Chapter 5: Encounter

Part 1

“Now, now, Miss Beautiful. Please smile. The edges of your lips keep inching down!”

Ianna awkwardly pulled up the quivering edges of her mouth. In front of Ianna was a female student with a red beret who was carefully drawing a portrait of Ianna on the canvas before her.

The same situation was unfolding all throughout the large hall where Ianna currently was. The Institution’s head office had formally commissioned students majoring in the Art Department to draw portraits of every new student.

Eiji, Herrace, and Taro were close by. The four of them had gone to Elona’s Paradise as soon as the fifth exams were over and were congratulated by Dante as they shared a toast.

“I gotta head back to my hometown. I hafta pack my stuff, and I wanna see my family too. Imma be busy trying to get back by February 20^th.”

“You must live pretty far away. Your family will be here for the induction ceremony, so wouldn’t it be better for you to send notice and ask them to come up to the capital with your belongings? Going back and forth would only put an extra burden on you, Sir Taro. And it’s probably best that you don’t overdo it since the preliminaries for the competition also start on the 20^th.”

Herrace had good reason to worry. It was one thing if Taro didn’t care about how he placed in the competition, but he’d need to save his stamina if he was aiming to do well.

The competition was to take place from the 20^th to the 1^st of March and competitors would be competing with real swords, which not only meant that the fighting would be fiercer, but also that competitors would build up wounds and fatigue as the competition went on. It was an intense schedule.

But people like Taro, who lived far away, would be low on stamina if they competed as soon as they made the round-trip home and back. Taro made a distressed noise as he scratched his head.

“My older brothers are all busy, and my old man’s pretty heavy, so they prob’ly won’t come. And I think it’s best that they stay right where they are, too. They’ll stir up a fuss if they come up to the capital, and I can already see them gettin’ in trouble with the police here.”

“Jeez. Where are you even from, and what does your family even do?”

“That’s a secret. I’m only gonna say that we’re from another country.”

“What are you trying to keep so many secrets for? A little investigation’s all it takes to uncover everything anyway. Orange hair, naturally dark skin, and a southern dialect! There’s also that gigantic sword of yours! And the fact that your entire family’s a bunch of muscleheads! I can already guess from this alone that…….”

“Look here, ya bastard.”

“Ack!”

Eiji was clamoring on drunkenly and yelped when Taro smacked him on the back of his head.

“I’ll tell ya everything later, so quit sniffin’ around even if yer curious, ‘kay?”

“Alright, Mr. All-Brawn-No-Brains. I don’t particularly plan to sell out anyone here either. In any case, are you going back home too, Little Ianna?”

“I am. I plan to pack my belongings and come back down by myself.”

“Where are your lands?”

“At the very north of the kingdom.”

“Wow……. Ain’t that pretty far? When are ya plannin’ to leave?”

“I’m planning to head up tomorrow as soon as I complete my registration. I heard that we need to have our portraits painted.”

“Oh, then I guess I’d hafta register tomorrow too.”

“Hmm? If that’s the case, then let’s just all go together.”

And so, Ianna, Eiji, Herrace, and Taro had returned to the Institution the very next day. The other departmental exams also concluded toward the beginning of February like the Swordsmanship Department exams had, and the Institution’s head office was rather quiet because not many people registered as soon as the exams were over.

They had been pushed into a room jam-packed with uniforms once they had confirmed their numbers and applications. There, they were measured and received two sets of uniforms in their size. The exam fees were expensive, but it was said that everything else went smoothly as long as you got in —and fittingly, the Institution gave them their uniforms for free.

The uniforms had a very neat design to them. The top portions of the uniforms had the same design for both sexes and were simply fitted in accordance to physique. They consisted of a white shirt, a black vest, a lavish scarf in place of a necktie, and a black jacket with a standing collar. The lower portions consisted of skirts for women and pants for men.

Nobles who paid attention to the gold decorations on the jacket or the cuff buttons may have been displeased by how simple they were in design, but most students were satisfied by how their uniforms looked. The uniform was cool enough in design and was made from high-quality fabric that was both comfortable and easy to move around in because it stretched —all in all, the clothes were superb. Most students were proud to wear the uniform, not dissatisfied, because it represented the Institution and its many centuries of fame.

The next thing they had to do after receiving their uniforms was what they were doing now —changing into their new uniforms and having their portraits drawn.

“It’s finished.”

Ianna’s portrait was completed first. Ianna yawned and stretched out her stiff body before bowing to the Art Department student to give her thanks. The Art Department student chatted about how Ianna was a junior who was not only beautiful but also well-mannered as she handed Ianna her portrait.

Ianna’s portrait was very beautiful. The Art Department student had paid extra attention to Ianna’s appearance because she was a girl and had drawn Ianna’s already gorgeous crimson hair all the more vividly. Ianna looked somewhat expressionless in the portrait because Ianna had failed in forcing herself to keep smiling, but it made the clean lines of the uniform’s modest design look like it had been made especially for her.

Ianna chuckled a little when the Art Department student told her that the uniform looked so good on her that she could have been showing off if she paid any more attention to wearing it well.

Ianna thanked her and checked in on how the others’ portraits were progressing, but she decided to change back into her regular clothes and return to the head office ahead of them because it looked like it would take a while.

“Lady Ianna Roberstein. You must be the daughter of the count who oversees the north.”

The female staff member from the head office did not hide her surprise as Ianna submitted her portrait to her.

Almost every noble, especially those who ranked count or higher, sent their children to the Theodore Academy. The Institution had an amazing curriculum, but it couldn’t be helped that a curriculum tailored to nobles differed from a curriculum tailored to commoners.

Also, attending the Academy, which only accepted nobles, had the extra benefit in that any friendships one made during their time there could easily transition into high society in the future, whereas the Institution was mostly comprised of commoners and any friends made would not necessarily become a useful connection.

Of course, attending the Institution meant that one could see talented individuals with their own eyes and bring them under their own wing in the future, but seeing talent with one’s own eyes was something that could be done while attending the Academy as well. And, prominent individuals would flock to those ranked count or higher of their own accord anyway.

Moreover, there was a difference in the quality of the Academy’s and Institution’s facilities, and arrogant nobles sometimes caused trouble because they did not fit in well amongst the commoners. And it was usually worse for noblewomen. Noblemen were able to get along with their commoner peers to some extent because they exercised and sweat together, but most noble girls were not only delicate but also prim and proper. They were a marked difference from commoner girls, who were generally determined and resolute.

And, the biggest reason why nobles didn’t attend the Institution was that there was no greater shame than failing to get admitted to a school that was mostly comprised of commoners.

In that regard, Ianna was quite the outlier.

“Will you be registering for the dorms? Our dorms are double-occupancy. Nobles often choose to find housing elsewhere in the capital and commute. What would you like to do?”

It was unthinkable for a noble to share a room with someone else. They still had to follow the Institution’s rules, but nobles had a difficult time adapting to dorm life and generally bought a suitable house in the capital to commute from. Ianna, however, did not intend to assert her noble status and did not think she would have a difficult time adjusting, and therefore chose to live in the dorms.

“I will register for the dorms.”

“Understood —rooms will be assigned on February 20^th. You may start moving in once you receive your assignment. Only your first name will be listed on your nameplate. And your tuition is……oh.”

The staff member, who had been speaking ceaselessly like a busy woodpecker, suddenly stopped speaking and looked between Ianna and her application with her eyes opened wide.

“You’re in the Swordsmanship Department?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Wow. I’ve been working at the head office for years now, but I’ve never seen a female student in the Swordsmanship Department before. Are you sure you’re in the Swordsmanship Department? Goodness. I mean, how on earth did you even qualify……?”

There was a rude light in the staff member’s eyes. Ianna glared a little because she was offended, but only nodded because she didn’t want to cause needless trouble.

“That is correct.”

She didn’t, however, hide the displeasure from her face. The staff member remembered that Ianna was a high-ranking noble and quickly lowered her gaze to her desk when she realized that she had been rude.

“I-I understand. Tuition for first semester Swordsmanship Department students is 15 gold, which will bring you up to 25 gold with room and board.”

New students generally opened their eyes wide and stared in mute amazement at how unexpectedly cheap their tuition was when they paid for their first semester. The application fee, at 5 gold, was expensive, but 25 gold was extremely cheap considering that it was for their tuition and housing combined.

Moreover, the Institution had good scholarships and a part-time job system, so students could attend for free and even earn money if they did well in their studies. Some examples of the part-time jobs were how the Magic Department had created the badges used during the entrance exams or how the Art Department had painted the new students’ portraits.

“Your tuition is due by the end of February. New students in the Swordsmanship Department can receive scholarships depending on how well they do at the New Students’ Swordsmanship Competition, so please do your best to win a good scholarship. Those who make it to the semi-finals or finals held on March 1^st will be able to cover their tuition for the semester in full, but you needn’t worry at all about……oops.”

The staff member continued to subconsciously look down on Ianna.

Swords were typically monopolized by men, who were born with stronger physiques. Swordswomen existed, but they were often treated as personal knights who served greedy young noblemen only in name or as decoration or substitutes.

And so, the staff member thought that it was impossible for Ianna, still but a young girl, to get good grades in her class full of boys. She even doubted if Ianna had been admitted through proper means in the first place.

Ianna remained calm even though the staff member’s attitude was the very definition of unpleasant. This had happened in the past as well. Prejudice was a scary thing, and many people had looked down on Ianna so much they had all but scorned her at first because they did not believe in her abilities. But then, they had all come to bow their heads before her of their own accord after witnessing how strong she really was.

Ianna had slowly become the strongest in the kingdom by forcing others to submit to her one at a time. Her skills would prove everything clearly, so there was no reason for her to tire herself out by being displeased every time someone reacted this way.

“Aight, I’ll be headin’ off.”

“Take care, everyone.”

“I’ll see you again on the 20^th of February.”

“Take care!”

They said their goodbyes, shook hands, and parted ways once they had successfully completed registering to the Institution.

Ianna returned to Elona’s Paradise to collect her things once she was alone. Dante, who had grown attached to her, was sad that they wouldn’t see each other as often anymore, but she beamed when Ianna said that she would visit frequently on the weekends.

Ianna left Elona’s Paradise in the same outfit she had been wearing when she had first unpacked at the inn. She rented a horse and had it carry her up north on the well-maintained paved roads. The bright sunlight shone down on her and tickled her nose.

Her mood deflated at the thought that she would have to leave behind this warm place where she found everything satisfactory and return to the Roberstein lands, but that couldn’t be helped. There were matters that she needed to take care of personally now that she had decided to leave behind the Roberstein name.

And, she also wanted to see Karnitz and Isphee, though she had been the one to refuse them coldheartedly when she had first left. She wondered how they were faring and if anything bad had happened to them multiple times every day.

Ianna departed from the capital and changed course just before she entered the Roberstein lands. There was a place she had been meaning to visit once her exams were over. It was none other than the Temple of Laos.

Ianna stood before the entrance to the Great Temple of Laos that was just north of the capital soon after she had changed course. The entire building, including the roof, was made from marble. The Temple, which was decorated by grand columns meant to show off its abundant wealth, was pure white.

The temple was crowded with people who had come to hold mass and worship the God Laos and with priests donned in white. Everything was so white that people didn’t even seem to cast any shadows —it was almost uncomfortable.

It was said that the Temple of Laos was white to represent Laos’ power to create everything from nothingness and to praise the god for his purity. Ianna smiled sarcastically as she remembered Lebony. She could not understand why people walked around wearing clothes that professed the purity of God —just how great were these gods supposed to be anyway? There was no reason that the gods should be any different from man.

Ianna walked into the temple after she had checked in her horse at the stable. It was a shocking development, considering that she had never once stepped foot in the temple before.

Laos had never once shown himself after the beginning of the Age of Magic. The reason why people believed in him even still was because they thought that their God was with them in their hearts, not in reality. In other words, God was what the weak leaned upon when they couldn’t stand up for themselves.

Ianna found it pathetic when people said that the things that they had accomplished by their own power was the grace of God, even if God had never helped them to begin with. She had even entertained the blasphemous thought religion was like brainwashing when her distrust in it had been at its peak.

And yet, what else could she do now? The gods truly existed.

She might find the answer to her reincarnation here. Laos, and Laos’ gravestone.

Ianna was breathing hard. She was clenching at her clothes before she knew it. The reason why Lebony had ruined her entire life. The clues behind the scars that had formed deep within her heart. And the mysterious power that had erased the time when she had fiercely lived her life only to start everything over from the beginning again. All of it was here.

“Hello, my sister. May the bright light of the great God Laos be with you. What brings you here today?”

A priest smiled and approached Ianna as she stood quietly. Ianna ignored her palpitating heart and smiled back.

“I come from the outer reaches of the kingdom, and I am visiting because I wanted to see the Great Temple that our God Laos is said to watch over.”

It would be both incredibly rude and absurd for her, an unidentified young girl, to suddenly ask the priest to show her the treasures hidden deep inside the temple. She could even be taken to the police for acting suspiciously.

The priest smiled, perhaps because Ianna had responded favorably.

“I see. God is always with us, my sister, but there are many people who come here hoping to meditate on God’s past. You are free to look around at your leisure, but it is forbidden to carry around weapons within the temple grounds. Please leave your sword with me, and you may pick it up at the entrance when you leave.”

Ianna was reluctant when the priest pointed to the sword at her waist, but she had no choice but to follow the temple’s rules. She was extremely unwilling, but Ianna forced herself to be relieved of her sword and gave it to the priest with both hands. The priest continued,

“I have received your precious sword. There are many relics of our God Laos here, but please make sure to see the idol of our God Laos and the murals depicting the creation of the heavens and the earth, which the temple is famous for, before you leave.”

The priest handed Ianna’s sword to another priest at the entrance before kindly guiding Ianna to the gallery.

The first thing that Ianna saw when she entered the gallery was the figure of a child who seemed too young to be called the father of creation. The idol of the child was wriggling his fingers and was hard at work creating something.

Ianna mumbled,

“Laos…….”

It was said that the driving force behind Laos’ recreation of the world was his childlike and innocent purity and imagination. The idol of Laos was as white as snow.

Ianna walked past the childlike idol and observed the detailed murals in the gallery walls one by one. Laos was colorless even in the paintings —a stark difference from everything else. He was exclusively depicted in white.

Pure white Laos matured alongside his creations. It was said that Laos, who had grown up once he had created everything in the world, had hidden himself away because he believed that his mission was complete.

Ianna studied the murals carefully for several hours. She didn’t know if the secret of the gods could have been hidden somewhere within them. However, she could not digest the murals, which surpassed even the vast ballrooms of the royal palace in width, in one go.

The sun eventually set, and the gallery grew empty as the temple prepared to close for the day. The only people remaining were a robed man, Ianna, and a few priests cleaning the gallery.

The pure sound of a ringing bell resounded throughout the gallery.

“We will be closing in five minutes. May the grace of Laos be with you, brothers and sisters, and please have a wonderful evening.”

Ianna turned her eyes away from the murals. She rubbed her eyes because they were dry. She had not learned anything new about the gods. She had studied the murals carefully, but they were simply a depiction of the creation as it was written in the Holy Book.

“Whew…….”

Ianna made to leave, thinking that the entire excursion had been a waste of time, but changed course to visit the idol one last time before she left.

There she found a young man wearing black robes with a suspicious air about him because he was muttering quietly to himself. He was the very picture of a scoundrel, and Ianna thought that the temple would have a policy to ask guests to take off their robes, but the priests seemed to ignore the man altogether.

Ianna stole a glance at the man’s robes. It was a richly colored robe that looked expensive. He probably pays a lot in offerings—Ianna thought subconsciously before she stopped paying him any further heed.

Ianna looked to the boyish idol of Laos. Very quietly, she whispered,

“Who are you?

“What is the energy that slumbers within my body?

“And this Roberstein whom your kind speak of……who in the world is she?”

Her questions were like echoes that never came back.

She found herself pathetic for having questions that no one could answer and talking to herself before a mythical figure. With sinking feelings, Ianna turned her back on the gallery and made to leave for real this time.

Then, a gaze that seemed to pierce through her face fell upon her from behind along with a frightening wave of bloodlust.

“……!”

She flinched and felt her entire body go on edge from the strain. Ianna subconsciously reached for her sword when the chilling bloodlust fell over her and clenched her teeth upon realizing that her sword wasn’t at her waist. Her heart was beating erratically from tension and anxiety.

This was a temple. She could not simply jump at anyone here. Ianna turned swiftly to the direction where the bloodlust was coming from.

The robed man was looking back at her. All Ianna could see of him was his sleek nose and the firm line of his mouth. His face was in her general direction, though, so Ianna could only assume that he was looking at her.

