direct them?”

“Hmmm...” Gerhard thought about it for a moment. It was a fairly personal story, so he wondered whether he should really share it. He had also been looking for something to talk about, though, and it would be selfish of him to just say that it was none of his business after he agreed to follow him all the way down there.

Gerhard prefaced his story by saying, “It isn’t something I can say I’m very proud of,” before letting Ricardo in on everything that happened some forty years ago, then concluded it with his simple wish. “I just wanted to lay down a flower for them.”

“Is that all?”

“That’s all.” Gerhard pulled out a single rose from his bag. No, looking at it closer, it wasn’t a real rose, but an artificial one. It was hard to tell in the dim light of the labyrinth, but it seemed to have been put together rather hurriedly.

“Did you make that one yourself, Gerhard?”

“Don’t say it; I already know.” Gerhard put the rose back into his bag, embarrassed.

It wasn’t like Ricardo was trying to make fun of it, but it seemed he could have chosen his words a bit better.

“In the stagnant, putrid air of the labyrinth, I figured that a normal rose would soon wilt.”

“So that’s why you went with an artificial one?”

Gerhard just gave him a little nod.

“That’s a fine thing. I mean, I’m not really sure how to say it, but I think that’s good. Really good.”

“All right then, shall I make one for you when you die too?”

“You know, I was really trying to end that off on a nicer note...”

“Heh heh, sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”

“Honestly...” grumbled Ricardo under his breath while walking on. He felt as though the gap between them had maybe just closed a little bit.

Whether it was by sheer luck or good team chemistry, they were able to smoothly progress deep into the labyrinth. Gerhard felt like he was getting déjà vu from forty years ago. It went exactly like that on that fateful day as well. There were strangely few monsters blocking the way, and they proceeded through each level without getting lost. Gerhard felt as though there was another possibility, though. The labyrinth might have been inviting them in.

On that day so many years ago, Gerhard lost his comrades and his honor. What would happen this time?

I won’t let things end the same way.

Gerhard reached into a pouch around his waist, pulled out some hardtack, and brought it to his mouth. He strained his face as he bit into it, broke it into manageable pieces, and softened them by swishing them around with some lukewarm water inside his mouth.

Around them was nothing but mold and rot. It wasn’t the sort of place where you generally felt much of an appetite, but you wouldn’t hold up for very long without food either.

In the infinite darkness of the labyrinth, they started to lose track of the passage of time, but they had probably been down there for an entire day.

Ricardo had also picked up on Gerhard’s sudden air of determination and decided to eat along with him, throwing a piece of hardtack into his mouth. Even the displeased twisting of his face was the same as Gerhard’s.

They took turns getting an hour’s sleep while the other kept watch, then set out again. Monsters so horrifying that seeing their disfigured image alone was enough to drive one insane came out one by one, and they cut them down without hesitation each time. Neither of them could remember how many they had slain.

On the way, they had retrieved a few jewels from the treasure chests that were scattered about the labyrinth. All of them were of decent size and quality, not a scratch to be seen. They would probably sell quite well. Even if they returned with that alone, it made the trip worth it. Of course, that all rested on whether they would be able to get back home alive.

Another half a day passed, and the two of them finally set foot onto the tenth floor. The moment they left the staircase, a malevolent chill ran up their spines. It was their intuition as adventurers and their primeval survival instincts that let them know there was something incomprehensibly large and terrifying on that floor.

“Let’s get going...” Gerhard shook his head before stepping forward. If he had been the sort to turn around there out of fear, he wouldn’t have made it that far down in the first place.

At first, Ricardo looked at Gerhard as if he were an absolute idiot, but he soon followed after him, grumbling, “Oh, I give up... Whatever happens, happens,” under his breath.

Gerhard pressed forward without worry or doubt. The labyrinth was changing, rearranging itself day in and day out, yet the tenth floor looked exactly the same as it did forty years ago. He placed his hand on the wall and could feel a small tremor. Next came the sound of swords clashing, someone yelling, then a scream of terror.

Was there someone fighting nearby? Gerhard felt his heart jump, then ran off without a moment’s thought. If he didn’t do anything, it would mean letting another person die down there.

“I won’t have it. I won’t let it happen again!” yelled Gerhard, drawing his katana as he ran. In his hands was the great katana, Ittetsu, the true sacred sword that his friend had forged with his final breath.

