The Ash Garden
Shwaaaaak—!
A faint noise grazed my ear. Dozens of sword strikes flashed through my flickering vision. Silver lines surged forward with lethal ferocity.
“Tsk.”
I stepped backward. Even while executing a razor-thin dodge, I personally parried the attacks that stubbornly pressed in. Sparks flew endlessly from the black blade in my hand.
Boom. Krrrk…! Clang!!
The fierce clash of steel fragments rang out. With every footfall the surrounding terrain warped. Bushes erupted as blades, and fluttering petals shot forward like daggers. Roses bristled with thorns in every direction, blocking my path. The metallic tang of blood brushed the tip of my nose. I groaned, fending off the persistent shards.
…This is definitely annoying.
She truly was the continent’s greatest genius. Even before achieving awakening, her strength was enough to crush most graduates. I rolled my eyes while blocking yet another incoming slash.
Clang—!
The barrier enveloping the entire circular arena. The ground that had been flat sand was now cold iron. Neatly bloomed flowers of swords trembled. It looked exactly like a garden forged entirely from steel.
Ash Garden
Charlotte’s absolute domain. Inside this space she is nearly invincible. Every petal, every vine, every flower is a blade.
This was Charlotte’s ultimate move. It unfolded an absolute territory around her. Within this domain, Charlotte received near-invincible judgment. It looked like a splendid rose garden in full bloom, yet in truth every single flower was part of a sea of swords.
When the girl made the slightest gesture, the thicket moved. Hundreds of blades swept forward like a tidal wave. I braced myself so I wouldn’t be swallowed.
Clang! Krrrk…!
Sharp petals scraped noisily across my blade. As I deflected the downpour of steel rain one by one, I caught sight of the platinum-blonde hair at the far end.
“Hmm.”
“Ugh…!”
“Is this an act? Or are you really this weak?”
“I don’t… understand what you mean…! But I am… giving it my all…!”
“…Strange.”
Charlotte tilted her head quietly. The Little Prince did not lower her guard easily, as if something about me felt off. I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Why is she acting like this?
My performance had been flawless. I hadn’t slipped in power control this time, and I had thoroughly concealed my killing intent. On top of that, I had wrapped myself in Lie to craft the perfect image of a helpless weakling.
A single strand of falsehood falls to the floor, slithering like a snake toward its target.
Clang—! Sparks flew from the tip of my sword once more. The strikes looked reckless, yet they were precisely controlled. I could feel her testing me. Just what did Charlotte know? Or rather… how did she know?
I kept moving while my aching head spun. At least this is somewhat fortunate. The fact that she was testing me meant she suspected something, but she still lacked certainty. Whatever the reason she doubted my identity, as long as she wasn’t sure, I simply had to keep acting shamelessly. After all, there was no way for Charlotte to know the truth.
“You intrigue me. You’re difficult.”
“I’ve been telling you from the start… I don’t understand what you’re saying…!”
“But that only makes me want to know more.”
Thud—!
A heavy impact slammed into my blade. This strike carried noticeably more weight. She had decided to increase her output. I flexed my numb fingers and let my tongue run.
She really does possess unmatched talent.
One of the signature beautiful girls from the original game The World Seen by the Little Prince. Overwhelming specs. She had been praised as the best playable character; if not for me, she would have undoubtedly taken the top seat. This was exactly why people whispered about a “bubble valedictorian.” To the students, Charlotte must have looked like something beyond ordinary.
It’s still early in the story, so it’s a little disappointing… but this should be enough to pass.
I muttered to myself. The question now was how to lose naturally here. While dodging the swirling steel fragments, I glanced at the magic tools placed around the arena.
Visual transmission artifacts. Although the arena was covered by Charlotte’s barrier, the scene inside was being broadcast through the devices. The faculty were probably gathered and watching. It would have been nice if the other students could see this too.
