The Authority of Blood Fire
It was quite some time ago. The day I sat across from Uncle Jack in the village tavern, tilting back cups of liquor.
“Ugh, Uncle. You’re already drunk? The snacks haven’t even come out yet.”
“You little shit, drinking well isn’t always a virtue. Keep it up and you’ll wake up one day with a gut hanging over your belt.”
Uncle Jack loved his drink, but his tolerance was pathetic. Still, I enjoyed sharing a cup with him because he was the one person I could open up to without reservation.
“…Uncle. Since we’re both a little tipsy, can I ask you something? Just a silly question?”
“What’s with the hesitation, you bastard? Did you finally start dating Dohesi or something?”
“Haha, no, nothing like that.”
The alcohol must have loosened something inside me. Back then, I wanted to voice the question I had only ever agonized over in silence. Or perhaps it was because I knew Uncle Jack was someone I could trust.
“What if… just hypothetically. What if I knew everything that was going to happen in this world? What do you think that would be like?”
“Huh? You already this drunk?”
“…Maybe I am. Just a dumb joke, I guess.”
Only once. Even if it was only once, I had desperately wanted a serious answer to that question. A human being who had ‘seen’ every event and truth in the world. In other words, if someone who knew the future truly existed, how would the people here react?
Just like Uncle Jack’s reaction a moment ago, they would probably dismiss it as drunken nonsense. That was why I had never told anyone, carrying it like a thorn lodged deep in my heart. But it seemed I didn’t have the patience to hide it forever.
Uncle Jack’s expression grew surprisingly serious at my offhand remark.
“Hmm, knowing the future… That sounds like quite the blessed fate.”
“Whoa, you don’t have to think about it that seriously…”
“Men have always loved indulging in pointless what-ifs like this.”
Is that so? Come to think of it, in my previous life I used to play those balance games with friends—“If you went back to the past, what would you do?” The answers always ended with buying up every cryptocurrency in sight.
Uncle Jack held up three fingers. He looked genuinely intrigued.
“Three things. If you lived under that premise, you’d face three major dangers.”
“Ooh, let’s hear some wisdom from a seasoned mercenary.”
“First, within the Allied Nations. The nobles would try to monopolize you. Most industries in this country are already stabilized.”
“So they’d want to squeeze every last drop out of me?”
“Exactly. For example, knowing where gold veins are buried or what food supplies are about to run out. Just by hoarding in advance, you could easily buy several mansions.”
I found myself listening intently to Uncle Jack’s sincere explanation. Incidentally, the ideas I later used to make money in this world all stemmed from this very conversation.
“Second, and this is the important part. Whether the Empire or the Kingdom moves first, they’ll desperately try to drag you away by force.”
“…Why would they?”
“They’ve been at war for decades! Both sides are itching to end it, but they lack any real justification!”
“So they’d use me to flip the board in one move?”
“That’s right! A single overwhelming victory in battle would decide the outcome. Especially the Empire bastards—if they learn of your existence, they’ll send dozens of spies and obsess over you.”
The Empire. Emperor Vilfern. His body was old and diseased, but his ambition was a symbol of greed unmatched by any king. I hated even looking at that guy. He always pushed choices that only benefited him, and refusing meant immediate hostility with the Empire.
“And the last one… hmm.”
“?”
Uncle Jack stopped mid-sentence and glanced around. Then he lowered his voice to a whisper.
“It would be the Creation Society bastards.”
“…Ah.”
I already knew them well from seeing them to the point of exhaustion in the original story. But I pretended ignorance to hear more of his thoughts.
“Do those guys actually exist? I thought they were just stories to scare children.”
“Who knows. I spent my whole life as a mercenary but never saw them myself.”
For a moment, every trace of drunkenness vanished from Uncle Jack’s face.
“No. Even if I had seen them, would I still be alive? Anyone who encountered them was found the next morning with their neck hanging in the village square without exception.”
“Come on, that sounds like they kill you regardless of whether you know the future or not.”
“Well… that might be true. But still.”
Uncle Jack hardened his expression as if trying to scare me.
