Guiding Star
Beeeep—
The first thing I registered was a strange ringing that filled my skull. Consciousness rose as if from a deep sleep, and the faint sensations of my body began to stir back to life.
“Ugh…”
I blinked my hazy eyes, pressed a hand to the ground, and pushed myself upright. My sense of balance was completely off; I swayed and staggered, but somehow managed to get to my feet.
The foggy world slowly sharpened into focus. Rubbing my forehead, I looked down at the scattered belongings strewn across the ground. Waterlogged strips of jerky, swollen and bursting, lay mixed with black scales. A torn wad of paper had been driven into the mud, black ink bleeding from it.
My bag…
Yes—everything scattered around me had once been packed carefully inside my bag. I reached behind my back and felt only emptiness.
Even the sword I had strapped there was gone. While I searched frantically for my things, I spotted Nightmare lying limp on the ground.
“Nightmare!”
His sleek body was caked in mud, but I couldn’t see any wounds. I patted his face, trying to rouse him.
“Are you okay? You’re alive, right?”
Hot breath kept puffing from beneath his nostrils, so of course he was alive—but anxiety made me keep tapping his face anyway.
How long I stayed like that, I couldn’t say. Suddenly Nightmare’s features twisted, and he jerked upright as if his mind had finally returned.
Phee-hee-hing—!
He looked around in panic, then seemed to grasp the situation. His tail swished back and forth as he trotted over to my side. He moved just fine; nothing appeared broken.
I stroked his head while surveying our surroundings.
A soft darkness lay over everything, pierced by a pale light that seemed determined to push it back. I looked up, but the blackened sky held neither stars nor moon.
The sky wasn’t the only strange thing. A long stretch of desert gave way to a dense forest, and far beyond that rose a high mountain capped with snow. Turning the other way, I saw a river flowing with water the color of sunset.
Day and night, desert and forest and snowy peaks all jumbled together… No guidebook had ever mentioned a place like this, and Celion had never said a word about it either.
“First things first…”
After another look around, I reached a simple conclusion: find my gear. Without a sword, running into a monster would be a serious problem.
Nightmare and I searched the area together. We managed to dig up a few gold coins stuck in the mud, the torn leather bag, a grimoire bound in iron chains, and a leather pouch full of seeds. My regular sword and the Storm Bringer I had fastened to Nightmare’s side must have been flung much farther away.
With the bag shredded, there was no way to carry the scattered odds and ends—and honestly, nothing worth carrying remained.
I had no choice but to lengthen the iron chain and clip the grimoire to my belt.
“We should look farther out.”
Prrrr—
Together we climbed out of the mud and headed into the sand-covered desert. Under the pale light pouring from the black sky, even the sand glittered platinum.
Riding Nightmare, I spotted something unusually bright half-buried in a dune. He saw it too and broke into a run.
Every time his hooves struck the ground, clouds of fine sand rose into the air.
When we reached the spot, a long shaft jutted from the sand. The shape was painfully familiar.
“This is…”
I jumped down, scowled, and heaved with all my strength. The massive blade buried beneath the sand slowly emerged—Storm Bringer, the greatsword I had received as proof of the Great Warrior’s honor.
Perhaps because it had been caught in the mana storm and soaked up so much power, faint lightning still crackled along its edge.
It wasn’t the sword I was used to, but at least I now had something that could keep monsters off me. That would have to be enough.
As a test, I tried lifting the greatsword—larger than my entire body.
“Hyaaah…!”
The mana circle in my heart spun furiously, and the Emblem of the Great Warrior flared across the back of my hand. Even after two layers of physical reinforcement, the weight was still more than I could handle.
Whoosh—!
The moment I swung Storm Bringer, I understood: with my current strength I could never perform the sword arts I normally used.
Still better than no weapon at all. I poured more mana into the blade.
Crackle—!
Without any special effort, blue lightning bloomed along Storm Bringer the instant I forced mana into it.
That alone was something. In a pinch I could just hide behind the huge blade and keep dumping mana into it.
Not a sword—more like a Chain Lightning launcher.
Prrrr—
Nightmare took one look at me approaching with Storm Bringer and backed away, face twisted in pure disgust. The weight clearly bothered him.
But what choice did I have? I couldn’t carry the thing myself. I hung Storm Bringer against his flank.
We wandered the desert for a long time after that, but my original sword never turned up. I finally stopped, sighed, and stroked Nightmare’s mane.
“Where do you think we should go?”
