Winter Fall (I)

  Prologue

  It had ended like that, but it wasn't something that he could decide on his own.

  No, if he wanted to decide it himself, he could have. But, he feared that at that time, a doubt like 'is this really okay?' would have appeared.

  If a state infinitely close to perfection wasn't expected, then it wasn't necessary for him to give one hundred percent of his strength, and moreover he wouldn't have to work completely till the end.

  "......Hah."

  Raising his head to look at the building he had just come out of, Karian sighed and a bit of sound leaked out.

  After saying farewell to Haia Laia, Karian's journey in order to convey the menace of the world hadn't ended.

  In the midst of that journey, today he was in a brand new city.

  He had stayed for five days, using various means to finally meet the head of the city, but the reaction from the other party didn't satisfy him.

  "We've been treated like idiots!"

  It wasn't a satisfactory outcome, and it seemed like he wasn't the only one who saw it this way. Karian could only show a wry smile.

  Stania was by his side.

  "They definitely didn't hear the meaning of our words at all, only thinking 'that's impossible' - They have no sense of crisis at all!"

  "But I feel that their response to that kind of fairy tale counts as normal."

  "I understand that, it's indeed something that is difficult to make people understand."

  Every time he saw Stania who often was unable to hold her anger and exploded, Karian was able to become calm.

  To him, just relying on the words 'We can't do anything about this' and changing his feelings was a difficult thing.

  "Thank you, you unexpectedly got angry for my sake."

  Because she had gotten mad, Karian had been able to think things through calmly.

  "T- That's not it, my job is only to assist Young Master in completing his mission, and guard you from the side."

  "Completing my mission...... huh."

  "Young Master......?"

  "It's nothing, I was only thinking about what counts as my mission being complete."

  "What does that mean?'

  "Of course, though my final target is true world peace, in the end what I want to do is limited. Simply put, if the end requires certain force to resolve a problem, I will be of no use at all."

  "I will not let Young Master fight."

  "Thank you."

  "......Young Master, are you thinking of fighting?"

  "If I can."

  As he said this, Karian showed a wry smile.

  "But truthfully, there is nothing I can do on a battlefield of true Military Artists."

  "That......"

  "I'm not feeling inferior. Rather, other than this I am very clear on what I can do, and I am also very proud of myself regarding this."

  "Then......"

  "But I think that the one who pulls down the curtain in the end will not be me."

  By telling one city after another of the crisis the world faced, even if it gave only a small sense of crisis to an undefended city, Karian's goal would have been achieved.

  Afterwards, in order to face the crisis on the verge of arriving, if new power could be born...... Though this was the ideal situation, he feared that this was too wishful.

  On his travels, he had always watched the exchanges between Haia and Stania, and even he already understood. Strong Military Artists existed, but their number was definitely not great.

  If he spoke about the level of Heaven's Blade successors, then he feared that up to now he hadn't even met a single one.

  Grendan had already spent immeasurable time to face the coming crisis, able to gather so many Military Artists, or perhaps able to become a hotbed of excellent Military Artists. Whenever he thought of this, Karian would feel that his target was far too distant.

  But, to face the coming crisis, Karian had resolved not to only be a spectator.

  After seeing with his own eyes the monster that had covered all of Grendan, Karian had felt this.

  Only because of that, did he continue his journey.

  "Well...... Young Master?"

  "Nn? What is it?"

  The scene from Grendan that day didn't stop appearing in Karian's mind, and Stania's voice pulled him back to reality.

  Her expression showed that she had something uncomfortable to discuss.

  "Young Master, well......"

  "What is it? If you have something that you want to ask, it's alright, say it."

  "Oh, then...... Young Master, do you want to complete everything by yourself?"

  "I want to, if I can."

  "Do you really think that way!?"

  Stania opened her eyes wide, staring at Karian who had replied instantly.

  "But that's impossible. Not only is it a problem of strength, but also one of mobility. In the end, the negotiations that I decided to do only obtained such an outcome, so I already understand the limits of what I can do myself."

  What he could do had limits, and moreover even for the things that he could do, doing them was certainly difficult.

  "......Could it be, you're feeling a bit down?"

  "A bit. In the end, it has already been three times without getting a good response."

  Every time Stania had gotten angry instead.

  But, in front of the fact of successive defeats, it was expected for him to feel a bit down.

  "There's still the next opportunity."

  "Yes, it's a great help for you to say that."

  His heart had already been weakened to the point where he would accept other people's comfort so easily. While Karian felt a bit comforted, at the same time he still held a definite sense of crisis.

  "No, no no, no no...... Let me gather my thoughts for a moment!"

  "Young Master?"

  "In any case, I shouldn't be this low-spirited."

  Seeing Karian seemingly talking to himself, Stania began panicking.

  "Then, Young Master...... if you feel tired, let's first go rest a bit......"

