chapter02 · 062-ep56
Episode 56: The Knight of Beginnings
Saturday.
The eastern edge of Moriyama Ward.
Cross the Shonai River, go a while, and past the residential streets you start to see them — rounded green hills, lined up in rows.
The Shidami Kofun Group.
A place where the graves of people from long ago still stand, like so many hills.
In one of them, on the flank of an especially large round mound, there was a stone door.
An old horizontal tomb of stacked, moss-covered stones. Set into its depths, a dungeon door.
The Shidami dungeon.
C-rank. A special dungeon, outside the promotion designations.
"Whoa!"
The voice slipped out of me, right at the door.
A burial mound, as the entrance.
If the me of those days could see this, he'd probably sit right down and start writing three pages of lore on the spot.
Honestly, the current me wants to write them too.
Around the entrance were only a few explorers. Not being designated, no rank-up seekers come. Just a few enthusiasts — and a few tourists come to see the mounds.
I held my Guild card to the gate.
A silver card. C-rank.
The green lamp lit.
For the first time, with my own strength, I had opened a C-rank door.
Inside, the Shidami dungeon was stone corridors.
Walls of stacked great stones. The ceiling too, made of flat heavy slabs. Here and there on the walls, old spiral patterns were carved.
The air was cool against the skin.
A ways on, a stone door waited at the end of the corridor.
Two statues stood before it.
Soldier statues of packed earth. Round eyes and mouths, gaping holes.
Haniwa.
Haniwa Guardian Difficulty: C
The haniwa turned its head toward me — gigigi.
Deep in the hole-eyes, a red glow.
Earthen feet dragged — zuri — across the stone floor. Both gripped earthen swords. Old-style straight blades, edges chipped to ruin.
"It MOVES?!"
I very nearly stepped back — and stopped.
The opposite. My feet wanted to go forward.
"—No inscription, no meaning — cut, Nameless."
Today was a Nameless day. For somewhere new, I wanted the blade my hand knew best.
The black blade settling into my hand and the haniwa kicking off the floor were very nearly simultaneous.
Fast.
Two earthen bodies charging side by side. Heavy-looking as they were, the footfalls were light.
The first one's sword came down from above.
I took it on the katana.
Heavy.
An earthen body, yet far heavier than any D-rank monster. The shock ran from the caught blade to my wrist, wrist to elbow — a jolt right through. My soles skidded on the stone.
"That's C-rank for you."
There was a bounce in my voice.
Before it became a shoving match, I flowed the caught sword aside. The haniwa tipped forward onto itself.
Down onto its torso, I swung.
A dry pakin. Fine cracks spread all at once from the line of the cut, and the first one crumbled into a mound of earth.
The second came from behind.
I knew by the footsteps. No time to turn.
Half-twisting my body, I cut upward from below. Its sword was flung loose, cartwheeling through the air.
A return stroke to the wide-open neck.
The second returned to earth as well.
The fallen earthen sword rang out — karan — in the distance.
The weight of that one block still lingered in my palms.
An opponent that numbs your hands with a single parry.
Couldn't ask for better.
The pattern carved on the stone door glowed blue.
With a heavy gogogo, the door opened.
"I see — that's the mechanism."
Beat the gatekeeper, advance to the next chamber.
Apparently, a dungeon where you work through the mound's stone chambers one room at a time.
Interesting.
Floor 2. Floor 3.
With each stone chamber, the gatekeeper haniwa changed.
Haniwa with bows. Haniwa with spears. A haniwa carrying two shields.
Floor 3's gatekeeper was the bow.
The instant I opened the door, a bowstring sang from the chamber's depths.
Something whisked past my ear — struck the wall behind, and an earthen arrow shattered.
"A bow?! That's dirty!"
I dove behind a pillar.
A second. A third. Arrows shattered against the pillar; earthen dust came pattering down.
I counted.
Between arrow and arrow — exactly one breath's gap.
The fourth shattered on the pillar.
Now.
I burst out from cover and closed the distance in one dash. The bow haniwa fumbled, almost flustered, to nock the next arrow.
It wasn't going to make it.
Inside its guard, I cut clean through the torso — bow and all.
Behind me, the pattering collapse of earth.
Floor 4's gatekeeper was the haniwa with two shields.
One on each forearm — earthen shields thick as turtle shells. My frontal slash got batted right back — gatsun — and my arm bounced up with the katana.
