episode_0003

Aria of the Black Sword, second-in-command of the villainous organization, “Black Serpent.”

A regular character who has appeared since the first installment of the series alongside Rain Grey, the leader, and a formidable warrior who has steadfastly held her ground even as many allies were crushed by the protagonist’s party.

Above all, she was the most reliable right-hand in this world, someone I could trust completely.

“You there, get off the train at once.”

She rose to face the approaching pure white knights.

“Regrettably, we cannot.”

“……!”

Seeing the jet-black greatsword now held in Aria’s hand, an air of bewilderment settled among the knights.

“You bastards, surely……!”

It was a hair-trigger situation, taut as if about to explode. I spoke to the knights who had their hands on their sword hilts in that state.

“Withdraw quietly.”

Without even thinking of standing up from my seat.

“We have no intention of causing unnecessary trouble. If you withdraw, we promise to let this pass quietly.”

I knew they wouldn’t listen anyway, but I said it out of courtesy. It wasn’t a lie, after all.

“Do you expect us to believe that?”

“Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant.”

I said.

“Because I’m not making a suggestion or a request.”

“Then what is it?”

“Mercy.”

Just because we’re a villainous organization doesn’t mean we’re all blood-crazed warmongers. At least, I wasn’t.

I want to avoid avoidable conflicts or unnecessary fights as much as possible.

“Ha! What eloquent nonsense spewed from a gaping mouth.”

*Clang.*

A knight scoffed and drew the sword from his sword belt. The silver glint of the blade shone ominously along its edge. Starting with that action, the knights all drew their swords and assumed battle stances.

It seemed pointless to continue the conversation beyond this. I hadn’t particularly expected anything in the first place.

Then there was only one thing to do.

“Alice.”

“Yes, Leader!”

“Keep the train moving straight to the Empire.”

“……And don’t eat it?”

“Don’t eat it.”

“Don’t eat the train’s smokebox either?”

“……Just follow orders.”

It seemed she really intended to swallow the train’s smokebox. I replied, dumbfounded.

“Okay, I’ll follow orders!”

Alice replied with a wide smile. At the same time, *grin*, her shadow at her feet stretched its mouth into a grotesque crescent, smiling.

“It’s a Shadow Eater!”

“You snake bastards, do you think we’ll just let you do as you please……!”

In front of the writhing shadow, the knights didn’t panic and spoke its identity aloud. As expected of a knightly order, the pride of their nation, it seemed they wouldn’t just be helplessly overwhelmed without lifting a finger.

“No, we will allow it.”

However, the knights’ opponent wasn’t Alice.

“─Because the Leader wishes for it.”

“!”

By the time they realized it, she had moved faster than Alice’s spreading shadow.

As I said─ this is the world of a game.

Furthermore, according to the lore of the Heroic Century series, knights belonging to the ‘Crusader Knights’ are generally around level 50. That’s by no means a low level.

However, in the case of ‘Aria of the Black Sword’ and Rain Grey, the leader, whom you encounter during the story progression…

Both of them were .

Literally, they were question marks, so their levels were unknown. Incidentally, when combat occurred after encountering them, it was always a mandatory defeat event.

While I don’t know the extent to which this world strictly adheres to system rules, one thing I do know is that my game knowledge, including level values, is by no means meaningless.

And right now, Aria’s Black Sword was proof of that.

*Swish!*

A dark, black trajectory slid like a serpent along the blade towards the white knights. As if unilaterally painting over their colors.

The sword tip danced.

No blood splattered. No armor was cut, nor did screams echo. Because it wasn’t swung to cut.

*Crunch, crunch!*

Instead─ they crumpled.

As if wadding up paper with both hands, the ‘area occupying volume’ within the trajectory of her swinging sword was compressed into the shape of a small sphere.

The bodies of the knights, fully armed in heavy plate armor, were compressed whole like balls, then sucked into Aria’s Black Sword.

As if being drawn into a black hole.

……So I pulled out another cigarette from my pocket and lit it.

“Ah, ahh……”

Several knights vanished on the spot. Literally vanished. Without leaving anything behind.

Seeing that sight, the Crusader Knights who hadn’t yet been touched by the Black Sword’s domain froze.

Their hands lost strength, and the swords they held fell to the ground. Only then did a sound finally emerge. The sound of metal hitting the ground.

Although I couldn’t see their faces, obscured by their helmets, it wasn’t hard to imagine their expressions hardened by lost will and terror. I was even confident I could mimic such an expression myself.

An entire area, including people, was compressed whole like a small sphere, then sucked in and vanished.

One could say they were devoured by the sword.

