We Made a Promise
There was one place in Eden Village that Seria and I visited all the time.
A small hill with a view of the whole village spread out below it. The only thing up there was a single old apple tree, but we loved that hill more than anywhere else in the world.
There was no special reason for it. Leaning back against the trunk with the wind on our faces, trading pointless stories until we both laughed—we simply liked being there, side by side. That was all it took.
That day was no different from any other. Seria, who had been sitting with her back against the tree, looked over at me and asked, out of nowhere, "Aren, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
I used to say a knight, or an adventurer. But after losing my parents and being left with only Seria, I had buried those dreams somewhere in the back of my mind. The most important thing in my life now was protecting the ordinary days we had.
"Hmm… honestly, I've never thought about it."
Apparently that answer didn't satisfy her, because she puffed out both her cheeks. "Aren, seriously! We're still young—we can be anything we want!"
"Then… a hero."
It came out without much thought, but the reason behind it was her.
"Mm-hm! That suits you, Aren."
When she heard my answer, Seria broke into a brilliant smile. Her silver hair, gilded with sunlight, scattered on the wind. It was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at, and for a while I couldn't take my eyes off her.
Then Seria suddenly grabbed my hand.
"Then I'll protect you for the rest of your life."
"Huh?"
"Even if you become a hero, I just know you'll come home covered in wounds every single day."
Wait—that puts everything backwards. If anything, being near me might drag her into danger.
"You don't need to worry about me. If something dangerous happens, you stay in the village."
"No."
"I wasn't even finished—"
"I don't want to hear the rest, either."
Seria squeezed my hand even tighter. "I'm going with you no matter what."
It was an unshakable answer. I knew better than anyone that I couldn't win against Seria's stubbornness. In the end, I nodded first.
"Okay. Then no matter what happens, I'll protect you first."
Seria smiled brightly. "Hehe, so we protect each other?"
"I guess we do."
She held out her little finger. "Then promise!"
I hooked my finger around that slender little one. "Yeah. Promise."
In that instant, the warmth at my fingertips vanished.
"Seria?"
The girl who had been beside me only a heartbeat ago was simply gone. "Seria? Where did you go?"
I thought she was playing one of her pranks at first, but even after searching all around the hill, there was no trace of her anywhere.
"Seria, come on, quit messing around and come out."
Nothing. Not at the bottom of the hill, not along the path we'd climbed. Of course, no answer came.
The birdsong that had filled the air moments before, the voices of villagers chatting down the slope—all of it had vanished, and the world had gone utterly still, as if it were holding its breath.
"Seria…?"
The leaves on the healthy old apple tree began to blacken, one by one. The apples dangling from the branches rotted and dropped, and white ash started drifting down onto the green grass. The familiar scenery was collapsing before my eyes, faster and faster.
"You promised me."
It was Seria's voice.
"We said we'd protect each other."
I ran toward the sound. "Seria!!!"
No matter how far I ran, she was nowhere to be found.
"Seria!"
I reached out, but all my hand caught was cold, empty air. The hill was gone, and an unfamiliar ceiling I'd never seen before filled my vision.
A dream. It didn't take long to realize that. And yet for a long while, I couldn't lower my outstretched arm. Tears had been leaking from the corner of my eye, running down until they soaked into my ear.
"…So you're finally awake."
The blunt voice made me turn my head. A girl who looked about my age was sitting beside the bed. Long blonde hair that fell past her shoulders, sharp eyes that tilted up at the corners. She had her arms crossed and was glaring down at me with a distinctly displeased expression.
"Where…"
All that came out of my parched throat was a cracked rasp. Without a word, the girl picked up the cup of water from the table and held it out to me.
"Don't talk. Drink first."
I took the cup and drained it in one go. As the lukewarm water soaked into my frozen throat, my foggy thoughts began to slowly clear.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it. I didn't even set it out for you."
She answered as if she couldn't care less—but when I handed the empty cup back, she set it down on the table with surprising care.