"HARD."
Again. New angle this time.
Gatsun.
No good. The two shields sealed the front, gapless.
"Fine — from the side, then."
I circled right. The haniwa turned its shields right.
Fast. It's watching, properly.
That instant, I cut back left.
The shields didn't make it.
I slammed the katana into the wide-open flank.
"Yesss!"
Fun.
A full step above D-rank. Every single one fights like it's actually thinking. How to break its guard, where to cut — I have to work it out each time.
And that was incredibly fun.
Down at Floor 5, I stopped.
The stone chamber was hushed. No trace of anyone else.
Here, then.
Today's trip to Shidami wasn't only to dive.
It was to summon.
An Executive.
I opened 【Vault of Tomes】 and drew out the Executives' volume.
A black cover. Like †The Book of the King†, the title blacked out in marker.
Who to call.
I'd spent the whole week thinking about it.
Tiamat would probably hug me the instant she appeared. Kichinana would absolutely start in about her subordinate girls. Akasha would demand to see the original Book of the King. Ignia would probably propose on the spot.
Every one of them required mental preparation.
Especially the girls.
Because I know exactly what the me of those days wrote for each of them.
So — men first.
And in order, at that. From the First Seat.
I turned the page.
Black hair. One lock of bangs hanging loose. Gold eyes. A soft-smiling, textbook pretty-boy. Formal dress of black with gold embroidery. A short cape over one shoulder.
Beside it, my handwriting packed dense in the margins:
"Cape shorter than the King's coat (must not outshine the King)"
"Always make him bow once before drawing his sword (the stronger they are, the more courteous)"
"Also draw the room where his collected weapons are lined up (a collection exists to be shown)"
"'Must not outshine the King,' huh."
The me of those days — the sheer care he took with the King's dignity.
Vira Arche Protogonos.
In the first timeline, the gods chose him as "the hero who would fell the King." He crossed blades with the King — and even so, swore his loyalty.
The first retainer the King ever took in.
"Let's call him."
The instant I decided, words flowed into my head.
Far longer than Hati's or Skoll's. My handwriting carved itself into the page's margin. One line. Two. Three. Four. Five.
"That's LONG."
But reading it back — actually kind of cool.
One deep breath.
I stood in the center of the stone chamber and held out my right hand.
"—The hero's crest upon my right hand, the dawnlight dwelling in the holy sword."
A line of light ran across the stone floor.
"—Where thou drawest, darkness yields; where thou standest, the road opens."
The lines drew circles. One ring. Two. Three.
"—Thou art courage. Thou art the beginning. The first light kindled upon the road of the End."
Golden light brimmed within the magic circle.
The ancient patterns on the walls began to glow blue, as if in answer.
"—Tehom Rabbah, First Seat."
"—Come forth, 'Hero of the End'! Stand once more at my side!"
The magic circle burst.
When the light settled, a young man stood there.
Exactly as the concept art. Only the lining of the flared cape was deep red.
Identical — and yet far cooler than the art.
An absurdly handsome man.
A clean straight nose. Well-shaped brows. Soft eyes. From every angle, the face was put together. Even in the chamber's dim light, he alone looked spotlit.
I remembered.
The me of those days, beside Vira's concept art, had written big:
"Above all, handsome (second only to the King)"
"Stupidly handsome"
"Every-girl-turns-her-head level"
Exactly as written — a stupidly handsome man stood before me.
Incredible.
Deep in my chest, a slow warmth spread.
Winter of second-year middle school, at my desk, drawn in pencil. Erased and redrawn how many times, until at last the face I thought: this is him. I worked out his name, paged through dictionaries, chased it all the way into Greek. Wrote his history — and lay awake into the night asking why a hero would choose the King.
That person, now, before my eyes — breathing.
Blinking.
The hem of his cape stirring, faintly, in the chamber's still air.
The soldier, the Shadow Servant, Hati, Skoll — every one of them had made me happy. But a "person" — with a face, with a name, with a history I had written down to the last line — standing before me was something else entirely.
Before embarrassment could even arrive, I was moved.
I really did write this guy.
The gold eyes found me.
His whole face lit up.
Smiling, somehow even more handsome.
"—My King!"
Full-faced smile — the young man dropped to one knee.
A light tap — tan — on the stone floor.
