Carmen (1)
“Thank you for your help.”
The caravan loaded with supplies had safely returned from the snowfields.
Hearing the news, I sought out Lia Agehis to express my gratitude.
Even though they had withdrawn for now, if the snowfields' issues weren't fully resolved, we'd clash again someday. It needed to be settled for good.
So I gathered supplies and sent them to the snowfields, with Lia's assistance along the way.
The supplies could be covered with the gold I'd received before, but arranging carriages and manpower myself would have been tough.
“Think nothing of it. It's a small price compared to the aid you've given me.”
Fortunately, she readily agreed to my request.
And not only that—she added even more supplies than I'd prepared.
“Thanks to you stepping in, the duel went ahead, and I resolved the matter without incident. Once more, my deepest thanks.”
Lia, who had already thanked me several times, brought it up again.
Whether it was the duel ending the war that impressed her so much, or if she was just going to keep thanking me daily despite it being days ago, it was starting to feel embarrassing.
“By the way, sending supplies to the snowfields—hasn't that stirred up bad public opinion?”
“Not at all. For resentment to linger, some incident would need to spark it, but since it ended without a single proper clash of swords, it's just remembered as a tense mishap.”
“That's a relief. That was my biggest worry.”
Even if it had ended without issue, the confrontation between the North and the snowfields was recent. It could easily be seen as aiding the enemy and breed needless backlash.
I'd been concerned it might harm Lia if the northerners rebelled, but hearing there was no such problem was truly fortunate.
“Still, it feels awkward to ask now that it's all over, but why go out of your way to help the snowfields? It didn't seem necessary to me.”
“They're not the sort to harbor enmity toward the Empire.”
“Just for that reason alone?”
I knew how it looked to Lia, who knew nothing—overkill.
But to me, who had read the original story and knew the future, it was absolutely necessary.
“Someday, a great danger may befall the Empire.”
“Danger?”
“Yes. A peril so immense that even the mighty Empire might struggle to repel it.”
It would surely come.
Even now, malevolent forces lurked behind the Empire, tightening their noose. One day, they'd rear their heads and bare their fangs at us.
When that time came, the North would need strength too. Strength to defend the Northern Barrier.
“What you sow, you reap.”
The Skadi I knew wasn't so ungrateful. She wouldn't coldly turn away after receiving aid first.
When the North faced threats in the future, they'd surely lend their power.
“It will come back. Without fail. In some form or another.”
Lia, who had listened quietly, nodded. Then, with a warm smile I couldn't quite place, she gazed at me and spoke.
“Well, if you say so, then I shall believe it too. That it will return someday.”
“Just preventing the invasion is meaningful enough.”
I silently smiled in agreement as Lia added that.
With that, our conversation wrapped up, and a brief silence fell. She watched me for a moment before cautiously broaching a new topic.
“That said, may I ask one thing while we're at it?”
“Is something the matter?”
“It's nothing major, but I was wondering what your plans are from here.”
She opened with that, adopting a rare serious tone.
Then, in a grave voice, she quietly elaborated her question.
“The entire North now knows of your existence. Soon, the whole Empire will buzz with talk of a new Swordmaster.”
“As you know, a Swordmaster becomes the talk of the town by their mere presence—and sometimes stirs up incidents, intended or not.”
“Thus, as lord of this land, I wish to know your thoughts.”
In short: You're scaring me with the potential chaos, so give me a heads-up before you do anything.
It might sound like surveillance at first glance and rub someone the wrong way, but I understood her position fully.
The upheavals caused by a Swordmaster-level being were beyond anyone's control. Even their own.
“If you're thinking of settling somewhere, might I suggest the North?”
“...Are you pitching it right now?”
“Consider it a lord's effort to secure talent.”
Lia openly started her sales pitch for the North, without a hint of shame.
She met my eyes squarely, urging me to stay, her boldness cutting through our serious talk and drawing an involuntary chuckle from me.
“It's a bit cold, but it's good land. I won't treat you poorly.”
It was a tempting offer.
The snowfields dispute was resolved, and there were no more major incidents looming for the North.
With Lia, who viewed me favorably, as its overlord, settling here would guarantee a peaceful life.
What I'd hoped for—but regrettably, I couldn't accept.
“I truly appreciate the offer. I'm not against settling somewhere, and the North is fine land, but...”
“A refusal, then.”
“Yes. For now.”
I'd have to settle eventually. I couldn't wander this otherworld forever.
But not yet.
Settling now would brand me a Swordmaster for life. And a Swordmaster's name demanded responsibilities as great as their power.
Responsibilities a fake like me couldn't shoulder.