  "Ah, no, excuse me. I didn't mean to say anything to make you worry."

  "Don't concern yourself about that! Let's first go rest! We should rest now."

  It seemed that his actions had caused an unnecessary misunderstanding with Stania.

  "If we rest, let's rest on the bus. Instead, because there's nothing else to do in this place......"

  Let's go to the next city, Karian wanted to say.

  Perhaps, he had a sort of premonition. The phrase 'The end' unexpectedly flashed through his mind.

  Even if he felt tired there was nothing he could do about it, or perhaps this also held a different meaning.

  A premonition, or perhaps it was just a simple feeling.

  Was it caused by something like that?

  Karian couldn't help but think.

  There was definitely a reason that he would think that way.

  Ignoring the proposition of Stania who wanted to go to the hotel to rest, the two of them walked to the bus, and just as they were about to enter an underground road, Karian saw a light.

  It wasn't a light used to illuminate the ground underneath them, and of course it wasn't the emergency lights, either.

  This white light was even closer, and its swaying pattern made him feel like it almost had its own consciousness.

  The light swayed as if it were calling Karian.

  "Young Master?"

  Seeing Karian who had moved off the road, Stania made a surprised sound, but Karian still ignored her and continued after the light.

  "Young Master? What's wrong?"

  Stania chased after him, a poorly-veiled wavering in her voice as if saying 'Ah, as expected, Young Master is......', but
hearing her words, Karian continued ignoring her and advancing.

  It seemed that she couldn't see this light.

  Then was this a hallucination that he was seeing?

  Perhaps this was something that only Karian could see, a guiding light for him.

  Karian was convinced that it was only the latter that was correct, so he advanced.

  Following the light's guidance, Karian continued moving deep beneath the city.

  Chapter 1 - Grendan That Night

  The place she dropped down upon was in front of the doors of Grendan's Royal Palace.

  Most of the palace had been destroyed by the commotion last time, but now those scars could no longer be seen anymore. In the dark night, various guard units were waiting by the brand-new doors.

  The guards were called the Rivanes Military Family, composed of the children of those who possessed the blood of the Grendan Three Royal Families. The palace guards and bodyguards of the Queen were all of this family.

  Because of this, the guards standing in front of the door were all royalty to some degree. If someone not from Grendan heard this, many of them would feel that this was very strange.

  Actually, though they were somewhat related to the royal families, they were only seen as normal Military Artists.

  Because of this, other than the guards in front of the door and the two in a slightly elevated position, there were four more guards in total.

  To the door guards, her appearance was sudden.

  They were able to notice that this appearance was an abnormal situation. They were Military Artists, so if there was someone who could hide past their vision and appear in front of the door in a moment, then that person must be a Military Artist on the level of a Heaven's Blade.

  Moreover, the one in front of them wasn't a Heaven's Blade successor.

  "Who's there!?"

  One of the guards asked.

  The electric light made her body shine orange.

  The figure who had appeared was a girl not yet twenty.

  But, this much was insufficient to make them drop their guard, the door guards were clear on this.

  "Who is it!?"

  The girl didn't make a sound, and the door guards once again questioned her. The two guards who had been relatively distant also gathered. Before long, the guards patrolling other areas of the palace would also gather.

  Alarm bells sounded in the minds of the guards, and the guard who had just asked the question also knew that he should wait for other guards to gather.

  However, the opponent had no reason to wait it out with them.

  "......Please move aside."

  "What?"

  "I want to complete my mission with the least amount of harm done. So please move aside."

  "What kind of joke......"

  Hearing the girl's words, the guards made angry shouts. They were already clear that the girl in front of them had some quite dastardly goal. The head guards quietly motioned to their companions, and a guard positioned farther back pressed the emergency alarm button.

  With this, the others like the Heaven's Blade successors in the palace would definitely come quickly.

  "I have no choice."

  The girl spoke as if completely understanding the actions of the other side. This made the guards even more tense.

  It might have been over before they realized.

  "What......?"

  The guards felt the abnormality surrounding them.

  The orange light shining on the girl became slightly blurred.

  "Damn, prepare yourselves!"

  It was an instinctive yell, but it was already too late.

  No, it should be said that starting from the moment the girl had appeared, Military Artists of the guards' level already had no means of fighting back.

  The thing that seemed blurry...... was a portion of her body that had grown out, made of tiny objects called nanomachines. Countless nanomachines that were invisible to the eye spread out under the girl's command, and then gathered together...... forming a new shape.

  The entire process was finished in a moment to the eyes of the guards.

  "What!?"

  The guards who had originally acted to suppress the girl were sent flying.

  However, the girl wasn't the one who had moved.

  Rather, it was the two arms that had appeared to her left and right.

  "Ah!"

  The guards who realized this fact didn't have any response other than surprise.