"Vira Arche Protogonos, First Seat of Tehom Rabbah! I present myself before you!"
His voice was buoyant.
Unbelievably buoyant.
"Ahh — at last, at last you have called for me! I have been waiting this whole time, my King."
Face up, eyes sparkling, he looked one breath from springing to his feet.
I'd braced for tears — instead, pure energy.
"Ah, um... hello."
"Hello!"
A full-power greeting, returned by an ex-hero.
"Sorry for the wait. It took me long enough to call."
"Not at all!"
Vira shook his head, hard.
"From the very night the King awoke, we have all gathered before the screen, every day, to watch over your exploits. The holy sword at Chikusa; the ceramic giant at Akazu; the great toad at Toda. Each and every one was truly magnificent."
"Eh — you watched everything?"
"All of it!"
The smile was blinding.
A hero.
This man — truly, utterly — is a straight-arrow hero.
"Um. About calling me 'King'..."
"Yes?"
"Right now, I'm not the King. I can become the King, but usually I'm this. I'm called Ichinose Saku."
"I am aware."
"Then 'Saku' is fine. Not King."
Vira's brows dipped, troubled.
"That... will not do. The King is the King."
"But, I mean — right now I'm off duty."
"An off-duty King is still the King!"
"......"
"......"
For a while, we simply looked at each other.
Then, as if conceding, Vira laughed — ahaha.
"Then... 'Saku-sama.' Would that be permitted?"
"I don't need the -sama."
"On THAT, I will not yield!"
He was smiling.
Refreshing — and not giving a single inch.
"Fine, fine. Saku-sama."
"Thank you, Saku-sama."
The hero is strong.
"Now then, Saku-sama."
Vira set his hand on the hilt at his hip.
"I shall attend you. The stone chambers ahead — let us take them together."
"Yeah — let's go!"
"Together...!"
Vira's face lit up all over again.
"Fighting at the King's side — not since the first timeline. Ahh, my sword arm itches."
Before the Floor 6 stone door stood three haniwa.
Sword, spear, bow. All three, a size up from anything so far.
"Saku-sama — which shall you take?"
"I'll take the spear."
"Then I, the sword. As for the bow — first come, first served!"
"It's first come, first served?"
Vira stepped forward.
Before drawing his sword — toward the haniwa — an elegant bow.
He actually bowed.
"Always make him bow once before drawing his sword" — written beside the concept art, performed to the letter.
"Now — to fair and honest combat!"
The black holy sword flashed from its sheath.
A blade black as the night sky. The chamber's pale-blue light seemed to twinkle on the edge like stars.
The sword haniwa kicked off, slashing down at Vira — a bigger body, a blow hammered from on high.
Vira caught it head-on.
A gagin rang through the whole chamber. Vira's feet had not given a single step.
He grinned.
"Fine swordwork!"
Praised him first — then cut.
He shoved the caught sword right back, and on the return stroke cleaved the torso in one flash. The haniwa split at the waist and crumbled.
No time to stand around admiring.
The spear haniwa already had its point leveled at me.
Coming.
A straight thrust. Fast. Aiming dead center.
I deflected it with the blade's spine. The point grated — gari — up the steel.
It pulled back at once — second thrust. At my legs this time.
I leapt clear. Third thrust, right where I landed.
Fast. But three viewings, and the eyes adjust.
I swept the point outward with the spine and slid in along the inside of the shaft.
Inside its guard.
Cut.
Cracks raced from chest to shoulder; the spear haniwa caved in.
One left — the bow.
Deep in the chamber, the bow haniwa was nocking an arrow.
Aimed at me.
"—!"
I stepped. The arrow flew.
Close. Can I dodge it—?
Before the arrow — a black shadow cut in.
It was Vira.
He swatted the arrow down with the flat of his blade and broke into a run at the bow haniwa. It hurriedly swung its next arrow onto him.
"Saku-sama — now!"
"On it."
While Vira held its attention, I circled from the far side.
The bow haniwa's head swiveled between Vira and me, as if it couldn't decide.
Too slow.
We cut at the same instant.
Vira from the right, me from the left. Two blades crossed; the bow haniwa came down.
"YESSS!"
"Finely struck, Saku-sama."
Sword still in hand, Vira threw his free one up.
Reflexively, I met it.
A crisp pahn rang through the chamber.
