On the day when imperial forces crushed the capital, Princess Selena of Altia Kingdom faced an inevitable choice amid despair. Her father fell pierced by arrows on the throne, her siblings scattered in flight. With her mother's ring in hand, she abandoned the castle.
On the road, when a swarm of monsters attacked, a single man appeared. Dressed in ash-grey cloth with an old scar across his face, the taciturn mercenary's name was Galen. Without hesitation, he cut through the beasts. Selena hired
The Princess's Sword - Beyond the ashes, the foundation of the vow
The mouth of the mine shaft swallowed the three of them whole.
The moment they stepped inside, a cold different in kind from the mountain's chill outside clung to their skin. The smell of damp rock. The smell of rotted wood. And——faint but unmistakable, a peculiar grating vibration like scorched metal transmitted from the soles of their shoes through the arches of their feet.
Residue from phosphorescent crystal sorcery.
Phosphorescent crystal sorcery——a system of spells activated using phosphorescent stones excavated from underground as catalysts. Even after mining ceased, the traces of its power continued to seep into the walls and bedrock of the mine shafts for years. That residue accumulated while transforming, eventually drawing monsters. It was one of the reasons abandoned mines were considered dangerous. セレナ・アルティス had learned this in her royal palace sorcery education classes. As knowledge on orderly written pages. Now, that knowledge aligned with the sensation beneath her feet.
(The distance between theory and reality is so vast.)
ガレン・ライゼン led the way. His ash-tinged dark brown short hair was dissolving into the darkness. The old sword scar on his left cheek occasionally surfaced, catching the faint phosphorescent glow that traced the mine walls. His footsteps made no sound. This man's way of walking minimized noise on any terrain——on mountain passes, in forests, and now on the stone floor of this abandoned mine.
ミラ・ファレン held the middle position. Her chestnut-colored braid hung over her shoulder, her jade-green eyes observing the walls as she advanced. The fatigue from the night camp on the mountain pass should have remained in her legs, but her steps were firm. セレナ had confirmed this girl's inner strength countless times during their seven days of flight.
セレナ brought up the rear. The ring on the ring finger of her left hand felt cool in the mine's chill. When she touched the fragment of phosphorescent stone hidden in her sleeve——a small piece taken from the sorcery education chamber when she left the palace——with her fingertips, she could feel it carrying slight warmth. Was it reacting to the residue? She understood the logic. But actually feeling it, knowledge drew one step closer to reality.
The formation of the three had not been ordered by anyone. After seven days of flight, each person's role had seeped into their bodies, and naturally they had taken this shape.
──
After turning left at a fork leading to the old mining sector and proceeding for a while, ミラ stopped.
Without a word, she pointed at the right wall.
セレナ directed her gaze there. Deep, regular scratch marks ran across the stone wall. Rather than scratches——claw marks. Broad and deep. The traces of claws with the hardness to carve rock, moving along the wall.
Rock lizard marks.
ガレン turned around. He confirmed the wall ミラ had indicated for a moment, then faced forward again. Without using words, he changed direction. Not the main passage, but a narrow side path leading to the old mining sector on the west side. The three naturally followed that choice. There was no discussion. It was the form of coordination built over seven days that required no language.
The old mining sector had a low ceiling. Even ガレン needed to crouch slightly, and the timber used for support had mostly rotted and collapsed. Fragments of broken stone and pieces of rotted wood scattered across the ground. They proceeded carefully with each step.
──
The moment they entered the middle chamber beyond the old mining sector, stone fragments fell from the ceiling.
They were not small pieces. A fist-sized rock fell near the center of the chamber with a dry sound. Immediately after, fine dust flowed down in a ribbon from the ceiling's cracks.
セレナ looked up. She could see cracks running across the chamber's ceiling. Not just one. Multiple cracks branched and spread. The mine ceiling, deprived of its support pillars, was slowly being pulled by gravity.
It was a sign of collapse.
At that same moment, a low sound echoed from deeper in the passage.
The sound of stone being scraped. The sensation of a heavy body pressing against the rock floor.
A rock lizard.
ガレン placed his hand on his sword hilt and glanced at セレナ and ミラ for just a moment. Before he could speak, both セレナ and ミラ had already moved their bodies to the old mine wall on the east side. Not an order——their judgments had simultaneously chosen the same direction. They secured a position along the mine wall with their backs against it, away from the lizard's path.
ガレン stepped forward.
The lizard entered the chamber. Its body length was approximately three meters. Its scales glowed dully in the phosphorescent light. Its head was lowered, its tail striking the stone floor. Its eyes——even in the darkness, they reflected the residual glow of the phosphorescent stones, shining yellow.
セレナ held her breath, watching ガレン's movements.
He drew his sword. Quietly, silencing the sound.
The moment the lizard stepped forward with its front legs, ガレン moved.
Not directly forward. A diagonal step forward. Slightly outside the lizard's charge trajectory, angling for a slash to the abdomen. The abdomen was the weak point——among the body covered in thick scales, only the belly was relatively thin. It was not just knowledge of this information, but a movement that had been ingrained in his body through actual combat.
The lizard's movement faltered. Its charge stopped, its body turning to the side. ガレン created distance and positioned himself for the next angle.
During that moment, another large stone fell from the ceiling.
A roar echoed through the chamber. The collapse was beginning.