Ianna looked around only to find that the priests were still cleaning with peaceful expressions on their faces. In other words, the bloodlust was only being directed at her.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Ianna asked coldly, as she was in a rather sour mood. And yet, the man did not look away. Ianna glared at him. This man, who had directed hair-raising bloodlust at her out of nowhere, was grating on her nerves.

The savage bloodlust the man was emitting subsided a moment later. Ianna scowled fiercely. She did not know what this man wanted. She also found it unpleasant that his robes covered his eyes.

Ianna ground her teeth together in rage, as though she was about to devour him whole, and opened her mouth to say,

“Are you toying with me right now?”

She waited for a reply, but the man offered none. She continued,

“You suddenly direct your bloodlust to a random stranger passing by, but you have nothing to say about it?”

“…….”

“I see you must be a crazed mute. You will die should we ever meet while I’m armed.”

Ianna stared at the man for a while even after she had given her frightening warning before she turned around and swiftly exited the gallery. She walked briskly back to the temple entrance and retrieved her sword. Her heart, still beating erratically from uneasiness, settled down as soon as her sword was back at her waist.

Ianna bit down hard at her lips. This was why she hated unequipping her sword. She could only be self-confident because she had her sword, and conversely, she was nothing without it. The sword was the pillar that supported Ianna’s existence.

Ianna glowered at the gallery from which she had all but fled from. She had felt like an herbivore stripped naked before a savage beast when she had felt the immense bloodlust while she had been without her sword. Her mood had hit rock bottom.

“Damn it all.”

She felt so terrible that she cursed before she could stop herself. Ianna left the temple and stomped across the open road that was devoid of people because it was dark like she was a part of a rioting mob. Anyone who came across her by accident in this state would not be able to return in one piece.

But, just as Ianna left the open road and turned onto a narrow one filled with back alleys.

“……!”

Her field of vision shook. Someone had grabbed her by the shoulder, her body had been dragged backward, her head had hit against someone’s chest, and she had been pulled into an embrace.

Ianna was so surprised by the sudden tight embrace that she even forgot about her dark mood and forgot to breathe for a moment.

A warm breath tickled her neck, and sturdy arms were wrapped around her waist and shoulders. Ianna had not been in much physical contact with others in both this life and her last. She had only ever stood above them as a terrifying and powerful sword, not as a woman. And yet, Ianna was currently being embraced so tightly by a man she didn’t know that she was having a hard time breathing.

“What……?!”

Ianna returned to her senses and struggled, but she could not shake him off because his arms were wrapped around her so tightly her own arms were growing sore.

A menacing scowl alighted Ianna’s visage. She had not felt the bastard reaching out to her —no, she hadn’t even felt him approaching.

‘Just when did he sneak up on me from behind?’

Ianna was shocked. Behind her was someone so skilled that she hadn’t sensed his presence until he had hugged her tightly.

Ianna was sensitive to the flow of mana and to people’s presences, and she also reacted quickly and was able to deal with sudden situations. And yet, she had been grabbed and taken to a back alley without being able to fight back —even if she had been lost in thought. If the man had been an assassin, she would have had her heart pierced and would be lying in the dirt without ever knowing why.

“Let go!”

Ianna had tried to shake the man off multiple himes, but he was unyielding. Or rather, he wrapped his arms around her waist and shoulders tighter like a large serpent. She was so engulfed in rage and humiliation when she heard the man’s shaken and unsteady breathing over her shoulder that she bit down hard at her lips.

“……Who are you?”

The man didn’t reply. Ianna grabbed hard at the man’s thick arm around her, as though she was trying to rip it apart.

“Why are you holding me like this?”

There was a wintry light in Ianna’s eyes, which the man couldn’t see. Ianna calmly collected her breathing. It was possible that he had mistaken her for someone else, or it was also possible that he could have been controlled by another’s nefarious aims.

Ianna was carrying her sword right now, unlike the time when she had been insulted at the temple. Her hand that wasn’t grabbing onto the man’s arm was resting atop the sword at her waist. His fate would be determined by how he answered.

Despite the bloodlust laced in Ianna’s question, the man stood still for a long while before he held her tighter and said,

“……The you in my arms right now —are you not an illusion……?”

The voice mumbling by Ianna’s ear was unsteady and melancholy.

Indeed. It was simply the voice of a grown man that was low and even pleasant to the ear. And yet, Ianna’s heartbeat, which was constantly steady, skipped a beat as a heavy realization crashed upon her —because man’s voice sounded so similar to the unforgettable voice of the man who influenced her life so heavily both now and in the past.

“……!”

The arms that had been holding her slipped away while Ianna had been unable to focus. Ianna belatedly realized that she could no longer feel the man’s arms around her and looked back only to find no one there. She ran into the alleys that the man had disappeared into and looked around, but she could not find any trace of him.

The only proof that he had ever been there was the chilly scent in the air and the aching of Ianna’s body.

“……What……?”

Ianna looked confused for a moment before she shook her head and cleared away the ridiculous thought in her mind.

His voice had simply sounded similar. Similar sounding voices could be found anywhere. And that was why Ianna believed that the man couldn’t have possibly been him even if his voice had sounded similar. After all, there was no reason that he would be here, no? And, there was no way that he would know who she was at this point in time, no?

And more importantly, there was no way that man would ever pull her into an embrace like that. He had ever been her enemy, and she had never been in contact with him in that manner in all the time she had known him.

‘Then, was he trying to rape me?’

But she hadn’t felt any foul lust in the man’s strength. Considering that he had held her so tightly that it hurt, it had felt not like lust, but rather as though he had possessively been asserting that he would never let go of what he had gotten hold of.

‘Did he hold me because he mistook me for someone else?’

Ianna’s head was a mess.

Just then, Ianna recalled the robed man she had met in the temple and scowled. She realized that the man who had just embraced her just now was similar in statue to the crazy mute. No, she was sure they were the same person. This absurd situation couldn’t be explained if otherwise. And, considering that the top of her head had reached around where the man’s chin was, their heights also matched.

“Oh?”

Ianna smirked. Just who did he think he was that he was doing these absurd things?

No, who he was didn’t matter anymore.

“I’ll break your limbs if I ever see you again.”

Ianna ground her teeth together as she left the alleyway. She resolved herself anew to grow stronger as quickly as possible because she found it pathetic and humiliating not only because of what had happened in the temple, but also because she hadn’t even been able to sense the man’s presence and had let him sneak up on her.

“…….”

Ianna bit her lips and clutched tightly at her own arm. Why did it bother her so much that she still ached where the man had held her so tightly?

She figured it was probably because it had been the first time she had ever been hugged so tightly and desperately —like she was caught in a spiderweb and bound in place.

But then, why was she also so concerned about the darkness of the alley that the man had vanished into?

She could not know.

Ianna stole a quick glance at the darkness before she could stop herself before she turned forward and walked ahead.

~~*~~

Thud thud.

Ianna set back on the path she had taken when she had first left for her exams. She wanted to return to the Roberstein lands as quickly as possible, pack her things, and return with high spirits, and she had planned to make the trip easier by returning by horse. However, her mood had completely soured after she had been humiliated by the mysterious man. And so, she was currently making her way back to her lands by foot.

The secret to growing stronger was to be strict with the body. Humanity had a precious ability called adaptation. It was tiring to swing the sword even ten times if it was your first time wielding one, but if you persevered and continued training every day, you would adapt and your stamina and muscular strength would improve so that you didn’t get tired even after swinging the sword ten times.

You would eventually have the stamina to be able to swing the sword a thousand times and not get tired if you kept increasing the number of swings you adapted to, and Ianna had decided to walk back to her lands because she wanted to improve her stamina and endurance.

Additionally, she needed both mental and physical training to increase the amount of mana she could control and to lengthen the duration of her control over it. If her concentration faltered, the mana would immediately disperse from her body, but if she concentrated too hard, the mana would overload it.

She needed a body strong enough to withstand the burden if she wanted to be able to control vast amounts of mana for long periods of time. Constant receptivity training and physical training was how she would become able to control mana for longer periods of time.

It took seven days to get to the Roberstein lands from the capital even if you rested as little as possible and switched out horses along the way to continue without stopping. She had been able to walk at her leisure because she had left early when she first came to the capital, but today was February 4^th and school started on February 20^th —she only had sixteen days left. She didn’t have the time to takes things slowly with her training if she also considered the fact that she would need to take the time to pack once she arrived at the Roberstein lands.

But Ianna was simply speed-walking, as it would only take her four or five days to reach her destination if she ran with her legs reinforced by mana.

Mana could be used in many ways. Those ways were reinforcement, magic, and fortification.

The first way to use magic was reinforcement. The process of taking the mana from your surroundings and absorbing it into your body, like the way makeup was applied to and absorbed by the skin, was akin to imbuing your body with strength.

If someone condensed mana into their arm, the muscles in their arm would grow stronger, they would move faster if they condensed mana into their legs, and their vision would get better if they condensed mana into their eyes. However, it was important to liberate the mana if you felt yourself reaching your limits because you could overload yourself if you kept the mana inside your body for too long.

The second way to use mana was through magic. Particular phenomena occurred when mana was controlled and arranged in certain ways, and this phenomenon was called magic. Magic was divided into three categories: natural magic, abstract magic, and bio magic.

All life in the current Age and natural elements such as fire, water, and earth were all comprised of an arrangement of mana. Natural elements in particular had a unique arrangement of mana, which determined their unique characteristics, such as the temperature at which hot fire burned or how water flowed and washed things away. Natural magic was the analysis and application of this high-level mana arrangement.

When a mage isolated mana and moved it around to rearrange mana into the arrangement particular to the natural elements, the mana would either manifest as the elements themselves or would display their unique characteristics.

Simple spells like Fireballs could be used by simply combining the arrangements for fire mana and wind mana, but high-level spells like Flame Hurricane had arrangements so complex that ordinary mages could not even conceive of casting them. Still, natural magic was the easiest of the three.

Like natural magic, abstract magic was also manifest by using unique mana arrangements, but it required an extraordinary amount of research because the arrangement of mana could not be observed as readily by the naked eye like the arrangement of mana in nature. The prime example of abstract magic was psychic magic, but it also encompassed magics such as spatial magic, like teleportation, communication magic that functioned like a megaphone world, and curse magic.

Finally, bio magic could be called the final stage of the study over the bodies of living creatures. The ultimate goal of bio magic was creation. No actual bio magic existed yet, but mages were engrossed in the thrill of possibly encroaching into the territory of the gods because they might be able to create life like the God Laos had if proper bio magic was ever developed. Examples of bio magic were healing magic, which was researched in the temples, or the alchemists’ research into chimeras.

The third way mana could be used was fortification. Fortification was called different things depending on what was being strengthened, such as sword fortification, spear fortification, or bow fortification. For example, a sword would be able to cut through more things if you coated it with mana the way you spread clay over a blade. The fortification grew stronger if you were able to compress a vast amount of mana and stabilize it on the sword.

Physical training was vital for a warrior. They had to train their bodies and improve their base abilities, such as strength, stamina, endurance, and reactivity before they could train with a weapon and eventually come to be able to wield it freely. On top of that that, their talents in controlling mana had to be excellent too, not only because they had to draw in mana and maintain it in the form of fortification and ensure that the fortification maintained its sharpness, but they also had to undo the fortification to launch a ranged attack from time to time.

For mages, it was more important to spend time studying mana and training their volatility abilities rather than their body because they had to memorize specific arrangements of mana and learn how to apply the fundamentals. That was why it was only natural for mages to be physically weak. Their area of effect offensive spells, however, were immensely powerful.

And so, warriors and mages were complementary beings who both used mana but in vastly different ways.

Every book on military tactics and stratagem in the Age of Magic had the same words written on the very first page.

Warriors use their physical prowess to protect mages, and mages unleash powerful spells from behind the protection of their vanguards.

It was the most elementary of tactics that pointed to the complementary nature of warriors and mages.

Ianna walked slowly and rested during the day, when she would run into other people from time to time, and imbued her legs with mana and ran at incredible speeds at night when there were hardly any other people present.

Nothing good would come from letting the world know that she already had so much control over mana at such a young age and being regarded as a genius like she had been in the past life. Controlling mana was no ordinary skill. This was why it was highly possible she would draw the attention of upper-rank nobility or even royalty if she displayed her abilities.

Ianna did not want to get famous or draw the attention of such useless people. After all, it was pointless. It was obvious to her that she would simply be branded as a rebel scum who abandoned her country once she left for Bahamut if she was known as a talented individual from Roanne.

That was why she did not plan to show that she could control mana freely during her time at the Institution, though she would use it to some extent. All she wanted was to be able to quietly train up her skills as she waited for the future that was to come after she turned nineteen.

All Ianna needed was the man who would one day become the emperor of the Bahamut Empire. That man would be her eternal rival —in the past, in the present, and also in the future.

Arhad.

Still, she planned to put the entirety of her sword skills on full display. She was confident that she could handle the novices at the Institution with her swordsmanship alone.

There were fewer people on the road the closer she got to the chilly atmosphere in the North, and green forests began to cover up the roads. The roads, however, were as well-maintained as ever and easy to traverse.

The roads to the North had been used by the army in the past. Not a single blade of grass grew where the steel boots of countless soldiers and the hooves of military horses had once passed —it was a path meant only for people.

But the Bahamut empire’s invasion had abruptly stopped around five years before Ianna had been born, and Roanne had entered a sudden era of peace. Roanne was hesitant to go on the offensive against Bahamut because it had always been on the defensive, and they had decided to put down their weapons once that strange stand-off had continued for several years. As a result, the war had entered a temporary state of truce before anyone could figure out what the actual cause behind the war really was.

And so, the roads to the North had only been used by ordinary citizens as of late, not soldiers. Merchants, in particular, used the roads often because trade was robust between the North and the kingdom’s Central region. The Lotso Mountains made it possible for the barren North and the luxurious Central region to be mutually dependent on one another.

North of the kingdom was the Lotso Mountains, the center of the world. The icy cold winds that blew down from the Lotso Mountains had turned the North into a barren land where no grain could grow. In exchange, however, the mountains provided the North with an abundant supply of medicinal herbs, good quality forests, and high-purity minerals.

Additionally, the North had become a gathering place for craftsmen who made weapons and armor because the army had been posted there in the past, and the region had become the main hub for weapons manufacturing. The ferocious monsters from the Lotso Mountains also provided a steady supply of high-quality leather and sturdy bone.

In exchange for these things, the Central region provided the North with an abundant supply of food, which could not be easily secured in the North, luxury items, the latest trends in fashion and clothing, and other simple daily necessities.

It had taken a long time to establish such a robust trading system. This was due to the monsters, which threatened the merchants’ lives.

The continent had been filled with unexplored lands during the early years of the Age of Magic, that is, back before the countries that existed now had established their seemingly eternal histories. The biggest obstacles for the people of the young kingdoms as they sought to pioneer the land to increase their territories were the monsters that came down from the pockets of mountains that existed across the continent running amok and laying claim to fertile lands.

Monsters endlessly coveted and hated other life and would kill even when they weren’t hungry.

The creationism of the Faith of Laos taught that Laos had created everything in the world. Those believers who could not bring themselves to believe that Laos had created the monsters, however, asserted instead that monsters were mutations that had been exposed to malice from the Demon’s heart.

Monsters generally came from the center of the Lotso Mountains, which was said to cross the demon’s heart. This fact was something that led people to believe the Holy Book of Laos, in which was written, ‘The powerful Demon did not die but was simply sealed away, and the Demon’s energy slipped through the seal to create the evil creatures known as monsters.’

Monsters swarmed other mountain ranges as well, and these were considered the result of distortions in the earth caused by the powerful Demon.

The monsters hid deeper into the mountains when man eliminated all the monsters from the plains after the end of a bloody war and blockaded the mountains with fortresses to increase his territory, and the monsters had stopped appearing in human territory altogether ever since.

Monsters had disappeared from the plains, but in return, the mountains and forests, now saturated with them, grew more dangerous. But the people wanted to pioneer the mountains too, because they were not only a treasure trove of natural resources, but they were also a shortcut between regions that would cut a ten-day journey around the mountains down to one.

But the mountains were where the monsters came from. It was not possible to eradicate them entirely. This was why any nobles who owned territory near the mountains had the duty to kill any monsters that came down from the mountains, as well as the duty to send out monster extermination expeditions at the end of every month.

The monsters would retreat deeper into the mountains after an expedition was carried out and would not appear on any roads used by people for a while afterward, and so the expeditions had the overwhelming cooperation and support of the civilians even though they were expensive and had high casualties.

