Beyond the World's Edge
Emily
"Ugh..."
I left the house sniffling, nose running.
I had only one set of clothes prepared for the winter—and even that had been a gift from a boy of a hunter's family, meant for me. The village boys' barrage of presents never let up, not even after the snows came. Once this winter passed, Emily would turn fourteen. By this world's standards, that meant she would be fully of marriageable age. The boys were desperate to claim her as a bride.
With winter's arrival, Mother had begun dropping hints. She waited for me to pick a boy I liked, yet at the same time she kept trying to arrange meetings, murmuring that so-and-so seemed decent. It was enough to drive me out of my mind. My identity as an adult man still outweighed everything else. Simply holding a conversation with those snot-nosed country lads was already a trial; marriage was unthinkable. Freezing to death would be preferable.
As always, I made for the Gatekeeper's hut. Winter was nearly over, yet I still did not know his name. I simply trained hard in the swordsmanship he taught me.
"You came again today?"
When I reached the hut, the Gatekeeper—bundled in thick furs—greeted me. Showing up here had long since become my daily routine, like punching in for work. I bowed my head and took up the wooden sword that stood in the corner. Last night's snowfall had left it frozen solid.
Perhaps he liked watching me refuse to quit and keep at my practice. With the coming of winter he had begun teaching me proper swordsmanship in earnest. Of course, with no one to compare him against, I had no way of knowing how skilled he truly was. I simply learned whatever the retired knight offered. It wasn't as though I had other choices.
Moving my body was fun. Day by day the stamina that clung to me made my heart race. The first time I sliced falling leaves with a sword that grew faster and faster, I nearly shouted aloud. In this dull world, swordsmanship was my only entertainment.
"Hyaah!"
Today, too, I would train until I collapsed. I roared rough kiais and swung the ice-hard wooden sword wildly. Calluses had already formed on my palms.
"How do you like it?"
Late that evening, the whole family gathered for supper. Mother drew out a pure-white dress and held it up for me. The hem was thick with elaborate flower ornaments; the fabric alone made it look expensive. This was no everyday garment. The moment I saw it, a nameless dread settled over me.
"What is that...?"
"What you'll wear when you get married."
I had always known that someday I would have to leave the house—no, the village itself. I simply never imagined that day would be today. Mother kept talking, but almost none of it reached my ears. My mind went blank. A wedding dress ready and waiting meant my marriage partner had already been chosen. Of course I felt no curiosity about who it might be.
"Well? Pretty, isn't it?"
I kept my mouth shut. Mother took my silence for shyness and burst into laughter. That laugh was the final straw. Quietly, I nodded.
In the deep hours of that same night, while everyone slept, I rose without a sound. The freezing dawn air threatened to ice over my lungs, yet I held my breath and moved with care. What I needed: the thick fur clothes, Mother's emergency savings, and the leather satchel Father always carried. It was stuffed full of dried jerky.
Gathering the things was easy. I had long planned to leave this village someday, so I already knew exactly where everything lay. Once the pack was ready, I stared blankly at the dying campfire. The flames had grown weak; by morning they would be out. I glanced at Mother and Father on the bed, then tossed two fresh logs into the fire.
Crack—!
I had meant to slip away in silence, yet somehow my feet refused to move. In the end I tore a corner from a nearby storybook and wrote across it with charcoal.
I'm leaving in search of my dreams.
Don't look for me.
—Emily—
The handwriting came out surprisingly elegant. Pleased with the finished note, I nodded once and stepped out of the house.
The village streets in the late dawn were unnaturally still. The cold wind slipped into the forest and returned as a strange, keening cry; when it emerged again it carried a sharp scent of grass.
"Haa..."
My breath turned to white vapor and scattered. From the house I made straight for the Gatekeeper's hut. It was not my destination, yet I had no choice but to pass it if I meant to leave the village.
The moment I drew near, a bright sound rang out and moonlight seemed to fall from the sky.
Clang—!
