The Mythical Hero's Otherworld Chronicles: Volume 1 E-Book

Tatematsuri

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: The Mythical Hero's Otherworld Chronicles
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 325

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Unexpectedly summoned to the world of Aletia from modern-day Japan, Hiro Oguro soon discovers this isn’t his first visit. As the legendary Hero King Mars, he once ruled battlefields, conquered nations, and founded the continent-spanning Grantzian Empire before giving up all memories of his hard-won glory to return home to his old life. Now he’s back, a thousand years after he left, and his legacy is in peril. The Grantzian Empire creaks under a warmonger’s rule while ambitious royals squabble for power and foreign nations sharpen their swords. After a chance encounter with Princess Elizabeth von Grantz draws him into a cutthroat struggle for imperial succession, Hiro must don the mantle of the War God once more. Can he live up to his own legend now that Aletia needs him again?

Leseprobe

Prologue

They cheered for him alone.

Every voice rang with joy as it blessed his name. Every face thronging the palace courtyard beamed with unreserved happiness. Every gaze was fixed on him, the young boy looking down on them from the balcony.

Not so long ago, their nation had teetered on the brink of destruction. Now the world knew them as proud rulers of the central continent of Soleil. It was all thanks to him—he who stood by their king through thick and thin, who held firm in times of hardship and despair, who guided their armies to victory in countless battles.

He raised one hand in acknowledgment and retreated from the balcony. Behind him, the roar of the crowd continued unabated. The city would not sleep tonight, nor in the nights to come. War-torn castle walls and ruined houses still wanted for repair, but rebuilding would come later. Now was a time for celebration, for now they were conquerors, the first nation in history to bring all of Soleil beneath their banner. The festivities would last for many days yet.

The boy made his way back inside the palace, along the passage linking balcony and throne room. A springy carpet of deep red cloth ran the length of the corridor, hemmed in on either side by spotless walls of white stone. As he walked on in silence, a young man appeared to block his path.

“Do you truly mean to leave?” the young man asked. His sadness was written on his face.

The boy hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “I’d love to stay, but you know how it is. Home is home.”

Of all the people of Soleil, he was surely the first and last permitted to address this young man—his king—so casually. Anybody else would have been harshly punished for their impertinence, if not executed outright. But he and the king were fast friends, so his familiarity prompted a smile rather than a rebuke.

“I had hoped you might come to call this land home. You are a hero to my people, after all. I could furnish you with a suitable title, and you could live out your days in the peace and prosperity you helped build. Would you still turn me down?”

“All the more reason to leave,” the boy replied. “Your nation loves its politics. It’s statesmen your age of peace will need, not generals. Better to send me on my way now than put up with a jobless has-been mooching off your coffers.”

The king’s elegant brow furrowed with sorrow. “You will not be persuaded, then?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“I see.”

They had crawled through the muck together. They had shared uncommon shame and disgrace. Through all the king’s trials, this boy had stayed stubbornly by his side, believing in him and his crumbling nation to the last. They were comrades-in-arms, friends, brothers, and they knew each other’s hearts inside and out. It was that very friendship that told him now the boy’s mind would not be changed.

He shook his head in resignation. “Take this, then,” he said, tossing an object through the air. The boy caught it and scrutinized it warily. It was a plain piece of stiff white paper, like a blank bookmark. The king grinned like a child up to mischief. “Or else I’ll insist you stay.”

The boy laughed. “No, I’ll take it. What is it, though? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“You’ll find out when the time is right. Although I can’t imagine you’ll have need of it in your world, from what you’ve told me of the place.”

His piece said, the king turned away and set off down the hall. The boy watched him go. After a few steps, the king stopped and looked back over his shoulder.

“Consider this my goodbye. You know my opinions on tearful farewells, I trust.” He paused for a moment, as though mourning their parting. “I don’t intend to see you off. Be well.”

“You too,” the boy replied. “It’s been fun.”

“That it has, my friend. That it has.”

And so a tale of heroes came to an end.

“...and that’s when I woke up.”

With an intense gleam in his eyes, Hiro Oguro finished his story. He was a perfectly ordinary second-year high school student. This year, he would turn seventeen.

“Uh...cool. Sounds great, man.”

