The Unshaken Heart

"……Not so much as a single reaction?"

"Yes, my lady."

Having received the women's report, Isabella sat upon a chair of lion hide and stroked her chin.

She had ordered women of such beauty that no man could fail to respond to wash his feet. It was the highest hospitality the desert city of Faisalmer could offer — and at the same time, a snare designed to probe the Star-Marked One.

And this snare was one from which even a man who was not a man could not escape. These women had been trained so thoroughly that they could detect changes in heart rate and the finest tremors of the skin. Man or woman, young or old — anyone who felt their touch would inevitably betray a genuine reaction.

And yet, they said, there had been no movement whatsoever.

It was a bewildering report, but a smile bloomed at the corner of Isabella's mouth.

An unshaken heart that does not waver. Just as the stories say.

Isabella had heard and sought out countless rumors and tales of the Star-Marked Ones. The most fundamental among them was the unshaken heart. A Star-Marked One who had devoted everything to the stars, it was said, would never be swayed by any temptation of the mortal world.

"Is there anything further to report?"

The five women spoke in turn.

"From the very beginning, he requested the foot-washing himself. He is one who knows the etiquette of Faisalmer."

"Upon entering the palace, he ascended without the slightest hesitation."

"Even when he saw the monster bones hanging on the walls, he remained composed. Far from being startled, he admired them — and even praised the skill of the mounting and taxidermy."

"His skin was soft as silk. Yet his muscles were as springy as those of a wild stallion."

"Above all, he seemed to place great importance on communion with the stars."

Isabella nodded at the women's candid impressions and reports. Not a single detail was ordinary.

First — he knew the etiquette of Faisalmer. Knowledge enough to volunteer for the foot-washing meant he had almost certainly visited Faisalmer before.

Furthermore, slaves and commoners were typically overwhelmed by the grandeur of the palace. That he had moved freely even after entering meant his station was no ordinary one.

A noble — or royalty, perhaps?

The confident bearing and speech. The way he had stood unshaken before her and even talked back — it certainly called to mind a noble or a member of a royal house.

Though Star-Marked Ones were said to be born of the stars, they were ultimately children of men. And as children of men, distinctions of high and low birth inevitably existed.

That he could appraise the quality of mounting and taxidermy meant he possessed specialized knowledge as well. To have access to such learning, a certain degree of status would be required.

Skin as fine as silk, yet muscles like a wild stallion's…… contradictory, and yet — because he is Star-Marked, everything falls into place.

Star-Marked One. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Truly a magical phrase. There were no Star-Marked Ones in the desert, after all. Someone whose true nature no one properly understood had appeared here. Whatever he said, they had no choice but to believe him.

Having ordered her thoughts, Isabella spoke.

"You said he is communing with the stars?"

"Yes."

"I shall see him myself."

"B-but…… if the communion is interrupted, he loses his standing as a Star-Marked One……"

Isabella let out a short laugh.

"Does one extra person in the room suddenly render you incapable of conversation?"

The women clamped their mouths shut. Adding one more person nearby did not make conversation impossible. If a quiet exchange was desired, one need only stand and watch in silence.

A private dialogue between two alone? Isabella could not hear the voice of the stars in any case. If the two of them were already communing, what interference could her presence possibly cause?

Isabella rose from her seat. Then she strode swiftly toward the Star-Marked One.

……If I had been even a little later, it would have been a disaster. Isabella von Dercian. The moment I opened my eyes, she was staring straight at me.

I was lucky to have logged in as quickly as I did.

After roughly settling matters in the real world, I logged back into Pangenia. A calmed reason and a sharpened judgment had led me back here.

Monsters have appeared in reality — summoned players. And in their Pangenia characters, no less. There's a high chance they were the reason the Great Expedition failed this time.

This game called Pangenia, from a certain point onward, had its difficulty spike exponentially. NPCs who had been perfectly fine would suddenly turn traitor. Companions would abruptly transform into common bandits. No matter what possibilities you accounted for, the interference always came in ways beyond them.

This Great Expedition had been no different.

……But what if every one of those "elements of interference" had been players?

Not all of them, of course — but what if a considerable ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠number of "trolls" existed? What if someone who didn't want an ending, or who saw me as a rival, had been deliberately sabotaging things……

I'll cut them all down.

Harmony? Camaraderie? We had already crossed a river that could never be recrossed. Hundreds of characters had been deleted because of that interference. Even my strongest character — the one that held every essence of who I was — had died and been erased.

Suddenly, the words a soldier had spoken when I was first summoned here came back to me.