Gerhard broke through into a large cavern, and the first thing that entered his line of sight was the gargantuan monster. “Hey, did you miss me?”

It looked like an octopus with ominous black skin. There were eyes all over its body, along with a gigantic mouth. Every one of the more than a hundred eyeballs focused on Gerhard.

Gerhard remembered that strange creature, or rather, he wasn’t allowed the luxury of forgetting it. It was the monster that his party had only barely defeated forty years ago, but not without sacrifice. Gerhard didn’t understand how, but that same creature stood before him once again, although he couldn’t be sure that it was the same individual.

That doesn’t matter anyway.

Gerhard held firm to his katana and stared down the creature with a fiery rage in his eyes. He felt as though just allowing such a monster to exist was an insult to his fallen comrades.

He quickly scanned his surroundings. There were a total of four men and women. One of them was bleeding rather heavily, though it didn’t seem to be a fatal wound. There was still time.

“Wh-Who the hell are you?!” screamed one of the men, seemingly the leader of the party.

“I’m just passing through!”

Surely the monster had no recollection of Gerhard, but it seemed to at least recognize that he was the greatest threat there. Several tentacles approached him at great speed. They were as thick as logs and just as hard, too, but they could also stretch and bend in any direction that they pleased. It really was a formidable weapon.

However, Gerhard didn’t even attempt to dodge them. It was an attack he had only seen once before, but he had relived that moment countless times in his nightmares. He spread his stance wide and prepared to face the attack head-on.

He cut into the first tentacle, sending green fluid spurting everywhere. He parried the second tentacle to change its course. He valiantly cut straight through the third tentacle, the silent war cry of his lost friend ringing from Ittetsu. The fourth tentacle came rushing toward him, but an axe suddenly came from outside of Gerhard’s field of vision, engulfing the tentacle in flames.

“You could boil or grill that thing and I still wouldn’t want to eat it!” said Ricardo, relieved that he had managed to catch up in time. “Gerhard, what’s the situation?”

“We’ve got to kill that monster. That’s all you need to know.”

“Thanks for the explanation...” Ricardo let out a little sigh before adjusting his grip on Shirayuri’s handle. What most considered unreasonable, impossible, or absurd was simply daily life for the average adventurer. Everything else could wait until after the abomination before them was dead.

One of the tentacles had been set ablaze by the power of the enchanted axe, Shirayuri, but the monster simply cut it off before the flame could spread any further. The resulting wound appeared to bubble and fester, then a new tentacle soon sprouted from it.

“Ugh...” Ricardo had kind of intended that to be a deciding blow, but it seemed to have had little effect.

Perhaps feeling Ricardo’s will waver, five more tentacles came heading straight for him.

Gerhard and Ricardo jumped backward. A second later, the tentacles came crashing down, forming a large crater in the solid stone ground.

What were they going to do? Ricardo could feel the seeds of doubt making their way into his mind.

“It can’t just keep regenerating forever! Cut it, cut it, and keep on cutting it! If we sever around ten of those tentacles, it should become rather tame!”

“You sure make that sound easy!”

“With the two of us working together, how could it not be?”

“Oh, you flatter me!” Ricardo ran off ahead and swung Shirayuri once again.

The monster must have learned from the pain it experienced the first time as it tried to fling the axe to the side.

Another tentacle came rushing at Ricardo, who had been knocked off-balance by the blow. However, as if he had been waiting for that exact moment, Gerhard flew in from the side and brought down his katana. With that, another tentacle had been cut cleanly off.

“Ghaaaaaah!” A screech so loud and fearsome that it made the hairs on their bodies stand on end reverberated through the cavern.

The remaining tentacles all directed themselves toward Gerhard and Ricardo.

“Don’t forget about us, you freak of nature!”

A short spear stuck into the monster’s back. The four adventurers had once again found the will to stand against the creature.

“We were here first—don’t go changing your target before we’re even finished with you!” screamed the man who appeared to be the leader.

A strong-looking woman pulled the short spear out of the monster’s back, and a man with a shield drew in closer. The man who had been bleeding from his head must have realized that he would only be dead weight, so he gained some distance and was holding a half-bow at the ready.

While they had perhaps benefited from some good fortune and lucky coincidences, they were adventurers who had made it all the way down to the tenth floor. They were in no way lacking when it came to skill and sheer guts.