"You know high-fives?"
"I saw you share them with your friends — from outside the universe. So I learned it."
They've been watching everything.
And yet — I was ridiculously happy.
"Also, Saku-sama. Someday, please let me behold one of the weapons from the weapons volume!"
"Some other time. It definitely wouldn't stop at one, would it."
Floor 7. Floor 8.
Fighting beside Vira was startlingly easy.
I go right, Vira covers left. I step in, Vira solidifies the rear. Whoever I break, Vira finishes; whoever Vira draws in, I cut.
Words were almost unnecessary.
Floor 8's stone chamber had an unusually high ceiling.
We entered — no gatekeeper anywhere.
And yet the far door stayed shut, its pattern glowing blue alone.
Something was off.
"Saku-sama — above!"
"I know."
My look up and the haniwa dropping from the ceiling's dark happened at once. Not one — three. Swords pointed straight down, falling dead-true.
We jumped at the same instant.
Passing the first on its way down, I swept its torso. Contact. Twisting in midair, I took the second's sword on my katana.
Heavy. Heavier than a moment ago — by exactly the force of the fall.
Overpowered, my form broke in the air.
"Bad," I thought — and a black blade ran in from the side; the second one's head flew.
"Pardon me — cutting in from the side!"
I landed and spun at once. The third had touched down and was raising its sword over Vira's back.
Not happening.
I stepped in and cut upward from below.
Batted its sword up before it could reach Vira's back. Return stroke — torso.
Vira laughed without so much as turning.
"Thank you, Saku-sama. I knew you would come."
"That's one you owe me."
"Then let us call it even against one arrow from Floor 6."
"Isn't that cheating?"
Beyond the crumbling third, the door's pattern flared bright.
"Saku-sama — your swordwork is the very image of the King's."
"Eh — really?"
"Yes. The same way of cutting as the King whose blade I crossed in the first timeline. Your body remembers, I believe."
"Does it now."
The body remembers.
Akane-senpai's "Why can you use all of them?" drifted through my head.
Somehow, it felt like it finally fit.
But right now — more than thinking — it was fun.
Floor 10.
The door at the bottom of the stairs was bigger than any before it.
Spiral patterns covered the whole stone face. At their center, a single carved figure — a man on horseback.
"This is the boss. Definitely."
"The layer boss's chamber, I should think."
Vira looked up at the carving, eyes narrowing pleasantly.
I set my palm to the door. Cool to the touch.
Pushed.
With a heavy gogogo, the door ground slowly open.
Beyond it — a chamber far vaster than any so far.
High ceiling. Spiral patterns carved dense across every wall.
In the center of the chamber — it was there.
A haniwa horse.
A great horse of earth. On its back, an armored haniwa. In its hand, a spear longer than its bearer stood tall. Beneath the helm, hole-eyes burned red.
Haniwa Shogun Difficulty: C (layer boss)
The horse pawed the floor with a foreleg.
Katsun, katsun. The strikes rang through the wide chamber.
That alone seemed to press the air down.
"Whoa — a general! That's so cool."
"Cavalry. This one will be a handful."
Vira took his stance.
His face was having fun. Mine, probably, was the same.
"Saku-sama — how shall we go about it?"
"We need to do something about the horse. If it gets to run rings around us, we can't close in."
"Then I shall stop the horse. Saku-sama — the general on top!"
"Got it."
The general raised its spear high.
The red eyes fixed on me, dead-on.
Here it comes.
Hooves struck stone. With every stride, tremors climbed up into my soles. An earthen horse — faster than a real one. A wall of a body closed the distance in a blink.
From horseback, the spear came down.
I jumped sideways.
The spearhead gouged through where I'd just been. The wind alone dragged my bangs clean back.
The horse ran on to the chamber's edge and wheeled about before the wall.
Too fast. At that speed it would blow past me before I could swing.
The second charge came.
And square in its path stood Vira.
"Vira?!"
"No need for concern! Its legwork — I have it memorized."
Vira, sword held low, did not move.
The horse's neck. The forelegs. The spear. All of it bore straight down on Vira.
The instant before impact — the black blade ran out in a flat, horizontal line.
Both forelegs flew, together.
The great body pitched forward; the general was flung from its back into the air.
"—Saku-sama!"
"—Yeah!"
I jumped.