He answered by swishing his tail. He had no idea how to get back to base either.
So we simply drifted. Now and then we found monster tracks, but almost never any sign of people.
In a place without day or night, the sense of time grew thin and blurry.
I had no idea how many hours had passed since we started walking. The long shadow still pointed straight ahead—meaning that even after all this time, its position hadn’t changed.
“Haa…”
I was starting to feel mentally drained. Looking up at the empty sky, I frowned. If only there had been a moon or a few stars, it wouldn’t have felt so stifling.
And then I remembered a sparkling starlight.
Why had I been standing around feeling helpless? I gave a self-mocking laugh and brushed my bangs back. Nightmare looked up at me as if I had gone strange.
I closed my eyes and began to move my mana.
The sphere of starlight formed above my heart began to spin, weaving a thin band around itself.
Until now I had always taken magic from other worlds and reshaped it to my own taste. The power might differ, but I had always made it look exactly the way I imagined.
So then…
Couldn’t it work the other way around as well?
I recalled the moment I had raised starlight in the desert. Crossing the platinum dunes, striking two small stones together.
All I needed was a tiny amount of mana. A faint, rapidly spinning starlight finished preparing to appear in this world.
Mana carrying the user’s wish draws out mystery; only when that mystery manifests in reality does it earn the name of magic.
Tap—!
The instant my two small fingers struck each other, a bright little sound rang out and a tiny guiding star rose into the air.
“Whoa…”
I stared at the starlight floating above my palm. The moment I pictured the place I wanted to go, the star would begin to move.
That was how the magic had been made, after all.
Looking at the glittering star, I made a wish—exactly the way people wish on a falling star. I hoped to leave this place and return to the expedition base where Celion would be waiting.
The starlight began to drift. Moving forward, it left a long tail behind it—my guide. I felt no doubt as I watched it. The moment a mage doubts the mystery they themselves have created, that magic ceases to be magic.
I took Nightmare’s reins and raced after the starlight.
“It’s not here. Looks like she’s gone.”
“Hmm…”
“Master?”
Rain looked up at her teacher. The old, deeply lined face was utterly serious, and his eyes shone with sharp light.
“Is that sword really so fascinating?”
“This is not human craftsmanship.”
The elderly mage turned the short dagger in his hand, murmuring. The blade caught the sunlight and glittered; from certain angles, faint starlight shimmered across its surface.
Rain, however, had little interest in the small dagger her master was holding.
“When did you even buy that?”
“I heard there was a blacksmith who could seal stars into steel, so I went to see him.”
“This isn’t the time to chase rumors like that. Aren’t we going to look for Ceris?”
“Heh heh…”
The old mage chuckled at his disciple’s sulking. He himself had only stumbled upon the star-sealing blacksmith while following rumors about the girl named Ceris.
The blacksmith had briefly shared his own adventure with the old mage who was searching for her—the story of crossing a desert while following a tiny star.
The old mage had been ready to dismiss it as sales talk, until he saw the dagger the man claimed to have forged. After that, he had no choice but to believe every word.
“Master! Hurry up!”
Ignoring his disciple, the old mage held the dagger up to the sunlight and smiled faintly.
His eyes were colored with old memories.
“Hoo…”
Foldrin wiped the sweat from his brow and adjusted his grip. He had swung his sword without rest until the skin of his palms split and blood seeped out.
“Um, Sir Foldrin…”
“Ah—please, come in.”
He looked at the female priest who approached carefully. She had been staring, almost entranced, at the faint smile on his lips; now she shook her head and spoke.
“I found the whereabouts of the girl you asked about—Ceris.”
“Truly…?”
“Yes. Right after the monster subjugation party set out, she left this city. Judging by the direction, she was heading toward Greenfall…”
“Greenfall…?”
“Yes—the land of the orcs.”
“Haa…”
Foldrin let out a long breath. As a newly appointed Holy Knight he could go anywhere inside Oblein, but leaving the country required official permission.
He already knew the truth: no one would send a Holy Knight abroad just to chase one girl. Watching despair settle over his face, the priest continued carefully.
“Is… is she truly that important to you?”
“Yes… She is the one who let me be reborn.”
“You want to go to Greenfall, don’t you?”
“If only I could…”
“I think you might be able to. Recently, traces of black mages were discovered in Greenfall.”
“Traces of black mages…?”
“Yes. They’re planning to dispatch an investigation team to look into the details…”
Before the priest could finish, Foldrin rushed out of the training yard.
A smile had returned to his face.