Life Doesn't Always Go Your Way (2)
"Aris Misteilteyn has dropped out?"
"...Yes. That's correct."
This was absurd. She was the heroine. She was supposed to enter the Academy and get swept up in all sorts of incidents.
Even if some butterfly effect had somehow caused her to drop out—a one-in-a-hundred-thousand chance—the timing didn't match. It couldn't have happened on the very first day of enrollment.
"Understood. Thank you."
"If you need any further assistance, feel free to contact me anytime."
As I walked out of the Academy, I racked my brain endlessly, but I couldn't figure out why. Still, one thing was crystal clear.
"This world..."
Has problems. Major problems.
The heroine who was meant to resolve the countless events from the original story simply didn't exist in this world. So who the hell was supposed to deal with those problems? How?
"Excuse us."
Just as I stepped onto the street, my head pounding, a group cloaked in black approached me.
"Are you Sir Ian?"
"...Yes. And who might you be?"
They came straight at me, confirming my name first thing. Amid the confusion, they bowed deeply right after my response.
"We are from the Imperial Palace."
One of them discreetly lifted his cloak, revealing the emblem on his armor beneath: a golden eagle with two heads. Only one entity in the empire bore that mark.
"Her Highness the Princess wishes to meet with you, Sir Ian."
...
Who rules the Aldenor Empire?
Some might say the Emperor, of course. From a textbook perspective, that wouldn't be wrong at all. Emperor Leonard Aldenor is indeed the master of this empire.
But he's old and frail. What power could a man who can barely rise from his bed still wield?
"Sorry to keep you waiting so long."
That's why my answer is different. The true ruler is the woman who governs in his stead—the most brilliant and capable among Leonard's many children, designated Crown Princess at a young age.
Kali Aldheim.
"I am Kali Aldenor, First Princess and Crown Princess of this empire."
Guided by the knights into the reception room, I waited a few minutes before the door opened and someone entered. Long silver hair cascaded with each step, framing golden eyes that gleamed between the strands. She approached with a leisurely gait that overlooked everything, yet carried an unmistakable air of authority that brooked no underestimation.
"I'm Ian. Your Highness. I was told you summoned me."
"Indeed. I called for you, and you've answered my request."
"How could a mere subject refuse a summons from the Princess?"
"Haha. That's not wrong either."
She let out a small, amused laugh, then fixed me with a serious gaze.
"Do you have any guesses why I summoned you?"
"I have some idea."
The Princess wasn't some neighbor calling me over for tea. There had to be a reason—something significant enough to send multiple knights to fetch me to the palace and meet me alone without guards.
No matter how I thought about it, there was only one possibility.
"If your guess matches what I'm thinking, then it's correct."
She looked at me intently.
"Swordmaster."
And there it was—the five letters that said everything and nothing at once.
"You saved the North and turned the Dark District upside down, didn't you?"
"I merely lent a hand. Nothing particularly noteworthy."
"Strong and humble. Impressive."
"You're too kind, Your Highness. I'm just an ordinary citizen."
"Humility in excess can become poison."
She pointed out my words, praised my deeds once more, then curved her lips in a meaningful smile.
"How could a Swordmaster be called an ordinary citizen?"
I'd felt it from the moment I arrived. Something was off about her gaze—the way she stared at me carried an inexplicable unease. And my instincts were rarely wrong.
Unfortunately.
"I know a fair bit about swords myself, so I can gauge just how exceptional you are."
Her eyes shifted to my sword. Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, she changed the subject.
"Have you ever heard of my martial prowess?"
I nodded quietly at her question. Smiling as if inviting me to elaborate, Kali met my gaze—still laden with that cryptic intensity—and I began cautiously.
"...Your Highness excels in both letters and arms, having reached the realm where your sword conquers the world. The world praises that sword accordingly."
To emphasize once more: Kali Aldenor was the most brilliant and outstanding of the Emperor's children. This applied to her intellect, but her martial skills were no less extraordinary. Her talent with the blade was unparalleled, propelling her to lofty heights.