“Come on, everyone, let’s cut this thing into shreds!” yelled Gerhard.

“Gotcha!” the adventurers responded.

The question remained as to why some random old guy was now giving out orders, but it wasn’t the time to be concerned about such trivial matters. That old man seemed like he could really pull it off. They had never met him before, but they could feel an air of reliability from him.

Even with the monster’s hundred eyes and dozens of tentacles, it struggled to fend off the coordinated attacks of six adventurers. Its tentacles were being sliced and severed one by one. It had managed to land a few strikes on the adventurers, but it had missed any vital points, so it failed to deal any fatal wounds.

Eventually, the time they were all waiting for arrived. They had cut off the tip of one of the monster’s tentacles, but when it went to regrow it, the wound bubbled as usual, but that was all. The creature froze entirely for a moment. It can’t be! There’s no way! I can’t believe it! Shocked thoughts must have been passing through the creature’s alien mind.

Not wanting that chance to get away from him, Ricardo ran toward the monster. A tentacle came hurling at him, but Gerhard managed to block it. Cutting through the darkness of the cavern, Shirayuri’s blade struck into the main body of the monster, tearing deeply through its flesh. A mere second later, the monster was completely consumed by flames. In its weakened state, there was nothing it could do to fight the fiery curse.

“Ghaaooooh!” The monster let out an apocalyptic screech, so piercing that it felt like the sound itself was scratching at their souls. Even after the wailing subsided and the monstrosity was reduced to ash, the sound continued to ring in their ears.

“Is it...over?” asked the leader, looking around the room to confirm everyone was safe.

Suddenly, they heard a mechanical rumbling, like the strained turning of gears. Looking in the direction of the strange noise, they saw that the iron bars had lifted on the entrance to a small room. In that room was an old, battered treasure chest. It seemed to be set to open when the monster was slain.

It was then that they could no longer ignore a certain issue they had been putting off for the duration of the battle. Just who was that old man and his younger comrade?

If those two hadn’t come when they did, their entire party likely would have been wiped out. Even if they managed to win, someone would surely have paid the ultimate price. They were indebted to those two men. On top of that, they both seemed rather skilled. It wasn’t certain that they could beat them, even four on two.

While the leader was wondering how he should broach the subject, one of his party members, a fierce young woman, walked up to the old man.

“Hey, Gramps, we really are thankful for your help back there. However, we were the ones who got here first. We won’t give up that treasure without a fight.”

Such reasoning was fairly common among adventurers, but it still came off as a bit selfish. The other party members all held their breath and nervously waited for the old man’s response.

Not only did Gerhard not display any discontent at the young woman’s blunt words, he looked at her with a gentle, yet somehow pained gaze.

She’s just like Chelsea...

Chelsea was the single rose amid the party of unkempt men. Of course, all three of them had fallen for her. More than that, though, they all valued the dynamic that they had as party members, so nobody said anything about it. What a painful, sweet memory it was.

A faint smile came to Gerhard’s face. He pulled the artificial rose from his bag and carefully placed it in the young woman’s hair.

“H-Huh, what?” The young woman seemed confused. She had thought the old man might suddenly come out and swing at her, yell at her, or try to negotiate, but that cheesy gesture completely betrayed her every expectation. She had no idea what was going on in that man’s head.

“Come on, Ricardo, we’re leaving.”

“Oh, right...”

Without the simplest explanation or desire to be understood, Gerhard turned his back on the adventurers and left the large cavern behind him. Ricardo hurriedly followed after him. All that was left in the room were the four adventurers and the ashes of the monster.

“What? What was all that?” As the young woman finally allowed the tension to leave her body, she sat straight down on the ground. She reached her hand up to pull the rose out of her hair and crush it in her grasp, but as soon as she felt the rose with the tips of her fingers, she changed her mind, dropping her hand back down to her side.

“Did you get to do everything you wanted to?” asked Ricardo as he walked beside Gerhard.

They had delved deep into the labyrinth, defeated countless monsters, and now that they had finally arrived at their destination, they were just going to go home? It all felt a little anticlimactic.

“Yeah, I’ve finished what I came here to do,” said Gerhard as if he were holding back his emotions. “We managed to save their lives, to change fate. I doubt there is any greater solace I could provide for the fallen.”

