The Eagle Chasing the Stars (3)
In the game, Hilken was a character fated to die during the forest field exercise. As the senior who had taken her in as a junior and taught her all sorts of things, it was difficult for me to simply accept in my heart that she had to meet that end.
Being chosen as a bloodstained hunter for the imperial family—that was simply how fate worked. In the original game, she had been nothing more than a minor character mentioned only in passing. Yet even she had accumulated her own story. It was none other than her parents, her other siblings, and the villagers who had been slaughtered by Vincent that formed the thread of her tragic connection to him.
But the dead could do nothing. After her death, someone else had unraveled the story that had built up around her. That person was the blue-haired youth now being subjected to a cruel sibling kiss right in front of me—Hawk Transibist.
If things had gone that way, the fate he would have walked would have been cruel and horrific enough to make one feel the creator’s malicious intent. “Oppa, oppa, oppa!” “Enough already. Get your face off me. It’s embarrassing.” “…Haaigoo, you! I waited years to see you again, and you can’t even do this much for me?” “Haah… That’s not it. Read the room. People are staring with wide eyes.” “So what if they stare! Did I do anything wrong to you?” “…Fine. Do whatever you want.” “I know, I know. By the way, Mom! Look at how cracked Oppa’s once-beautiful skin has become—” Pinch. “And look at you, cheeks puffed up like a hamster’s rear. You’ve been eating three meals a day without a care.” “Really? Doesn’t feel like Grandma Hamster’s butt, does it?” “You’ve lost it.”
The reason the two of them were so desperate to cling and kiss was simply because they had not seen each other in a long time. No—saying they had not met in a long time did not quite capture it. Precisely, this was their first reunion since Vincent had uprooted their village. Why? ‘Because of Hawk’s stubbornness, of course.’ Just as I had once hinted to Hawk, when he resolved to take revenge on Vincent, he realized the path would ruin his own life. He wished at least his beloved younger sister could live a normal life. After entrusting the oblivious Hilken to relatives in the capital, he threw his young body into the world alone. At first, they had exchanged letters fairly often… but now so much time had passed without news that they did not even know if the other was alive or dead. That was why they were making such a fuss.
That was exactly why I had called their fate horrific. Hawk cherished his one remaining sibling more than anything, just as the scene before me showed. If that sister had been torn apart by iron whips like meat in a grinder and died alone somewhere, it was obvious he would have become an even more terrifying avenger. If Hilken had died and Hawk had broken while cursing his fate, there were routes where he would march into the Demon Realm shouting “Kill as many as they killed,” slaughtering innocents indiscriminately like Vincent and his minions. In other routes, he might have infiltrated the front lines of the Human Farm Liberation Army, acted recklessly, been captured alive, and—despite Vincent’s extreme hatred of humans using celestial magic—been acknowledged for his potential, reduced to nothing but a brain and turned into a “battery” forced to perform unwanted tasks. How terrifying and dreadful those possibilities had been.
But I had prevented all of that. So for the time being, none of it would happen. The reunion of these siblings now was entirely a fate I had created. ‘Yes, look how good it is to see them gathered like this, being all lovey-dovey. In a world where you never know when you’ll die, this is far better than both of them breaking after death.’ Bringing Hawk to the royal castle, and removing my mask in front of Hilken to reveal his identity—that had all been for their sake. So I smiled the smile of a hero and stepped away from the two of them. “You two get along so well it’s nice to watch. Go on, keep at it.” “………Pardon? Wait, Your Excellency! Where are you going, leaving me behind?!” “I already told His Highness I couldn’t be summoned. But Hilken seems to have a lot to say to you, so work it out between yourselves. Get some praise from His Highness and come find me later.” “Damn it…” “Don’t want to? You won’t have a choice. Hilken is my junior who follows me, and Grespara—the one you want to kill so badly—is under my management for now.” “………I understand without being told. I’ll see you later.”
Yet as I tried to leave, a bureaucrat from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who had approached lightly from afar suddenly spoke to me. “Lord of Steel.” “…What is it?” “A summons from the royal family. The moment you hear this, you are to make sufficient preparations and come to the audience chamber.” “…………What?!” When I raised my voice in surprise, the bureaucrat immediately shrank back and answered. “Y-yes! That is correct. Is there some problem, Your Excellency…?” “…The royal family has no reason to summon me.” “Y-you, sir? Given your achievement in saving the villages around Fralbert, isn’t it only natural they would call you to the audience chamber…?” “No. That may be true, but…” They had spoken as though they would never see me again from that attic, yet now they were summoning me. ‘Your Highness Rexas…’ What on earth was he thinking? It did not seem like he was strictly separating public and private matters; the eccentric old king I knew was not that kind of person. There seemed to be some part I was missing, but regardless of the reason, it felt as though I had no choice but to answer the summons now. So I simply gazed quietly at Hawk, who was still receiving endless kisses from behind—someone who reminded me of yesterday’s events.
