Chapter 52: Projection (2)

Though she was clearly seeing through her own eyes, she had no control over her body.

It was as if she had become an actress in a play.

The memories and emotions of the child called Priya were flooding into her, shared as though they were her own. 

This strange sensation— one she’d never experienced before— made Frennila feel a touch of discomfort. 

But soon enough, she gave in and began observing the situation as it unfolded.

…

It was a day when the sun poured down and the grasslands were at their greenest.

Children had gathered in a field near the village, laughing and running about.

「The hibiscus has bloomed!」

At the center of the group was a girl with hair like silken jade, tied up high on her head. 

Her ponytail swung like a horse’s tail with every movement.

With a quick snap of her head, she turned— and the children around her instantly froze, holding their breath.

Her sharp gaze scanned the group, and then she pointed at a boy at the very back, her voice triumphant.

「Kenneth! I saw you move!」

「…I didn’t move.」

「I saw it too! You flinched!」

「Ehi, not you too?」

As more and more witnesses chimed in, the boy finally conceded and stepped forward. 

He hooked his pinky finger with the jade-haired girl’s.

Ehi, the girl who had spoken up, winked at the jade-haired girl as if to say, “I did good, right?”

Thanks to her friend’s help, the jade-haired girl giggled at the warmth of the pinky linked with hers.

Maybe I’ll get to hold his hand two more times… Smiling to herself, she turned to resume her role as the tagger.

「The hibiscus has bloomed— kyaaa!」

「The one to rescue Kenneth from the villain’s clutches is none other than me, Svioha!」

But contrary to her expectations, a shrine maiden came sliding across the grass with the help of some strange spell, delivering a chopping blow that instantly broke the connection between the girl’s and Kenneth’s pinky fingers.

The sharp pain in her finger was one thing— but this was the final straw. 

The emotions that had been building up finally boiled over.

I… I can’t take it anymore!

Every time she got a chance to be close to Kenneth, that girl always got in the way.

If things had just gone normally this time, she was planning to pretend to trip and fall into his arms while chasing him.

Even the kiss (though they were very young back then), the time she held his hand first (only because they got lost at night), the time she clung to him (after knocking herself out while playing)— she’d lost her chance every time to her.

You can only be understanding for so long. 

Fueled by a mix of pent-up frustration and the sting in her fingers, she could no longer think clearly.

A burst of strength surged up from her legs— compressed muscles conditioned by real-world training, totally unfitting for her delicate frame.

She launched herself forward with terrifying speed. 

Not even Svioha’s mysterious spells could help her escape. 

She was caught.

“Kyaaa! You can’t just grab someone by the hair! Ow, let go! You’re ripping it out!”

Svioha, now caught by the hair, retaliated by grabbing the other girl’s hair in return.

What should we do? 

The other kids looked on in a panic, helpless in the face of the fierce brawl.

“That’s enough, both of you!”

The boy stepped between them.

“But Svioha’s always picking on me! It’s not fair!”

“Kenneth, you saw, right? Priya grabbed my hair first!”

Despite his attempt to mediate, neither girl let go of the other’s hair.

This is getting dangerous. 

Especially for Svioha’s hair.

Despite Priya’s brute strength, Svioha’s hair held on resilient and stubborn, refusing to tear. 

Honestly, it was kind of impressive.

“Okay, on the count of three, you both let go. One… two… three.”

A twitch.

He had suggested a solution and even counted down, but no one let go.

“I counted all the way! Let go!”

“You first!”

Sigh… What are they doing? 

These girls will be adults in a few years and going through their coming-of-age ceremony.

With a weary sigh, Kenneth raised his finger and pointed at the girl with the jade hair.

“Priya, you let go first. Right or wrong, you started it.”

“But—!”

Maybe she had more grievances bottled up than she realized. 

She found herself locking eyes with Kenneth, something she usually couldn’t even manage.

She tried to voice her complaints, but the thoughts were too tangled to sort out, and no words would come.

Ugh…

「I hate you, Kenneth!」

The jade-haired girl, seemingly hurt by Kenneth taking Svioha’s side, loosened her grip and quickly ran off.

…

「Idiot, dummy, mutt, weaker than a girl.」

Crouched between the gers at the very edge of the village, the girl muttered bitterly to herself as she stared at the ground, still feeling wronged.

Sure, she was the one who started it by grabbing hair first— but honestly, didn’t her actions make sense at that moment? 

She wished someone would understand.

In a burst of frustration, she lightly kicked a nearby pebble.

Though the motion was small, the stone shot off with force, slamming into a nearby tree’s bark with a sharp thwack.

A feat no ordinary warrior could dare imitate— no, it was practically a miracle. 

Her physical strength was worthy of such praise.