Moreover, Roanne was a military nation with many outstanding warriors and mages that was famous for taking care of monsters swiftly if they attacked, and any part of the kingdom that wasn’t near the border was safe from monsters because the kingdom’s expeditions were carried out until no trace of any monsters could be found.

And yet, Ianna was stopped in the middle of the road and prevented from passing through even though it was deep into the night and she was supposed to have started running quickly by using mana.

“Is it because of monsters?”

One of the two knights blocking her path nodded when Ianna posed the question, unable to fully comprehend the circumstances.

“Yes, milady. We received a report that ferocious monsters have been sighted in the Allacamorah Forest as of late and that many people have lost their lives to them. His Excellency the Marquis of Chaipan has forbidden civilians from entering the Forest and is personally combing through the area for monsters with his knights.”

The Marquis of Chaipan, Gellonian Chaipan, was a reputed knight in the North. From what Ianna could remember, he had considerable influence in the military and would one day meet his death at Arhad’s hands, but he should be skilled enough to easily dispatch any run-off-the-mill monster from the mountains. Still, she figured that something unusual must be going on, since he had come to the forest personally.

The knight nodded and continued while Ianna was deep in thought.

“It is also late at night. I don’t know why a young lady such as yourself would be travelling alone, but night is a dangerous time for anyone, not just a lady, so please stay the night in the Marquis’ lands and rest and either take another route to your destination or go back from where you came and wait for the monsters to be subjugated.”

But Ianna couldn’t do that. Ianna had to pack her belongings and return to the Institution by February 20^th. And she could not return to the capital now that she’d already started her journey.

This road was a large road that branched out into different areas of the North. She could not go anywhere in the North if she could not use this road. Just how strong was the monster that they needed an entire expedition force to subjugate it?

Monsters. Ianna had fought them so frequently in her past life that she had honestly grown used to them. It was not because Roanne had grown accustomed to peace that the kingdom had lost ground against Bahamut when the ceasefire ended and war had broken out again. It was because monsters had poured out from the North like a tsunami right up until war had broken out. Among them had been both large monsters like ogres and small fry like kobolds, which attacked in groups.

Roanne mages had theorized that the monsters were being controlled by a mage skilled at mind control, but most people were skeptical about their claims. Mind control magic was one of the most difficult branches of magic out there —so how could it have been cast on so many monsters? The people found it more believable to say that it was the monsters had been affected by the demon’s curse.

And then, the Bahamut army had attacked……while Roanne was busy dealing with the hordes of monsters.

In any event, Ianna had faced many monsters in the past whether she had wanted to or not. Strong monsters were resistant to mana, so normal swordplay or weak spells did not work on them. There had even been some monsters that could control mana themselves, leaving the kingdom with no choice but to send out their precious elite forces. Ianna had been at the forefront of the fighting and had plenty of experience subjugating monsters.

Based on her experience, she knew that there were some monsters that she could not defeat with her current skills. But such high-class monsters only inhabited the heart of the Lotso Mountains. There was no reason for such monsters to suddenly appear in a forest in the middle of the kingdom —not when expeditionary forces were being sent out every month.

She could cut down regular monsters in one blow with her strong swordplay. If she wasn’t strong enough to face a monster yet, she could always imbue her legs with mana and run away.

Not to mention that it was unlikely that the monsters that Marquis Chaipan could not find even after days of searching would suddenly appear on her path.

Ianna determined that she did not have any concerns regarding the danger once she had analyzed the situation. She considered sneaking her way through—, but there was the possibility that she could be sent to prison for disobeying the Marquis’ orders if she was caught acting suspiciously in this situation.

Moreover, Marquis Chaipan’s knights were capable of dealing with most monsters. It was possible that they would escort her all the way through the Allacamorah Forest if she disclosed the fact that she was a count’s daughter and raised a fuss about having to hurry home, though they would probably curse her for being a stupid little girl amongst themselves if she did.

But Ianna rejected the notion immediately not only because she did not even want to imagine herself acting that way, but also because the idea of using the Roberstein name —which she was trying to rid herself of— appalled her.

“Milady. Please head back.”

Ianna stood before the knights, who were growing tired of her, for a little while longer and pondered. Then, she remembered that the knights had said that entry to the Forest had been restricted for several days and wondered about what had happened to those who travelled between the North and Central regions for important business.

“What of the merchants who are travelling for important business? Some of them will be imposed with heavy sanctions for infringing their contracts if they’re late.”

“We gather them up and permit them to enter the forest with the mercenaries and knights under their employment once every three days. His Excellency the Marquis’ knight order will be overseeing their protection during our current situation. And so, there is a group scheduled to leave tomorrow morning as well, but…….”

The knight shook his head. He continued,

“It will be impossible to take a lady with us.”

The knight turned down Ianna’s request before it had even left her lips. Women could not accompany them. In other words, women were to wait patiently until the situation was resolved because they would only be a disturbance if something urgent were to come up.

“There are urgent matters which I must see to in the Roberstein lands.”

“We cannot take you with us even if you have matters to attend to.”

“Sigh…….”

Ianna sighed before holding her sword in one hand and taking out the student ID she had received from the Institution and shove it under the knight’s nose. The knight did not understand what she was doing and looked perplexed as Ianna said,

“I was successfully admitted to the Swordsmanship Department of the Institution this year. I am in a hurry because I must make it back to the capital before February 20^th, when the preliminaries for the Swordsmanship Competition are scheduled to begin. I will not be a hinderance should a dangerous situation arise —I may even be of more help than could others.”

The Institution’s Swordsmanship Department was famous, and everyone knew about it. The knights were shocked and looked between Ianna’s sword, her student ID, and her face.

“Lies…….”

“Please confirm it yourself.”

Ianna handed the knight her student ID. The knight accepted it carefully and opened his eyes wide in surprise when he saw her name.

“Lady Roberstein?”

“That is correct, but is it not more important that you verify the authenticity of my ID?”

The knight nodded deeply upon hearing the thorns in her chilly words.

“M-my apologies for my insolence.”

A student ID could be verified by the magic seal that was engraved into it. All forms of identification, and not just student IDs, had magic seals engraved into them, so any knight who served at a gate or patrolled a territorial border knew how to verify it.

The knights had a duty to escort Ianna through the forest if she insisted because she was the daughter of a count, even if she hadn’t been in the Swordsmanship Department. But the knight, who was curious about whether her student ID was real, carefully accepted her ID and injected it with mana.

Buzzz……

The Valgenta Institution’s seal appeared in the air above the ID when it was injected with mana. The knights stared at Ianna as if she was some kind of mysterious lifeform.

“Will that suffice?”

“Yes, there’ll be no problem if you’re a member of the Institution’s Swordsmanship Department. Please be here by six in the morning tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

Ianna retrieved her student ID and returned her sword to her waist.

The group would be travelling slowly. This was because they would have numerous wagons with them. She would have to travel as fast as she could when she left the knights’ escort if she had to match their pace. It looked like she would need to eat and rest in order to preserve her stamina. Ianna put the knights, who still had strange looks on their faces, behind her and made her way to the Marquis’ lands to find a place to rest.

“…….”

And following behind her was a black shadow bathed in the moonlight.

~~*~~

Part 2

Ianna spent the night in the Marquis’ lands and left the inn early the next morning. The Marquis’ lands were boisterous even though the sun had yet to rise and the dawn skies were still deep blue. Dust, kicked up by the caravan’s wagons and carts, blanketed the morning air.

“Hey, hurry up!”

“Stop dawdling! We’ll have to wait another three days if we don’t get there in time!”

The merchants were packing their wagons so they could enter the Allacamorah Forest today. The stores were open too, since the streets were filled with merchants. They often bought a lot of things ahead of their long journey. There were especially a lot of people at the fooderies and grocery stores.

Likewise, Ianna had bought lunch and dinner at the inn where she had eaten breakfast, and she also bought a lot of dried foods, such as jerky and dried fruits. And there was one more thing she still had to prepare.

Ianna visited a clothing store that was preparing to open up for business and bought herself a cheap brown robe. She hadn’t needed a robe while she was travelling alone, but a robe would be indispensable if she was to travel through the vast Allacamorah Forest with other people —especially if she was going to be spending several days in the company of many men. Things could get annoying if she happened to catch someone’s eye.

She didn’t like the fact that people would look at her with a biased viewpoint just because she was a woman, but there was no helping it. The prejudice was simply the paradigm of the era.

Ianna put on her new robe and arrived at the border from yesterday.

“I’ve confirmed your application, Mr. Dongtram.”

The knights from last night were confirming applications. Ianna went to stand at the end of the line. The long line shortened and shortened until it was finally her turn.

“Please give me your application number.”

Ianna lifted the hood of her robe a little instead of replying, and the knight recognized her and immediately lowered his head. He continued,

“You could have come here directly instead of waiting in line…”

“I don’t intend to receive special treatment on account of my station. I am here today as a student of the Swordsmanship Department. Please keep my identity a secret from the others.”

The knight looked perplexed as he nodded in acknowledgement. Then, he brought Ianna to a middle-aged man with a magnificent mustache who was disciplining the soldiers.

“Our first and foremost duty when a monster appears is to minimize casualties —exterminating the monsters comes second. Keep this in mind, understand?!”

“Yessir!”

“Start moving and stretch out your bodies before we begin. We leave in an hour!”

The knights scattered after replying loudly in the affirmative, and the man’s gaze turned to Ianna and the knight with her.

“Commander, this is Lady Roberstein.”

The man’s eyes lit up with curiosity.

“It is an honor to meet you, My Lady. I am Frederick Holt.”

“It’s a pleasure, Sir Holt. But please drop the formalities going forward.”

Ianna stopped him before Frederick Holt could drop to his knee. She did not want to be kissed on the back of her hand with so many eyes watching. She continued,

“And, I would like you to treat me the same way would anyone else. I do not wish to receive special treatment.”

Frederick, the commander of Marquis Chaipan’s second knight order, took a liking to Ianna’s attitude.

‘Most nobles try to get preferential treatment even in situations like these. Was it because of her uniqueness that she was admitted into the Swordsmanship Department?’

Frederick nodded lightly.

“Understood. Incidentally, I hear that you were admitted to the Swordsmanship Department at the Institution?”

“Would you like to confirm it?”

“Haha, that’s all right. I’m sure there’s no need to confirm it a second time when it’s already been confirmed by my knights. And please excuse my discourtesy —I only asked because I found it curious that a girl, and one of noble birth at that, was admitted to the Swordsmanship Department. Still, I would ask that you stay with the merchants and allow us to protect you instead of stepping forward should a monster appear.”

“I will.”

“We will depart in an hour. We will be travelling slowly, but please take the time to stretch now because it will be difficult to walk for a long period of time.”

Then, Frederick gestured at the knight to leave, and the knight bowed from his waist and let Ianna inside the border she had been turned away from last night. A few people who were waiting to depart looked at Ianna, whose eyes were covered by her brown robe, but quickly lost interest and looked away.

Ianna walked briskly over to a tree where no one else was, leaned against it, and closed her eyes. One hour was a short period of time for those who had a lot to do, but it was a tediously long time to wait for those who were free.

‘Should I do some mana training?’

Just then, she felt someone’s presence before her.

“……?”

But she didn’t see anyone when she opened her eyes. She looked around before she heard a child’s voice coming from below.

“Wow, you’re so pretty, Miss.”

Standing before her was a cute and slender boy with rosy cheeks. He was short, and he could look up at Ianna’s face even if she was wearing a hood.

His eyes were sparkling. Ianna swiftly crouched down so their eyes were level.

“How old are you?”

“I’m seven!”

“And what’s your name?”

“Mmm, it’s Finn.”

“Who did you come with, Finn?”

“I came here with Daddy, but…….”

“Who’s your dad?”

“Finn!”

Someone came running while calling for Finn.

“Daddy!”

Ianna’s eyes were exceedingly cold as she looked to the man who was running over in a hurry.

“You little rascal! I told you to stay put!”

The man looked good-humored and virtuous. Ianna posed him a question with a low voice once he had arrived and had scooped Finn up in his arms.

“You brought your young child somewhere dangerous like this where monsters could appear —are you insane?”

“Huh……?”

The man turned to Ianna in surprise. He continued,

“A woman?”

“My being a woman doesn’t have anything to do with this —I’m asking you if it’s all right for you to bring a child so young he still fits in your arms on a dangerous journey where there might even be monsters.”

Ianna was aghast and wondered if nothing would have been wrong had she only not been a woman. The man smiled awkwardly at her chilling words.

“My apologies. You haven’t said anything wrong, Miss, but there is a reason why I must bring my child with me whenever I travel. The knights have accepted this as well. But Miss, you……?”

“Daddy, Miss, don’t fight. It was my fault. I know you told me to stay in the wagon, Daddy, but I was just so bored…….”

Ianna closed her mouth when Finn clung to the man’s neck and looked like he was about to burst into tears. The man bowed.

“Thank you for worrying about my child. I will be keeping a close eye on him, so you needn’t be worried. Please be careful yourself, Miss.”

“Daddy, Daddy. Can she come with us? The trip’s supposed to be dangerous, but she’s here all alone.”

The man, who had turned around with Finn in his arms, turned back to Ianna in surprise.

“Are you truly alone, Miss? What of your party?”

“I am not here as a merchant. I was travelling alone, but I decided to join the group because I was told that monsters had been sighted.”

“But it’s so dangerous…… If you’d like, would you mind travelling with our company?”

“I’m all right. It’s easier to…….”

Ianna was about to turn down his proposal at once, but she was startled into silence when she saw Finn making puppy eyes at her and looking like he was about to cry. The man smiled wryly.

“I know it might be troublesome, but would you please travel with our company? Finn has to accompany me wherever I go because he lost his mother when he was young, but there are only a bunch of rowdy men in our company and he’s been missing the gentle touch of a woman. They’re all good guys, but they’re still a bunch of rough men……. Finn isn’t usually one to be so stubborn, though.”

“Miss…….”

Ianna, who had a weakness for young children, was at a loss as Finn looked like he was going to start the waterworks before she finally raised her hands in surrender and nodded. She didn’t think it should matter too much, as she’d still have to be around other people anyway.

Finn and his father beamed. Ianna was uncomfortable at first because she felt as though she had been pressured into a decision, but the feeling soon left her heart when both father and son smiled the same good-natured smile.

“Thank you so much. I’ll be responsible for your stay with us. Please, this way.”

The man gestured with the hand he wasn’t holding Finn with and guided Ianna away. He continued,

“Oh, and I’m Mursi. I’m the owner of the Paella Company.”

Ianna, who was not very knowledgeable about merchant companies, simply nodded.

“I see. I am Ianna.”

“Haha. I suppose you haven’t heard of us? We’re heading to Viscount Furtoon’s lands, but what about you, Little Ianna?”

“I am headed for the Roberstein lands.”

“Oh, then I suppose we’ll have to part ways as soon as we leave the Allacamorah Forest, since we’re heading in different directions. Look here, everyone! We have a guest!”

They reached Mursi’s company before long. Ianna was surprised by how large it was. Ianna had assumed that his company would be on the smaller side because Mursi was a simple and homely man, but his company was huge with a lot of employees and goods.

“Boss! Who’s that with you?”

A young man, who had been taking stock of the inventory, ran up to Ianna and Mursi when he saw them. He stared dubiously at Ianna, who’s eyes were covered by her brown robes, and pestered Mursi for an explanation.

“Don’t be rude. This is someone who’ll be watching over Finn until we pass the Allacamorah Forest.”

“Is this someone you know?”

“No, we only just met over there.”

The young man stared blankly at the tree Mursi was pointing to that Ianna had been standing under before he scowled at him.

“What the —you barely know this guy at all!”

“Finn was the one who asked first.”

“What if he approached Finn with suspicious intentions? I know Finn’s been through a lot and that he’s special, but you should still draw a line when it comes to personal matters. It’s an issue of trust. And what’s there to trust when you can’t even see someone’s face…….”

“It was the other way around. And it was also Finn who stubbornly wanted to travel together.”

“Finn was being stubborn? That’s a surprise.”

Ianna, the suspicious person in question, nodded at the young man’s every word because everything he was saying was right, but then Finn started to cry.

“But I wanna travel with Miss Ianna, Mr. Longlong.”

“M-Miss?”

The man called Longlong opened his eyes wide in surprise and stared at Ianna when he heard that she was a woman. He was confused for a moment before his tone softened down.

“Why’s there a woman here……?”

“I wanna travel with Miss Iannaaa! Waaah!”