  Until just now, there hadn't been anything to the left or right of the girl.

  There shouldn't be anyone in this place, but people now stood there.

  A girl who wore fighting clothes like a Military Artist, except slightly looser, stood there.

  It made one feel as if it were that girl, grown up slightly.

  The reason they only felt this was because the upper half of the girl's face had been covered with a colored sheet, and the lower face couldn't be seen too clearly.

  Even more incredibly, one girl had appeared on either side of the maiden.

  "What...... is this......"

  Because of their surprise, the guards didn't even speak, the scene before them even making them forget that they were in a battle situation.

  The girls who had appeared weren't only those two.

  Rather, they formed a large group.

  To the left and right of the girl as well as behind her, other girls appeared in a formation.

  Their number exceeded a hundred.

  The group of girls moved, knocking down the guards who were too surprised to speak.

  Without even looking at the guards who had been felled in an instant, the girl passed through the doorway alone.

  The girl's name was Lævateinn.

  She, who had lived in Zuellni claiming to be Vati Len until recently, had suddenly appeared in Grendan with the identity of Lævateinn in order to complete her mission.

  Her target was the palace in front of her, its underground.

  "Please guard the outside, don't let anyone trespass."

  At Lævateinn's words, the other girls - her copies - wordlessly indicated comprehension.

  "............"

  Though it was only a moment, Lævateinn turned her head to look at her copies, but she already knew that they had already begun moving to complete their mission. There wasn't a single one left to receive Lævateinn's gaze.

  "............"

  Turning her gaze back, Lævateinn advanced.

  Lævateinn who wasn't a Military Artist couldn't see the light of Kei that had covered the entire palace, that strongly shining light.

  The light broke through the clouds, burning the sky, but to Lævateinn, this wasn't any threat to her mission.

  To Lævateinn, this was her target in order to complete her goal and for which she existed.

  ◇

  The ones on duty that night were Reverse and Cauntia.

  "!"

  Reverse who had been dozing in the room given to the Heaven's Blades on duty suddenly opened his eyes. His Kei vein was also suddenly ignited. As he quickly left the sofa that he had been sleeping on, he quickly grabbed his Dite.

  "Tia!"

  "I know, Rever."

  Cauntia replied while standing up from the sofa, her expression serious. While stroking her thigh where Reverse's touch still lingered, she chased behind him, running out of the palace.

  The alarm that the guards pressed was after this.

  At that time, the two of them jumped out of the nearest window, running to the entrance through the shortest distance.

  That girl ignored the fallen guards and passed straight through the entrance.

  "Restoration!"

  A shout.

  At the same time, not only his hands, but his whole body was illuminated.

  The Dite responded to Reverse's activation keywords, and the changing Dite began forming into fighting gear covering his entire body.

  When he landed before Lævateinn, Revers
e's entire body was already covered with armor.

  "Please wait."

  It seemed like a chunk of metal falling from the sky...... Even if she was facing Reverse like this, Lævateinn didn't waver.

  Though he felt a bit apprehensive, still, Reverse didn't know how to judge Lævateinn, who was a single girl however he looked.

  "......No one unrelated is allowed to enter past this point."

  Though it was a bland sentence, it was a warning that Reverse had worked hard to think up.

  "If you put it like that, I have an even more ancient relationship, compared to you."

  "Huh?"

  The unexpected response made Reverse not know what to do for a moment.

  "Please move aside. This way I can complete my goal without forcing you into a painful situation."

  "What......"

  Reverse stopped thinking before Lævateinn's words confused him even more.

  (Though I don't know what she's talking about......)

  She had a human form in front of him, but he couldn't feel Kei. Then she wasn't a Military Artist? But, Reverse was very clear about this kind of oppressive feeling.

  "......I definitely won't let you pass."

  This girl was very dangerous.

  Even if his brain couldn't comprehend, his body still told him.

  He had to get rid of the girl in front of him.

  The time when he had still been indulgently sleeping on Cauntia's lap just now was already gone. He stood in front of the menace covered by the stiff armor, as if he were enduring his own timidity.

  In battle, the first feeling that would appear in Reverse's heart was fear. The fear that his body felt towards battle, the fear that he felt towards filth monsters, the fear of being wounded, the fear of letting others be wounded. Pure terror and guilt at the results produced from his Military Artist actions - that was the kind of person Reverse was.

  However, those feelings were the source of his strength. It was a saying that ‘one must overcome himself’. Reverse could be said to be the perfect interpretation of this saying.

  Reverse, who had overcome the fear in his heart, had nothing else to be scared of when he stood on the battlefield.

  The fear he had originally felt due to the girl was already gone.

  However, this definitely didn't mean that he had relaxed his guard.

  Underestimating the enemy was the result formed due to being overconfident in one's power. But this kind of thinking wouldn't exist in Reverse who had always fought with his timid heart.