The Constellation's Game [Laika]
Today's events were, in truth, the product of quite a few coincidences and strokes of luck piled one atop another.
At least, that was how the Sword Princess saw it.
First, the Kallador raid had ended earlier than expected, which meant she'd been able to wrap up her 3rd class advancement quest far ahead of schedule.
Second, it happened to be at precisely that moment that the thought of looking up Dave crossed her mind.
And third, as it turned out, Director Kim Yeongtae of the Gate Management Bureau happened to know Dave personally.
Without the Bureau's assistance, even someone like the Sword Princess could hardly have tracked down an ordinary player this easily.
And the fact that he was facing down scavengers at exactly that moment… that, I'd have to call a coincidence beyond all reason.
So the Sword Princess had been in a good mood.
After all, by locating a player named Dave, she'd successfully threaded the first needle.
Having completed her 3rd advancement, she could now feel just how critical the information Dave might possess had become…
And an instinct told her that someday, somehow, she'd be able to learn something through him.
For now… his identity is confirmed, so the rest can be handled through the guild.
What the Sword Princess had absolutely never imagined, though, was that things would move this far, this fast, today of all days.
"The Flag of Zeratus I listed on the exchange. You used it to become the Radiant Sword Saint, didn't you?"
She had of course expected him to be no ordinary player…
But she'd never imagined he would bare his intentions to her face so directly.
"……!"
Even his very first words carried content that defied prediction entirely.
"How did you…"
Honestly speaking, it was the first time in recent years she'd been this shocked.
She'd known(?) the buyer of the Zeratus flag was herself, granted…
But the fact that she had advanced into the Radiant Sword Saint class was something no one knew — aside from a handful of her closest comrades.
"Kato, would you step outside for a moment?"
"Hmph. Fine by me."
Even 'Kato,' who had been beside her until moments ago, had only learned that fact yesterday himself…
And with that, suspicion hardened into certainty.
That this man called Dave might hold other information related to the Radiant Sword Saint as well.
That very suspicion.
"It seems you and I have business to discuss."
So the Sword Princess had no choice but to take her seat again.
She straightened her posture, too.
Until now, her interest in the man had been simple curiosity, nothing more.
But from this point on, an instinct whispered that a conversation of considerable importance might unfold.
Dave clearly had something he wanted to say to her.
There had to be a deliberate intention behind his decision to raise the words 'Radiant Sword Saint' in the first place.
"Mm, roughly correct."
And her read was exactly right.
What is a trade, you ask?
The idea I'd come up with was, honestly, simple.
Thinking it over, it seemed I had the things the Sword Princess needed right now, and in turn, she seemed to hold what I needed.
Whatever else you could say about her, the Sword Princess had shown me goodwill even while knowing about my unique equipment…
So I figured if we each traded what the other required, it could be a win-win.
What did the Sword Princess need?
Information, obviously.
I was someone who had lived as the 'Radiant Sword Saint' for well over ten years.
And to a player who had only just set foot in her first 3rd advancement…
A few of the pieces of information I carried would be nothing short of rain after a drought.
So it was hardly strange that her attitude had shifted.
"I happen to know several things you might find useful, Sword Princess."
"What sort of… information, may I ask?"
"To be precise — I could say I know a few of the secrets the Radiant Sword Saint possesses."
"Interesting."
Behind the mask, the Sword Princess's dark eyes glinted faintly.
Whatever the truth of it, she'd naturally assume that the circumstances under which I'd obtained the Flag of Zeratus were rooted in these very secrets.
So if I dangled just a few keywords, I could make her considerably more cooperative.
Like so.
"For instance — the content sealed within the Vow of Ashes."
"……!"
As expected… the effect was tremendous.
Her stunned expression was visible clear through the mask.
"I can't tell you exactly how I came to know this, of course. But setting that aside, I can share quite a great deal with you."
"Oh ho."
"Well? I believe I could be of considerable help to you."
The Sword Princess stared straight at me for a long moment.
In my estimation, her heart had already tipped…
By now, she'd be burning with curiosity over exactly how much I knew.
But she couldn't afford to drag this out, either.
If this deal fell through, she would suffer an enormous loss.
For a top-tier ranker like her, there was nothing more precious than information that gave her the strength to keep moving forward.