“O-okay. You little rascal. Jeez, this is the first time I’ve ever seen you being so stubborn. And quit calling me Mister! And my name’s Longstum, not Longlong, you cheeky little brat!”

Apparently, Longstum, who had snapped at Mursi for being too willing to go along with whatever Finn wanted, also had a soft spot for the child. Finn stopped crying and was all smiles and joy as soon as Longstum gave his tacit approval.

“I’m so happy I get to sit right here next to you, Miss,”

the tiny child muttered quietly as he sat on top of the packed wagon and chatted away. Mursi had allowed her to sit on the wagon next to him, but Ianna had refused vehemently and was walking next to the child instead.

Finn and Ianna were at the center of the caravan because they were its weakest members —at least in terms of appearances.

Finn rambled on and on about the things he had seen, heard, and felt while traveling with Mursi for so long. Ianna listened quietly as he talked. Finn became more animated whenever Ianna asked him a question to show that she was listening carefully when he was excited. It helped that Ianna had experience listening to children from when she had played with Lily and Lito, the children from the bookstore in the Roberstein lands.

Finn had been having fun as he talked, but then he had suddenly gone silent and his cheeks had flushed red.

“What do you mean by that?”

“There was a really nice smell in the wind when you were leaning against the tree before, Miss,”

Finn mumbled. He continued,

“It reminded me of Mommy for some reason. That’s why I made a big fuss about wanting to be with you.”

“What was your mom like?”

Finn snapped his mouth shut. Ianna stopped talking as well because she sensed that this was a topic that she shouldn’t have brushed upon. But Finn started muttering quietly again after clenching and unclenching his hands a few times.

“She was really, really pretty. My mom, that is.”

“Was she now?”

“And, and…… her arms were really skinny. And not just her arms —Mommy was really skinny all over, and Daddy and I always wanted to protect her. But then…”

“We’ll be stopping here for the night!”

Finn abruptly stopped talking when someone called out from the front of the caravan, and Ianna, too, looked to where the voice had come from. The crimson sun dyed the skies in the color of evening as the it slowly set.

They had stopped in a large, empty field near a lake. It was a crucial resting spot that all merchants who travelled between the North and Central regions knew of.

“Water…….”

Ianna, after setting her bag down next to a tree, was thirsty and left in search for water. Finn’s, who had been told to wait on the wagon until his father came to pick him up, ears perked up.

Ianna gently shook her canteen. It was empty now because she had been drinking constantly as she walked. And so, she made to refill her canteen at the lake.

“Miss!”

Finn nimbly leapt down from the wagon and called out to Ianna. Ianna was surprised. Finn evidently had good reflexes, considering that he had just jumped off a high ledge and had maintained a stable posture as he seemed to float down like a feather.

“What is it?”

“Wait, hold on a sec. Please come this way.”

Finn took Ianna’s hand in both of his and led her to a secluded place. Ianna obediently allowed him to drag her around. She was curious as to why the small child was so excited to bring her here.

Finn let go of her hand after making sure that no one else was nearby and spun around.

“Teehee, Miss. I’m gonna show you something cool.”

Finn gathered his hands. Ianna didn’t know what he was doing, but it looked like he was hard at work. Ianna quietly watched over his adorable figure.

“……!”

But her face stiffened immediately when she felt a faint cool energy begin to circle around him.

Ianna was astonished. The energy circling around Finn……felt similar to the divine energy that she had been searching for.

“Come out, water spirit.”

A singsong voice, like a union between the grass and the wind, burst forth from Finn’s lips.

Splash—

“Ack, that’s cold!”

A splash of water suddenly poured itself on top of Finn’s head. Ianna had taken a step back in surprise when a mass of water had suddenly formed in mid-air. Finn blinked when he got wet and furrowed his brows as he made a fist. He continued,

“Stop messing around, you monkey!”

Splish. Sploosh.

The water seemed to seep away from Finn’s wet figure before he was completely dry again, and there was a large bubble of water floating in the air. Finn giggled as the bubble continued to squirt water at his face.

Finn fiddled with the bubble like it was made of jelly for a bit before pointing to the canteen in Ianna’s hands.

“Miss, can you give me your canteen for a sec?”

Ianna was confused as she handed over her canteen, and Finn took it with both hands before thrusting it out to the bubble of water.

“Can you fill this with water, my friend?”

It seemed like the bubble had understood him. Smaller bubbles formed next to the big one before falling into Ianna’s canteen. The canteen was quickly filled, and Finn shook it around and beamed before handing it back to Ianna. Ianna, however, did not take back her canteen and pointed to the bubble instead.

“Finn, what is that?”

Ianna asked with a tremble in her voice. The energy she had felt around Finn had not come from the child but was concentrated in the bubble of water instead.

“Mmm. Mommy said it was the spirit of water. Isn’t it cute? Daddy says that only people like Mommy can do this, but I can call it out too since I’m her son…….”

“Finn!”

Finn was shocked by the familiar-sounding shout and turned around fearfully. Ianna turned her head as well. They found Mursi, who looked extraordinarily angry. The bubble of water spun circles around Finn’s head as if it was protesting that it didn’t like the man.

“Daddy…….”

“Daddy told you not to do that! Hurry up and put it away!”

Finn wilted under Mursi’s shouting. Then in a clear, breeze-like voice, like when he had first summoned the bubble, he said,

“Please go back.”

Plop.

The bubble of water scattered apart and fell.

Mursi had a stormy look on his face as he grabbed Finn hard by the wrist. Ianna’s canteen, which Finn had been holding onto, clattered to the ground. Mursi stiffly looked down at the canteen before slowly looking back up at Ianna.

“Please don’t speak a word about what you’ve seen today, Little Ianna.”

“All right.”

Mursi turned around as soon as he heard Ianna’s reply and dragged Finn away by the wrist. Finn looked back constantly. Ianna remained rooted in place and was deep in thought, and Finn gradually grew farther and farther away from her.

“Daddy, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again, okay?”

Finn began crying because of the stormy air around his father. He continued,

“Miss Ianna didn’t do anything bad. You told me not to show anyone, but I really, really wanted to show her…… So don’t take Miss Ianna away from me, okay? I was wrong. Wah…….”

Mursi was shocked by how desperately Finn was sobbing and looked down at him. Finn’s face was a mess as he cried. Mursi crouched down and held Finn’s face between his hands.

“Finn, talk to me. Why do you keep acting so strange in front of Little Ianna? You were never stubborn about anything since that day but you’re suddenly being stubborn now, you’re so shy but you approached Little Ianna so fearlessly, and you talked to her all day when you usually don’t say much.”

Finn didn’t reply, but Mursi kept his hands on Finn’s face and waited. Finn opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally began talking.

“She’s like Mommy.”

“You mean the way she talks and acts?”

“No, not that. She feels like Mommy. She feels like the spirit. No, she’s actually feels even more comfortable.”

Mursi forgot how to breathe for a moment when he heard what Finn had to say.

Finn sat anxiously by the campfire. Ianna hadn’t come back from the forest for a while. He had finished the bowl of soup the company cook had given him to eat, but he was so worried that it didn’t digest well.

Finn looked miserable as he thought about Ianna. Just then, he heard something rustling and Ianna walked out from between the trees. Finn jumped up and ran up to her.

“Miss, are you mad?”

“Why would I be? I’m not mad.”

“Whew.”

Finn’s stiff face relaxed languidly in relief like a reassured puppy when Ianna laughed lightly. He had been incredibly worried, and he felt a sudden onslaught of fatigue and relief overcome him as he rubbed his eyes. He continued,

“But then, why did you come back so late?”

“There was something I wanted to think about.”

Mursi walked up to them just then.

“Please eat, Little Ianna. And I apologize for how I acted earlier.”

Mursi bowed awkwardly. Ianna waved her hands and shook her head no.

“Not at all. And I won’t bring up the subject again.”

Naturally, there was a lot she wanted to ask. But she had chosen to stay silent because she understood Mursi’s indignation.

She had felt like she had heard about them before when Finn had first mentioned the spirit. She pondered over it carefully before she realized she had only read about them before in books that had to do with certain legendary beings.

Mythical races.

Among them was a race of beautiful people who were as slender as the trees. They lived only in the Great Forest of Shaob, a vast forest in the East, and they were a mythical race who once fought the monsters at the beginning of the Age of Magic —and humans had coveted their beautiful looks.

Finn’s mother……was probably one of these mysterious elves.

Ianna looked down at Finn, who was stuck right by her side even while she was eating. Finn had milky-white skin and his hair was the gentle green of grass. His colors somehow reminded her of a new leaf sprout. He looked exactly like the way elves were described in the books.

This was surely Finn and Mursi’s deepest and darkest secret. Finn could be taken away by mages to be experimented on the moment his secret was uncovered.

And that was why Ianna had immediately erased the idea from her mind. If she had wanted to know more about elves, she would have gone to East herself —she did not want to get this small child involved. Ianna was satisfied just to have found a clue that lead to the elusive secrets of divine power.

The moon, surrounded by a bluish glow, lit up the night sky. The stars scattered around it twinkled like jewels embroidered into black silk.

Finn stayed close to Ianna, not Mursi. Mursi was apologetic for it, but Ianna gestured to him that she didn’t mind. And so, Finn was laying down beside her with his eyes closed. Ianna wrapped her hands tightly around his, as if to tell him that she would never let him go. Quietly, Finn whispered,

“You know, Miss. There’s this dream I always have.”

“What kind of dream is it?”

Ianna gently asked back. But the conversation Finn had started was not an easy one.

“It’s a dream where Mommy was trying to protect me but then the monsters eat her, and I…… I get eaten too.”

“…….”

“Please don’t tell Daddy, since he’ll worry. But I’m so scared to sleep at night because I’ll get eaten by the monsters, even if I’m sleeping with Daddy.”

Then, Finn smiled a little. He continued,

“But I don’t think I’ll have that dream tonight. Since you’re here and alive with me, Miss, and you remind me of Mommy…….”

Finn grabbed tight to Ianna’s hands as he fell into a peaceful slumber.

Finn kept saying that Ianna reminded him of his mother. Ianna assumed that Finn’s mother had been an elf. But Ianna did not look like an elf. Ianna had a sturdy figure and gave off a powerful impression —she was completely different from the elves. A young princess with hair as fine as a silkworm’s threads would be more like an elf than Ianna would ever be.

So, what was it that made Finn say that she reminded him of his mother? Surely, the spirit knew the answer. The spirit, which had moved around like living water, had felt like the divine power that Ianna was seeking.

Ianna knew that the strange power was lurking within her body, though she could not feel it. If she analyzed Finn’s words carefully, wouldn’t that mean that elves had divine power that was similar to Roberstein’s?

Then, just as Ianna was staring blankly down at Finn.

“Little Ianna, can I talk to you for a bit?”

Mursi called to her from a distance. Ianna slipped her hands out of Finn’s and got up to walk over to him. Mursi let out a sigh once they had walked to an area devoid of other people and lowered his head.

“I’m sorry I forced you into keeping things a secret when I’m sure there are many things you want to ask.”

“No, I understand.”

Nervously, Mursi continued,

“You seem trustworthy, Miss. And all the more so because Finn, who’s normally afraid of strangers, keeps following you around. Would you please hear me out?”

“……Only if you wish to speak.”

Mursi laughed a little.

“Thank you. You might not believe it, but Finn is a half-elf.”

I knew it.

“This might be a strange question, but I’ll ask it anyway. Little Ianna, do you happen to be related to the elves by any chance?”

Ianna shook her head no. She was more related to the gods than she was to the elves. She stood closer to the gods, and she was completely different from the elves. But Ianna never said anything about this out loud.

“Sigh. But of course. I just couldn’t help but ask, since Finn was saying something strange…….”

Mursi took a deep sigh and continued,

“The thing that Finn showed you earlier —my wife used to call it a spirit.”

“Your wife was an elf?”

“Yes. You might not believe me, but it’s true. Elves live in the Great Forest of Shaob. A good friend of mine went to the Great Forest once ten years ago to train. And he happened to chance across a village of elves where he was there.”

It was an unbelievable story. It was said that the elves lived in the very heart of the Great Forest of Shaob. No adventurer who went exploring the Great Forest was said to have made it out alive. Ianna wanted to ask Mursi who his friend was, but she decided to keep listening for the time being.

Mursi’s friend invited Mursi over, and Mursi was able to trade human goods, which the elves were curious about, with elven goods. Mursi had been a successful merchant to begin with, but his company had grown even more popular thanks to the elven goods he sold.

He continued visiting the Great Forest until his friend’s training was complete and he had to leave. Mursi had to bid farewell to the elves as well, since he was not strong enough to travel through the Great Forest of Shaob to reach the elven village by himself.

“But then, an elf named Paella, who was full of curiosity, secretly ended up following after us.”

Mursi slowly retraced his steps as he recalled what had happened that day.

Paella had been caught sneaking after them because she had almost gotten herself eaten by a monster. Mursi’s friend had offered to take Paella back to her village, but Paella had refused and had stubbornly insisted on exploring the human world.

Paella continued tailing them again and again no matter how many times they tried to shake her off until they had finally exited the Great Forest.

She continued to follow Mursi, the friendly merchant, instead of his rougher mercenary friend. She chased after him no matter where he travelled. Mursi had no choice but to look after her. He taught her everything she was curious about, and Paella stayed constantly by his side.

Mursi had always thought she was beautiful and had fallen in love with her before he knew it, and Paella quietly began whispering of her love for him as well. They were wed and had Finn soon after, and Mursi renamed his company in her honor because he loved her so much.

Then, Mursi smiled bitterly.

“But now that I look back on it, I can’t help but wonder if I should have sent Paella back to her village as soon as we first caught her tailing us. If I had known that she was doomed to die such a horrible death after leaving the safety of her home… Little Ianna, did you know that monsters consider mythical races, like the elves, a feast?”

“A feast…….”

Ianna grimaced because the term ‘feast’ sounded gross to her. Mursi, who had steadied his ragged breathing, placed a hand on his forehead as it began to throb.

“I had known that the elves were in danger because they were alluring to both monsters and humans, but people only ever said that my wife was beautiful and stole glances at her because they didn’t know she was actually an elf. But three years ago, when my wife was feeling ill and had taken a walk in the woods that reminded her of her home in the forests hand-in-hand with Finn, a monster happened to catch wind of her scent and chased her all the way to the village and…….”

Mursi could not bear to finish his sentence, and Ianna remained silent.

“In any case, I only heard about the situation afterward because I was away at the time, but I’m told that Finn witnessed everything.”

The monster had been satisfied after eating only Paella —perhaps Finn, a half-elf, did not give off the same scent as his mother and wasn’t as appealing to the monster’s appetite— and was killed by someone else on its way back out of town.

Ever since that day, Finn, who had been bubbly in personality like his mother, had started talking drastically less and had lost a lot of weight even though he used to be chubbier like Mursi.

“He always works up a cold sweat at night like he’s having nightmares even if I’m with him, and he has fits when I’m not.”

Then, Mursi suddenly grabbed Ianna’s hand and bowed so low he was almost at a right angle. Ianna was startled.

“The reason I’m telling you this unbelievable story that’ll only put us in danger if you tell anyone else is because…… I don’t know why he follows you around the way he does, Little Ianna, but he seems to go back to the way he used to be when he’s with you.”

“…….”

“It’s been so long since I saw Finn being so lively. Please keep being nice to him going forward. If you need money or anything else, I can get it for you —anything you need. Finn is all I have left ever since Paella passed away. I feel so pathetic for not being able to do anything for him as his father.”

Tears swelled up in Mursi’s eyes as he continued bowing. Ianna bit down at her lip. The way that Mursi was desperately bowing for Finn’s sake pounded at her heart.

Ianna had not disclosed the fact that she was a high-ranking noble. Nor had she disclosed that she was incredibly skilled. At the moment, she was nothing more than an unidentified girl wearing a brown robe.

And yet, this man, who was a great merchant who led a famous company and who was probably at least twice Ianna’s age, was bowing to her. All just for his son, whose heart had been scarred.

Ianna’s heart was pounding. An unconditional love……. It was something that Ianna had never been able to have in all her life……. And because she could not have it, she had given up on it…….

It was because she had given up on it that Ianna Roberstein was able to remain aloof and alone amongst the crowd.

Just then, a scream so sharp it seemed to rip through the air echoed throughout the forest.

“Monstersssss!”

Mursi’s eyes lost their focus.

“Finn!”

Mursi let go of Ianna’s hand and ran toward where the rampant screaming was coming from as though he had gone crazy. Ianna, too, ran after him with a stiff look on her face. Everything was in chaos by the time she arrived.

“Mooooo!”