—Fuck. If it hadn't been for the infighting, the expedition would've succeeded……!

There were inner workings I didn't know about. I had faced the Demon King alone, and yet at some point I had become one of the "8 Heroes." That meant there was a "loudspeaker" capable of fabricating an achievement of that magnitude. That loudspeaker could be an individual — or an organization.

No. It would be an organization.

There was a group of players deliberately interfering with and killing characters they suspected of being me. And they had even fabricated rumors about me and planted them throughout Pangenia.

The 8 Heroes, of all things. They had intentionally tarnished the superiority — the uniqueness — of my final, dead character. That much was certain.

So what I needed to do first was grow strong, and fast. Secure safety on both sides — the game and reality.

And for that——

"……Not just anyone can enter the Sacred Ground."

"You can, though."

I needed her.

Isabella von Dercian. A character I had created — then abandoned and left behind, a figure of misfortune. I had never done any such thing, and yet somehow she was now called the Snake Princess and had become the second-in-command of Faisalmer.

That wasn't even the nickname I had given her.

Asuka Kirara……

……I felt a twinge of guilt. But in Pangenia, nicknames were treated as "aliases." The true name and identity already existed, and the player possessed the body — that was the setting.

In any case.

"If anyone finds out you snuck someone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in……"

"This is your last chance to leave the desert. Think carefully before you answer."

Isabella's pupils trembled.

"How did you know…… that I want to leave the desert?"

"The stars told me."

"……"

She had nothing to say to that, of course.

There was no setting that Isabella wanted to leave the desert. Such a setting couldn't exist. But Isabella had been a player's character — a being meant to roam every corner of the world and see the ending. And yet she was bound to the desert by a curse. How stifling must that have been?

I had felt it myself. That was why I had given up.

It was the fourth star I obtained.

And I had found it while raising a previous character — the supreme star hidden within the desert's Sacred Ground. Of all the players, I alone would know its location.

That star was special beyond question. If it could be obtained, the sooner the better.

"……The Sacred Ground kills those who enter without permission."

"You need not worry about that part at all."

I had already seen that place through to the end once before. Every trap that existed there had long since been mapped out. Among my Hidden Traits, quite a few activated within sanctuaries.

Hearing my answer, Isabella shot me a sidelong glance.

"Before dawn. When the moon begins to set — be awake."

With that, she turned on her heel with an expressionless face and left.

The hour before dawn.

"Ghk!"

In the underground of the royal palace, I raced swiftly along a hidden path behind Isabella. The soldiers we encountered along the way, she handled herself. Even watching from beside her, her handiwork was clean and decisive. She struck without hesitation, covering and killing the soldiers one after another.

Isabella possessed a talent specialized for assassination. She was so agile that most of the soldiers closed their eyes without even realizing they were dying.

She's a ghost unto herself.

A chill ran down my neck. If Isabella had intended to kill me from the start, I would already no longer be of this world. Not just me — most beings called strong would meet the same end.

Having her as an ally could not have been more reassuring.

We ran without pause, and at last a vast altar came into view. Moai statues stood in a long row, centered around a staircase that led underground.

"This is the Sacred Ground."

Her eyes asked: What will you do now? Even she herself wore an expression of reluctance. The desert's Sacred Ground was that complex and disorienting.

But there was no turning back. We had crossed too far a river for that. Why else would Isabella have killed every last soldier?

Destroying the evidence.

It was her resolve that, no matter what, no one would learn she had trespassed into the sanctuary without authorization. The moment I said I wanted to turn back, she would take my head without a second's delay.

"I'll go in first."

I shrugged and stepped onto the stairs leading beneath the altar. At once, countless lines of text flooded my vision.

A Hidden Sanctuary. A place that a Level 2 beginner should never have been able to enter. A location reachable only by receiving the queen's permission or by defeating powerful warriors.

And I had entered that place through a loophole — by putting Isabella at the front.

The rewards obtainable through sanctuary exploration were decent enough. But that was not all. From the very beginning, a mere sub quest had never been what I was after.

Main Quest 2, right on cue.

Differentiated according to grade, is it.

Looking at the conditions, a smile came unbidden. That the strong monopolize everything is the way of the world. Few places made that condition as absolute as Pangenia.

But this was subtly different from the first Main Quest. Obtaining a good class required a measure of luck as well. Skill alone did not guarantee that everyone would receive an excellent class.

And yet I had no worries.

First place again, then.

I had skill, luck, and the Hidden Traits that encompassed both.

One of the thirteen Hidden Traits — Mutation.

I can see the hidden path.

The trait that allowed me to see what human eyes could not began to take effect.