"Then surely… you want something from me in return?"
"I do."
And so I laid out my desires without holding anything back.
"Would you allow me the use of your name for exactly one year?"
What I could accomplish right now by borrowing the Sword Princess's strength.
It came down to a single thing: buying time.
"Hmm…?"
Time I needed… to escape from indiscriminate danger.
"It's for protection from the scavengers. I won't use it for any other purpose beyond that."
Thanks to the Sword Princess, I'd slipped out of one crisis — but that was only the beginning.
Meaning: beings even more dangerous than the two I'd met today might well appear.
Borrowing the Sword Princess's name wouldn't solve everything, of course — but it would cut my risk by at least ninety percent.
That was all I needed.
"Hm."
Her eyes behind the mask met mine once more.
And they were, unmistakably, wavering — just barely.
Then came a brief stretch of silence.
"……"
It was the Sword Princess's clear voice that broke it first.
"Very well. I believe I can look upon that proposal… favorably."
"……!"
At her answer, this time it was me who was surprised.
Honestly, I'd expected her to accept — but I hadn't imagined she'd decide so quickly.
A ranker of the Sword Princess's caliber lending out her own name was no trivial matter.
Yet even as I was thinking that, she added one more line.
"Although… Dave."
Yes?
"Is one year really… going to be enough for you?"
Uh…
Honestly, I'm not sure what you mean by that, ma'am.
But if I grind hard for about half a year… I'd say the Night Stalker cash-farming mission is within reach, don't you think?
It's not like you think I'm aiming to become a ranker within a year… right?
Kim Yeongtae, Director of the Gate Management Bureau, had spent his recent days in considerable turmoil.
First and foremost was the worry that his son — the high-rank hunter Kim Gyeongjun — had failed to emerge from a gate for far too long.
And at the same time, with the Gate Rampage barely a month away… the fact that he had no workable solution prepared was his single greatest source of stress.
It was amid all this that he'd heard, through none other than the heavyweight 'Sword Princess,' about his son's friend Gunyul.
Had his son not returned safely like this, Yeongtae might not have been able to hold out much longer.
And so, even knowing the answer was already decided, Yeongtae couldn't help but open with these words to the son he was seeing for the first time in so long.
"The hunter work… does it really have to continue, son?"
After countless hours of deliberation, that one line had slipped out of Yeongtae — and in truth, it wasn't a remark born of this single incident alone.
Yeongtae worried about the future more than the present.
If the Gate Rampage ultimately couldn't be stopped…
The hunter profession would become, without question, at least several times more dangerous than it was today.
And yet someone still had to be a hunter, and someone still had to hold the line against the rampaging gates…
But did it have to be his one and only son?
Before he could bring to mind his own title as Director of the Gate Management Bureau, Yeongtae found himself thinking like any ordinary parent — he simply couldn't help it.
But.
"You know better than anyone, Father."
"……"
His son offered exactly the answer Yeongtae had expected. Again.
"I have to bury my bones here, at Aegis."
Yeongtae knew perfectly well why his son was like this.
Seo Jin-woo — founder and former master of the Aegis Guild, who had perished in an accident just last year.
Without that man, the hunter named Kim Gyeongjun would never have existed in this world at all.
Seo Jin-woo… he truly was a man we lost too soon.
Seo Jin-woo had also been a hunter Yeongtae himself was friendly with.
A benefactor to his son — which made him, in effect, a benefactor to Yeongtae as well.
And so Yeongtae could not bring himself to push his son any further.
A shame, but his son had survived this time as well — perhaps he ought to be grateful for that much.
"Whew."
Of course, that didn't make the knot in his chest come undone.
"Right — let's eat first. It can't have been easy to get proper food inside the gate."
"Yes, Father."
Seeing his son unable to so much as lift a fork, even at the steak house he loved best, pained Yeongtae's heart.
It had to be because the comrades he'd lost still lingered in some corner of his mind.
Ssccrch—
Father and son ate for a while in silence, then slowly drifted back into everyday conversation.
And somewhere in that flowing dialogue…
"I'm sorry… Gunyul? Lee Gunyul?"
"Yes. Gunyul — the boy who used to live next door to us."
From his father, Kim Gyeongjun heard a story that was very hard to believe.