A horde of minotaurs, monsters with a bull’s head and a large, humanoid body, was running quickly through the area where people had been sleeping. They were about two meters tall in stature and were very muscular in physique. Hot steam was pouring out from the two horns that grew out of their cow-shaped heads.

One of the minotaurs had spotted a man who had been running so hard that a vein in his leg was bulging before he could run no more and had fallen to the ground. The monster charged the man and stabbed him with its horns. The man died instantly and was sent flying while spraying blood everywhere.

The minotaurs trampled over the barracks with their large frames and enormous strength and made a pulp out of everyone who had been sleeping there. The people who had died without ever having a chance to even react writhed as if in resentment.

“Ahhhh!”

Somewhere else, a man had been caught between a minotaur’s hands. The man screamed and struggled, but everything he did was futile before the minotaur’s strength. The monster had already crushed his arms. Then, it opened its mouth wide.

Crunch.

“Aaaack!”

“I-it ate someone!”

“Ahhhh!”

The screaming only spread. Blood and gore dripped down from the monster’s mouth as it chewed. People saw the terrifying scene and screamed as they ran for their lives.

“Finn! Finn!”

Mursi pushed people aside as he ran like a madman in the opposite direction from them to where Finn had been sleeping. Ianna tried to follow after him. But someone had grabbed her by the arm. It was a knight with an urgent look on his face.

“Here you were, my lady! This is an emergency. The commander has ordered us to protect you!”

“Out of my way!”

Ianna shook off the knight’s hand. Just then, a horde of minotaurs began charging at the direction where Mursi had headed. Ianna looked over at him and stiffened up in shock.

“Waaaah!”

“Mooooo!”

At the end of Ianna’s gaze was Finn, who was lying down on the ground —perhaps he had fallen while running away— crying in terror. Her mind recalled the words Finn had said to her earlier.

“You know, Miss. There’s this dream I always have. It’s a dream where Mommy was trying to protect me but then the monsters eat her, and I…… I get eaten too.

“Please don’t tell Daddy, since he’ll worry. But I’m so scared to sleep at night because I’ll get eaten by the monsters, even if I’m sleeping with Daddy.

“But I don’t think I’ll have that dream tonight. Since you’re here and alive with me, Miss, and you remind me of Mommy…….”

Ianna urgently looked around. The knights were blocking the path that people had run away toward and were preparing their shields to stop the minotaurs’ charge. The monsters were strong to begin with, but they were the most fearsome when they were charging.

And yet, the horde of minotaurs was charging toward Finn, who had been lying on the ground relatively unnoticed by any people. It looked like they would trample the child any moment now.

Mursi, who was being held back by the knights, looked half-crazed as he shouted for Finn so loudly Ianna thought his throat might explode.

“Tch!”

Ianna’s face contorted. At this rate, the minotaur heading toward Finn would keep running on inertia and trample Finn with its bulky frame even if she cut its head off.

And, even if she ran quickly and snatched Finn up while rolling to the side, another minotaur would come and she herself would be trampled alongside the child.

In that case, all she could do was to stop the minotaur in its tracks.

Ianna unfastened her scabbard and ran past the knights.

“My lady!”

The knight who had been keeping watch over Ianna was so shocked it looked like he would faint as he reached out to stop her, but he missed because Ianna’s legs, imbued with mana, carried her like the wind.

Clatter—

Ianna ripped through the wind and stood in front of Finn while holding her sword up horizontally by the ends with both hands.

She spread her legs apart and haphazardly wrapped as much mana around her body as she could. Then, she leaned forward and thrust out her scabbard at the minotaur leading the charge that was headed directly for Finn horns-first.

Craaaash!

Cruunch.

The minotaur’s horns crashed against Ianna’s scabbard. The scabbard cracked, and her bones crunched audibly. Ianna’s face twisted in pain.

“……You damn, fucking cow.”

A sinister curse escaped her lips.

It was not her style to fight in a contest of brute strength. But there was nothing she could do about it.

She had wrapped herself with mana, but Ianna was not very strong to begin with. Ianna depended on her swordplay and her excellent response time, reactivity, and speed. It would have been one thing if her body was fully matured and she had trained it to superhuman limits as she had in the past, but there was a limit to how much Ianna could boost her raw strength with mana as a young, sixteen-year-old girl.

She had remembered how to fight minotaurs and had done her best to protect her arms, but had she underestimated the monster too much? There was also the fact that she had to wrap her legs and waist with mana as well, but her arms had fractured as she held up her scabbard —not to mention that the scabbard itself had cracked as well.

Her arms hurt so much that she almost felt as though she would have rather ripped them off entirely. Still, Ianna dug her feet into the ground and refused to budge. Even a trained knight would have been sent flying back if he had tried to stop a minotaur’s charge head-on, but Ianna did not budge an inch as she continued to pour her strength into her legs and waist and clenched her teeth as she held her ground.

The other minotaurs, save for the one that Ianna had stopped, paid her no heed as they continued charging toward the knights.

“Moo?”

The minotaur, which had been running so hard that steam was coming from its nose, regained its senses when Ianna stopped its charge and made a confused noise.

“Hic.”

Ianna heard a hiccup from behind, not crying. Finn had stopped crying and had hiccupped instead because he was so shocked.

Ianna forced her trembling arms to stabilize as she glanced behind. She gestured sideways with her head once her eyes had met with Finn’s wide-open, tear-filled ones.

“Finn. Back off to the side if you can move!”

“H-huh? Okay…… Hic.”

Finn, who had understood what Ianna had yelled at him, staggered to his feet and quickly ran to the side.

“I-is this far enough?”

“Yes!”

Ianna’s eyes narrowed sharply as soon as Finn had retreated far enough that he wouldn’t get caught up in the fighting. She instantaneously poured more strength into her arms, which she had already been pouring a considerable amount of strength into. Ianna relentlessly excited the mana, thinking only of killing the enemy before her as quickly as possible, and focused on the monster, and both the mana absorbed into her body and the mana surrounding her flared up like a blaze.

Shhhhh……

Unlike the pale mana circling around her that Ianna had haphazardly gathered earlier, the mana concentrated on her had begun to be dyed in a crimson light that seemed to give off heat. It was like the sun itself.

Finn stared at her in a daze.

Right now, the minotaur was simply a target for Ianna to kill —nothing more and nothing less. And so, the minotaur was showered with Ianna’s predatory and diabolical bloodlust.

“Moooo!”

The minotaur reacted to her tremendous bloodlust and grew frightened. Ianna drew her sword in a flash of light as soon as the monster flinched and drew back ever so slightly. Her sword was already covered in an intense whirlwind of mana the moment she drew it.

Slash! Cruuuuch!

Ianna wielded her sword and buried it into the right side of the minotaur’s chest. She brought it down all the way to the left side of its waist, and the horrifying sound of bones being severed sounded as it slipped out. Crimson blood splurged and a crimson sword pulled free of the monster.

“Mooo…….”

The minotaur blinked. The monster still reacted like a living creature. But its upper and lower halves began separating where Ianna had cut it. It was eventually bisected, and the blood that had pooled inside its body sprayed on Ianna’s robes.

Crash. Bam.

“Ugh.”

The minotaur’s corpse sprawled out against the ground, and Ianna, drenched in blood, hung down her aching arms. But she never let go of her sword. She tried making a fist. She could move her hands if she endured the pain, but she could not wield her sword properly.

Finn stumbled up to her.

“M-Miss. Are you okay?”

“I am. Are you okay?”

“Y-yes…….”

Finn began crying again. There was an emotion surging from Finn that was mixed into his tears, but Ianna did not know what it was. She thought that he was simply crying tears of relief.

Ianna’s eyes met with Mursi’s, who was standing back with the knights, when she turned her head. There was astonishment, relief, and endless gratitude dwelling in his eyes.

The situation was under control now, as the knights were picking off the minotaurs one by one. Ianna scowled as pain continued to shoot up from her arms. She closed her eyes and checked out the inside of her arms to find that, while that they were severely broken, they would heal just fine as long as she treated them properly. Still, she doubted that she would be able to participate in the swordsmanship competition at this rate, even if she managed to make it back to the capital in time.

“Sigh.”

Ianna let out a deep sigh. There was nothing that could be done about the fact that she would not be able to participate. She was satisfied that she had been able to save a poor child’s life, even if it had meant sacrificing her arms in the process.

Ianna wrapped an arm around Finn to protect him just in case anything happened. But just then…

Thud. Thud. Thud.

“……?”

Her sensitive ears picked up the sound of multiple heavy objects falling over deeper in the forest. What had caused this noise?

Ianna grew nervous and sharpened her senses. She hid Finn among the grasses and erased any trace of him before going toward where the noise had come from. She opened her eyes wide in surprise at the frightful scene she witnessed when she arrived.

“What in the world?”

She had found a pile of minotaur corpses. There were at least several dozens of them. Someone was watching over her while sitting high up on a large tree branch as she stared blankly at the scene before her.

“……Tch.”

It was the man who had showered Ianna with savage bloodlust at the temple. The very same man who had shadowed her and hugged her tightly from behind. The man in the black robe clicked his tongue in irritation. Fresh blood was dripping down from the large sword he carried on his back.

“Looks like it’s just in your nature to be kind to the young and innocent. Damn you, woman.”

A cold wind seemed to stir up from his black robes as he vanished into the darkness.

~~*~~

Part 3

‘Shit, what the hell just happened? And who the fuck was that?’

A man hidden in the grasses bit at his nails as he watched the situation unfold. He was trembling from head to toe.

‘I was supposed his kidnap that half-elf brat alive. And my teacher was supposed to recognize my efforts……. And if I fail, that damned informant bastard is going to laugh at me forever because I failed even after he practically spoon-fed me the information…… Fuck.’

The man was the disciple of an archmage who researched how to manipulate the minds of monsters. But his teacher scorned him for being inexperienced in magic and never bothered to teach him properly, and so the man had reached out to one of the three bosses of the Black Fox —each boss oversaw one of their slave trade, drug dealing, or intelligence operations, and he had reached out to the boss of intelligence operations— after struggling for a while to gain his teacher’s acknowledgement.

He had demanded the informant for information that was certain to gain him his teacher’s recognition, and he had paid an exorbitant sum of gold in exchange. And indeed, the informant’s intelligence had been worth the price he had paid. While he wasn’t an elf, the child was a half-elf who had inherited elven blood! He would make for an amazing research subject!

The informant had only just learned of the information himself and had been about to report it to his masters, but the man had reached out to him first. The man had been overjoyed and had demanded that the informant kept his lips sealed until he had offered the half-elf up to his teacher, and the informant had required yet another exorbitant sum of gold in exchange for his compliance.

The man had spent a lot of money, but he felt something akin to ecstasy when he thought about what kind of light would shine in his teacher’s eyes when he presented his teacher the half-elf.

The man had bought the Paella Company’s, the company that travelled around with the half-elf, travel routes from the informant and had learned that they would pass through the Allacamorah Forest, so the man had arrived at the forest ahead of them and mind-controlled the minotaurs that lived deep within.

But many of the minotaurs ran wild because the man was inexperienced, and the rampaging minotaurs had attacked a large caravan. Then, the minotaurs had died because their brains had overloaded not too long after they ran wild. That was why Marquis Chaipan had only found the minotaurs’ corpses no matter how hard he searched for them.

The man was only able to brainwash about forty minotaurs after a long period of trial and error. Eventually, time was up and the half-elf began passing through the Allacamorah forest.

The only unfortunate thing was that the Paella Company had grouped up with other companies to form a large caravan that was guarded by powerful knights because of the man’s prior mistakes.

For the time being, the man had set aside some brainwashed minotaurs to kidnap the half-elf with and had caused another twenty or so minotaurs roaming the area to run wild and attack the knight order.

He had been terrified when the half-elf brat had tripped while the rampaging minotaurs had attacked and had nearly been trampled to death. But then, a monster swordsman in brown robes had saved the half-elf. The man had broken out in goosebumps when he saw the incredible amount of mana billowing around the swordsman.

‘That’s insane! Who the fuck is that crazy monster?!’

The swordsman exerted a pressure even greater than that of the his teacher’s. The man probably would have fainted while frothing at the mouth if he had been the minotaur the swordsman was facing.

The man had been at a loss as for how to kidnap the half-elf while the swordsman protected him. But he was relieved quickly enough. The swordsman’s arms looked abnormally stretched out after he had stopped the minotaur’s charge with his own body.

He would have his chance when the swordsman wasn’t paying attention. The man tried to manipulate his perfectly brainwashed minotaurs into attacking the swordsman. But then…….

Yet another monster in black had come and slaughtered them all in but an instant.

The man nearly soiled his pants as he watched it happen from where he was hiding. Then, the black monster had vanished into the darkness when the swordsman in the brown robes had arrived at the scene of carnage.

‘I can’t just let everything end in failure. I’ll have to brainwash more minotaurs and attack again!’

“Shit, shit!”

Thud.

A man wearing black robes dropped down behind the man hiding in the forest as the latter was busy cursing. His sudden appearance was terrifying —as if the wings of death had descended upon the place. A chilling voice sounded from beneath the robes.

“Was it you?”

“E-eek!”

The man was startled by the sudden wintry voice that had come from behind and fell on his bottom. The black-robed figure slowly straightened himself out.

“Haha…….”

The robed man sneered coldly, as though he was rattling from the throat, and barred his white teeth —a sharp contrast from the darkness surrounding them. The robed man’s white breath rose out from his mouth because it was winter, but the darkness made it look like the black breath of a monster in the frightened man’s eyes.

“W-who’s there!”

“A familiar face indeed. Was today the day you captured the half-elf……?”

“How…….”

“I never really intended to involve myself in a past that passed by me without my knowledge, but, even if she wasn’t your intended target…….”

The man thought that a blinding, golden flash of light had come from beneath the robed man’s hood and tore through his pupils.

Slaaash!

“……I cannot sit quietly now that you’ve dared to lay your hands on that woman whom I’ve just barely managed to bring back to life.”

A flash of steel surged through the darkness and the man’s vision was dyed crimson. He fell to the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut, and the red blood of life gushed out from his body.

“…….”

The robed man didn’t respond even after ending a life in but an instant and paid no heed to the corpse sprawled out before him —like it was nothing more than a bug he had inadvertently quashed. He simply stared absentmindedly at Ianna in her bafflement with his large sword resting against the cold earth.

~~*~~

Those who had personally witnessed that shocking spectacle currently had their eyes locked on Ianna, who was being treated by a doctor. She had taken off her robes to be treated, and everyone could see her crimson colors.

That was why the knights had been in further disbelief. Was that girl, much younger than themselves, who had only just begun developing into a mature beauty —was she really the monster swordsman who had stopped the minotaur’s violent charge?

The merchants had been too busy running for their lives to have seen anything, but the knights, who were on the frontlines and were blocking off the minotaurs’ charge, had witnessed her brilliant achievement.

The knights had known that Finn had fallen in the minotaurs’ path because Mursi had tried to run out and save him. But the knights had not been able to even dare consider saving the child. Putting aside the fact that several dozens of minotaurs had been charging and they had to block off the path that people had escaped to, they had been so frozen in fear that they had not been able to move.

Even the knights, wearing heavy armor, had been pushed back several steps as they blocked the minotaurs’ charges with several knights pushing back behind each shield.

And yet, she hadn’t used a shield meant for defense or even a great sword —but a tiny rapier that seemed like it would shatter with even the slightest impact to block the minotaur’s charge?

The feat would have been impossible unless she had fully grasped where the minotaur’s center of gravity was and had hit back at exactly the right spot. No, it should still have been impossible to stop a minotaur, which had the herculean strength of at least ten fully grown men combined, even if she had.

The knights hadn’t been able to see how Ianna had resolved the situation because they were too busy stopping the other monsters immediately after she had blocked the first one.

But their questions had been answered as soon as they saw her covered in blood as she came back with Finn and the bisected corpse of the minotaur behind her. The girl was so strong that she had pierced through the minotaur’s thick hide and rent through the monster’s stone-hard bones.

The knights thought, ‘How did a girl do that……?!’ as they floundered within the depths of their prejudice. But they accepted the reality of the situation upon seeing the proof presented by the bloody sword hanging at her waist.

One last question surged through their minds. Why hadn’t she finished off the minotaur in one blow if she was so strong? Why had she done something as stupid as going up against a minotaur alone at the cost of breaking her arms?

But they quickly learned the answer to that question as well. It had been because of Finn, who was stuck to her side as she was being treated. The minotaur’s giant body would not have registered its death in time and would have trampled over Finn’s tiny frame if she had simply cut off its head. And that was why Ianna had recklessly blocked the minotaur instead.