"I believe she's called the Swordmaster of Dominion."
If the Swordmaster guarding the Northern Barrier was named Steel Diamond, hers was Dominion. No name could suit an empress of the empire better.
"You know of it."
Satisfied with my answer, she smiled and nodded slowly before continuing.
"Yes. I am a Swordmaster as well. Though I haven't devoted myself solely to the sword, so I'm at best at the fringes."
Fringes or not, a Swordmaster was a Swordmaster. That was why she could meet me alone without worry.
"What have you done since becoming a Swordmaster?"
She asked, but I didn't answer. Sensing she didn't truly seek a reply, she smoothly passed the baton to her own tale.
"I took up the pen."
She picked up the pen on the table. It looked expensive—imperial quality, after all—but no magic enchanted it, nor was it a relic. Just a pen she could grasp effortlessly in one hand.
That was the weapon chosen by the Swordmaster known as Dominion.
"When His Majesty's health declined and he could no longer handle affairs of state, I had to act in his place. It's been seven years now."
"Not bad at all. Sometimes a pen infused with aura outpowers the sword. Especially when wielded by the Crown Princess."
"With this pen, I strike down the empire's corrupters, and the next day their blood forms rivers."
The pen is mightier than the sword. She embodied that truth.
Looking utterly content, Kali mimed scribbling something down. But suddenly, as if interest had vanished, her eyes turned ice-cold on the pen—then she snapped it in two.
"Yet occasionally, very rarely, there are evils this pen cannot slay."
"When I see those, I yearn to cut them down with my own blade."
Her hand glowed golden. Wielding aura in that vivid hue without a sword, she was a superhuman who could face a knight order alone. Villains who would tremble before her blade ran rampant only because she couldn't act personally.
Her frustration was all too understandable.
"I've considered handing over these duties and taking up the sword again, but that wouldn't do."
She gazed bitterly at her hand, scarred from countless hours gripping a hilt. Then, turning to the broken pen, she murmured softly.
"I still need this pen."
"You felt it too, didn't you? In the Dark District."
I'd never mentioned the Dark District to her, yet she spoke as if she knew everything. Not surprising—she was the Princess, with eyes and ears across the empire.
Work requiring the pen. As she'd said, I'd felt its necessity acutely in the Dark District. Those entrenched there couldn't be fully purged by overwhelming force alone.
"I've rambled on. Not too boring, I hope?"
"Not at all."
"Good. In short, what I want to say is this."
As a trace of bitterness lingered, she flashed me a light smile, easing the mood. After a brief silence, she abruptly shifted topics, speaking casually as if it were nothing.
In that instant, I saw it. That cryptic glint in her eyes transformed into the gaze of a predator moments from seizing its prey.
Sensing that I'd caught it, she paused mid-sentence. Then, looking at me, she asked curtly.
"You guessed this much too?"
...
I had a rough idea.
Kali wasn't here to debate trivialities like whether the pen outpowers the sword or share idle musings. Nor was she seriously pondering taking up the blade again.
In other words...
She was saying she needed a sword. Her sword—one to cleave evils even the Princess couldn't vanquish.
As expected, she began explaining slowly.
"There is evil in the empire."
"Something hideous lurks in its depths."
"I need a sword. A sword to kill it."
The reason she'd summoned me specifically? No need to ponder further.
"I want you to be my sword."
She desired it. For the Swordmaster before her to join her cause.
"......"
I didn't answer. I couldn't. I shouldn't.
So I met her words with silence, lips sealed. The moment I uttered a single word, I'd have to respond to her proposal.
Observing my reaction, Kali licked her lips with a hint of regret.
"I see. Perhaps I was too hasty. Forgive my impatience."
She hummed thoughtfully for a moment. But showing no intent to back down, she pressed on.
"Let me rewind a bit and ask a new question. That might be better."
She looked at me again—earnest as ever, yet laced with fury directed somewhere distant. In a voice sunken to its depths, she posed a single question.
"Have you heard of a group called Abraxas?"