“Crazy bastards who claim the world itself is false and want to rebuild everything—do you really think they’d stop at just cutting off your head? You would definitely be their top priority target. I guarantee it.”
“…I’m just a powerless commoner. Would they really come after me?”
“‘Power’ means nothing to them. The rumors say a single member of the Creation Society can turn a monster like a guild master into a honeycomb with nothing but a toothpick.”
Were they really that strong? I had thought there might be a difference between playing the game and facing them in reality.
“The existence of someone who knows the future is far more threatening than ten thousand soldiers. You’d probably have to live buried in the forest for the rest of your life.”
“Haha, then I guess I’ll just stay in this village forever.”
“Is that why you refuse to go to the capital? I keep telling you to go out and meet some women with that face of yours!”
“You were the one trying to pair me with Dohesi earlier!”
“Ugh, that girl Dohesi is so prickly. Do you really think someone with your personality could live with her for life without fighting?”
“Tsk. Now that you mention it, the difficulty does seem pretty high.”
“Right? Even if this uncle’s gotten old, his eye for women hasn’t—!”
“—Heh, what was that?”
My memory cut off right there. I’m guessing the voice that came from behind us at the end belonged to Dohesi…?
Anyway, what I resolved that day was this: I would hide the fact that I knew the future. If I were ever discovered, it must not be by dangerous people like nobles or emperors. And even if, by some chance, someone noticed my existence, at the very least, that person could never be one of the Creation Society.
And now.
The person standing before my eyes had violated every single one of those resolutions.
The Fifth Star of Creation. The Authority of Blood Fire. Eunhwa.
“—Thou. How is it that thou knowest of the trial to be given to the north before the star hath even spoken?”
“To walk ahead of time is no different from using one’s own life as a wick to illuminate the darkness.”
The blade pressed against my throat pushed forward once more.
“I ask again. Thou, how is it that thou knowest first of the northern trial that shall soon descend?”
“…What on earth… are you talking about…?”
I couldn’t even think of moving a single finger. Instinct told me that the slightest suspicious movement would result in my head being slammed into the ground.
“Though the orbit was slightly delayed due to a tremor, thou art already foreseeing the plague of tribulation we shall bring.”
Wait, you guys were the ones behind that? In the original story it had been nothing more than a passing minor event, so I had never imagined the Creation Society was responsible.
“…You’re jumping to conclusions. Whatever it is, perhaps one of your own members leaked the information…?”
“…”
Shk. Eunhwa’s blade dug deeper into the flesh of my neck. I felt hot blood trickle down from the cut.
An unspoken displeasure began to rise from her previously emotionless aura.
“Ugh…!”
“We would never commit such a vile act. There is only one answer: it means thou hast already stolen a glimpse of the star’s orbit long ago.”
Bullshit. I knew they were a bunch of lunatics, but I hadn’t realized their heads were this far gone. Normally, wouldn’t you suspect information leakage during the planning stage? Just how blindly did they believe in each other to immediately conclude that I was someone who could see the future?
Though in this case, that delusion happened to be correct.
“It seems thou dost not wish to speak.”
“—!?”
Her gaze instantly turned terrifying. A killing intent so sharp it raised goosebumps began mercilessly stabbing at my skin.
“We have no time to waste on interrogation. Then it would be better to swiftly cut thee down.”
This was dangerous. She was truly about to slit my throat.
“Wait—”
“Kyaaaaah!!”
“Hey, miss! Is that a real sword you’re holding?!”
At that moment, a piercing scream rang out and the surroundings grew noisy. The passersby had finally noticed what was happening.
“Call the guards! There’s an armed lunatic here!!”
In that instant, Eunhwa’s attention flicked toward the crowd for the briefest moment. Probably my last chance.
Bang!!
“—!”
I immediately kicked over the stall in front of me. It disrupted Eunhwa’s stance, if only for a second. She staggered back slightly, and the sword aimed at me lost its center.
Please!