Unlike the entrance exam, no separate screen had been prepared for the students this time. These artifacts existed solely for grading. In other words, no one except the faculty could know what was happening inside the barrier. A normal student’s barrier would have been transparent, but this was the domain created by the Little Prince herself. Ordinary eyes could not even perceive its form.
“Huff… huff…!”
“This is strange. Are you really just weak? You’re not hiding anything?”
“I’ve been telling you since earlier…!”
Krrk. Crunch…! Clang! Thud!!
It was about time for me to collapse. I wished for one big decisive blow… but she kept sending only ambiguous attacks, which was troublesome. She was adjusting her strength to the level I could still return. Perhaps she was even being considerate so I wouldn’t get hurt.
At this rate it’ll never end.
Of course I was touched! Being looked after made me incredibly happy! Still, I had work to do.
Amid the fierce metallic explosions, I secretly flicked a finger. A single strand of Lie dropped to the floor. The shadow writhed like a snake a few times before slithering toward the platinum-blonde girl.
And then—
Crunch—!
It bit her ankle without hesitation.
“Ugh…!?”
A faint groan escaped her lips. For an instant Charlotte’s leg staggered. The fiercely dancing petals fell back into place. The girl stood frozen like stone.
“…Your Highness?”
I asked as if wondering what was wrong. My tone was worried, yet a smile I couldn’t quite hide played at the corner of my mouth. Everything was proceeding according to plan. I smiled ominously.
“Haa.”
Charlotte quietly steadied her breathing. Perhaps because she had deployed a wide-range domain, her mana was draining faster than expected. She briefly wondered if she had overdone it, but quickly shook the thought away.
A landscape thick with the stench of iron. Splendidly blooming roses. In the cruel yet endlessly beautiful garden, only two people stood.
“……”
The girl gazed forward in silence. Reflected in her clear blue eyes was a boy with golden hair and narrowed eyes—an unusual appearance. She thought his name was Judah.
Clang! Krrrk…!
The boy was busy blocking sword strikes pouring from every direction. The sweat soaking his forehead made it seem as though he had truly been driven to the edge. Charlotte asked softly.
“Hmm.”
“Ugh…!”
“Is this an act? Or are you really this weak?”
“I don’t… understand what you mean…! But I am… giving it my all…!”
“…Strange.”
Though a panting reply came back, Charlotte did not relax her vigilance. Instead she tilted her head with clear suspicion. There was a reason for her doubt.
It stemmed from a scene she had witnessed two weeks ago.
—The atmosphere in the slums has been ominous lately.
—Kidnappings, murders, disappearances… it seems the heretics are active again.
A report from her personal informant. To verify it, Charlotte had gone to the slums herself. While gathering clues throughout the area, she accidentally witnessed a horrifying scene in a deep alley.
—I certainly gave you a chance.
—You’re the one who threw it away.
—Seriously~ people should know their place, don’t you think?
A shadow that writhed strangely. It soon spread into a massive darkness that swallowed everything around it. The landscape without a single ray of light resembled primordial night. Nothing survived inside that pitch-black fog.
Only a golden-haired man smiling as if delighted remained.
Charlotte had to hold her breath. If she made the slightest sound, her life would be severed. A rope of silence tightened around the girl’s throat. Even now, the retreating back of that ‘monster’ lingered in her trembling eyes.
That was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen.
An overwhelming power with no visible limit. Simply meeting it brought a despair like falling into an endless abyss. It was literally a calamity… no, it was destruction itself. The girl had glimpsed a fragment of ruin.
Her breathing shook with lingering dread. Charlotte forced herself to stay calm and focused on the opponent before her.
That student named Judah… resembles the man from that day.
Of course many parts were different. Compared to the man back then, his presence was faint and his skill fell far short of her own. But one thing was identical.
The atmosphere.
Sticky, sweet, and ominous… that unique aura existed. It was a scent one could never forget once smelled.
“You intrigue me. You’re difficult.”