Ianna had decided to sacrifice her arms —a swordsman’s life— in but a moment to save the child. The bones in her arms had shattered to pieces and must have been horrifyingly painful, but she had refused to give any ground as she protected the child crying behind her.

The knights were awed by her amazing willpower. And moreover, she, a high-ranking noble, had done this to save a mere merchant’s son……. The knights were rendered silent.

Their lips had been sealed at Frederick Holt’s command, but they could not keep themselves from looking to her. Ianna Roberstein —her name, appearance, and her military might, so incredible that it was almost bizarre, were etched into Marquis Chaipan’s knight order’s brains.

The knights hadn’t been ordered to do it, but they were voluntarily fixing their ruined barracks so that Ianna —whom they were sure was tired— could rest inside.

“W-what did you say?”

“Her injury will have long-term effects.”

Meanwhile, those who had been watching over her as Ianna was being treated grew grave upon hearing the news. Mursi looked the palest among them.

The doctor looked sympathetic as he continued,

“I gave you first aid, Miss, but your injury is serious. Your arms aren’t broken in just one place. The bones shattered and were a step away from being crushed altogether……. And there are bone fragments embedded into your muscles. It’s not impossible to treat, but it isn’t feasible to treat you here and your arms would need to be operated on by a specialist. And there will also be aftereffects. Your bones will become much weaker than that of others’. For the time being, please move your arms as little as possible and devote yourself to getting better.”

Ianna remained calm, Frederick groaned, and tears began welling in Mursi and Finn’s eyes. The doctor continued,

“Treatment alone will take about sixteen weeks. That is my opinion as a doctor.”

The doctor left, and Ianna was left looking comical with bandages wrapped around her arms. Her arms were swollen, so the bandages looked plump as well.

Ianna tried moving her arms, which didn’t move very well because the bandages secured them tightly. She scowled a little as she was assaulted by a pain that felt like she was being stabbed by dozens of needles.

She was familiar with pain because she had tumbled around and gotten hurt often while on the battlefield, but it felt new to her because this was her first major injury in this life.

‘But it still isn’t that bad.’

She couldn’t move her arms well because they were secured, but she could move her fingers even if it hurt.

‘Then again, I was still able to wield my sword even if my arms were broken.’

Her arms had been broken badly, but the injury wasn’t so serious that it merited worry. She had been able to calculate the impact of the minotaur crashing into her and had protected her arms as much as she could even in an urgent situation, but as expected of a monster…….

Perhaps she had underestimated it because she remembered killing minotaurs for dessert in the past.

She would not experience any aftereffects from the injury. Ianna’s body was much stronger than the average person’s. She had broken her limbs more badly than this in the past, but they had healed just fine and she had been able to wield her sword again without a problem. The doctors had been terrified of her.

There had been a time in the past when she had been truly injured seriously. The best doctor in the kingdom had even cried as he told her that she would experience lasting effects from the injury, but Ianna had healed without suffering a single aftereffect ­—it had almost been comical. She had been so healthy afterward that the doctor’s reputation had plummeted.

From her experience, so long as she could freely move her fingers, even if it hurt to move them, she would make a complete recovery in less than the doctor’s recommended sixteen weeks if she doused her arms with high-grade medicine. Ianna closed her eyes and concentrated on her arms. As she’d expected, her bones were already crying out while trying to stitch themselves back together.

Ianna looked to Mursi and Finn. They looked so apologetic that they didn’t seem to know what to do. They were stealing glances at her as if they had committed a great sin against her when Frederick said,

“This was the natural result. It was reckless of you to stop a minotaur’s charge when even a fully-grown man would have normally been sent flying backward by at least twenty paces. This is truly regrettable.”

“What is?”

Frederick smiled bitterly when Ianna asked back as if nothing was wrong. Was the lady too shocked to fully understand what kind of situation she was in?

Frederick felt the need to make her understand the reality of the situation.

“My lady, I heard that you joined the caravan so you could make it back in time to participate in the Institution’s swordsmanship competition.”

“Yes, well……. I suppose there isn’t much I can do about that.”

Frederick sighed when Ianna still looked nonchalant.

“Won’t you need to take classes and train in the Swordsmanship Department? I graduated from the Swordsmanship Department myself. Missing class will be reflected in your grades in the Swordsmanship Department. Sixteen weeks in total……and with your arms like that……. Won’t you need to take a leave of absence?”

“The Swordsmanship Department at the Institution…….”

The blood drained from Mursi’s face as he listened to their conversation.

“There are others who wield the sword even with injuries worse than mine. I will try to attend my classes for the time being, but I suppose I will have to take a leave of absence if it is too much for me to handle.”

“I feel terrible that a genius of your caliber injured your arms, my Lady. And the aftereffects…….”

The other knights had not seen how Ianna had finished the minotaur because they had been busy stopping the other monsters, but Frederick, who had been commanding them, had seen everything. He had seen Ianna rending the minotaur in two in one breath with her sword dyed crimson with mana.

It had been otherworldly. Her crimson swordplay, as bright as the sun lighting up the merciless darkness, was the end goal that anyone who controlled mana should strive to reach.

Frederick had heard that, when one reached the peak of mana control, the mana surrounding the controller would be dyed in the color of their soul. The most well-known example of this was how mana turned a deep blue whenever Ensheila, the Mage of Azure Skies and the so-called strongest mage of the era, cast magic. It was a strange phenomenon that could even been seen by ordinary people who couldn’t otherwise perceive magic.

Ianna’s crimson mana had dissipated like a mirage quickly afterward, but Frederick had ruminated over the spectacle in his head many times over. His pride should have been wounded by the fact that Ianna was much more proficient at controlling mana than he was despite being barely half his age, but he was awed rather than ashamed.

How had the girl grown up in the Roberstein lands that she possessed so much talent?

Remarkable talent garnered envy from others, but monstrous talent that exceeded common sense garnered something similar to awe. In Frederick’s mind, Ianna’s talent exceeded the realm of genius.

And yet, a genius of her caliber would suffer a lasting injury to her bones. The actual person in question looked like she didn’t mind, but Frederick regretted the injury so much he clenched his hands into tight fists.

Brusquely, Ianna replied,

“Sir Holt. No one knows yet if I will suffer any aftereffects or not.”

“……Mm.”

Frederick groaned as he heard her optimistic words. She was right. No one knew if she would experience any aftereffects yet. He looked down at her arms, wrapped in white bandages, with regret in his eyes, but he backed off for now for her peace of mind.

“I understand. My knights are preparing the camp, so I will come back to escort you there once they are done. Please rest for now.”

Frederick was about to turn away, but then his eyes met with Mursi’s, who was still at a loss for what to do, and he lowered his head. Frederick said,

“As I knight, I am ashamed to say that I turned a blind eye to the fact that a child was in danger, even if it was to prevent a greater danger. I am sorry.”

“N-no, it’s alright. I understood your circumstances, Commander.”

Mursi quickly waved his hands to say no as Frederick Holt, the commander of a knight order who had been conferred the peerage of a baron by the Marquis of Chaipan, lowered his head. Frederick smiled wryly as Mursi accepted his apology. Mursi’s actions were only possible because his child had survived the ordeal.

Frederick placed a hand on Mursi’s shoulder.

“Thank you. But even if you forgive me, you still need to express your utmost gratitude to Lady Roberstein, who risked her future as a swordswoman to save your son’s life. She is the daughter of a count and an individual of incredible talent who made it into the Institution’s Swordsmanship Department with a girl’s body.”

Frederick walked past Mursi while leaving his words behind. Mursi paled and froze stiff upon hearing those words and mouthed, ‘the daughter of a count……,’ ‘future……,’ and ‘Swordsmanship Department……,’ before he turned to Ianna had bowed to her with his waist bent at a right angle.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Little Ianna —I mean, Miss Ianna…….”

“It’s all right.”

“I’m sorry.”

Mursi took one look at Ianna’s arms and paled even further and continued to apologize even after Ianna had already told him that it was all right multiple times. Ianna shook her head.

“My injury isn’t so bad that it merits your worry. And you needn’t be sorry either. I didn’t say this before because the doctor was here, but I can make a complete recovery with no aftereffects. I am certain of this.”

“But the doctor…”

“You do not need to worry about what he said.”

“Miss…….”

Finn was clinging tightly to Ianna’s arm with a sullen look on his face. Mursi was startled by Finn’s rude behavior and yelled,

“Finn, come here!”

“It’s all right. Just let him be.”

“But…”

“I’ve already told you several times now that it’s all right.”

Mursi bowed from his waist yet again when Ianna looked up at him and spoke coldly.

“I’m truly sorry. I will ask around for the best medicine I can find to help your arms heal faster, Miss. If your injury is serious enough to leave lasting effects —no, even if it doesn’t, I will be your supporter for the rest of my life and I will aid you in all your endeavors. And……thank you, truly.”

There were tears in Mursi’s eyes as he bowed.

He was so grateful that she had saved Finn that he wanted to prostrate himself before her. He had been so moved when Ianna had stepped in front of Finn while he was being held back by the knights that he thought his heart might burst out from his chest. Finn would have undoubtedly been trampled to death had it not been for Ianna.

‘She’s amazing.’

But what if this righteous and kind— noble daughter of a count would never be able to use her arms again? Not to mention that she had been admitted into the Institution’s Swordsmanship Department, which was said to be incredibly difficult to get into, but if she couldn’t use her arms…….

Ianna had told him not to worry, but Mursi was so relieved that Finn was safe and so sorry for what had happened to her that he didn’t know what to do.

“There’s no need for you to be so apologetic.”

Ianna sighed.

“My lady, we’ve finished setting up the barracks. Please be at ease and rest there until everything has settled down.”

A knight came over to escort her, and Ianna, whose arms were injured, got up with his assistance.

“Miss Ianna.”

“I’d like to rest.”

Ianna put Mursi, who was still at a loss, behind her, followed the knight to the barracks, and flopped down on the cot that had been prepared for her. She stared at the lamp beside the cot for a while before she slowly closed her eyes.

‘So much for the swordsmanship competition.’

Even as sturdy as her body was, it was absurd to expect that she could make a full recovery within a month when the doctor’s original prognosis was sixteen weeks.

But there was no use in crying over spilt milk. It had not been her intention to sacrifice her arms, but it was still her fault for miscalculating the minotaur’s strength, and she did not regret the fact that she had been able to save Finn, so she decided to stop feeling any lingering regrets over her injury or the swordsmanship competition. In any event, the competition wasn’t for a grade but was only meant to give new students a scholarship and boost their confidence, so it wouldn’t matter even if she did poorly.

Ianna had a lot of wealth that Lebony had given her through Horby, perhaps because she did not want anyone to grow suspicious of him or because she wanted to show off. In addition, she also had the money she had received by selling off the things she had received from House Roberstein, and she also had the money she had earned by secreting investing that money. She no longer had the massive fortune that had been transferred to her after Horby had died, but Ianna was affluent enough even without it.

But that money had all come from her past.

She had already liquidated all of her assets. She had already calculated out precisely how much money she had cost House Roberstein while growing up, based on the household ledgers. She would give back exactly that amount of money —no, more— when she returned, so the house would not be able lament her leaving. And she was planning to split whatever money she had left between Karnitz and Isphee.

Ianna regarded her admission to the Institution as the turning point to her life. She wanted to start over from zero and live by her own strength after casting away her house and setting her past behind her.

Once she started attending the Institution, she would live purely by her own means.

The Valgenta Institution was equipped with not only a robust scholarship system, but also with a system of part-time work students could use to pay off their tuition. The Institution was essentially a gathering place for talented individuals, and the Institution would lend students money as a means of support or allow them to pay off their tuition through part-time work. And so, it would not be an issue for Ianna to scrape together enough money to cover her inexpensive tuition so long as her arms healed.

‘I’ll take out a loan for tuition and focus on getting better until my arms heal. And if it’s too much, it should be fine to take a leave of absence for one semester.’

It was almost comical how Ianna, the person actually injured, was so carefree while everyone outside the barracks was at a loss for what to do.

‘My arms…….’

The doctor had said that she would suffer aftereffects. And yet, Ianna was calm even still. She was able to remain calm not only because she trusted her own body, but also because she found no reason to be afraid of a future that had yet to come to pass.

There was no such thing as success without hope. Despair only came after she had tried everything else, failed, and therefore had absolutely no other choice. Only a coward would lose themselves to despair without trying anything and give up just because of what the doctor has said.

Ianna had not tried anything to heal her arms yet. And neither would she suffer any aftereffects. So why had everyone else already decided that her future was an unfortunate one? She could not understand.

And, more importantly, Ianna had faith in the excellence of her body. Her body had never once betrayed her expectations, and it never would. And that was why she could remain so calm while everyone else pitied her.

Ianna was expressionless as she lost herself in her thoughts. She was more concerned about the pile of minotaur corpses that reeked of blood she had seen than she was about her arms or the swordsmanship competition.

She had nervously walked up to one of the corpses across the blood-drenched ground and studied its wounds. It had been killed with one clean blow. A shiver had run up her back and she had broken out in goosebumps as she realized this.

‘Who in the world…?’

She had heard the dull sounds of their bulky frames hitting the ground as she arrived. That meant that someone had finished off the ferocious minotaurs as if they had merely been obedient cows for slaughter. But, who on earth could have killed thirty minotaurs in such a brief amount of time?

‘No, more importantly…….’

Ianna had been frozen stiff on the spot until a knight had come to find her. Her senses had been sharpened like an awl. Her highly-strung senses had combed through the entire mess before her. And yet, no matter how carefully she had searched, her senses had only captured the presences of small animals.

‘Why did they finish off the minotaurs and leave without leaving so much as a trace behind? For what purpose…?’

“Miss Ianna.”

When Ianna, now highly-strung because of the questions she could not answer, opened her eyes because someone was tugging at her clothes, she found that Finn was holding onto her clothes as tears poured down his face. It looked like he had followed her into the barracks.

Finn stared nervously at the bandages wrapped around her arms before more tears eventually rolled down his cheeks.

Ianna sighed. She had told him multiple times now that it was all right, but it looked like he worried even still.

‘Why did the doctor have to go and say that?’

Ianna tried to pat Finn on the head before she remembered that she could not move her arms properly. Finn flinched when she moved her arms up and put them back down again and cried a bucket. Ianna quietly watched him cry for a while before she asked,

“Why are you crying?”

“…….”

“I dislike people who don’t say what they’re thinking. You should say thank you if you’re thankful, and you should say sorry if you’re sorry. But don’t just say nothing if you’re going to leave me hanging.”

Finn was about to flinch at Ianna’s pointed words, but he began trembling and listlessly hung his head low instead. His tears continuing falling as they moistened the dirt below.

Ianna realized that had taken the wrong attitude. She had spoken too normally to a child who was barely seven years of age.

“Ahem, Finn…”

Ianna cleared her throat and softened her tone. She continued,

“You see, there’s this thing about me. When someone has something they want to say, I want them to be brave and tell me what they truly feel even if it’s hard to say instead of keeping quiet and hoping that I understand them.”

“Mmm.”

“I want to hear what you have to say. Won’t you tell me?”

Finn, who had been listening to her without a word, wiped his tears away furiously with the back on his hand and said,

“Whimper, thank you. And sorry. I’m so sorry. Sob, I was bad. I’m sorry……. Please don’t hate me. I’m sorry. Waah, Miss…….”

Ianna smiled as she watched Finn cling to her clothes and burst out in tears as he told her that he was sorry for falling over, sorry for not being able to run away because he was scared, sorry for not knowing what to do, and begged her not to hate him for it. He was so afraid of being hated that he wasn’t even able to apologize properly.

“Thank you for telling me. But you’re wrong about something.”

Finn looked up with his face in a mess because of his tears. Finn’s lips twitched when he saw Ianna’s beautiful face looking down at him like always, as if nothing was wrong.

“It wasn’t your fault. Why do you think you were wrong for tripping while you were running away from the scary monsters and crying?”

Finn’s eyes fell lower as Ianna’s kind and resolute assurance that he had done no wrong seemed to wrap around him. Ianna could not stroke his hair, so she tapped him gently on the head instead. She continued,

“It was my fault for leaving you alone and going off somewhere when you trusted me enough to fall asleep under my watch. And Finn. My arms will heal and become even sturdier than before.

“B-but…”

“They will. I’m so study that it doesn’t really matter even if my arms break. So, Finn, you don’t need to feel sorry anymore. And I don’t hate you. So, stop crying. Do I look like a liar who would make stuff up like this?”