“Is that how this kind of thing works?”

“At any rate, I’m satisfied, so have some tact and follow along with it.” After gaining some distance from the other adventurers, Gerhard suddenly stopped in his tracks. “Any moment now...”

Ricardo cocked his head, wondering what the old codger could be talking about, but soon heard screaming coming from where they had just been.

“Waaaaah! Wh-What is this?!”

“It’s bronze! This is the sacred sword?!”

“God damn it, we’ve been had!”

It seemed that there was a bronze sword inside that treasure chest. While it may have been worthy of being called a sacred sword at one point, that would have been in ancient times. It wasn’t only the monster who had regenerated, but it seemed like the so-called treasure had as well.

Gerhard had a peaceful smile on his face as he listened to their screams, as if being serenaded by them. “Ah, yes. This is it. This is what I wanted to hear. If we were the only ones to get tricked by this damn labyrinth, it just wouldn’t sit right with me.”

“This conniving geezer...”

What would become of those adventurers from then on? Would they continue to happily work together, or would they start fighting over whose fault it was that they wasted so much time down there? Maybe they would get tired of their lives as adventurers and follow a different path altogether. It was fine either way. As long as you were alive, you could choose any path you liked.

“Right, let’s go home. I want to get in a hot bath and drown myself in booze. Ah ha ha ha ha!”

Deep, deep in the labyrinth, the laughter of old warriors echoed through the caverns.

Afterword

I want to start by extending my gratitude to everyone who picked up this third volume of The Bladesmith’s Enchanted Weapons.

Right when this is coming out, we will probably be beginning work on the manga adaptation for the series as well. I am incredibly grateful to see the world of The Bladesmith’s Enchanted Weapons spread even wider through different mediums. There are so many parts of this story that I want to see take form, to be able to read as a manga, so I am truly looking forward to what the future holds.

Right then, did you enjoy the side story that was included at the end of this volume? It was a story of a romanticist old geezer, rampaging about. For better or worse, it all feels very fitting of Gerhard, and I have grown to be rather fond of this story myself.

To be honest, I wanted to include more scenes with cute girls, chock-full of the sort of sex appeal that would make everyone giggle and swoon, but Bladesmith is a story about craftsmen in the Middle Ages, so there ends up being a lot of burly men joining the cast instead. Thus, we get this group of eccentric guys, both young and old.

“Your katana...looks pretty nice.”

“That saya you’ve got there... That’s amazing.”

While everyone is drooling over each other’s katana with labored breath, it can be quite difficult to add in a level of actual romance.

When the odd scene of a man getting aroused does pop up, it’s usually the ornamentalist, Patrick, wanting to lick a blade up and down, or perhaps Ricardo, falling head over heels for a hallucination brought on by his katana. That’s how it generally goes.

Skin, that’s what I need. I need more exposed skin. While there have been quite a few scenes where the characters are naked, it’s usually a couple of guys together, washing each other off in a river, or a certain katana smith and a macho geezer comparing their saya. Does this kind of scene actually serve to please anyone? I can’t say that it does much for me.

The last time the most crucial heroine of this story, Claudia, actually showed off her bodacious body was at the beginning of the first volume of this series. After that, I’ve kind of just suggested their intimacy by saying stuff like “They’re going at it hot and heavy every night.”

If this were a more romantic kind of novel, I could slowly delve into those scenes, describing everything over a span of tens of pages. However, Bladesmith is a story about craftsmen, so, unfortunately, ever so unfortunately, there isn’t much of a need to go into such excruciating detail with those kinds of scenes. As a result, all I have to offer you are scenes of a bunch of guys washing off the sweat of their labor or the stench of the labyrinth in a river or a big old washtub. For this, I offer my deepest apologies.

In the first place, while Lutz, or rather all the main characters that I write, have some degree of lust inside of them, they tend to display a good deal of self-control. That’s probably the big problem here.

On the other hand, all of the heroines I write end up being the diligent and decisive type, willing to accept every bit of lust that the main character hides inside of him as long as it’s directed at her, but ready to stab him in the gut if he cheats.

If Lutz were to see a beautiful woman in town, his eyes might linger on her for a bit, but the thought of cheating would never cross his mind. That’s the balance I want to maintain. If he saw a gorgeous woman, he wouldn’t be thinking about taking her to bed; he would be thinking about where he could buy that same outfit for Claudia. That’s the form that I want Lutz’s lust to take.

