Steel and steel.
Sword and sword.
Or perhaps will and will.
The sound of them clashing with all their might always offered abundant inspiration.
Clang—
Sword struck sword, and one of them flew far away.
It was the moment victor and loser were decided.
* * *
“Phew… One hour isn’t nearly enough anymore. At this rate, the day will come when we duel all day and still fail to settle it, Ataolf.”
Vitalianus wiped away his streaming sweat and smiled broadly.
Only, unlike now, his face was still youthful.
A memory from the days before he earned the title of Star, when he had been running toward it.
Ataolf, facing him, was the same.
Not the long scar on his face, nor that unpleasant voice that seemed to scrape at the eardrums, but an ordinary appearance.
“Mahel. I really can’t beat you after all.”
Ataolf, who had been looking at his sword that had flown far away, turned to Vitalianus and grinned.
After a tightly contested duel, it was always Vitalianus who emerged victorious.
Even so, Ataolf smiled without the slightest pretense.
“How are you so damn good with a sword?”
Vitalianus’s strength was already so famous that there was no one in the academy who did not know of it.
If anything, Ataolf, who could stand toe-to-toe with such a Vitalianus, was the remarkable one.
“No point sounding weak. You’re better than I am at handling qi, Ataolf.”
Vitalianus’s talent for wielding sword and body was something far beyond the realm of humanity, but Ataolf’s talent for handling qi was no less extraordinary.
That was why Vitalianus said that if more time passed like this, there would be no telling who would win.
“In any case, one thing is certain. We’ll become the greatest knights. Both of us.”
That much was certain.
Even within Imenia, said to have as many talented people as stars in the sky, there were only two stars that shone the brightest.
But perhaps they shone too brightly.
Or perhaps the problem was that they had shone from too low a place.
There were countless people who envied and resented them, and all those malicious feelings were directed solely at Ataolf.
Unlike Vitalianus, who had no flaw to pick at, Ataolf possessed an exceedingly fatal defect.
What always held him back was his origin.
* * *
The Kingdom of Luxen.
A small kingdom on the western peninsula, bordering the Empire.
This kingdom, which had possessed a fairly long history, declined again and again until, when Ataolf was young, it collapsed completely.
There had been no invasion by foreign powers. It had simply rotted from within until it could do nothing but slump to the ground.
Civil war and rebellion. The king, who feared death, offered everything that symbolized the nation to the Empire.
The Empire accepted this, brought the turmoil to an end, and the Kingdom of Luxen officially became imperial territory. The problem was that there were many who could not accept it.
Rebels. Gathering around those who could never survive if they were incorporated into the Empire, they dredged up even a patriotism they had never possessed and cried out for the liberation of the Kingdom of Luxen.
Even though it was obvious that, even if the kingdom were restored, it would not last long before falling again, they carried out all sorts of terrorist acts under the pretext of serving their homeland.
That was why imperial citizens could not look favorably upon those from the Kingdom of Luxen.
Though the overwhelming majority of people from Luxen had no connection whatsoever to such terrorism, resentment was poured upon them. They were ostracized.
And that fell upon Ataolf all the more heavily.
The reason was likely that, despite being from the Kingdom of Luxen, he dared to shine.
“You filthy Luxen wretch. How dare you crawl into Imenia without knowing your place?”
Ataolf endured all such insults.
He believed that if he became stronger, the matter would be resolved.
He wished to become strong and famous, someone known by all. He wished to become a hero and solve it.
After all, he had been born with an ability that grew stronger the more his name spread.
He wanted to become a hero and cleanse the stigma from his family, who had come up to the capital, and from all those of Luxen origin who were persecuted.
He endured in silence, again and again.
Those who could not say a word when he was with Vitalianus would come when he was alone and hurl insults at him.
They would curse his entire family and play pranks that crossed the line, and he endured it all.
Because the reaction that would come the moment he lost his temper and responded was far too obvious.