***
Sigmund Academy. A natural fortress that functioned as a vanguard to secure the safety of the citizens in times of emergency in Karlangk. In peacetime, it was Karlangk’s twin city that protected the nation’s future—the students who deserved protection. Overlooking that city, Vincent, one of the Six Swords and the Goddess’s Hand, stood on the hill outside the school gate… rolling his hands and muttering an incantation. “Altair, Alshain, Tarazed… with the eyes of an eagle…” Zing—. Then the constellation of Aquila was drawn in his pupils, and through his irises he could see high-dimensional magic circles layered without gaps around the walls—circles invisible to the naked eye. “As expected, the humans… have advanced.” Saying so, Vincent quietly deactivated the power of Aquila. He had obtained enough information. Though the humans were nothing more than prey for the sun, the magic circles woven by the exceptional ones among them could not be neutralized immediately even by a Six Sword specialized in magic. Sigmund, where those circles were deployed, seemed to possess an airflow calculation ability capable of detecting even “undetectable magic.” And since spatial magic was directly linked to anomalies in the airflow… any attempt to infiltrate using the powerful mobility Vincent prided himself on—the refraction of space manifested in the form of a meteor—would immediately trigger an alarm.
Of course, unlike the idiot Yagnus, he could break through all those defenses. For someone of Vincent’s caliber, simply walking in boldly and causing chaos inside was as easy as eating cold porridge. However, that was only possible under ordinary circumstances. Right now he could not afford to ignore risk factors entirely, so Vincent abandoned the idea. Wasn’t “that guy” inside? ‘There’s no need to act rashly yet… The one inside is the man who killed a Six Sword. Charging in without properly understanding his method would be a bad move.’ The Lord of Steel, Yohan. An irregular existence who had overturned the laws of the world and survived after slaying one of the Six Swords. Vincent had come to Sigmund solely to gather information about that existence… and, if possible, to capture him. If he caused some strange incident, turned the entire academy into an enemy, and drew Yohan’s attention as well, things would naturally become very troublesome. Therefore, it seemed there was only one method he could take. “Can’t be helped. I’ll have to go with the straightforward approach.” Vincent immediately took out the forged identification he had prepared. The title written inside was “Assistant Investigator of Heresy” under the direct jurisdiction of the Imperial Ministry of Justice. On the surface it was an investigative administrative position, but in reality it was an internal inspector role meant to monitor prestigious families who might commit “heretical” acts, riding the recent heated atmosphere of the empire. ‘It was a good idea to capture and torture the real inspector. Without him, I wouldn’t have obtained this information.’ Furthermore, according to the information he had gathered, the Sigmund checkpoint only tightened security during the admission period. It was not admission season, and with the empire in chaos, Vincent was confident that with this level of title and alibi, he could pass through the gates without issue. However, that was his misconception. “Hey. I need to check your identification one more time.” Right after the procedures were roughly finished, before he could even enter the gate, a guard whose eyes were filled with a somewhat tired gaze blocked his path. With a hairstyle that suggested zero flexibility, shoulders held stiffly upright, and an impeccably neat uniform, the man’s visible fatigue was fatigue, but his entire presence radiated the air of someone with enough experience to never compromise on duty. ‘Damn it, did I get the wrong guy…?’ “…No matter how I think about it, the route you took is strange. The Imperial Ministry of Justice doesn’t suddenly stick its head in like this.” “What do you mean by that?” “…Are you saying an inspector doesn’t even understand these basic procedures? Then allow me to explain. If the imperial family truly wished to send someone, they would normally station a visitation document with the western garrison of Karlangk. After we receive communication from them, the proper procedure is to come accompanied by an official officer who has received the formal seal.” A sharp point. Yet Vincent remained calm and played it off. “Hah, you know one thing but not two. Do you not know how serious the empire’s situation is right now? If emergency inspection authority is invoked, that procedure can be omitted.” “Is that so? Then please state the document number for the invocation of emergency inspection authority.” Flinch. He could have just made up any serial number, but someone of this caliber would surely know how imperial documents’ serial numbers worked. If he questioned it suspiciously, there would be no way out. Moreover, from the moment he hesitated like this, Vincent had already become a suspicious person. So Vincent, whose plan was not going smoothly, frowned for the first time and spoke. “……You. Do you know who’s behind me?” “Whether the person behind you is my mother, the emperor, or God, I don’t care. I’m simply doing my job.” There was not the slightest wavering in the guard’s words. Neither mockery nor excessive hostility. It was simply someone stating principles. But everyone knew that such people were the most frightening. “…If you cannot think of a proper excuse, please turn back. If it’s a flash of brilliance born from sufficiently reasonable procedures and excuses, I’m willing to accommodate. Just like someone did a while ago.” “……….” “Otherwise, I will immediately summon Sigmund’s protective forces. No, I will. I keep getting the feeling that you cannot be left alone.” “………Damn it. You’re being troublesome. At this point, there’s no need for me to speak anymore.” And in that moment, cornered, Vincent took a step forward. A faint starlight flowed from his fingertips—and—Kwaaaang—! A thunderous roar of a meteor falling echoed throughout the entire checkpoint.