His friend Fukutaro was giving him some serious side-eye. Fukutaro and Hiro were both second-years and had known each other since they were little, but they couldn’t have looked more different. With his naturally tall and muscular physique, Fukutaro was twice Hiro’s size.

“What, you don’t believe me?” Hiro asked.

“Believe what? You had a dream, dude. I get crazy dreams all the time.”

“I guess...” His friend had a point. Hiro decided to change the subject before things got awkward. “So anyway, your mom told me you got an acceptance letter?”

Fukutaro grimaced, muttering something about “sticking her nose into other people’s business” before shrugging in defeat. “Can’t believe they’re sendin’ those out to second-years.”

“Is it really that weird?” Hiro asked. “I mean, you’re the judo club’s star member.”

“It’s all comin’ too soon, man. University’s so far away, it doesn’t even feel like a real place.” Fukutaro scratched his head, clearly uncomfortable. He fixed Hiro with a meaningful look. “You’re the one we should be worrying about, anyhow. You gotten back into clubs yet?”

“You know what the doctor says. No strenuous physical activity.”

Fukutaro’s gaze softened. “C’mon, man, it’s been three years already. It’s about time they let you go for a jog. Didn’t you have a checkup yesterday?”

Hiro’s medical checkups dated back to a bizarre incident three years earlier. Until the day it had happened, he’d by all accounts been in good health. When his mother had come to wake him that morning, however, she’d screamed at what she’d found: her son lying in bed, naked and horribly gaunt. That in itself might not have been so bad, but he was inexplicably covered in injuries and smeared with dirt, and his short hair had somehow grown down to his shoulders.

He was immediately rushed to hospital, where he underwent a thorough medical examination. Among other things, the doctors had found that Hiro was suffering from dislocated shoulders, torn muscles, and various fractured bones. His lacerations showed signs of having been treated, but their crude stitches ensured they would leave permanent scars. The discovery that several were infected put the nail in the coffin: he was not to go home any time soon.

On top of everything else, Hiro had no memory whatsoever of how he had come by his injuries. This proved unfortunate for his worried parents, as the hospital came to suspect he was a victim of child abuse and contacted the police, who in turn called them in for questioning. The mental toll of being accused of causing their own son’s condition must have been incalculable.

“Yeah, but...it sounds like I still need a bit more time.”

While his memories had never returned, Hiro had eventually made a perfect physical recovery. He had long since received the all-clear for strenuous exercise. He was avoiding clubs for another reason entirely: for the past three years, he’d been experiencing residual side effects that not even his doctor knew about. Reluctant to worry his family and friends, he had chosen to step back from physical activities.

“Right. Sorry. Dumb of me to ask.” Fukutaro fell silent for a few seconds. For a moment, Hiro worried that he was beating himself up, but when his friend next opened his mouth, he was back to his normal cheerful self.

“I gotta tell you, man, I barely even recognized you at first. Damn near gave me a heart attack. You looked like you’d been stuck in the jungle for a decade with that mop on your head.”

“It was down to my waist, yeah. I remember. My mom said the same thing.”

“Plus you were weirdly muscular too. How’d you get that ripped in one night?”

“It’s my signature skill.” Hiro grinned. “I powerlevel while I’m sleeping.”

“You wish!” With a bark of laughter, Fukutaro jabbed his friend playfully on the shoulder. Or at least, he tried to.

As Fukutaro’s fist approached, something stirred in Hiro’s chest. Before he even registered he was moving, he slid his leg sideways to neatly dodge the punch, then launched himself forward, inside the reach of Fukutaro’s arms.

“Well...uh...” Fukutaro stammered, his shock plain to see. “Looks like those crazy reflexes of yours are still workin’ all right.” His eyes were fixed on Hiro’s upraised fist, hovering millimeters from his chin.

“Oh, crap! Sorry!” Flustered, Hiro took a step back...and as he did, he noticed something strange. Fukutaro was frozen in place, sweat beading on his forehead, face locked in wide-eyed surprise.

“Huh? What now?” Hiro shot him an exasperated smile. Not even children would try to pull this one nowadays. He waved his hand in front of Fukutaro’s face, but his friend didn’t move a muscle. “Cut it out. We’ll be late to class.” He gave Fukutaro an exasperated shake, with no result. “How long are you gonna stand there like an idiot? Come on, this is embarrassing.”

