[Sest]
We threaded our way through the castle’s maze and climbed the steep, breath-stealing stairs. Outside, the fortress walls, the gate, and the tidy town had impressed everyone—but once we were inside the main keep, it was one long march through dim corridors and endless stairwells.
“After only a month or two, this is about what I’d expect. They must’ve pulled in a lot of men,” Yard muttered, trying to sound tough. Still, whatever his complaints, none of it was something we could’ve done on our own. On the road up through the Wolfsburg range, the path had been completely restored—rest houses at regular intervals, fortified positions in odd shapes tucked into the climb. Word among the other cavalry was that Van had put the whole thing together during the advance.
The knights traveling with us kept talking about that as we marched. They’d set out prepared for a hard slog through the Wolfsburg passes, but the journey ended in less than two weeks. That was all thanks to the roads, the rest stops, and those little forts Van had built along the way. Everyone in the company felt the benefit—and, of course, Van’s name spread like wildfire.
Yard found fault with everything, tying each marvel to some reason he could grumble about, but slowly I felt my own resentment draining away. Yard had confidence in his fire magic; he fancied himself a competent commander in battle and a steady hand at civil matters. He believed in his own worth.
I couldn’t say the same for myself. As a steward, I’d made mistakes; when we’d dealt with nothing more than bandits, I hadn’t always given the clearest orders. I’d used fire magic before, but the results had rarely been decisive—sometimes my actions only got in the way. When I compared my past to what Van had achieved, ugly feelings bubbled up.
Honestly, Van’s high reputation seemed to come down to one thing: that strange magic. If I’d been blessed with the same gift, I thought, I might have shone too. It all felt like a matter of luck—who had the right aptitude for the elemental arts. If my fate had been to command the four elements, especially fire, I’d expected a brilliant future. But in the year I’d been away from home, everything had changed. War with Yerinetta was part of it—still, that could have been an opportunity to make a name. The real difference was Van. When he’d been sent to that nothing-village, I’d assumed he’d die within weeks. Instead, miracle after miracle: the village prospered under him, and, as if fate had a sense of irony, a dragon showed up and was slain.
How much good fortune does one man need? If only any of that had fallen to me…
Lost in those thoughts, I hadn’t noticed the stairway opening up until light spilled down from ahead. We’d reached the top.
Yard and I climbed the final steps together, and a breeze carrying outside air hit us: the scent of wood and leather, a harsh metallic rasp of iron on iron, and a voice I recognized. I turned toward the sound, sensing the weight of many bodies in armor.
A group of more than ten armored men stood gathered, and the man at the back—his face turned toward us—was the one speaking.
“…Murcia-nii?” someone breathed.
Murcia looked up and recognized us.
“Yaldo, Sest…? Surely Father will not take the field in this grand war?” Murcia’s small voice carried more than it should have, and it echoed oddly in the keep. Yard opened his mouth to answer, but another noble beat him to a loud, formal greeting and dropped to his knee.
“Your Majesty! Forgive our late arrival!” the middle-aged man declared. The voice carried authority, and the gathered nobles’ murmurs stilled.
The King came forward from within and nodded. “Ah, do not trouble yourselves. I could not wait for all of you and so I inspected the newly built fortress myself. You’ve seen it, no doubt—it is a magnificent stronghold. From here, if we use this as our base, we can crush the Yerinetta kingdom without much trouble,” he said, chuckling and shaking his shoulders in high spirits.
From our line stepped one of the few female nobles—a tall, imposing woman who had stayed behind at the rear to assist the march’s logistics: Viscount Panamera. I’d heard the rumor that she’d fought alongside Van in the dragon hunt; on the Wolfsburg road she’d roasted large magical beasts without breaking a sweat. Watching her wield flame, I sometimes wondered whether it hadn’t been Panamera who carried the heavier burden in that raid.
Panamera approached with the same stately bearing she’d used when addressing us. “Well then… I, too, have looked forward to seeing this stronghold. If His Majesty speaks so highly of it, it must exceed expectations.”
The King nodded and spread his arms wide. “Ten years… ten years in which this country, which surely had the strength and resources, could not expand its holdings. Ten years of stagnation! But now I am certain we can break that stagnation. Everyone understands what this means—an opportunity that appears once in decades. We will pick apart the great powers from the edges! Glory goes to those who seize it first!”
His grin was ferocious, and his words had the force of a commandment, the kind that felt like it could bind people to action. For a moment, I felt that charge too: if this campaign was the turning point, perhaps even I could perform something great. I might die on a fierce battlefield, true—but if I attached myself to the right faction, worked in the ranks of those who did not charge the front lines but performed the vital, unspectacular tasks, I could still earn honor.
Who should I attach myself to? Who would best make use of my abilities?
As that question rolled through my mind, I caught Yard's profile: his fist clenched, a small smile at the corner of his mouth. He intended to seize this chance and rise. Yard's magic was, indeed, second only to Father’s. But these mercenary-assembled forces—our current riding company—looked plainly unreliable.
Use them well, and if the risk grows too great, discard them, I heard Yard think, the words half a vow and half a threat.
I glanced at him and muttered quietly, “…Make use of them, and if they become a liability, cast them aside.”
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