Look at that. Luxen bastards really are like that after all.
I knew it. Wicked scum. They should all be exterminated, not even their seed left behind.
Wouldn’t such words surely be spoken?
So he had to endure, and endure again.
Because someday, they would surely recognize him. Because someday, he would surely be called a hero and prove that one’s origin had nothing to do with it.
And even as he endured and endured, what allowed him to hold out until the end was—
“If you mention his origin in front of me one more time, I’ll make you feel firsthand just how worthless your own origin is.”
Vitalianus, as expected.
The prestige of his family. His conduct and charisma. His innate talent, and the effort with which he made use of it.
He was truly a being born to become a hero.
By Vitalianus’s side, Ataolf nurtured that dream together with him. He vowed that he would become a hero and cleanse Luxen’s disgrace, and he promised that they would walk that path together.
“Ataolf, you have an ability that makes you stronger the more renown you gain, so as time goes by, someone like me won’t even be a match for you. Hahaha!”
Vitalianus, a monster among monsters who had already reached the 5th Tier by the time he graduated from the academy.
Hearing such words from his mouth felt rather good, and so Ataolf smiled back as well.
“I’ll be counting on you from now on too, my friend.”
Ataolf’s fame began to grow even further in the knight order after graduation.
Ataolf of the Black Mist.
Though he lagged behind Vitalianus when it came to the sword, he was a Skill Awakener who freely controlled black mist.
As he gradually became famous and accumulated achievements, people’s gazes began to change, little by little.
They said Ataolf of Luxen had prevented the tragedy in the Dobach region.
They said the number of lives he had saved was considerable.
They said he had earned the acknowledgment of the Imperial Palace Knight Commander.
His name became known bit by bit, and slowly, very slowly, perceptions were improving.
Empowered by that renown, Ataolf’s martial strength grew even greater.
Like this… If things continued just like this, his dream and their promise would not be so very far away.
Vitalianus thought so, and Ataolf must have thought something similar.
It was a time when they had not deeply realized that the future was not something to be predicted carelessly.
That misfortune was misfortune precisely because it could not be foreseen.
* * *
“We have received information that a Luxen terrorist group is plotting something near the capital.”
Despite having been exterminated so thoroughly, there were those who stubbornly survived and continued to commit acts of terror.
Even knowing that the Kingdom of Luxen could no longer be rebuilt, they acted out of spite.
There was no longer any justification in their actions.
This was nothing but a crime that made innocent people from Luxen miserable.
Knowing the sight of his friend suffering because of that, Vitalianus stepped forward without hesitation.
“I’ll go.”
The mission originally assigned to them had not been this. This was information they had happened to acquire in the process, and it was also information they could never simply ignore.
That was why Vitalianus intended to step forward personally and resolve it quickly, but—
“No. I will go.”
Ataolf stopped him and stepped forward. No one opposed the decision.
In this sort of situation, where search and suppression had to be carried out simultaneously, Ataolf’s ability would be far more excellent than Vitalianus’s. Anyone who had gone on missions with him could not possibly be unaware of his skill, so there was no reason to object.
And also… was it not Luxen?
Deep down, the thought that since Luxen had caused the matter, Luxen should resolve it was faintly embedded in them.
“Will you be all right?”
Only Vitalianus offered him words laced with concern.
Because he knew well Ataolf’s feelings for those from his homeland.
“Do not worry.”
The squad led by Ataolf immediately moved out to provide support.
Those people’s martial strength was nothing impressive. They had information as well, so they should be able to subdue them in an instant.
The scene they arrived at was—
Boom—!
“Aaaaargh!”
“S-save me!”
“Luxen, it’s the Luxen bastards!”
A pandemonium filled with all sorts of explosions and screams.
Whether the information had been wrong, or whether the terrorist group had noticed something.
An indiscriminate terrorist attack carried out earlier than scheduled.