Hiro glanced around to check if anyone was staring and beheld a sight as incomprehensible as it was bizarre.

The world had stopped.

Whatever was affecting Fukutaro, he was far from the only one. The pedestrians around them had halted in their tracks, as had the crows pecking at garbage bags in front of houses and the cat hissing at an elementary schooler by the roadside. Even the sun shining proudly down on them stood stock-still in the heavens, along with the white clouds drifting across the blue sky. Every element of the everyday scene hung frozen in time.

“What the hell?”

Hiro’s jaw hung slack as he struggled to process what he was seeing. Clinging to a faint hope, he approached a nearby schoolgirl.

“Umm...” He opened his mouth hesitantly. “This is all just a prank, right?”

He knew how clichéd the question sounded, but nothing else came to mind. The schoolgirl didn’t respond, as he knew in his heart she wouldn’t. Thinking about it rationally, no one would set up a prank on this scale just to spook one unremarkable high schooler.

“Even if they did, how would they pull it off?” Over and over, he looked around, hoping for something to change, but the world remained stubbornly frozen. He gave a strained chuckle. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

White noise filled his head. His legs turned to jelly. The pounding in his chest grew gradually more panicked. He desperately needed to do something, anything, but what was there to do? Tears sprang to his eyes as a wave of fear swept over him.

What would you do if you were in my place?

His soul cried for help to his comrade-in-arms.

What would you say to see me in this sorry state?

Would he have been ready with an encouraging smile, or a disdainful rebuke?

I don’t get it. Who am I talking to? What am I even thinking?

Hiro’s vision grew dim, as though he were falling into slumber.

(Lean on me in times of doubt, as I shall lean on you. For we are brothers, are we not?)

From the distant past, his comrade’s words returned, carrying a young man’s voice and likeness with them in vivid color.

(At times I played the elder, at times the younger, but we were always family.)

The only family he had on the other side.

(Should you need succor, should you need aid, there is no shame in seeking it in me.)

But how can I, when you don’t exist in this world?

He had given up everything he’d worked for, thrown away all he’d gained, and fled back home to his own world. In the back of his mind, he wondered—did he even have the right to ask for help?

(Come, my friend. My brother. Though many trials await you, none may sever the bond we share.)

As Hiro fell away into darkness, he could have sworn a familiar young man appeared before his eyes.

Chapter 1: A Fateful Encounter

A fierce glare filtered through Hiro’s eyelids to prick at his retinas, rousing him to wakefulness. He raised a hand to shade his face and gingerly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a great tree, grown giant with age, towering into the sky above him. Sunlight spilled down through the gaps in its tangle of leaves and branches.

He eased himself upright and looked around. Trees stretched away all around him, more than he could count, so thickly clustered that he could not see what lay beyond. Curiously, nothing about the sight struck him as particularly uncanny. If anything, the opposite was true. He might have panicked or screamed or burst into tears, but the forest’s gentle air seemed to put him at ease. Still, the silence eventually grew too uncomfortable to bear.

“Where the hell am I?” he asked out loud. It was another clichéd line, he knew, but with everything that was happening, his brain didn’t seem to have room for anything else.

Fronds and foliage brushed against his hands. The wind carried the scents of the natural world into his nostrils. He was lying not on hard asphalt, but amid lush greenery. For all that he remembered walking to school only a few minutes before, his senses told him this was too real to be a dream.

“Well, if this is a dream, I’ve gotta wake up sometime,” he said, trying to reassure himself. Soon, surely, he would open his eyes and find himself back in his room, cringing with embarrassment to think how scared he’d been. “Guess I might as well explore while I wait.”

Doing his best to ignore his nagging doubts, Hiro stood up from the great tree’s roots and set out into the forest. However, it never seemed to end. On and on he trudged, but the press of trees remained as dense as ever, too thick to see through even if he squinted. Eventually, he despaired and stopped, on the point of giving up all hope.

Then he realized he was not alone.

From the shadows between the boughs, two golden eyes fixed him with a burning gaze. Leaf litter crunched beneath heavy paws as a beast stepped surely from the undergrowth. It advanced on him, its throat rumbling with a low growl. Drool dripped to the ground from its long fangs in anticipation of a coming meal.

