When did it all begin?
Even before that, there were several “stories” on this continent.
A girl who entered Magic Academy, after several romances, crossed over to a desert country with a young man from a foreign land, becoming a bridge between the two nations and bringing peace.
A certain girl born in the desert, learning of the Evil King’s loneliness, stopped even the war between the Evil Race and humans by loving him.
A girl born into a Baron family chose to become the Queen and a shield for the King, in order to avoid excessive interference from other countries.
These are the stories of girls buried in the corners of history. And the story that begins in this era will have many destinies go awry due to a single flaw.
It began when a woman with knowledge of the future was born and started to move in order to interfere with the “stories.”
Boys and girls dancing with fate on a glittering stage. The woman, realizing the reality that rejects foreign objects, tried to replace one girl but instead lost her life. Even so, the lingering emotions she left behind twisted the fate of another girl.
The girl who was supposed to become the Heroine gained only the necessary knowledge by repelling the woman’s emotions, and chose to resist fate.
The girl who was not supposed to be involved in the story gained only the remaining emotions and harbored ambitions to obtain a great destiny.
The girl who had even forgotten her own name. Just as that woman with knowledge of the future discarded her name in this life to affirm her previous self when she regained her memories, the girl who gained a new destiny also discarded her former self and chose the new name “Alicia.”
The fact that she still allowed herself to be called by the nickname “Licia” might have been the unyielding pride of someone who could not completely abandon the “false” self.
The girl knew that she had “nothing.”
Only the beauty inherited from her mother, who worked in the nightlife, remained with the girl, and from a young age, she naturally knew to rely on men for protection.
If she made use of that beauty, she would surely be happy. Her mother, who had taught her that, also died in a Monster attack, and in the harsh life of the Orphanage, the girl had constantly wondered what happiness was.
If there wasn’t enough food, she could make them provide it. If the work was too hard, she could make others do it.
Relying on men. Making use of her beauty. She had put it into practice by using older boys, but the girl felt that it was somehow different from the “happiness” she had heard from her mother.
In her original life, the girl would have followed a fate similar to her mother’s.
The girl longed for “happiness.” Even without truly knowing what it meant, she had longed for the stories of marrying a prince and becoming happy that her mother’s friends had casually told her when she was younger, but it should have ended with just longing.
At such a time… the girl picked up a half-broken Magic Stone.
What seeped in from the cut made by its corner was a woman’s “emotions” that had been built up over decades. The knowledge to live in that world had disappeared somewhere, but it taught her the knowledge to rise in that world… to become “happy.”
“…Yeah, I… want to become the ‘Heroine’.”
The girl has nothing. No power to fight, no funds, only her own ability and the knowledge of what should happen from now on.
That is why the girl fears nothing. In order to fulfill the dream of “becoming happy” that she had dreamed of as a child… in order to be loved more than anyone else in this world, she threw away even her own life as a stake and just ran straight ahead.
There are suspicious movements in the Second Knight Order. Having obtained that information from Theo, I had returned near the Royal Capital.
In this country, the Royal Palace where the royal family resides is protected by the Royal Guard Knight Order, and the First Knight Order guards the Royal Castle and the Royal Capital, centering around it.
The Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Knight Orders are in charge of guarding the Royal Capital and its surroundings, but while the Third Knight Order and beyond are organized with consideration for expeditions to local areas in case of emergency, the Second Knight Order has a strong aspect as “guards” who protect the peace of the Royal Capital, and for that reason, they are sometimes seen as being a step below the other Knight Orders.
Of course, the guards have an important mission, and many knights are proud of their position as the most trusted by the residents, but it is also true that there are knights who find this unpleasant.
The Melrose House, the Frontier Count in the south, has a strong navy, and the Dandole Family, the Frontier Count in the north, has more than two thousand knights to prepare for invasions and Monsters from the north.
Compared to these, some members of the Second Knight Order, which is sometimes looked down upon, are “twisted” knights who were swayed by the Aristocratic Faction and attacked Elena, due to their pride in protecting the peace of the Royal Capital and the surrounding evaluation.
Even so, the majority of knights are proudly guarding the Royal Capital, but there are definitely some “knights who are dissatisfied with the current situation.”
But even knights with such dissatisfaction will not act on their own. They are also knights of the kingdom, and will not become rebels who defy the country.
However, the story changes if there is someone who takes the lead.
I also did some research, but I, who am only at my level, could not find out more than what the Shadow Unit had confirmed in a few days of investigation.
It is natural for knights to prepare weapons and equipment. General equipment is provided by the country, and if they want something more, they have to make a proposal to their superiors and be approved, or prepare it themselves.
Each Knight Order is composed of three battalions. The equipment that has been updated this time is for about two hundred people in one company, and they are seen as supporters of Prince Amor.
But where is the budget coming from?
It is known that the source of the budget is Count Stanley. Baron Stanley, the Count’s younger brother, is one of the battalion commanders, and it is said to be a personal donation to him, but the Stanley Count family, which has few dependents, should not have that much money.
But the problem is not the source of the funds, but the purpose. The Shadow Unit has not yet grasped that information. Even so, now that I am away from Elena, there is something I can do.
If I don’t know, I can ask someone who does.
“Stop, woman.”
“…”
Four men appeared before me as I walked through the town in the Stanley Count territory, illuminated only by starlight.
They are dressed as commoners living in the town and only carry daggers for self-defense, but my disguise is also crude, as I am dressed as a “town girl” with my hair down and wearing a dress.