Finn listened to Ianna quietly as she spoke before wiping away his tears with his clothes. This was because he was sure that Ianna would think he was just an annoying kid and really start hating him if he kept being sorry and crying even after she had said such kind things to him, even if it was really his fault that she had hurt her arms. Finn sincerely did not want Ianna to hate him.

Finn had been sleeping soundly thanks to Ianna, who reminded him of his late mother. He had woken up groggily when loud screams had started sounding. He sat up, wondering what was going on, when he turned around to see that minotaurs were charging straight at him.

Finn had frozen up in so much fright that he hadn’t even been able to scream. Everyone else was running away, but he hadn’t even been able to stand up properly. His nightmare had become real. Finn was terrified and had looked around, but he hadn’t found his father, mother, or even Ianna.

It was only then that Finn had jumped up and ran like mad. But his quivering legs had tripped over each other and he had fallen to the ground while the monsters were still running toward him.

Finn had been so scared that he began crying. But it had happened just as he had his head in his hands with his face toward the ground and as he wondered if he would really be eaten by the monsters this time, if he would be chewed to death like his mother had been.

He had heard a loud crash and the minotaurs had rushed forward beside him. But they had not grabbed him or stepped on him. Finn watched the minotaurs charge toward the knights in a daze and panted heavily when he heard a familiar voice cursing through clenched teeth.

He had turned around. And then, he had frozen stiff. Ianna, who gave off the same scent as his mother had, was standing guard in front of him. Finn trembled. He vividly recalled the day his mother had been eaten. His mother, Paella, had also stood in front of him like his before she had been eaten alive.

“Finn……run…….”

Finn quivered violently as he remembered how weakly his mother had told him to run away with her blood-stained face while she was being eaten.

But the situation was different now. Ianna was facing off against the minotaur. She had told him to fall back and move to the side with fire in her eyes as soon as their eyes had met. She had not feebly told him to run like his mother had.

Finn had hesitantly stepped aside, and then a frightening bloodlust, so terrifying that even Finn broke out in goosebumps as he watched her, had poured out from Ianna as her surroundings were dyed a vibrant crimson. Finn gazed blankly at Ianna and inappropriately thought, ‘Wow, she’s so cool,’ as she drew her sword.

Then, Ianna’s naked blade had rent the monster through bones and all.

Ianna reminded Finn of his mother, but unlike his mother, she was neither weak nor had she gotten eaten by the monsters. She had slain the monsters instead. She was like a knight from the fairy tales…….

Without even knowing he was doing it, Finn had been smiling more brightly than he had ever smiled before as he watched her strong figure from behind. The large cloud of darkness that had settled inside his heart was blown away. And Ianna’s powerful and sturdy figure was carved deeply into his heart in its stead.

Finn really, really liked Ianna. But his beloved Ianna had sacrificed her arms because of him. And that was why he had lost his nerve as he stood before her.

“What is it?”

Ianna was perplexed and could not understand why Finn looked so feeble even after she had clearly told him that he had done nothing wrong. Finn hesitated for a bit before he fumbled around his tiny hands.

“Miss, is there anything I can do for you?”

Finn buried his face into Ianna’s clothes. He continued,

“Is there? I’ll do anything. I’ll do everything you want me to.”

He was like a puppy. Ianna had never raised a dog before, but she could not help but suddenly think that Finn was like a puppy. He was so restless, like a puppy who kept wagging his tail.

She meant this in a good way, of course. Finn looked adorable even as he was in a complete loss for what to do, perhaps because he had inherited elven blood. She felt like he would only grow sadder if she told him that there wasn’t anything she wanted in particular.

There was still something that Finn could do for her, of course.

“Then, can you call out your friend, the water spirit, for me again?”

This was something Finn could do.

Finn beamed when Ianna asked this of him. He was happy that Ianna wanted to see his friend, whom he always had to hide away.

“Yeah, I can!”

“Then wait just a moment.”

Part 4

Ianna got up and walked over to the entrance to the barracks. There were two knights guarding the entrance, and they stiffened up when they saw her and asked her why she had come out. Ianna found their behavior toward her strange —she was only a daughter of a noble—, but she ignored it and said,

“I would like it if no one else came by the barracks. And you don’t need to guard the entrance either. My head hurts, and it bothers me that there are people standing just outside.”

“Understood!”

The knights answered loudly and vigorously, as if they would stop anyone from approaching the barracks with their lives if they must. Ianna was disconcerted, but then she remembered that knights were a bunch who regarded the protection of frail ladies as their life’s calling and simply nodded as if to express her best wishes on their endeavor. The knights looked even more determined when she did and walked away.

Finn gathered his hands when Ianna sat back down on the cot. Ianna was blinded. The mysterious energy began seeping out from Finn once more.

Ianna was certain. That energy was divine power, even though it felt slightly different. Ianna focused on its flow and observed its movements.

The divine power circled around Finn slowly before it suddenly lumped together when Finn called for the spirit of water.

Plip. Plop.

Water droplets began forming from where the divine power was gathered. The bubble-like drops of water lumped together to form one bizarre mass. The large mass of water spun around Finn’s head and rang out in a pure sound, and Ianna could not help but think it was laughing like it was having fun.

“Here you go. Do you want a closer look?”

Finn grabbed the mass of water with both hands and carefully held it out to her. The mass of water stayed in Finn’s hands like it was jelly and not a liquid. Ianna stared at it dubiously as she asked,

“Can you talk to it?”

“No. But I think I was able to when Mommy was with me. It used to be a little fairy. But now it’s just a bunch of water, though it’s still just as playful as ever.”

The mass of water that Finn called the water spirit was just as transparent and clear as normal water.

‘Is it because of divine power that it can move around like it’s alive?’

It was because of divine power that things made from dirt and water had life and could move……. Ianna recalled that the believers of the Faith of Laos said that divine power had the trait of life and felt that her theory was plausible.

“Can I touch it too?”

“You can. But it won’t react unless I touch it. Daddy touched it too, but nothing happened. It’s just normal water to other people. Do you want to try? Give me your hand…….”

Finn abruptly closed his mouth mid-sentence. Ianna’s entire arms were wrapped in bandages, and only her fingers peeked out from beneath them. His face darkened for a moment, but he went back to normal and brought the spirit of water closer to her fingers when she wiggled them.

But, just as the spirit of water touched Ianna’s fingers.

Brrrr…… Splash!

The mass of water twitched before it exploded and blasted water everywhere. Water splashed to the ground and both Ianna’s and Finn’s faces were drenched.

“…….”

Ianna and Finn were so surprised that they both froze in place.

“……!”

Just then, Ianna opened her eyes wide because she felt something forcing its way inside her body from where the spirit of water had touched her fingers. She broke out in goosebumps. Whatever it was made its way all the way to her heart and began eating greedily away at something there.

Ianna felt dreadful, as though something was eating away at her insides —it certainly wasn’t pleasant to feel like she was being eaten alive by something she couldn’t identify.

“Ugh.”

“M-Miss?”

Ianna’s face contorted as she gathered mana around her heart, but whatever it wasn’t didn’t stop and she was forced to simply suffer as it continued.

“Ack!”

‘What the hell?!’

Finn had screamed and even Ianna had nearly fainted from shock because countless droplets of water had suddenly formed around them.

Just as the barracks seemed to be filled with water droplets of every size, Ianna felt whatever it was that had been eating away at her travel through her veins and spray back out through her fingers.

Swoooosh…….

The scattered droplets of water began gathering toward Ianna’s pointer finger one by one. They circled around like a maelstrom and condensed densely as they began to take shape at her fingertip.

Shaaa…….

It took the form of a small but sleek fish. Its tail was the last to form, and all the water droplets inside the barracks had been used up to make the fish.

[Ahhhh…….]

The fish sighed pleasantly while waving its tail in a mysterious voice that seemed to bypass Ianna’s ears and resonate directly inside her head.

[That was so delicious. It was only a teeny tiny amount, but it was quite the sumptuous feast! I feel really good now! It’s been so long since the last time I was this satisfied! Woo, woo—hoo!]

The fish swam excited circles in the air as if the air was water. Then, it flopped around its tail with a slosh and swam toward Ianna.

[I really like you! I expected that you’d be pretty good after tasting your divine power, but you feel really cool! Who are you? And how do you have such delicious and high-purity divine power? It’s even tastier than Laos’ divine power!]

Ianna failed to answer because she didn’t know how she was supposed to reply to the strange creature that was asking her. She also found it difficult to comprehend what the fish was saying.

The fish continued talking to itself when Ianna didn’t answer.

[How do you have such a delicious and powerful divine power that even I couldn’t help but be bewitched by it? You’re not a god, are you? There’s no way you would be. All the gods went extinct at the End, save for Little Laos. Then, are you from one of the mythical races to whom Laos poured out all his divine power? But, out of all the mythical races, only the elder of the elves can summon me? And you don’t even look like an elf……hmm?]

The fish, which had been fluttering frivolously through the air, suddenly headbutted the frozen Ianna a few times as it realized something.

[Now that I think about it, you smell like a human. You smell like the humans, which the little god Laos made with our help. No, wait. I was summoned by a human, who only has the tiny divine power of that little god? But then, how are you still alive? Are you sure you’re human? Sniff. ……Hmm? Huh? Ahhh!]

The monologuing fish sudden began flopping around like crazy. It was so excited that it began shining rainbow.

[I smell the scent of the great crimson god from you! You look a little different, but you smell like the beautiful and righteous god!]

The fish’s body took on a crimson color. Ianna was startled when she began feeling a familiar energy from it.

[Yes…… This divine power…… I’m sure of it. I was too focused on how delicious it was at first that I didn’t recognize it, but now that I stop to think about it, I can definitely taste the strong taste of the crimson god mixed into it! What is this?! To think that I’d be able to taste it again! I love it! I love it so much! I love it, I love it!]

“……”

The fish spun around and around Ianna like it was high on drugs. Ianna’s face stiffened as the fish talked endlessly about things that had happened in the long distant past.

[I love it, I love it so, so much! I want more! More, mor—ack!]

“Hold it, Fish.”

Ianna, who had been listening to the fish without a word, yanked it away when it began cramming its face against her lips. The fish, which was squishy like jelly, screamed.

[Don’t be so rough with me! My body will scatter!]

“What are you?”

[Me? I’m the Spirit King of Water! It’s really, really nice to meet you! I love you so, so much!]

The fished turned back into water and escaped through Ianna’s fingers before reforming and sticking itself to her face again. There was no reason why a fish made of water should be sticky, but Ianna could not help but feel that it was as it continued to rub against her cheeks while saying things like, ‘I love you!’ and ‘I love you so much!’

But more importantly, it had called itself the Spirit King of Water. Ianna became confused by the fish’s unveiled identity, but she could not interrupt it as it suddenly came up to her a caused a small shower because it apparently loved her so much. Finn was simply staring at the fish blankly.

[But you’re in a lot of pain, aren’t you?]

The fish stopped for a moment before it began circling Ianna’s arms.

[Especially your arms. I could help you, but you don’t have enough divine power for me to maintain my body with. Why is all your divine power welled up inside your heart? It’s being blocked off tight by something, so I can only eat what little that seeps outside. It’s not enough! Make it go away and give me your divine power! Feed me! Oh no! Ahhh! I’m disappearing!]

The fish stirred up a fuss as its smooth body began pulling away into different directions. Ianna was alarmed and tried to grab it again. She didn’t know what it was, but this fish that called itself the Spirit King of Water clearly knew about the Holy Age.

“Wait. There’s something I want to ask you!”

[Hmm? What is it? Oh, but hold on a bit. No can do. I’ll come back after eating a little more.]

The fish bit down hard at Ianna’s hand, which she couldn’t move well. Then, it was quickly sucked inside.

The first time she had felt something formless flowing into her body and eating away at something in her heart had been uncomfortable, but it had made no impact on her body otherwise. This time, however, was different. It had been calm the first time, but it was turbulent this time.

The blood flowing in Ianna’s body suddenly cascaded up from her fingertips to her heart like a cataract.

“Ack, urk!”

Ianna felt like her entire body, save her heart, was drying up. Her heart, which she normally did not take notice of, sank down heavily and made its existence known. Should she say that it felt like a wet sponge that had soaked up all the water around it? Ianna bit down at her dried lips and breathed hard.

Her blood was only absorbed into her heart for a moment before it dispersed back to the rest of her body again. Of note, the blood returning to her right arm was swimming back into every nook and cranny of her arm like it was on fire. It was like her blood was alive. Ianna furrowed her brows fiercely as her right arm hurt as if it was being shredded gently by sharp glass.

A little while later, her blood stopped trying to explode out of her arm and came back down to her fingers. Blood returned to the blood vessels in her fingers, which had grown pale when the blood had pooled around her heart, and the fish slipped back out just as Ianna started feeling that her fingers might burst open.

Ianna let out a sigh of relief as the pressure that had been weighing down on her body disappeared.

[Phewy. I ate all of the divine power that was stagnating inside you.]

The fish’s body was still wavering as much as ever as it groaned arduously.

“What did you just do?”

Ianna glared down at the fish because she felt as if her entire body had just been torn apart. The fish flopped around, finding the situation unfair.

[Aw, don’t look at me like that. I helped you! I switched out the dead blood and reset the fragments of your bones instead of wasting what little divine power there was left by simply using it all up to exist here. Your arm will heal faster now, I think? I wanted to do your left arm too, but I didn’t have enough divine power. I thought I’d scatter inside your body while resetting your bones, so I decided to come back out.]

“Reset my bones?”

Ianna was alarmed and tried shaking her arm. The bones still ached, but the pain that felt like needles were stabbing into her flesh had disappeared.

The fish was swaying its tail feebly —a marked contrast from its explosive vigor from before.

[I didn’t fuse them back completely —I just set and secured them so they wouldn’t move.]

“…….”

Ianna’s head began to hurt as the situation only grew more confusing.

[So don’t write me off as useless! I’m actually much more capable than this,]

the fish said urgently, misreading the complicated light in Ianna’s eyes. It continued,

[I have to work together with the spirit of earth to heal you completely. I can manipulate your body to a certain extent since human bodies are made up mostly of water……but I can’t fuse the bones back together. That can only be done by the spirit of earth, and a low-grade spirit probably won’t be…… Ah, it’s getting hard to talk. I think I’m gonna disappear.]

The fish wriggled as if it was reluctant to leave, but its body didn’t heed it and continued to fluctuate heavily.

[Aww.]

The fish began moving about sorrowfully when Finn, who was sitting in a daze, entered its vision. The fish stopped wandering about and floated over to where Finn was.

[You must be the guy who calls me out and plays with me from time to time, right?]

“……Huh?”

Finn answered blankly.

[The spirit of water. You play with me sometimes.]

And exclamation point and a question mark seemed to appear above Finn’s head together.

[Oh, yeah, I do…… But the spirit of water I play with is just a lump of water, not the Spirit King…….”

[I am water itself. Meaning that I’m that lump of water too. I get bored, so call me out often.]

The fish explained in easy to understand terms before turning back to Ianna and pressing its face against her nose. There was little strength behind its contact.

[It looks like I was only able to appear here today because of that little elf. You don’t know how to use divine power or how to call us, do you? It’d be nice if you could learn, but it’s no easy feat for a human to be able to use divine power……. Anyway, call me through the elf like you did today every other full moon if you want to see me again. Judging by how fast your divine power is leaking out, that’s about how long it’ll take for you to have as much as you did today.]

‘I have no idea what’s going on…….’

Ianna shook her head because she was unable to comprehend what was going on —everything defied common sense— and the fish misunderstood her actions and screamed,

[No! Call me even if you don’t want to see me. Please call me! I don’t know what’s going on, but I want to eat your divine power again—ack…….]

Splaaash!

Pitter patter.

The fish’s body ultimately exploded. The water droplets that had formed the fish’s body returned to normal and splashed across the barracks.

The dry dirt ground turned into wet mud due to the sudden shower. Everything inside the barracks was doused with water and was rendered unusable. Ianna and Finn looked like drowned rats.

Drip. Drop.

Clear water dripped down from Ianna’s hair and face —she had been facing the Spirit King of Water and had taken the burst of water head on. Ianna, who badly wanted to wring out her wet hair but couldn’t because she couldn’t move her arms, mumbled,

“So frivolous for something that called itself a king. And a nuisance to boot.”

There were no other women in the caravan. In other words, there was no one around who could dry Ianna off and help her change. Ianna turned her gaze to Finn, who was still staring blankly into space. Only the young and innocent Finn could help her at the moment.

“Finn, I need your help.”

“Y-yes?”

Finn was alarmed as Ianna’s words brought him back to his senses and he fumbled over his words.

“Could you bring back a lot of towels from outside? And bring over a few people too.”

“Okay!”