She wondered, half in anger and half in curiosity, if she could knock down a tree with a few well-aimed stones, and just as she was about to try—

「Priya, what are you doing out here all alone?」

She heard the voice of the boy who had followed her.

Even as she kept her sulky expression, her heart silently leapt with joy. 

Still, she replied in a curt tone.

「Hmph, I’m not telling you.」

If she really didn’t want to talk, she wouldn’t have answered at all— but Priya didn’t realize that contradiction.

The boy, watching her with a slight smile, stepped closer and naturally sat down beside her.

「Hey, I brought you a present.」

Judging by the weighty-looking object he was holding behind his back, he clearly meant it. 

Priya pretended not to care, but her eyes couldn’t help but drift toward him.

「Ta-da!」

Wrapped in a leather scroll like a bamboo brush case, the gift was revealed: a rugged iron arrowhead, a ‘cheolpyeon’.

「Waaah…」

She tried to hide it, but a gasp of admiration slipped out despite herself.

Other girls might have scoffed— 

This is supposed to be a gift?

But for her, this iron arrowhead was perfect.

Lately, her regular arrows kept snapping under the pressure of her own strength. 

It happened so often now.

Ugh, I swear I didn’t even use that much force… and it broke again.

She’d only mentioned it in passing, but this boy, ever attentive, hadn’t brushed it off.

And now came his heartfelt apology just for her.

「Sorry I was too harsh with you earlier. But you know, right? It’s because the people we care about most… we have to be strict with them.」

…The people we care about most.

When he puts it like that, how can she stay mad?

Trying to hide her reddening ears, she stole a glance at his profile.

「…So come on, forgive me.」

That face—what a cheat! No, more importantly, now it looks like she’s letting a gift buy her forgiveness. How shallow is that?

Sigh… oh well. Whatever.

No matter what, a present from someone you like is always a joy, always makes your heart flutter.

「Thank you. I’ll treasure it.」

She’d think more later about how to return the favor. There was still time.

For now, all she could do was offer her honest gratitude.

Cradling the gift close, Priya, the girl with jade-colored hair smiled brightly at the boy beside her.

*

‘Were those two in love?’

The tender atmosphere between the girl who looked exactly like her and the boy who resembled the prince felt like a scene straight out of the dreams she used to have.

How could she put it…? 

It was as if she could be satisfied through them, in her stead.

Especially because, unlike the usual irritating priestesses, the subtle way the boy looked at the girl only heightened her sense of contentment.

Maybe the two of them would soon promise each other a future and spend joyful days together?

‘I hope they’ll be happy.’

Frennila sincerely prayed that it would be so.

Swish— 

In an instant, the page of memory turned to the next.

The gap between those pages was vast, so vast, it felt as though two completely different novels had been forcibly stitched together.

The once bright and cheerful girl, who used to smile so sweetly, had become a mature woman.

But that smile was nowhere to be seen now, only shadows lingered across her expression.

Her old companions now wielded axes, staves, and swords, taking charge at the frontlines of the battalion.

A disaster had descended upon the continent: the black sorcerers. 

Even when their bodies perished, they had the ability to bind their souls to the land through dark energy.

With this undying power, they became known as the Legion of the Undead, never halting their advance.

 They plunged the entire continent into war and flames.

It was a completely irrational, absurd power. 

With this cruel and horrific ability, they blurred the lines between life and death, dragging countless beings into the abyss.

Since the day Teshua entered the Sabbath, the prophesied time of chaos had been expected. 

Now, it had come engulfing the continent in turmoil at the hands of those seeded by the dark god: the black sorcerers.

The warriors of the steppes were no exception.

「…This traitor will pay the price—with death.」

A steel bolt was nocked onto the curved bow of ironwood. 

Fired with terrifying speed, the bolt streaked across the sky in a deadly arc toward its target.

Thwack!

A direct hit. 

Once someone was marked by her called the emotionless reaper their chances of survival were as close to zero as one could get.

Neigh! 

Crash!

The target fell from horseback, the steel bolt having pierced through him. 

Unable to withstand the force of impact, he collapsed to the ground.

Even as he hit the earth, his hand still clutched the shield he had refused to let go of. 

But he had made no attempt to block the strike.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen it. 

It was as if… he had allowed the attack to offer up an opening on purpose. 

And the bolt, mercilessly, claimed his life.

The force of the fall had dislodged his helmet, and it rolled across the dirt.

…!

“…Why?”

Frennila, watching the scene unfold, was frozen in shock.

She had assumed that just like the girl’s old friends were now fighting on the battlefield, the boy would be somewhere nearby, still alive, still enduring. 

So then why?

Kenneth. The boy who looked exactly like the prince.

His end came in the most unexpected way struck down without hesitation by the girl with jade-colored hair: Priya.