ガレン pressed his sword against the lizard's neck, putting his weight into it, driving it against the rock wall. The lizard was slammed into the stone and thrashed violently once——then went still.
At that instant, the sound of the ceiling cracks spreading rapidly filled the air.
"Run."
ガレン・ライゼン's voice came short and sharp. All three ran at once. Toward the exit on the east side. Crushing the broken stones beneath their feet, the roar of the collapse filled the chamber behind them.
The moment they broke through into the passage beyond the exit, the chamber's ceiling came down.
A heavy sound transmitted through the passage. Dust flowed like a wave. The three did not stop but pressed forward.
──
It was some time later that ミラ spoke.
In a whisper, at a distance that only reached セレナ walking ahead.
"I saw ガレン-sama's sword technique up close."
セレナ turned her gaze slightly to the side. ミラ's jade-green eyes were not looking at ガレン's back ahead, but at the ground.
"The Imperial Northern Conquest Legion——an elite unit organized by the Empire of Grandveld for territorial expansion northward, possessing its own unique sword training methodology——there are movements similar to their training style. In the royal palace's diplomatic archives room, there are imperial military records documenting the characteristics of each nation's sword angles and weight distribution. When I was assigned to organize them as a lady-in-waiting, I reviewed them. The angle of that step and slash matches the standard training methodology of the Northern Conquest Legion recorded in those materials."
セレナ remained silent. ミラ continued.
"I say nothing of this here and now. Only——I thought you should remember."
With that, ミラ closed her mouth. She added nothing more.
セレナ faced forward. She looked at ガレン's back. Ash-tinged short hair. The sword scar on his left cheek. The story of the Gray Wolf Company he had told on the mountain pass night. The way of moving that knew the blind spots in the Imperial Northern Conquest Legion's deployment from the inside——these overlapped with ミラ's words.
(I know only half of what this man is.)
That recognition was beginning to take on a new form. But for now, getting through this mine shaft came first. She could make her judgment beyond the exit.
──
The passage near the exit closest to the mine's deepest point was narrower than the previous chamber.
The width barely allowed two people to pass side by side. The ceiling was low, the walls on both sides pressing in. The light from the exit——the pale white of early dawn——was visible small and distant down the passage.
Before that light, shadows moved.
Multiple shadows spread, blocking the exit.
ガレン stopped immediately. セレナ and ミラ stopped as well.
They were imperial soldiers. Five of them. Entering the passage from the exit side. Leather armor with shoulder plates bearing the emblem of the Imperial Northern Conquest Legion. Bare swords in hand. Scout equipment——an advance unit from the main force, moving quickly.
She glanced back at the passage. The collapsed chamber blocked retreat. They could not fall back.
It was close-quarters combat.
ガレン drew his sword. Simultaneously, he began moving. Drawing the two in front while using the walls to restrict lateral deployment——only someone who had learned close-quarters combat in their body could move this way.
"Three remaining soldiers are attempting to circle around along the right wall."
ミラ spoke in a low voice. She was watching the changes in the wall's shadows——when enemies moved, the phosphorescent residue etched into the mine walls would subtly change the shape of shadows. Following that change, she was reading their path ahead.
"Three meters ahead, after passing through the indentation in the left wall, they will emerge on this side."
セレナ looked at that point. Indeed, there was a small indentation in the wall. If they passed through there, the flanking maneuver would be complete.
——Only seconds remained.
セレナ took the phosphorescent stone fragment from her sleeve.
It was a small piece. About the size of her thumb's tip. Whether she could activate the basic sorcery she had learned in the royal palace's sorcery education using this as a catalyst——she had repeated it in theory countless times, but had never actually activated it with her own hands.
(To wring out a spell my body has never known, with will alone.)
She began the incantation. Without speaking aloud. Moving only her lips. Pouring strength into the hand gripping the phosphorescent stone. The fragment began to generate heat.
The three ミラ had predicted passed through the indentation. They stepped forward, turning toward her.
The spell——activated.
It was not a complete form. Instead of the flame she intended, the fire-type spell released only a flash and a heat wave. An incomplete spell. But that flash exploded across the dark passage.
Three soldiers covered their eyes. Their advance stopped.
Seconds. In those seconds, ガレン had changed the situation. After controlling the two in front's swords, he turned toward the three. Moving without waste against enemies whose movements had stopped——he pressed the three against the wall in sequence, rendering them incapacitated.
All five were subdued.
The phosphorescent stone shattered in セレナ's palm.
At the same time, vertigo came. Mild vertigo and sudden exhaustion——the sensation of excessive phosphorescent sorcery use affecting her consciousness. Her feet sought the wall. She reached out and touched the rock face. The cold sensation of stone entered her palm. Relying on it, she remained standing.
ガレン approached one of the subdued scouts. He quickly checked their belongings. From a leather pouch, he withdrew a thin folded paper. He unfolded it.
His expression unchanged, he read that paper in seconds.
——He deciphered it.
The Imperial Northern Conquest Legion's internal identification code——a cipher system used by imperial forces for inter-unit communication, combining numbers and symbols in a unique notation system that only those belonging to the military organization could understand——was recorded on the document.
Each code indicated unit names, advance directions, estimated arrival times. To decipher them required actual experience of having this system drilled into on
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.