What’s more, that scene was no longer just an in-game skill or graphic viewed on a monitor.

It was something that actually happened right before my eyes, in a living, breathing world.

In a sense, that ability, which felt absurdly unrealistic, was several times more chilling than Alice’s ‘Shadow Eater’ holding a talent show.

“Hoo.”

Before I knew it, the cigarette in my mouth was my second.

No wonder I couldn’t help but chain-smoke, something not in my destiny.

Transmigrated without knowing why, struggling to survive, and now I’m suddenly on the verge of getting lung cancer and dying.

“No one……”

Amidst the white knights frozen in terror, Aria opened her mouth softly.

“The Leader’s will is absolute, and no one can obstruct it.”

As she readjusted her grip on the hilt of the Black Sword. Incidentally, at that moment, I was about to light my third cigarette. It looked like I’d be spending more on cigarettes as soon as we got off the train.

“Because I won’t allow it.”

Aria’s eyes were hidden beneath black bandages, unseen. Yet, her voice as she spoke was even deeper and darker than that.

“Yes, that’s right!”

So much so that Alice’s voice, as she raised it and grinned, felt bright in comparison.

“We won’t allow it. Right, Aria Unnie?”

“Yes, Alice. Absolutely not. ─Never.”

“……”

Disregarding their resolve as they spoke, I remained unmoving in my passenger seat.

Without moving, the tip of the cigarette in my mouth slowly burned down. It felt like my insides and lungs were burning along with it.

“M-monsters……”

One of the pure white knights muttered in a trembling voice.

Something incomprehensible even to them, the elite proud of the Holy Kingdom, who were readily prepared to die in battle.

In truth, I couldn’t understand it either.

Because I knew nothing to begin with.

The reason why they, and by extension the organization “Black Serpent,” were loyal to the ‘Leader.’

The incomprehensible loyalty Aria and Alice were displaying before me right now. No, I wasn’t even sure if it could be called loyalty.

It was something that could easily be called blind, a form of obsession, in fact.

At the very least, I wished there was information from the game.

For what purpose did this organization exist?

What did this man, ‘the Leader,’ desire?

And why did they show him such absolute, almost obsessive, loyalty?

Perhaps the ‘real Rain Grey’ would know the reason. I didn’t.

And I couldn’t just ask Aria or Alice about it.

At least, I could explain the reason outside of the game.

Because they had to release a new game.

The developers probably didn’t know either. I wondered if they had even thought about it.

Anyway, since they had to continue the series, they must have just thrown out a bunch of plot hooks without any intention of resolving them. And because it was vague to explain, they probably just vaguely attributed it to “Black Serpent’s unknown purpose or plan” every time.

Those damn, cursed bastards. That’s why you can’t make it to the big leagues and will be called a shit small company your whole lives.

Now, I had to explain it. Right here.

No, explanations aside, I had to at least know the reason.

─Because I needed to know to survive.

If I kept living day by day with my heart pounding, without raising their suspicions, I probably wouldn’t live out my full lifespan. No, it had probably already been significantly shortened.

By the time the cigarette in my mouth became the fourth, no trace of the Crusader Knights remained.

As if no one had ever existed there in the first place.

Aria flicked the sword tip as if shaking off unasked-for blood, then sheathed it on her back.

Afterward, with no one left to operate the train under the knights’ control, Alice’s shadow moved.

The morning sunlight seeping through the train window faded. The entire area darkened as if it were the middle of the night, and the shadow didn’t stop there but permeated the train’s body.

Along with that, a train whistle that shouldn’t have sounded rang out. It was the sound of the train, arbitrarily igniting its smokebox and spewing steam, beginning to race down the railway.

I looked out the train window, where nothing was visible, obscured by the shadow. I gazed out and pondered my future plans.

We probably couldn’t go straight from the Holy Kingdom to the Imperial Capital like this. I’d have to get off midway, shake off any pursuit, change trains, buy some cigarettes while I was at it, and arrive at the secret auction in the capital without being late.

After that, I’d save the Holy Maiden, who was on the verge of being sold as a slave at the Imperial secret auction.

Why save her?

Because if I didn’t save her, the protagonist would.

In any case, she was the key to unraveling the story of this game, a game I’d pre-ordered but barely played.

The Holy Maiden wouldn’t be on the cover without reason. She must surely hold something crucial to the story’s core.

Therefore, to obtain answers, I couldn’t let some unknown protagonist snatch her away.

That’s where it all begins.

After thinking that, I flicked the adequately burnt cigarette with my finger, and the moment I put my hand back into my pocket…

I realized that had been the last cigarette.

Ah.