“…What business do you have so late at night?”
When I asked that, the man who had called out to me first distorted his face and spat out the words.
“That’s what we should be saying. What town girl would be walking alone so late at night? We know that you have been acting suspiciously in this town for several days. Tell us who you are working for.”
“…”
I had been investigating the suspicious flow of funds and trading companies with foreign capital in this town, but it seems that they knew about it.
“Who are you? You don’t look like guards.”
“You don’t need to know that. We are the ones asking the questions.”
“What if I refuse?”
“…You foolish heretic, it was unfortunate that we were in this place. Don’t think that you can escape from us with that level of combat power, even if you are a Shadow Knight.”
“…I understand.”
I understand well. At least they are not town guards, but belong to an organization that was dispatched from somewhere and would be troubled if investigated by the Shadow Unit.
Judging from the content of the conversation, are they members of the Holy Church? They are hiding their identities, but judging from the construction of the daggers and their combat power, I can guess that they are Temple Knights.
The source of funds is the Holy Church… We have already crushed the trading companies that were the source of funds for the Aristocratic Faction in this area, so I understood that the “Saint” behind the Second Knight Order and Prince Amor has finally started to move.
“Do you understand, heretic? If you honestly tell us, we will send you to God’s presence without suffering.”
“…Is there no mercy?”
“…You don’t need to know that.”
“I see…”
I judged that it was impossible to extract any more information through conversation.
It is difficult to extract information from members of the Holy Church. More than that, I felt a strange sense of discomfort from the other three men who remained silent, unlike the man I was talking to now.
I had gone to great lengths to deceive them with Magic…
“Then… I guess it’s okay now.”
“What!?”
When I released the appearance and combat power that I had been disguising with Illusion, the Temple Knight’s eyes widened for a moment.
“I’ll get you to tell me what’s going on, even if I have to force you.”
“…You! The Ash-Covered Princess!”
As expected, they noticed when I showed my combat power.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
At that moment, one of the men let out a beast-like roar and drew his sword. With a crude movement reminiscent of a beast, but still aiming for my neck with a trained and accurate trajectory, I took half a step back and dodged the Blade, while kicking up the elbow joint holding the dagger with the Blade of my toe.
“Gyaaaaaaaaah!”
“Ugoaaaaah!!”
Overlapping the man’s scream, another large man let out a strange cry and attacked.
The man’s movements and actions were also inconsistent. Accurate swordsmanship ingrained in his body through training. But the man himself, wielding it, was acting in a way that seemed insane.
“Surround her!”
The first man shouted at the men who were attacking haphazardly, but the large man, as if he hadn’t heard, swung his dagger. I slid my knife along the blade, dodging, and slashed the large man’s unguarded neck.
For a moment, he seemed to regain his senses and looked aghast. The knife he released before collapsing pierced the forehead of the man behind him as the large man fell.
“You…!”
In an instant, one man was incapacitated, and I slashed and killed the other two. As I turned the blood-stained knife towards him, the first Temple Knight’s eyes wavered slightly.
“—!”
At that moment, I turned around at the same time as a faint shadow passed through his eyes, dodging the blade that jumped in front of me, and slashed the neck of the man I had just killed.
“…What’s going on?”
“I told you, Ash-Covered Princess… it was our ‘misfortune’ that we came across you.”
The man said, distorting his face, not with superiority, but with something else.
Before my eyes, the man who had been pierced through the forehead and died, and the man I had killed twice, slowly stood up. The other man regenerated the wound on his arm and took up his weapon again, letting out a beast-like growl.
“…Undead?”
I recognized the phenomenon. However, the first man, hearing my mutter, widened his eyes and revealed his anger.
“Don’t lump these men together with the impure! These men have been martyred to God, and have been granted great power by that person with the power of the Spirits!”
Not Undead? Granted “power”? The power of the Spirits, so this is [Divine Protection]?
What’s the point of becoming Undead if you sacrifice your intelligence? That would be worse than the zombies created by demons.
The man who revealed his anger probably understands that too. Even though they have been martyred to God, what they are doing must be against God’s teachings.
They themselves abhor that power. Still, they accepted it because… the Saint’s power is the cause?
The power of the Undead… if that’s true, even just two hundred people would be a problem. But…
As I slowly readied my Black Knife and Dagger, the Temple Knights gripped their weapons, growling like beasts.
“It’s useless! We have the power of the Spirits—”
“—[Dancing Ripper]—“
Cutting off the man’s shout, I activated the [Combat Art] towards the three Undead.
A furious eight-hit combo unleashed from the left and right. But this isn’t to tear apart the “enemy.” It’s just to return the “thing” that resembles a human in front of me to a “person”—my blade, unleashed only to destroy, severed the Undead’s necks, split their heads, tore their hearts, and dismantled the Undead’s vital points.
“—The power of the Spirits…”
“Doesn’t matter.”
I’ve killed many so-called Undead before. Among them, no one was truly immortal in the true sense of the word.
When the dismantled body disappeared, leaving only the heart, and that heart also disappeared, leaving only a Magic Stone, the remaining Temple Knight knelt on the ground with a dumbfounded look on his face. I gently pointed the tip of my Dagger at him, coldly looking down as if to break his spirit.
“Rest assured… there is no such thing as complete immortality that defies God.”
What is the true nature of the Undead? What will they do with it?
I might fix it a little later.
Finally, Volume 2 will be released on October 20th! Thank you for your support.