Stars and Justice
Stars and justice were never two separate things, but one from the beginning.
Just as stars shine most brilliantly against the greatest darkness, so does justice grow more noble in a fallen age. As a lost boatman steers by the stars, humanity needs the guiding mark of justice to move forward. Where stars dwell, justice abides. Where justice stands, stars rise. No one can sever the two.
Not even a god.
Those were the words my grandmother spoke to me two years ago, from the summit of the Mite Mountain Range, higher than the clouds themselves. We had been gazing at the Libra constellation floating in the night sky.
A long time has passed since that day, yet Libra still burns with the same brilliant light. So do all the other stars. The only things that have changed are her absence at my side and the lonely tombstone now standing in the empty space beside me.
That day had begun like any other. Grandmother left to gather herbs as usual and never came home. She simply vanished. No one knew why. The villagers offered every grim theory they could imagine—that a mountain beast had devoured her, or that she had slipped and tumbled down a slope. I refused to believe any of them, but I could offer no better explanation. After all, she was the wisest woman in our small mountain village. The idea that she could lose her way was impossible.
All I could do was raise a tombstone in her honor on the peak we had often visited together.
Two years have gone by, yet the ache of loss and the longing for her remain unchanged. Still, I try not to grieve. Grandmother once told me that when a person dies, they become a star in the sky. She is no longer beside me, but she has surely become one of those twinkling lights, watching over me from above. So I will not be sad. If I mourn, it would only trouble her heart as she keeps watch.
What I must do is become a grandson she can be proud of—one who never brings her shame.
I’m not sure I’m succeeding, though.
I don’t even know what a proud grandson is supposed to do.
Thud……
A vibration rose from deep beneath the earth, shattering the quiet of the night. I dropped low at once and held my breath. The tremor was familiar. It was the waking call that announced the masters of the Mite Mountain Range had stirred from their slumber.
Any later and it would be dangerous. Time to head back to the village.
“Grandmother, I’ll be going now.”
I gently stroked the cold surface of her tombstone, then rose to my feet. Gripping my axe, I began the descent.
There is no torch in my hand as I pick my way down the treacherous mountain path. An unwritten law has been handed down through the ages in the Mite Mountain Range: never light a fire at night. The giants—the Titans—will come.
It is more than mere superstition. Titans truly inhabit these peaks. The smallest stand five meters tall; the largest reach dozens. They are nocturnal creatures that roam only after sunset. The instant a flame appears, it reveals your position.
That is why I navigate by moonlight and starlight alone. The hike is difficult, but it poses no real problem for me. I climb to the summit and back down every single day; I could manage the route with my eyes closed. No one in the world knows this mountain’s paths better than I do.
Look—the village is already visible in the distance. If I simply keep descending, I will return safely.
……Or so it should have been.
Until I saw the flicker of light somewhere on the slope.
It was not a star hanging in the sky. It was fire. There was no mistaking that vivid blaze burning in the heart of the pitch-black forest.
Someone had lit a flame in this absolute forbidden land ruled by Titans and beasts.
Who would do such a thing? What were they thinking?
Spontaneous combustion? No. Even if the Mite Mountain Range is dry, a flame this deliberate would not appear at such a precise moment. Had it been natural, it would have already become a wildfire. The way the light slowly shifted position suggested someone was carrying it while moving.
Then who in the world…
Boom! Boom! Boom—!
The sound of overwhelming mass froze my thoughts. A heavy vibration surged up through my feet and slammed into the top of my skull. There was no chance the lords of the night would miss a light that even I had noticed. They were already moving—straight toward that burning moth.
What do I do?
Ice slid down my spine. Warning bells screamed inside my head. Instinct roared at me to lie still as a corpse and slip back to the village while their attention remained fixed on the fire.
But.
What if the person who lit that flame was human?
It could not be a villager. Anyone born and raised in this harsh ecosystem would know that a light at night was suicide. Which left only one conclusion.
An outsider…!