Fortunately, few knew my face well yet, so I needed to lay low quietly until the Swordmaster label faded.
In a world without the internet, a year should do it.
“Besides, I have places to go.”
There was somewhere I needed to visit in the meantime.
A place I'd planned to go someday, and now was the perfect chance.
“Come to think of it, our first meeting was in that slave trader's carriage.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“What in the world were you doing captured there?”
“Well... I got lost, thought I'd hitch a ride...”
“Haha. That's so very you.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“It is. Of course.”
Lia twitched her lips after replying, as if even she found it absurd.
I couldn't hold back a chuckle either—my excuse sounded so lame even to me.
We both bowed our heads, sharing quiet laughs until we calmed down. Lia recovered first and returned to the main topic, asking with keen interest.
“Might I ask where you were headed, enough to get caught by slave traders?”
I had it planned out.
Or rather, it was already decided.
To ensure a peaceful future, I needed to grasp the original story—and for that, meet this tale's protagonist.
“I'm heading central.”
To where the heroine and main story awaited.
“To the capital, Aldenor.”
⋯
In the Empire, there were only three classes: royalty, nobility, and commoners.
Thus, slavery did not exist.
Officially.
“And today's third challenger finally falls!”
Somewhere on the border between the North and central regions.
In a place the Empire's eyes didn't reach, called the Dark District.
There, a slave arena was in full swing.
Humans are beasts cloaked in reason, always yearning to unleash their hidden savagery.
Arena fights perfectly satisfied that desire, becoming the Dark District's symbol.
“This opponent was a knight from a marquis house, no less—yet he couldn't stand against her!”
Wealthy thrill-seekers and destitute pleasure-chasers alike.
In their frenzy and cheers, human lives became mere fleeting entertainment.
The undefeated warrior boasting victories yesterday turned to dew with one mistake.
“Champion! That's victory number 1,875!”
In the arena's center, where countless lives had ended today as always, stood a woman called the champion.
Her hair was chillingly white, her eyes flashing blood-red.
Standing amid dozens of corpses, her vacant gaze sweeping the crowd sent shivers down spines.
“Anticipating tomorrow's matches, we'll close for today.”
The packed audience began to disperse.
As they all left, she slowly moved, slipping from the open arena into dim, dingy alleys under the watchers' eyes. She entered a room.
There was a bed—visibly expensive and plush. Nearby sat a sofa, fireplace, blankets: comforts for rest.
A far cry from the grim, filthy cells where other slaves languished.
The arena owner had prepared this special room to manage his hit product, the champion.
“When's tomorrow's match?”
“Seventeen hours from now.”
“...Got it.”
She sat on the bed, motionless for a long while. A man brought food; after he left, she sat at the table.
She ate just enough to stave off hunger, then returned to bed and lay down.
It was time to sleep. Tomorrow demanded grueling battle; she had to rest now.
After an intense fight, she'd crash hard without stirring.
...Can't sleep.
She thought that and closed her eyes, but sleep wouldn't come.
The more she tossed, the clearer her mind grew.
After exhausting every trick to sleep, she gave up, lying blankly and staring at the ceiling.
“...Nothing there.”
That was her impression after gazing at it for ages.
A trivial fact, but novel to her—she was always asleep upon entering the room.
The only time she looked up was post-victory in the arena, gazing at the sky.
“The sky... I can't see it, can I?”
Obviously not. The solid ceiling blocked it.
To see the sky, she had to fight. The arena was the only place it was visible.
She knew the path there—she'd walked it countless times.
But without a match, she couldn't leave this room. Thus, no sky.
“I want to see it...”
The thought hit her fiercely. She wanted to see the sky.
She'd heard somewhere: the night sky isn't blue. It's pitch black.
And that's why it's more beautiful.
It was bedtime now, so night—and surely a beautiful sky.
“...”
She rose and stood at the door.
A thick steel door, sturdy—but no match for her strength.
Break it and go; seeing the night sky would be easy.
But she couldn't. It wasn't allowed.
“...Why?”
Why? Why couldn't she open this one door freely?
That tiny question rippled through her heart for the first time.
“...”
Every day, she stood on the line between life and death.
Danced amid spraying blood, teetering but never falling, walking the razor's edge.
Toppled all foes, raised her sword high to cheers as the undefeated champion.
But when they left, she was just a slave.
“...I want to see it.”
A warrior she'd fought once said: So what if you're not free? You have things others don't.
She knew. What she got was beyond most people's reach.
But her nights had no night sky.
Theirs did; hers didn't.
“I want to see the night sky.”
She wanted the night sky. So she'd go outside.
That was all.