Finn nodded furiously and ran out of the barracks.

The people whom Finn brought back a short while later were dumbstruck when they saw what a mess the barracks were. Just what on earth had happened to the barracks, which had only been set up not too long ago?

Frederick, representing the dumbfounded people, stepped out with a stiff look on his face.

“What happened, my Lady? Where did all this water come from……? And how on earth did you get so wet, my —ahem. Please put this on!”

Frederick, who realized that the curvy lines of Ianna’s figure were on full display because she was drenched as he was speaking, was alarmed and took off his cloak to hand over to Ianna, who accepted it and wrapped it around herself. Frederick blushed and cleared his throat a few times in bewilderment before the look on his face became as stiff as stone.

“No one trespassed into the barracks, did they?”

Frederick’s gaze grew as sharp as a hawk’s as he turned to the knights who were responsible for protecting the barracks. Their countenances had been pale to begin with, as if they had just seen a ghost, and they ran up to Ianna with incredible vigor at Frederick’s words and knelt before her.

“We’re so sorry, Miss! This was our fault for being careless.”

“You bastards will be punished!”

“Yessir!”

“Wait.”

The knights accepted Frederick’s sharp wrath as if it was only natural. But it was Ianna who felt the sorriest in the situation. The knights had done nothing wrong. She hadn’t intended for it to happen, but she was the one who had summoned the spirit king that had wrecked the barracks.

“Sir Holt, there is no reason for you to punish your men.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I cannot tell you the details, but an acquaintance of mine dropped by to treat my right arm. And this water……was also the work of my acquaintance.”

Frederick stared at her arm with a strange look in his eyes as Ianna glossed things over and waved her arm.

“……You were treated? But the bandages are still on…… How did you get treated without even taking your bandages off……?”

“My bones were set with magic.”

People opened their eyes wide in shock when they registered what she had said.

“Let me see! How is that even possible?!”

The doctor, who was there because he was worried that something had happened to Ianna, looked dubious as he ran inside the barracks.

“You are being impertinent!”

“Eek!”

Frederick grew angry as he stopped the doctor from immediately undoing Ianna’s bandages, and it was only then that the doctor realized how rude he was being and gasped as he lowered his head.

“How dare you touch a noble’s body without permission? Know your place! I will have you punished!”

“I-I’m sorry!”

“Please let him be, since he was only being devoted to his work,”

said Ianna, stopping Frederick from drawing his blade. She continued,

“Besides, I’m rather curious about whether I was really treated myself…….”

Ianna’s eyes, which were generally tranquil unless she was holding a sword, held a curious and intrigued light to them. She held out her arm before the doctor, who’s head was still hanging low as he trembled.

“My acquaintance told me that all the bones in my right arm should be reset……but please take a look.”

“Y-yes.”

Carefully, the doctor undid her bandages.

Ianna’s arms had been in a very serious state when the doctor had examined them. Not only had the bones in her arms been cracked like a lightning bolt had run through them from the wrists up, but parts of them had also shattered and their fragments had been embedded into the surrounding muscle tissue. She needed to have surgery done as quickly as possible to take out the fragments and prevent the muscles from becoming inflamed.

A lowly caravan doctor could not operate on Ianna, who was not only a count’s noble daughter but also a skilled swordswoman. She needed to be seen by a higher-ranking doctor, but the caravan was currently in the middle of a forest and it would take at least a full day to reach the nearest noble’s territory. Realistically speaking, Ianna’s injury had been all but neglected as a result.

And yet, the lady’s acquaintance had slipped past a group of skilled knights to get to the barracks, had treated her arm, which required surgery from a skilled doctor, with magic, and had doused the barracks with water just for fun? It was rather difficult to believe.

But the doctor’s mouth fell agape in surprise as he carefully touched Ianna’s arm.

“B-but how……? There were fragments of splintered bone embedded into the muscles, but they’ve vanished without a trace.”

Then, the doctor checked her bones, too, just to be sure, and he opened his eyes so wide they nearly fell out as he loudly exclaimed,

“The injury was so severe, but now it seems like a mere fracture. This will recover fully in just a mere four weeks!”

“My lady, may I ask who this acquaintance of yours is? They must be an incredible mage, seeing as they were not only capable of this miraculous treatment, but they were so skilled that they entered the barracks, made this watery mess, and left without anyone’s notice…….”

Ianna shook her head when Frederick, who had mistaken the spirit king for an incredible mage, asked. Frederick stopped asking when she successfully conveyed to him that she would not entertain any questions.

Information regarding and personal connections with skilled mages and swordsmen was a form of power. Frederick had the obligation to uncover this information for his master by being stubborn if he must. Still, there was no need for him to go so far. It was enough that he had learned of Ianna Roberstein by chance —there was no need for him to learn more about this mage acquaintance of hers too. Frederick did not wish to hamper Ianna’s mood.

“More importantly, the barracks are a mess because of the water…….”

“We will rebuild them elsewhere.”

“I’m sorry for causing you extra work.”

“Haha, please don’t worry about it. Barracks are trifling things —it matters not how many times we must rebuild them.”

Frederick laughed so heartily that even his mustache moved and bowed. Ianna felt burdened by how courteous the man who had risen to the title of baron was being, but she simply nodded in return because she understood that he was only acting out of goodwill.

“Then I’ll leave it in your care.”

“Miss, I brought the towels.”

Finn came back inside while struggling to carry about ten bundles of towels with him just as Frederick turned to leave.

“Daddy said I could take back as many clean towels as I needed for you to use, since there were a lot in stock with the company.”

Frederick urgently turned back around with an alarmed look on his face.

“We have no one here who can wait on you, my Lady…….”

“I’ll be all right since Finn is here.”

Ianna smiled at Finn, who was standing next to her with the towels. She continued,

“I might’ve been in trouble if you weren’t here, Finn. Thank you.”

“Was I helpful, Miss? I’m so glad.”

Finn smiled in glee although he didn’t know what was going on. Frederick hesitantly said,

“But that child is still a boy…….”

“He is only seven years old.”

“I’ve finished.”

Ianna drove the people away as soon as the doctor had finished redoing her bandages.

“You may go now.”

Frederick left after clearing his throat one final time. There were a few among the knights who had come inside the barracks and had looked at Finn rudely with envy, but they all left the barracks swiftly when Frederick shouted at them.

Ianna called out to Finn once everyone else had left, and he beamed as he replied, “Yes?”

“I can’t dry myself off or change my clothes because I can’t use my arms. I’ll need your help, Finn. Can you help me change first?”

“I just need to help you change?”

“Yes.”

“Okay! Then I’ll start with the buttons on your vest and shirt, Miss.”

Ianna bent down as Finn reached out to her, too young to fully understand the difference between sexes and happy to be of help. Finn focused his entire attention to helping Ianna undo her buttons. Ianna found Finn so adorable that she smiled before she knew what she was doing.

The dark night had grown deeper still by the time Finn was carefully drying Ianna’s hair in the newly rebuilt barracks.

“Good night, Miss. Sweet dreams.”

“Thank you, Finn —I’m sure you’re tired too. And let’s keep the Spirit King of Water a secret between us, all right?”

“Okay, it’s a secret!”

Finn nodded with an innocent flush on his countenance like he had received candy when Ianna told him sweetly that the spirit king was a secret just between the two of them.

“But will you be all right sleeping alone? Would you like me to sleep with you?”

“It’s okay. I don’t want to tire you out, Miss. And besides…….”

Finn wriggled his fingers. He continued,

“I don’t think I’ll have nightmares anymore. And even if I do, I think you’ll come to save me and Mommy.”

Finn smiled prettily with his mouth curled into a crescent.

“You’re so cool, Miss Ianna. You’re the coolest in the world.”

“…….”

“Thank you so much, Miss. Good night.”

Finn bowed goodbye before tottering out of the barracks. Ianna watched him leave with a smile on her lips before she closed her eyes and flopped down on the bed. Her wet crimson hair splayed over the white covers that Mursi had provided her.

See? Things will work out even if I don’t do anything.

Ianna closed her eyes and tried to sleep. But she found that she could not fall asleep easily because she heard the sound of water splashing by her ears.

She had never imagined that she would meet the Spirit King of Water. Ianna laughed awkwardly. It was funny to her that the cute flopping fish was something as mysterious as the Spirit King of Water.

The spirit king was something mysterious that had lived through the secrets of the Holy Age. It had appeared so suddenly and so hectically that Ianna had not been able to say much and had simply sat there blankly. Instead of blaming herself, Ianna consoled herself in the knowledge that she would be able to meet it again once two full moons had passed.

The full moon. The beautiful moon regained its entire circular form once every fifteen days. Which meant that she would be able to meet the spirit king again in a month. And yet, the fish hadn’t even been able to stay for five full minutes. She would have to prepare which questions she wanted to ask during their short meeting in advance.

Ianna didn’t remember everything that the fish had hectically babbled, but she tried to slowly recall its words one by one. Then, she organized what it had said into five distinct points.

First, all the gods save for Laos had gone extinct after the End.

The spirit kings had not known about Lebony. It made sense, considering that Lebony had said that she had been sealed and that the seal had only come undone about twenty years ago. But why had the End happened in the first place?

Second, Laos had created humanity with the spirits’ help and had given humans a tiny amount of divine power. And he had given a lot of his own divine power to the mythical races.

Ianna had heard that life was possible because Laos had granted all living things divine power so many times she thought her ears might bleed. She had started believing those words, which she had distrusted all her life, because Lebony had said that she had survived by stealing divine power from humans, and she had guessed that other lifeforms might carry divine power as well. It looked like it was true. Laos had granted all life divine power. But…….

Third, divine power apparently had a taste, and, according to the fish, Ianna’s divine power was delicious and tasted like the crimson god’s divine power had been mixed into it.

This was how she was able to get a gist of what divine power was. All divine power had its own unique taste, according to the fish.

So, what exactly was this ‘taste’ that the fish had mentioned? Was there more than one kind of divine power? Laos’ divine power, and Roberstein’s divine power. Ianna had thought that all divine power was the same and its ‘taste’ depended on who possessed it, but, apparently, she had been wrong. Now that she thought about it, Lebony had also cried about how warm Roberstein’s divine power was.

The crimson god that the fish had mentioned was probably Roberstein. Ianna could not feel it herself, but she knew that she had Roberstein’s divine power within her body. But then, the fish should have only been able to taste Roberstein’s taste —what did it mean when it said that the taste had been mixed in?

Fourth, there was divine power in her heart. But something was stopping it from being released.

Was there something surrounding her heart? And if so, then what? Was it the reason why she hadn’t known about the divine power until only now?

Fifth, spirits maintained their bodies by eating divine power. Even among the mythical races, only the elder of the elves could summon the Spirit King of Water.

Divine power was life. It was probably fine to consider the amount of divine power you had as your lifespan. According to the texts, the elves lived very long lives. And only the elder of the elves could summon the spirit king…….

Ianna didn’t know how long-lived the elves were, but, if summoning the spirit king required using up one’s lifespan, then would her body be all right after summoning the spirit king repeatedly?

And did this taste that the fish had spoken about have an effect on summoning it too? If that was the case, then what did the elven elder’s divine power taste like?

Ianna began feeling uneasy once she had thought as much through.

‘I feel like I’ve become an elf-eating monster or something…….’

Was the reason why monsters considered the mythical races a feast because of how their divine power tasted and because the elves had a lot of it?

Ianna’s head was a mess as she tossed and turned in bed. She agonized over things for a while before reaching the conclusion that the few hints she had received were not enough to resolve her questions.

All of this would remain as just a delusion if she couldn’t get any answers. There was nothing she could do but call the spirit king again.

‘I’ve already called it once, so it shouldn’t matter if I do it again. Besides, it wouldn’t have told me to call it again if doing so would kill me because I didn’t have enough divine power. Right?’

Ianna thought things through in simple terms and decided to save her questions for when she could meet the spirit again.

‘I should sleep.’

Ianna was tired because a lot had happened today, so she decided to give up worrying and go to sleep.

“…….”

But she could not fall asleep immediately. Ianna tossed and turned for a while before turning over to her side and curling up. Her hand, which was holding onto her covers, tensed and a cool sweat covered her palm.

Eventually, Ianna opened her eyes. She stared at the dark shadows created by the candle looming above the pointed top of the tent.

Now that she had put aside everything about the mysterious Holy Age, which was so ambiguous at this point that she could not make heads or tails of anything, her doubts regarding a certain individual, which she had forgotten because of the spirit king and had filled her head until she had met the spirit king, kept her awake. The question that concerned her so greatly that she could not sleep in peace was…….

Just who on earth had killed the minotaurs that had been hiding in the forest?

The darkness around the entrance to the barracks that Ianna was sleeping in wavered deep in the night, long after even the merchants, who had been unable to sleep due to all of day’s chaos, had fallen asleep from fatigue. It had already been a while since the flickering candlelight had been extinguished. The wax, which had once filled the candle stand, had vanished along with the flame and only the blackened wick remained.

A robe slipped across the ground within the darkness covering the barracks. The figure wearing the robe stopped beside the bed.

“…….”

The robed figure stared down at Ianna’s face from beside her for a long while.

‘I can’t seem to figure it out no matter how hard I think about it. Why on earth is this woman here right now……?’

A rough hand reached out from the robes and gently stroked Ianna’s right hand.

‘I sense the flow of something revolting. A spirit……? It must’ve been a high-class spirit if it was able to manipulate her body. But how did she encounter a spirit? The half-elf wouldn’t have been able to call forth a high-class spirit, meaning that she must have been the one to call it……. Just what on earth is happening to her body?’

The man grasped her hand lightly.

‘In any case, it won’t be long until she makes a full recovery, so there’s no need for me to use my powers. But spirits are double-edged swords……it would be best if she never called one again.’

The man stared endlessly at Ianna’s profile before he finally closed his golden eyes slowly.

‘I was willing to return your arms to you even if it meant pushing myself because I didn’t want to see you lose your light……but it’s so like you to solve your problems on your own.’

A composed and peerlessly beautiful figure flashed across the man’s mind. The woman whom he had always wanted like crazy all the way since the long distant past up until now, when everything had been restarted —the very woman whom he had never been able to grasp.

She had always held a sword in her right hand.

The man opened his eyes again and stared down at Ianna’s right hand like a savage beast staring down its prey. Then, on impulse, he brought her hand up and pressed his dry lips to each and every finger.

‘You told me that you would be mine this time…….’

He was handling her so carefully and so preciously that he almost seemed reverent.

‘I gave up everything that I had because I believed in your words. But now…….’

Just as the man grabbed her hand a little tighter. Ianna’s hand, too, grasped onto him as he held hers.

“Who are you?”

Ianna grabbed onto the man’s hands with her fingers. Her grip was weak, of course, because her arm was not fully healed, but the man froze in place and could not even think to shake her off when he realized the inevitable consequences of his actions. Ianna slowly opened her eyes and met the familiar black-robed figure’s gaze. She continued,

“I see, it was you who slaughtered the minotaurs back there. I’m actually relieved now that I know it was you.”

The light of her crimson eyes seemed to penetrate the night, but she still could not see the man’s face hidden under his hood —she could only see the occasional flutter of his robes. She could not see the black-clad man in the dark, and it almost felt as though she was talking to the darkness itself.

Ianna slowly opened her tightly closed mouth when she saw that the man did not move to run away.

“I don’t know you. But, do you know me? Why did you shower me with bloodlust, and why did you hold me from behind? And why did you follow me, or save me from danger? And for what reason did you bring my hand so carefully to your lips……?”

The man did not speak. Expressionlessly, Ianna continued,

“I hated you so much for insulting me at Theodore that I resolved to break your limbs if I ever met you again…”

The man’s grip on Ianna’s hand tightened for a moment.

“…But now I am grateful to you. Things would have been difficult had you not been here. And, I also recognize that you are much stronger than me right now, that I am much too weak. I’m sure there are many out there currently who are stronger than me.”

Ianna sighed and looked to the man with amused eyes. The man flinched under her gaze.

“I want to treat you with kindness.”

The man gripped her hand tighter when he heard what she had said. Ianna was startled for a moment, but she did not pull her hand away as she continued,

“So, won’t you mind taking off your robe and showing me your face? Are you so hideous that you can’t bear to show me? Or is there some other reason why you can’t?”

The man kept his silence. He only brought something out from his pocket and placed it in Ianna’s hand before vanishing into the darkness again.

“…….”

Ianna stared into the darkness, in which the man had disappeared, before looking at what he had placed in her hand. It was a small glass bottle. Filled with a mysterious liquid sloshing inside…….

—“Encounter” End

—To be continued in Volume 2