“I’ve been telling you from the start… I don’t understand…!”
“But that only makes me want to know more.”
Thud—!
So Charlotte pressed even harder. To confirm whether the boy’s identity matched the person she knew. And hoping it did not.
The garden’s petals danced sorrowfully.
“Huff, huff…!”
Yet the longer the fight continued, the greater her confusion grew. Her instincts pointed at the boy, but when she watched him fight he seemed no more than a fragile student. At best he might barely scrape into the top ten.
“This is strange. Are you really just weak? You’re not hiding anything?”
“I’ve been telling you since earlier…!”
Her certainty gradually faded. Charlotte wondered if it had simply been a misunderstanding. Was she tormenting an innocent person? Such thoughts slowly colored her mind. Her heart softened. Naturally the power behind her attacks weakened as well.
Just as her suspicion was about to dissolve completely… something bit the girl’s ankle.
“Ugh…!?”
A sudden wave of nausea surged up. An untraceable dizziness clouded her consciousness. It felt as if she had been hit with strong alcohol. The mana she had been carefully controlling scattered, and her focus shattered into pieces.
Charlotte staggered for a moment. Without realizing it, she swung her arm. It was an unconscious motion caused by the dizziness, yet the result it summoned was enormous.
Rumble—!
The steel garden reacted to the girl’s gesture. The larger the motion, the wider the resulting force. That was why she had only flicked her fingers while standing still until now.
“Uh, ugh…?”
She had been trying to avoid attacks that could endanger the boy’s life. She had continued making delicate adjustments with that in mind, but suddenly an unknown external force intervened. A control miss occurred because of it.
Shrrrrk—!
The ground screamed. Vines, roses, thickets—every structure across the vast landscape writhed and rose. They tangled and realigned before becoming a single colossal current that crashed forward like a wave. It was not mere exaggeration. A literal tsunami of steel blades was rushing in.
Kwaaaaaaaa!!
The blades surging like a tsunami tore apart everything in their path. At the center of the calamity stood the golden-haired boy. He looked frozen stiff, perhaps in panic.
“N-no…!”
Charlotte’s senses finally returned. She moved her hand in a hurry, but it was already too late. The garden’s flow was fiercer than ever; blocking it without harm was impossible. Even for Charlotte, hailed as an unparalleled genius.
This isn’t what I wanted.
She had meant to test the boy. She had never wanted this. She no longer wished to see others get hurt. In Charlotte’s world, only one person was allowed to feel pain. Without hesitation she reached out.
“Hup…!”
If she couldn’t break the flow, she would twist it slightly and redirect it. The girl reset the attack’s target. Not the boy—herself.
The tidal wave that had been racing toward the boy changed direction. Her tightly clenched fist pulled the wave of blades after it like a magnet. To swallow her instead.
Shrrrrk, kwaaaaa—!
A storm charged with a savage roar. Charlotte stood still and looked up at it. As expected, blocking it without harm seemed difficult. She would at least be injured enough to be carried to the infirmary.
“…That’s going to hurt.”
Charlotte murmured gracefully. Even in this situation the girl did not lose her characteristic composure. She was simply satisfied that she had not let the boy come to harm.
Shwaaaaak…!
A single rose brushed past the tip of her nose. The girl closed her eyes, bracing for the impact that would follow.
Immediately afterward, an explosive sound struck her ears.
Kwaaaaaang—!
“……”
Yet for some reason, even though a long time had passed since the loud noise, no pain reached Charlotte’s body. Had she been so badly hurt that she could no longer feel anything?
“…?”
With that question she slowly lifted her eyelids… and saw golden hair bathed in sunlight.
“Are you all right?”
The boy looked perfectly calm. The moment their eyes met, the rare white irises that had been open closed again into narrow slits.
“Well, well… may I consider this a debt you owe me?”
The boy smiled faintly while holding her in his arms. Behind his back, the shattered debris of the garden and its crumbling landscape scattered into dust.