There will be no cheating or affairs, and certainly no harems. That’s ingrained in Lutz’s value system, so I can’t just use the pattern of “Look, I made a new girl for the series!” then hit them with a “Look, I made another love interest for the series!” in the next volume. Unfortunately, this comes at the sacrifice of not being able to write many sexy scenes.

I am a pervert. I am a huge fan of sexy things. That being said, I am also an author. I can’t in good conscience give in to my desires and run this story of mine into the ground as a result.

It was this conflict within me that birthed the scene in which the Princess wets herself. A girl of royal status gets kidnapped, then, when she is saved from the bandit’s hideout and lets go of all of that tension in her shoulders and her bladder, she reaches her very limit and wets herself on a man’s back, her face flushing in embarrassment.

Isn’t it just a wonderful thing? I, for one, consider it to be a certain kind of art. I would say about thirty percent of the world’s population would agree with this sentiment.

It perhaps goes without saying that the act of excretion, which ordinarily would not be fit for the viewing of man, only gains its eroticism when combined with a factor such as a noble and pure princess, giving it an air of something sacred or virginal.

If it hadn’t been Princess Listill on Lutz’s back, but Ricardo, for example, and he suddenly said, “Oops, sorry, I’ve gotta leak,” Lutz would have dropped him straight to the ground, beaten him, kicked him in his side, and left him where he lay. He might have even spat on him as he left. It’s not like they would never be able to return to being friends, but it would likely take some time.

With this kind of light entertainment, it just doesn’t feel possible to cut sex out of the picture completely, no matter how hard you try. While you probably could make a story that works without it, adding in a little sex appeal makes people much happier. Add too much, though, and it can ruin everything. It’s like the chestnuts in yokan or dorayaki.

From here on out, I want to continue refining this story’s overall flavor while not forgetting to carefully savor the chestnut on the tip of my tongue as well.

I would like to end this afterword by offering my sincere gratitude to everyone who read this third volume of The Bladesmith’s Enchanted Weapons, everyone who has been following this series from the web novel, the talented illustrator CARIMARICA-sensei, my editor O-shi, Tatsuya Sakurai-sensei and MotoKiyo-sensei, who are now working on the manga adaptation, and all of the staff who helped bring this novel out into the world.

Kazuma Ogiwara

All of the blades Lutz has forged so far

Tsubaki, the camellia flower — Katana

A bewitching katana that makes the wielder see hallucinations. After enchanting it with a charm spell the effects grew even stronger.

Love Letter — Aikuchi

A piece made for Lutz’s beloved wife, Claudia. Engraved on the nakago are the words “TO MY DEAREST.”

Kikokuto, the blade of weeping oni — Katana

A katana with an intense focus on sharpness that was given as an offering to the Count. A high-pitched sound rings out when it cuts through the air.

Ittetsu, to live by steel — Katana

Its true creator was the blacksmith Borbus. Carrying on his will, Lutz finished the hardening and sharpening of the blade.

Knight Killer — Two-Handed Sword

A sword created with the goal of murdering every one of the thug knights of the walled city in cold blood. It would perhaps be more accurate to call it a cursed object than a sword.

Amaterasu, the sun goddess — Katana

A peace offering to the federation. It is about thirty percent longer than an average katana and three times as heavy. Truly an extraordinary katana.

Yugumo, the evening cloud — Aikuchi

A gift for Patrick, the ornamentalist. It is a superbly fun and easy-to-use aikuchi, thanks to its well-balanced weight.

Renge, the lotus flower — Katana

A katana forged for the purpose of decapitating a member of the federation’s royal family. The cold yet gentle shine of the blade illuminates the road to the afterlife.

Shirayuri, the Madonna lily — Axe

An axe that Lutz forged by pouring in every last one of the skills he has accumulated as a katana smith. It serves as an epitaph for the brave soldiers who died to defend their countrymen.

Rose Garden — Katana

An offering to King Rathbard Wollscheid. Lying under its seductive elegance is the terrifying power to crush anything under its own weight.

Ishigurai, the stone eater — Katana

A katana that was forged for Marquis Beowulf Eldenburger. In order to clear the lingering regrets of his own father, Lutz pursued beauty through pure functionality.