“Is that...a wolf?”

The animal was about as large as a medium-sized dog. As it padded through the dappled sunlight filtering through the forest canopy, Hiro realized that its coat was pure white. Its legs bulged with muscles, ending in long-clawed paws that gouged ruts into the forest floor with every step. Hiro whimpered as it drew closer, bracing for it to pounce.

Instead, the wolf stopped and maintained a steady distance.

Is it...scared of me?

If so, perhaps he might be able to get away. Most wild animals were scared of fire, he knew, but he had no way of producing it here. In that case, his next best option was to maintain eye contact and back away slowly. That was what he’d seen on TV once, anyway. Now that advice might save his life.

Hiro locked eyes with the wolf and took one step back. The wolf took one step forward.

He took another step back. The wolf took another step forward.

A third step back. A third step forward.

This was clearly going nowhere fast. Aside from anything else, he had no idea how far he was supposed to back up or even in which direction he ought to run.

And that’s assuming this thing doesn’t follow me through the whole forest...

The wolf didn’t seem to care much about Hiro’s dismay. It sat down on its haunches, gave a toothy yawn, and scratched its ear disinterestedly with a rear leg for a time. Finally, it arched its back like a cat and lay down on the ground. It might have seemed docile if its golden eyes hadn’t remained fixed on Hiro all the while. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, they seemed to say. Move a muscle and lose a limb.

The minutes dragged on as the pair stared at one another. Suddenly, the wolf’s ears pricked up, and it rose to its feet. The nearby foliage began to rustle with movement. For a moment, Hiro feared another wolf, but instead a beautiful girl emerged from the undergrowth.

“Hmm?” She looked at him curiously. “Who are you?”

Drying her wet hair with a cloth, she moved to stand beside the wolf. She laid a hand on its head and scratched it affectionately, though her gaze never moved from Hiro as he looked on in silence.

She cocked her head at him quizzically. “Excuse me. I asked you a question.”

Hiro jumped. “Erm...you mean...m-me?”

“Who else could I mean?”

Although Hiro wouldn’t dream of telling her, the sight of her had left him tongue-tied. Her glossy crimson hair shimmered like living flame as it fell to her shoulders in silky strands. Though her shapely face still retained some youthful roundness, her eyes shone like cut rubies and smoldered with a fiery will. Faint blue veins pulsed with life beneath her porcelain skin.

Hiro noted regretfully that what God had given her in loveliness, he had taken from her in womanly charm, but her modest chest promised to fill out with age and in the meantime did nothing to detract from her beauty.

Hiro laughed awkwardly. “Right. Of course. Um...I’m Hiro. Hiro Oguro.” He couldn’t stand there like a statue forever. He might as well give her his name.

The girl tilted her head and stared pensively up into space. “Hi-ro...Oh-guro?” The name sounded foreign in her mouth.

“Just Hiro is fine, if the whole thing’s too much.”

“Very well. Hiro it is. So? What are you doing here?”

Hiro gave a self-deprecating smile. “Trying to find a way out.”

“Hmm...” She furrowed her brow as she looked him up and down, seeming to evaluate him. If she was, it only took her a second. “Well, you seem the honest type. If you want to leave the forest, it’s this way.”

The crimson-haired girl set off, gesturing for Hiro to follow. He hurriedly fell into line behind her. The wolf slipped in between them, like a bodyguard protecting its charge.

Hiro couldn’t say how long he trudged on, watching the wolf’s white tail sweep from side to side, but eventually he looked up to find shafts of light streaming through the thinning trees ahead. They’d reached the forest’s edge. After spending so long searching in vain for an escape, he couldn’t help but wonder if the woods had played some trick on him. It couldn’t have been that easy the whole time, he protested to himself as he stepped between the trees and out into the light.

The sight that greeted him took his breath away, leaving him blinking in astonishment. Overhead, a blazing sun sat enthroned in a cloudless azure sky, lord of all it surveyed. Its abundant rays showered the land below, where an endless expanse of grassy plains shimmered in the breeze.

As Hiro gazed out across the vista in wonder, he noticed a strange company approaching from the corner of his eye. They rode up on warhorses, all abreast—soldiers clad in heavy armor, with carefully polished spears in hand and swords at their belts. Their haughty eyes burned with hostility. Hiro quailed under their glares.