As if they had obtained some ancient artifact, explosions erupted throughout the city, and fierce flames raged.
“Capture the ringleader!”
However, was it not Ataolf who had arrived at the scene?
The black mist he unleashed identified the ringleader in an instant and minimized the damage.
Though he could not stop those who had already been sacrificed or the spreading flames, it was the best possible response.
“…Why are you doing this?”
When he asked that of the one who seemed to be the leader among the captured masterminds, the man lowered his head.
“So you are Ataolf. The knight from Luxen.”
“You know well that Luxen can no longer be restored. This is nothing more than an act that makes us even more miserable.”
“I know… I know, but what do you expect me to do?”
The man lowered his head, and tears began to drip down.
Then he abruptly raised his head and poured out his grief-stricken rage.
“My entire family was killed! For no reason other than that they were from Luxen! What did we do so wrong?”
Ataolf could not bring himself to answer.
Had he not experienced it too? The resentment he had been forced to endure, the things he had been forced to suffer, simply because he was from Luxen.
“…Even so, the people here did nothing wrong. This is not right.”
“Then what about me? What wrong did I do? What about my family, beaten to death by a mob? Hm? Answer me!”
This time too, he could not answer.
Innocent people were piling up sins.
Where had it begun, and what were these people supposed to resent?
“…Yes. It’s all meaningless. Fine. Fine, then.”
The man resigned himself and lowered his head again.
Ataolf pondered for a long while over what words he should offer, but in the end, he could not say anything.
As the man had said, what meaning would there be in offering comfort?
Even saying that he understood how he felt would seem like deceit, and so Ataolf remained silent.
“Will I be handed over to the imperial security forces?”
“Most likely.”
“Then I’ll be tortured to my heart’s content and killed. By the same sort of bastards who killed my family.”
The black mist sealed his limbs.
All those who had taken part in the terrorism were in the same state as the man. The culprits were held so tightly that they could not even dare to think of escaping.
“Could you take one piece of paper out of my coat? I’d at least like to see my family’s faces one last time.”
At that, Ataolf sheathed his sword and approached the man.
It was the best action he could take for him, and the greatest comfort he could offer.
“I didn’t think I’d be caught so easily… As expected of the famous Ataolf of the Black Mist. Your reputation wasn’t false. Truly… impressive.”
Ataolf approached the man, who spoke as though he had given everything up, and slipped his hand into the inner pocket. Sure enough, as he had said, there was a single piece of paper.
A portrait of two young children and a married couple smiling brightly.
And then.
“Yes… This is all the damned Empire’s fault.”
The man muttered as he looked at the picture with empty eyes.
“All imperial citizens deserve to die. And……”
Ataolf felt an inexplicable sense of wrongness from that sight, but—
“The filthy traitors who sided with the Empire as well! They all deserve to die!”
A transparent blade was already flashing before his neck.
He barely managed to avoid it, but his neck was cut deeply enough to endanger him, and blood gushed out.
“Ataolf of the Black Mist! Filthy traitor! How amusing you look, barking as the Empire’s dog!”
Perhaps it had been a skill the man had hidden; a barrage of transparent blades began to pour down indiscriminately.
But that desperate struggle did not last even a few seconds.
“Because of you bastards……! Why do we! Why! Why! What did we do so wrong! What did we……!”
The man’s head was severed in an instant by the knight standing behind Ataolf.
Blood spurted upward, and even after his neck was cut, his mouth gaped as though he still had some unbearable grievance, his eyes wide open.
The reason Ataolf could not answer him was not only because of the wound to his neck.
“Are you all right? Please return at once and receive treatment.”
Leaving that behind him, Ataolf had no choice but to turn away.
Because his own injury was serious as well.
Though he had avoided having his neck cut completely, the wound was severe enough that blood was pouring out, and he would have to hurry and receive treatment.
And so, in that awkward atmosphere, the suppression was completed.