The moment the word flashed through my mind, my heart began to hammer harder than the Titan’s footsteps. An existence from beyond had arrived at this prison-like mountain fortress that was cut off from the rest of the world. The unknown realm that existed only in my late grandmother’s old tales was right there beneath that firelight.
……I have to go.
Fear? Of course I felt it—enough to make my legs tremble. Yet a fierce curiosity twisted and overpowered that primal terror. The fire kept pulling me forward. I could not look away.
I pressed my lips into a tight line and turned toward the glow.
Just a quick look.
If I moved carefully and stayed hidden, the Titans would not notice me. Their eyes sat higher than the treetops. I would check and return at once. It would not be too late even if I headed back afterward.
Before long I reached the area where the fire had appeared.
It was definitely around here…
The light that had been so clear from above vanished once I entered the forest, swallowed by the dense trees. I had not considered this.
Should I climb a tree? But if I made eye contact with a Titan, it would be disastrous.
While I hesitated, a sound reached me.
Crackle.
Dry firewood popping in the dark. Golden sparks burst forth, devouring the pitch-black shadows. The light drew steadily closer.
Soon it came near enough for me to see clearly, and the figure that emerged was human—an old man.
Yet he was unlike any ordinary elder. Dignified brown hair fell to medium length. A short, neatly trimmed beard framed a mouth that spoke both refinement and strength. His back was straight, his posture unbent, and the physique visible beneath his clothes looked powerfully trained despite his years.
More than anything, his eyes overwhelmed me. They held a golden brilliance as though flames lived within them—bright enough to rival the torch and sharp enough to cut. Simply meeting that gaze stole the breath from my lungs. An indescribable pressure, like standing before a Titan.
“Who are you…?”
Intimidated, I watched him with open wariness.
The old man studied me for a moment, then spoke.
“The Scales… are they still intact?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked whether you have destroyed the Scales.”
“What do you…”
His words were a riddle. Destroy the Scales? I knew what the Scales meant from Grandmother’s teachings, but unfortunately our tiny village possessed no such thing.
“Judging by your reaction, they remain.”
The old man muttered something incomprehensible, then nodded to himself as though satisfied.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but please put out that fire first. The Titans are coming.”
“Titans, you say. How nostalgic. They were once taller than mountains, broader than the sky, and greater than the gods. Yet greed blinded them and they chose ruin. Now only empty shells wander this land. There is no longer any need to fear them.”
“Excuse me?”
This grandfather spoke pure nonsense. Claiming there was no reason to fear the masters of a mountain that could swallow beasts in a single bite. Were all outsiders like this?
“Fine, whatever. Just put the fire out, please. If we stay like this, we’re both going to die!”
The instant I finished speaking, a chill like spiders crawling over my spine swept across my back. All sound vanished. The cries of night birds, the rustle of leaves—everything fell silent, as though the mountain itself were holding its breath. Even the wind stopped. Some colossal presence had blocked the very flow of air.
Boooom!
A pulse that crushed the heart slammed into the earth. A shadow vast enough to eclipse the stars loomed overhead. I turned with rigid movements and found a mountain that had not existed moments earlier. A gigantic body covered in moss, rock, leaves, and vines. A Titan stood above the treetops, staring down at us.
“……Ah.”
Our eyes met. Eyes as large as a full moon fixed precisely on me and the old man.
We’re dead.
Dead. Dead. Dead!
This was exactly why you must never light a fire. This was why I had begged him to extinguish it. Was this why the villagers distrusted outsiders? Standing beside someone ignorant of the mountain’s laws put your own life in jeopardy.
What now? Could I run? With my knowledge of the terrain, perhaps I could hide and escape—
Whoosh.
Then I remembered I was not alone. Even if I might survive, the old man’s body could never outrun a giant across these brutal paths.
In that case…
“Grandfather, give me the torch.”
I snatched the burning brand from his hand.
“I’ll lure the giant. Use that moment to run the other way. Understand?”
It was the only way. Draw the giant away, let the old man reach safety, then escape myself. The sole method that might let us both live.
“Over here, you giant bastard! Stop tormenting a dying old man!”
I waved the torch violently and broke into a run.