One rider urged his horse forward from the group. He wore a great scar on his cheek, and his formidable bearing marked him as a seasoned warrior. He shot Hiro a single hawkish glance before turning his attention to the crimson-haired girl.

“Another of your bathing trips, my lady?”

“What can I say?” Her tone was defiant. “I needed it after practice.”

His eyes narrowed. “You were foolish to go unguarded.”

“I was very well guarded, I’ll have you know. Wasn’t I, Cerberus?” She petted the white wolf’s head, prompting a cheerful bark.

The armored man seemed to struggle for words for a moment, then shook his head in exasperation. He might have been an older brother trying to handle a willful younger sister.

“Well?” He jerked his thumb at Hiro. “Who’s this brat tagging along with you?”

“Me? Err...I got lost in the forest. I’m nobody important, so...um...I’ll just be going.” Hiro forced his mouth into what he hoped was an innocent smile.

“You dare mock me, boy?”

Judging from the vein throbbing on the man’s forehead, Hiro hadn’t been very convincing.

“His name’s Hiro,” the girl chimed in, laying a hand on Hiro’s shoulder. “We only just met, but we’re practically best friends already! Isn’t that right?”

She spun around in front of him to gaze directly into his eyes. Hiro promptly flushed bright scarlet. He wasn’t used to any girl getting so close to him, let alone one so unusually pretty.

“Y-Yeah, I guess,” he stammered, desperate to say something to mask his embarrassment. “I-I mean, what is a friend, really, when you think about it?”

Cerberus gave a ruff of what sounded like agreement.

Unsurprisingly, the scar-faced man was not so easily convinced. “Your friend? This ruffian? You must think me born yesterday, my lady.” He looked Hiro over with naked suspicion. “What are those strange garments of his? Such garb was made nowhere in the empire.”

It was true that Hiro was the odd one out in his modern-day school uniform, although from his perspective, it was the others, with their armor and swords, who were dressed strangely.

“I’ve never seen an imperial citizen with a face like his, nor his hair besides. Where did you come from, boy?”

Only now did it click in Hiro’s mind that none of the faces looking down on him were remotely Japanese. Their hair was exclusively blond or brown, with not a hint of Hiro’s black coloring. Looking closer, their features were more pronounced than his own, their noses longer, their chests broader. Every one of the men could have been twice his size.

As his eyes widened in shock, the girl, who had now returned to his side, tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to find her gorgeous face inches from his nose.

“See how gentle his face is? And he’s got such big, round eyes. He’s just like Cerberus when she was a puppy.”

If someone had nudged either of them from behind, their lips might have touched. A sweet scent tickled Hiro’s nostrils. Oblivious to his distress, the girl broke into a radiant smile.

“I think he looks lovely!” she declared.

“I...uh... Thanks,” Hiro managed, too flustered to muster a proper response.

“Cat got your tongue, boy? A guilty conscience, no doubt. I take it you realize where you’ve strayed.”

“Oh, Dios, there’s no need to be so threatening. He’s only a child. Look, you’re scaring him!”

“Child or not, my lady, he is not to be trusted.”

Hiro’s ears pricked up at that. It was one thing for this man—Dios, the girl had said—to call him a child, but for a girl clearly his junior to do the same? He began to suspect a grave misunderstanding at play.

“Why not? He’s so adorable!”

“It is not whether he is adorable that I question—”

Hiro raised his hand, cutting Dios off. “Erm...excuse me...”

“What is it?” The girl turned around, flashing him a motherly smile, though her compassion only stung, knowing it was intended for a child.

“I know I don’t look it,” he said, “but I’m sixteen. I’ll be seventeen this year.”

“No way! You mean...you’re older than me?”

The girl looked so betrayed, Hiro had to remind himself he’d done nothing wrong. At her side, Dios’s jaw hung open in astonishment.

The girl rounded on Hiro in disbelief. “Sixteen? Are you sure? I thought you were ten!”

“Very sure. And I’m definitely not ten.”