Katana swung high, at the airborne general.
Got him.
So I thought — but the general twisted in midair.
The spear's shaft cut in ahead of my blade. A gan — it caught me — and shoved back with brute force.
Blown away bodily, I rolled twice across the floor — caught myself on the third and finally stopped.
When I looked up, the general had already landed.
Horse lost — and it didn't so much as buckle. It whirled the spear in a full circle and stamped the butt-spike down — don.
A stance that said: we are only getting started.
My arms throbbed.
And yet the corners of my mouth were rising on their own.
Strong. This one is properly strong.
"Saku-sama!"
"I'm fine! Vira — the horse, please!"
The foreleg-less horse thrashed its neck about. Kicking off with its hind legs alone, it went at Vira almost crawling. Vira ran to meet it — delightedly.
The general came.
The long spear howled in from the side, sweeping. Wind shaved over my ducked head.
A second strike at once. A thrust, this time.
I deflected it. Sparks — gyari — and numbness to the elbow. Heavy.
I dodged the third back; the fourth, back again.
Too far. The spearhead reaches me; my katana can't reach it.
Then I close the distance myself.
Ducking the fifth sweep, I pressed forward.
I can get in—
The instant I thought it, the spear spun — and the butt-spike snapped up from below.
I caught it with the blade's flat. Gatsun — stopped just under my chin. A hair slower, and it would have landed clean.
Shoved back — out of range again.
Whoa. So that's how it comes.
Not just the blade. The far end of the shaft is a weapon too — used properly. Nothing like the Floor 6 spear. I step in, and the butt-spike is waiting, like it knew I would.
Sixth. Seventh. Back. Back.
Before I knew it, my back had met the wall's spiral patterns.
My heart was loud.
But not with fear. Loud with fun.
A long weapon stops being frightening once you're inside its guard.
The problem is how to get inside.
Sweep, then thrust. Step in, butt-spike.
It had been nothing but that, over and over.
Then I match the thrust. A spear stretched full-out can't be wheeled around at once.
The general drew the spear way, way back.
The greatest thrust yet was coming.
Come on.
Timing the incoming point, I stepped forward.
A hot line grazed across my cheek. Like I care.
I slid the katana along the shaft — one step, two. The general tried to wheel the spear. But a fully-extended spear does not come back.
Inside the spear. The general's guard.
The red eyes were right there.
From below, I cut upward.
The impact was far lighter than I'd imagined.
One thin diagonal line entered the helm. A beat later, everything above it slid askew and dropped — gotori.
The body that remained, spear still gripped, toppled slowly backward.
From across the chamber came the sound of Vira taking the horse's neck.
General and horse collapsed, almost together.
Stillness returned to the chamber.
Even with the katana lowered, my arms still buzzed and trembled.
From my cheek, a single thread of blood ran down. A graze.
But more than that—
"That was FUN!"
I threw my head back and shouted — and Vira was shouting with the very same volume.
"It was fun, wasn't it, Saku-sama!"
We looked at each other.
Then laughed at exactly the same time.
Deep in the chamber, a stone stairway leading up had appeared.
Time to head home.
"Vira."
"Yes, Saku-sama."
"Thanks for today. It was unbelievably fun."
"The pleasure was mine. The finest of days!"
Vira took a knee again.
A magic circle rose at his feet. Light climbed him, slowly, from the ground up.
"Saku-sama!"
"Hm?"
"Outside the universe, everyone is waiting for your call, Saku-sama. The Third Seat especially — having watched you summon me, she is, no doubt, rolling about on the floor as we speak."
"I can just picture it."
"Please — call them one by one, in order."
"Yeah. In order. Men first."
"Men first......"
For just an instant, Vira went blank.
Then — as if something had dawned on him — he laughed. Ahaha.
"I believe that is a most prudent decision."
"Right?"
"Yes."
The light had climbed to his chest.
"Saku-sama. The next time you call me, by all means, let me behold one of the weapons from the weapons volume!"
"Still going on about that?"
"I am a collector!"
Still in that full-faced smile, Vira dissolved into the light.
Only I remained in the stone chamber.
It went quiet.
But not lonely — not at all.
Tracing the graze on my cheek with one finger, I grinned.
"I'll call him again."
Who next, then.
Men first. In order.
Climbing the stairs home, I turned the pages of the Executives' volume, in my head.