As I slowly looked down at the bandages wrapped around my palm, the memories I'd forgotten came flooding back all at once. The monster assault. The golden magic circle swallowing the sky. The blinding white light that devoured the village. And Seria, vanishing from my arms.
"Where's Seria?"
The girl's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly. "Who's that?"
"The girl who was with me. Silver hair, blue eyes. About my age."
I forced myself upright in a rush—and the moment I moved, a searing pain ripped across my back.
"Kgh…!"
"Hey—stop! Don't push yourself. You've been unconscious for a whole week."
The girl caught my shoulder by reflex. Then, apparently annoyed at herself for reaching out first, she let go just as quickly.
"Lie back down. I'm not responsible if your wounds tear open."
"I have to find Seria."
"Don't tell me—tell my dad. I wasn't there, so I don't know the details."
"Your dad…?"
"He's the one who pulled you out of the ruins."
My last flicker of consciousness—there had been someone there. Which meant that person might know something about Seria too. I couldn't lie here a second longer. Gripping the edge of the bed, I hauled myself up by sheer force.
The moment my feet touched the floor, my legs buckled violently.
Ugh—!
I grabbed the bedpost and barely kept myself from collapsing. The bandage across my back burned hot—my wounds had likely torn open—but I couldn't stop now.
"Hey! Are you ignoring me?"
The girl planted herself in front of me again. "Where exactly do you think you're going in that state?"
"Wherever your father is."
"I told you, if you'd just wait I'd go get him!"
"I can't wait."
I had been unconscious for a week. There was no telling what might have happened to Seria in that time. I couldn't afford another moment's delay.
I pushed past the girl and made for the door. I'd barely managed a few steps before I was gasping for breath, so unsteady that standing straight was impossible without bracing myself against the wall.
"Honestly…!"
An exasperated voice came from behind me. Then the girl strode over, took my arm, and draped it across her shoulders.
"Thanks."
"…Whatever."
The corridor was longer than I expected. Torches hung along the walls at even intervals, and armed people hurried back and forth with purpose. Every stranger's gaze clung to me the moment they noticed my face, but I had no room in my head to care. Pain rolled up from my back with every single step.
"This is why I told you to just wait," the girl supporting me grumbled under her breath.
"I can walk… on my own. Just tell me where to go."
"Looks to me like you'd faceplant any second if I let go."
Even as she said it, she tightened her grip on my arm, steadying me. When we reached the end of the corridor, she knocked on a weathered wooden door.
"Dad…!"
"Enter."
A low voice came from within—the same voice I'd heard through the haze of my fading memory. Stepping inside, the first thing I saw was a map covering an entire wall. Cities and fortresses across all of Arcadia were marked across it, black lines threading through the major roads and troop movements. Several noble names had been crossed out in red.
Standing before the map was a middle-aged man with a heavy, unkempt beard. Short dark brown hair, a scar cutting across one eyebrow. His huge, hard frame radiated an intimidating presence that made the village guards I remembered look like children.
He turned his eyes on me. "…You woke up faster than I expected."
The girl released my arm. "Whew… I'm leaving."
"Thank you, Ariel."
"Honestly, I will never understand men."
With one last sidelong glance at me, the girl called Ariel walked out, and the door closed behind her. The man gestured to the chair across from his desk.
"I am Cassian Rosen. Why don't you have a seat first?"
"Where is Seria?"
I knew it was rude. But right now, I had no room for courtesy.
Cassian's expression grew heavy. From that reaction alone, I already knew I wouldn't hear the answer I wanted. Even so, I had to hear it with my own ears.
"Please. Tell me."
"After we found you, we searched the entire village."
"And…?"
"We did not find the child you described."
My mind went completely blank. Cassian's voice grew distant and blurred, as if I were hearing it from the far end of a tunnel.
"You… couldn't find her?"
"No."
His words sounded like a death sentence for Seria. I had never once imagined a world without her in it. My knees buckled, and I barely caught myself on the edge of the desk before I hit the floor.
"I don't know if this will comfort you, boy, but we never found a body either."
"…What?"
"No body means… there's a chance she survived."