It wasn’t uncommon to hear that Japanese people looked younger than they really were. In addition, Hiro only stood at five foot five, short for a second-year and barely taller than the crimson-haired girl. With his youthful face and features on top of that, it was little wonder his words rang hollow. As he racked his brain for a way to convince them of the truth, Dios looked him over with a piercing gaze.

“Could he be some manner of spirit?” the man wondered aloud.

“Oh, right! That would explain what he was doing in the forest! But no, hold on. How would a spirit get lost?”

For a moment, the girl had looked satisfied with Dios’s explanation, but then she cocked her head and struck a thoughtful pose. Her face was remarkably expressive. It was rather entertaining to watch, but Hiro didn’t have long to enjoy it before Dios urged his horse forward, heightening the tension once more.

“The boy must come with us,” Dios announced.

The girl looked scandalized. “What? He can’t! His parents must be searching for him as we speak. We have to get him home.”

“He is sixteen years of age, is he not? That is old enough to be held responsible for his actions. He has trespassed upon the royal family’s private land. We must take him back to the fort for questioning.”

“Can’t we just let him go?” she protested. “It’s not like he can do us any harm.”

“He may be a spy dispatched by your enemies.”

“Do you really think that’s likely?”

“I think we cannot take the risk.” Dios’s tone made it clear he would brook no further argument.

“Fine, but he gets to ride in my carriage. You won’t object to that, I hope.”

The girl clearly wasn’t going to give any more ground. Dios must have sensed that as well, because he furrowed his brow and sighed. “As you wish, my lady. Let us return to the fort.” He turned his horse about and rode back to his men.

In his place, an ornately decorated carriage trundled forward. It rumbled to a stop before Hiro.

“Go on, get in,” the girl prompted. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of space.”

Hiro peered inside as Cerberus bounded through the door. The interior of the carriage was spacious enough for six people to sit comfortably. He stepped in, skirted around the white wolf making itself comfortable on the floor, and took his place on one of the seats. The girl climbed in last, seating herself opposite him.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sure this must all be very alarming for you.”

“No worries,” Hiro replied. “It’s all just a dream, anyway. It’s not your fault.” Even now, his mind still refused to acknowledge that this was reality.

The girl cocked her head. “A dream?”

“I mean, it has to be, right? None of this makes sense otherwise.”

“What doesn’t make sense?”

“I mean, I was walking to school like usual, then before I knew it, I was lying in that forest. Suddenly ending up somewhere else, filled with people you’ve never met...that’s the sort of thing that only happens in dreams.”

“Maybe. You seem real enough to me, though. I mean, you’re right there.”

The girl abruptly stood up from her seat and leaned over. Hiro was still wondering what she was doing when he felt the warmth of her hand against his face. He barely had time to register the softness of her touch, before—

“Yeeeooowch!”

She grabbed his cheek between her fingers and pinched hard.

“Well? Does that hurt?”

“Whass dhat fhor?!” he yelled, his stretched mouth distorting his words. On the floor, Cerberus’s eyes widened in alarm.

The girl released his cheek and sat back down, satisfied. “See? Now we know you’re not dreaming.”

“That doesn’t mean you can just pinch me out of nowhere!”

“Sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you, but I thought it would be the fastest way.”

Hiro wanted to retort, but her innocent smile made it impossible to stay angry, so he resorted to sulking instead. What was she going to do if this awakened something in him? As he nursed his cheek in silence, there came a rapping at the carriage window. Dios’s accusing glare appeared on the other side of the glass.

“Is something the matter?” he asked.

“Not at all,” the girl replied blithely. “Hiro was just worried he might be dreaming, so I pinched his cheek to check.”

“Denying reality, is he? Perhaps the boy truly is a spy.” With that, Dios pulled away from the window.

Still rubbing his stinging cheek, Hiro heaved a sigh. In his head, he’d known all along that this was no dream, but his heart had been unwilling to let go of that final hope.

“So what do I do now?” Gazing at his feet, he cradled his head in his hands. As shameful as it was that it had taken a pinch to bring him to his senses, there was no getting around the facts: he’d somehow traveled to another world. How could he get back home? Could he get back home? Could he even wriggle out of his current predicament? Questions loomed before him one after another, but he had no answers.

“Are you all right?” The girl reached over from the opposite seat to pat his hair. “Come on, don’t look so glum. They won’t execute you.”