I spun on my toes with all my strength and kicked off the ground. I sprinted straight toward the crowd at full speed. At the same time, the bewildered faces of the people who had been watching me flooded my vision.
A miracle. A coincidence. The urgent shape of the old man standing at the very front moved in slow motion.
Duck—!
It was pure instinct. The moment I read those moving lips, I reflexively bent my upper body down.
Shiiing—
A diagonal slash aimed precisely at my neck. Only a few strands of hair that couldn’t be avoided were sliced off.
Boom.Boooom!
Immediately after, the buildings lined up on both sides were cleanly sliced along the path of the sword. The stone walls, unable to withstand the impact, began collapsing one after another with thunderous roars, spewing debris.
“W-what the hell! Uwaaah!!”
“Run! It’s an attack!!”
Complete pandemonium. The festive atmosphere of the market plummeted straight into hell. People screamed and scrambled to escape the area.
Was she uninterested in the surrounding chaos? Through the rising dust and rubble, a woman in white approached leisurely.
“Thou dodged just now? What a curious sense. So this is what it means to face one who walks ahead.”
You crazy bitch. As if. I really thought I was going to die just now. I nearly lost my head without even getting to leave a last word.
“I ask one final time. Dost thou truly know the future?”
“……And if I said yes, would you spare me?”
“To read the stars is to stray far beyond the heavenly orbits. The only result is annihilation.”
So she’s going to kill me either way. Who was it that said she wouldn’t stop at the neck?
In truth, I hadn’t held even the slightest expectation that conversation would work with her. These people only ever spouted what they wanted to say.
Eunhwa adjusted her blood-red blade again, as if unwilling to give me even a moment to think.
At that moment.
“Halt!! What are the two of you doing there!!”
A robust male voice suddenly cut through from afar. It was the village guards rushing to suppress the situation.
The two guards looked back and forth between me sprawled on the ground and Eunhwa, quickly assessed the situation, and raised their weapons.
“You there. Drop the weapon in your hand and surrender. Any further disturbance will not be tolerated.”
“…A mistake. I failed to handle this quietly. The situation has turned sour.”
Perhaps she hadn’t heard the man’s warning. Eunhwa slowly lowered her blood-red blade and began walking toward them.
Unease. There wasn’t the slightest hint of killing intent in her movements. It was as if she were simply trimming weeds that had grown by the roadside. As if she were handling a meaningless routine task.
“Hey! I said drop your weapon right now!!!”
One guard, unable to endure any longer, hurriedly raised his long spear in a threatening gesture. The moment he stepped toward Eunhwa—
Fwoosh—
Dark crimson flames erupted across the man’s entire body.
“!? Haaak, aaaaagh—!!?”
“W-what…!”
“—!!!”
The man was swallowed by the ferocious flames before he could even resist. In the blink of an eye, the body that had been breathing just moments ago collapsed in front of me. A shape from which one could no longer distinguish eyes, nose, or mouth.
“Ah. Fuck.”
A curse rose from the pit of my stomach. Because I knew exactly what had just happened. Because I understood why I had tried so desperately to avoid the Creation Society.
“Kugh…! You bitch!! What the hell have you done!!!”
His comrade, who had frozen beside him, glared at Eunhwa with bloodshot eyes. The moment that same distorted rage transformed into killing intent—
“Wait—don’t show emotion toward her—”
Fwoooosh.
Once again, ferocious flames surged upward. This time toward the man who had clearly displayed hostility against her.
“?! Aaaah, uwaaaaaagh!!!!”
A scream that pierced the eardrums. The smell of burning flesh. The struggling didn’t last long.
Thud.
In mere seconds, two completely incinerated lumps of meat collapsed side by side before my eyes.
She had extinguished the flames of two lives without moving a single finger. She had simply been standing there.
Eunhwa’s lowered gaze slowly turned toward me. Not a single flicker of emotion showed on her face.
“Do not harbor fire so lightly. Anger, resentment, malice—they all destroy oneself first.”
Do not kindle fire against her.
The Authority of Blood Fire shall watch over all things from the heavens.
Authority. An absolute law that only they could enforce.