While I stared blankly at the sight, a familiar gaze found me—the Gatekeeper's.
"Emily?"
"Good morning."
I bowed in greeting. He tilted his head, clearly puzzled that I would appear at such an hour. Split firewood lay scattered around his feet; the sword in his right hand told me he had been chopping logs with the blade again. He had been doing the same thing the first time we met.
I left him behind and walked on toward the edge of the village.
"Wait."
"What is it?"
"Where do you think you're going at this hour?"
"Outside the village."
His face twisted at once.
"Have you lost your mind?"
I gave no answer. Even I suspected I was not entirely sane. Was it normal for a little girl's body to carry the mind of a grown man?
"Come here and sit a moment."
His tone was almost gentle. Given his nature, he would not try to hold me by force. Still puzzled, I walked over. He offered an unsplit log as a seat. Bone-dry and free of damp, it looked ready to make excellent firewood.
"Why leave the village?"
"Mother says I have to get married."
"Married...?"
"Yes. After winter I'll be fourteen."
"Then just do it."
"I don't want to."
The Gatekeeper fell silent for a long while. Suddenly he drew something from his coat and clamped it between his teeth—a thick cigarette. He seemed to debate lighting it, yet in the end he left it unlit.
"So that's why you learned the sword?"
I only blinked. I had not taken up the blade because I hated the idea of marriage. It was simply the one thing an adult man's mind could lose itself in.
"In a way, yes."
"Planning to become an adventurer?"
"Can't I be a knight?"
He went quiet again. After a stretch of silence he rose as though he had reached a decision and asked,
"Got any money?"
"I took Mother's emergency savings."
The small leather pouch held one gold coin and five silver. When I showed it to him he let out a deep sigh and beckoned me inside the hut.
"Take these."
He pressed into my hands a heavy iron sword and an equally heavy leather pouch. Inside the pouch I found five gold coins.
"This is..."
He said nothing more. Using the campfire he lit the cigarette still between his lips and drew the smoke deep into his lungs.
"Sssss—"
I stared. Shouldn't he be stopping me? He was the gatekeeper; if I vanished he would surely answer to the village chief.
"Aren't you supposed to keep me from leaving?"
"Would you stay even if I tried?"
"You talk as if you know me well."
"Of course I do. A sword says a great many things."
I closed my mouth. The man I had expected to be the greatest obstacle was instead pushing me forward.
"Go."
With that single word he sank into the rocking chair, closed his eyes, and stretched his feet toward the fire, clearly intending to sleep. Even when his watch began later that day, he would not wake.
Before I turned to leave the hut I asked one last question.
"Mister."
"...What."
"What's your name?"
"..."
He never answered. I had not truly expected him to, so I stepped out without hesitation.
The village gate. I stood at the edge of the world and steadied my breath. Emily's memories were nothing but this village. To her it had been the end of everything, and the little girl's mind was a thick, layered shell. The adult man's mind that was not Emily knew another world waited beyond that high sky—an endlessly expanding world, a sky crowded with brilliant stars. Yet knowing and feeling with the body were different things. The girl's flesh refused to move, as though terrified of walking toward the world's end.
A laugh slipped out of me. The fear I felt was entirely my own. I had only been trying to hide it behind the little girl's mind. How could the first step into the unknown not be frightening? The moment I accepted the emotion I had been denying, my body finally moved.
Crack—
I took a long stride forward. The ice that had frozen solid shattered with a sharp report, a sound exactly like a thick shell breaking.
Craaack—!
I kept going. The ice sheet covering the path splintered without mercy, shards flying in every direction. The faster I ran, the harder my heart hammered, ready to burst. My body grew heavier, yet my spirit felt light enough to fly.
I was racing mindlessly along the trail when the narrow, darkness-choked forest path suddenly fell away and the view opened wide. Panting, I stared straight ahead.
A broad field stretched out, blanketed in pure white snow. Between the horizon where earth met sky, the sun began to rise. The instant that brilliant light raced across the snowfield, a new world unfolded.