“That’s not why I’m... Wait, what was that last bit?”

“Come to think of it, I never told you who I am, did I?” She didn’t seem to have heard his question. His voice must have been too weak. The girl laid a hand on her chest. “I’m Celia Estrella Elizabeth von Grantz, Sixth Princess of the Grantzian Empire. I’ve just turned fifteen. Oh, but you can call me Liz for short. Most people do.” She concluded her introduction with a dignified smile.

Hiro stayed silent, thinking. Was he allowed to call a princess by her nickname? That sounded like it might really earn him an execution. He’d have to make an effort to address her more politely. He wasn’t about to lose his head to carelessness before he could even get his bearings.

“What’s wrong?” Liz asked.

“Am I actually allowed to call you that? Won’t they cut my head off?”

“It’ll be fine if I say it is. Dios is rude to me all the time, and he gets away with it.”

“I guess that’s true,” Hiro mused. “All right, then. Liz it is.”

She’d been open and friendly to him from the moment they first met. A princess she may be, but she seemed easy to get along with.

“Now that’s more like it. Although I should warn you, when I said ‘most people,’ I didn’t mean Dios...or the men in general.”

“Gaaaaaah!” Hiro cried. “I fell for it! I’m done for! I’m a dead man!”

Liz broke into a laughing fit as Hiro descended into panic. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “It’ll be fine, honestly. Just...perhaps don’t call me Liz in public. I’m sure Dios won’t mind, but the soldiers might take it the wrong way.”

Being teased by someone at least a year his junior was not a pleasant feeling. Liz clearly found it hilarious, but for Hiro, it was literally a matter of life and death. Still, a question remained. This girl had taken pains to be kind to him at every turn, even going so far as to insist he use her nickname. Why?

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” he ventured.

Liz looked up. “Not at all.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Because you were alive when I found you.”

“What?” Hiro cocked his head, uncertain what she meant. “Sorry, I don’t think I follow.”

“Hrmm...” Liz stared thoughtfully into space, cupping her chin in her dainty fingers. “I mean, Cerberus never attacked you, and the spirits didn’t seem to mind you either.”

“What would have happened if they had?” Hiro asked.

“Then you’d be dead, silly.” Liz shrugged. “The forest back there—the Anfang Forest, it’s called—it’s no normal place. A lot of spirits make their home there. The first emperor made a covenant with them a thousand years ago, allowing them to live in the forest as long as they acted as its guardians, and they keep it to this day. Only the royal bloodline can come and go as they please. Anyone else who enters will never make it out alive.”

Hiro blanched. “All that time, I had no idea...” No wonder the forest had seemed so treacherous to navigate. If he hadn’t chanced across Liz, he might have actually died in there. It sent chills down his spine to think how much worse things could have gone.

“So that’s why I helped you out,” she concluded. “Does that make sense?”

Hiro nodded. “I never even realized how much danger I was in. Why am I still alive, then? I’m no royal or anything, I’m just...me.”

“Well, there’s the mystery. That’s why Dios suspected you might be some sort of spirit.”

“That explains it. He did seem weirdly confident.”

“Exactly,” Liz agreed. “Anyway, I’ve told you what I can, so now it’s your turn. What are you doing here? You aren’t really a spirit, are you?”

Hiro gave a defeated sigh. “I wish I knew. Then maybe I wouldn’t be in this position.”

Liz leaned forward. “So you’ve lost your memory?”

“No, nothing like that. I’m just an ordinary high schooler. I’m not that interesting.”

“A ‘high schooler’? What’s that?”

Hiro’s eyebrows rose. “You know, like a student? A school student?”

“Do you mean like...at the Imperial Training Academy?”

She didn’t seem to know what he was talking about. Perhaps he shouldn’t be surprised. This world didn’t seem like the kind of place that had high schools. They might share his language, but that didn’t necessarily mean the terminology exclusive to Hiro’s more modern world would be understood.

“Wait. Hang on. That’s not it.” At last, Hiro realized that something was off. “I’m not speaking Japanese right now, am I?”

“‘Japanese’?” Liz cocked her head. “Is that a language? I’ve never heard of it.”

“All right, um...can I ask a weird question, then? What language am I speaking?”

She looked at him curiously. “Grantzian, of course.”