Cassian looked me straight in the eye as he spoke. "After the bombardment ended, we found evidence that Arcadia's army entered the village."
"Then Seria could be with them right now?"
"I won't deny the possibility."
That was all I needed. If there was even the smallest chance that Seria was alive—then there was nothing I couldn't do. If the Arcadian Imperial Army took her, then I would take her back. No matter how long it took, no matter where she'd been dragged, I would find her. I turned on the spot and headed for the door.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"To find Seria."
"Without knowing where she went?"
"I'll go to the Arcadia Empire and find out."
"That trail is a week old. They could have moved her anywhere by now."
"I'm going anyway."
But Cassian was suddenly blocking my path. "And once you find her? Say, by some miracle, you locate that girl. What will you do if the Imperial Army refuses to hand her over?"
"I'll bring her back no matter what it takes."
"And what, exactly, is that 'whatever'?"
I couldn't answer. I hadn't had the luxury of thinking that far ahead.
"Step aside. Please."
I tried to shove past him, but the instant his hand closed around my wrist, my whole body locked in place. I strained to pull my arm free, but his grip didn't budge so much as an inch.
"You can't break one man's grip, and you're going to fight the Imperial Army?"
"I still have to go."
"To die out there?"
"As long as I can save Seria, I don't care what happens to me."
Cassian released my wrist. "Right now, you couldn't beat a single one of Arcadia's soldiers. You wouldn't save that girl—you'd just have her torn away from you all over again, right in front of your eyes. Can someone like that really protect the person he loves?"
He was right. I had sworn that I would protect Seria no matter what happened. But when that moment actually came, all I'd been able to do was hold her in my arms. I couldn't stop the magic falling from the sky. I couldn't cut down every monster flooding into the village. And after the explosion passed—I couldn't even find her.
Even if I saw Seria again… could I really save her? If I had become a hero… would things have been different?
"Then… what am I supposed to do?"
"Do about what?"
"What do I have to do to get Seria back?"
"Become strong."
It was a short answer. "Become strong enough that you never lose someone precious again."
Cassian picked up a single document from his desk and held it out to me. I took it.
The crest of the Arcadian Imperial Army was stamped across the top. Beneath it were recorded the name of our village, the scale of the monster outbreak, and the estimated casualties. At the very bottom, a single brief order remained.
Reported: scale of monster incursion, estimated civilian casualties.
Regardless of whether any residents remain alive, the designated zone is to be incinerated in its entirety.
I read the crest over and over again. Had I misread it somehow? But the letters never changed.
"That magic… it wasn't a mistake?"
"No."
Cassian's answer was unflinching. "The Empire knew there were still people left in that village."
"And they used that spell anyway?"
"That is the reality of the Empire."
My hands shook as they gripped the document. The village chief. The elderly couple from the house next door. The neighbors who had ruffled my hair and told me I was a clever boy for one so young, helping me however they could. And the little house where Seria and I had built our lives together.
All of it had been erased inside those few short lines.
Cassian slowly folded his arms behind his back. "We are going to clean out that rotting Empire from top to bottom."
Only then did I notice the brooch at his chest—a black tiger emblem. I had heard of these people. The rebels upon whom the Arcadian Empire had passed a death sentence on every last member.
The Black Tiger Corps.
Whether or not they truly fought for justice didn't matter to me anymore. The only thing I had left in this world was Seria.
"If I stay here… can I become strong?"
Something shifted in Cassian's eyes. "I can make no guarantees."
"I never want to lose someone precious to me ever again."
Cassian held out his hand. "The Black Tiger Corps will give you the strength to fight. And we will do everything in our power to find information on Seria."
"And in exchange…?"
"Fight. Be our sword."
I would never let Seria be taken from me again. I would never let go of someone precious again. For that, I would have sold my soul to a demon and thought nothing of it. And so I took Cassian's hand.
"Boy—I will make you a hero."
A hero is decided the moment they're born.
Yeah… I still don't believe that. Not for a second.
Because if it means saving you… I'll become a hero, or the Demon King—whatever it takes.