Hiro groaned. “What the hell is going on?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just...I don’t get it. Why do I suddenly know Grantzian?”

“How should I know? Anyway, tell me more about this ‘high schooler’ thing.” Liz leaned forward with curiosity, bringing her face within inches of Hiro’s nose. This was the second time she’d done it, and it was no less discomforting this time around. Hiro’s heart felt ready to jump out of his mouth.

“Hang on! Back up! Way too close!” he yelled in alarm.

“All right.” Liz pouted. “You don’t have to shout.” She withdrew, deflated.

A twinge of remorse passed through Hiro’s chest. He almost said sorry despite himself, but that might encourage her to do it a third time, and that would be bad for his heart. In the end, unable to apologize but still feeling guilty about pushing her away, he decided to set aside his mountain of worries for a moment and answer her question.

“What I meant to say was...I guess you’re right, in a way. That Imperial Training Academy you mentioned... A high school probably isn’t that much different.”

“Really?” Liz’s eyes sparkled with delight. She clasped her hands before her eyes like a maiden at prayer. “So that’s what you call it in the spirit world!”

“Well, I wouldn’t know,” Hiro gave an awkward smile. “I’m not a spirit, remember? I’m a human, just like you.”

“Are you sure? I know I said it before, but you do look strangely young. Your voice sounds very high-pitched for an adult too.”

“I’m only sixteen. That’s still a child in my world. Why do you think I’m one of these spirits, anyway? Do they look that much like me?”

“Not at all,” Liz said. “Spirits don’t have bodies or even voices, although the first emperor must have communicated with them somehow, I suppose.”

“Then what makes you so sure I’m one of them?”

Liz cocked her head again, putting a thoughtful finger to her chin. She had a way of making every gesture seem graceful. “I don’t really know. You give off that feeling, I suppose? That, and it would explain an awful lot.” She glanced outside the carriage window. “Anyway, we’ll be at the fort soon. I’m afraid things are a little hectic right now, but I’ll make sure we show you a proper welcome. Then you’ll finally be able to take it easy.”

Hiro followed her gaze. Beyond the glass, the sun sank below the horizon, dyeing the evening landscape with the warm hues of lingering embers.

＊＊＊

Two days’ walk to the east of Cladius, imperial capital of the Grantzian Empire, lay the outpost Fort Towen. In the annals of history, it was written that the first emperor had prized this fort over any other in the land. Indeed, it was on this very spot that he had saved his crumbling nation from destruction and first set foot on his path of conquest. Such was Fort Towen’s historical and strategic significance that the honor of its command was only afforded to those with ties to the Grantzian royal family. This tradition continued with the present commander, one Sixth Princess Celia Estrella Elizabeth von Grantz.

That evening found Liz in the fort’s war room, discussing strategy with her aides. She and two men stood around a long map table, poring over it as they spoke.

“The wagons are fully loaded, my lady,” said one of them, a man with a great scar on his cheek—Platoon Commander Dios von Mikhail. “We may set out for Berg Fortress at a moment’s notice. We need only decide when to depart.”

“There’s no guarantee of safe passage, however,” added Battalion Commander Tris von Tarmier. Tris was a warrior past his prime, at the onset of old age, but his muscle-bound frame belied his years. He scratched the back of his head in consternation. “The whole empire knows of your reassignment, Your Highness. Any scoundrels with designs on your person may well fancy their chances.”

“A hundred cavalry and two hundred foot soldiers will make for scant protection,” Dios agreed.

Liz’s face grew stony under his gaze. “They’re all we’ll have,” she said. “Most of the garrison are First Legion. They aren’t mine to take. Besides, we only need to survive the initial journey. We’ll be safe in Berg Fortress—and once we’re within the Gurinda border, we’ll be under Uncle’s protection. I have no doubt he’ll welcome us with open arms.”

Berg Fortress was located in the Gurinda Mark, a border province in the southwest of the empire. The region fell under the rule of Margrave Rugen Kiork von Gurinda, Liz’s uncle.

“I’m more worried about what Lichtein is up to.” Liz frowned. The Duchy of Lichtein, a nation of slavers, lay south of the Gurinda Mark, and the desert wolves had recently been spotted prowling the border. Any movement on their part threatened to upset her plans.