After raising his stats through the Status Window and finishing his examination of his Void Skills, Yuto went outside.

Sariel was seated in a chair before a campfire. Yuto glanced at her, then surveyed his surroundings. He was certain he had been in a cemetery before losing consciousness. Now he was in an unfamiliar forest, and the cabin he had just left belonged to a forest keeper.

“Hmm.”

Sariel, who had been drinking by the fire, looked at Yuto with a gleam in her uncovered eye.

“Quite a few things have changed since earlier. Have you finally woken up properly?”

She asked with a slight tilt of her head. The changes were due to the stat points he had allocated through the Status Window, but he could hardly tell her that outright.

“How long was I unconscious?”

“A day.”

Perhaps she had never expected an answer to her own question. Sariel merely shrugged and replied.

“Shall I guess your next question? ‘Where are we?’ Am I right?”

“Yes, you are.”

“Heh. Let me tell you now, I cannot read minds. Your question was simply so utterly predictable that I guessed. Well, at any rate, as you can see, this is a forest.”

Sariel chuckled and shook her bottle.

“I imagine this forest has a name, but I do not know it. I do know this, however. The nearest city is called Oltea, a provincial city in the Valistera Empire. The place where you collapsed yesterday was its cemetery.”

“Why... are we in a forest now?”

“Ahaha! Why? What an obvious question. That monster, Crimson Ringmistress, visited Oltea and unleashed her power. I happened to be passing nearby and stopped to see what was happening. Before long, the world will probably learn of the atrocity committed in Oltea’s underground colosseum.”

Sariel took a few swallows before setting down her bottle.

“Well, Crimson Ringmistress kills people all the time. Even if her victim was a noble, she was no particularly important noble, so the matter will likely be dismissed as simple bad luck. But if someone decided they wanted back the things I seized underground, it would be a nuisance in all sorts of ways. That is why I left the city.”

Having said that, Sariel stared at Yuto’s face for a moment.

“You are fortunate in many ways. Crimson Ringmistress spared you on a whim, and I took you in. You need not even worry that someone might hold you accountable for being the sole survivor. It was that foolish noblewoman who summoned Crimson Ringmistress to the city. They will call it a misfortune she brought upon herself, and that will be the end of it.”

“Is... that so?”

“Indeed. After dumping your unconscious body here, I did a little investigating myself. The noblewoman who ruled that city was named Ervina Cares. She belonged to House Cares, a noble family of Valistera, and was the current head’s younger half sister.”

According to Sariel’s inquiries, Ervina—Evil—was the black sheep of House Cares. She had inherited control of Oltea under the late family head’s will, but the current head resented that arrangement.

Now that Evil was dead, control of the city would pass to her elder brother, the current head. From his perspective, the half sister he had never liked had invited a monster in and been bitten to death. If anything, he would celebrate.

“In short...”

Sariel gazed at Yuto with a smile.

“There will be no tiresome complications if I take you with me.”

“Why do you want to take me with you?”

“I believe I explained that earlier. You look quite clever, but are you actually a fool?”

“I remember you saying that you wanted something in return. But what could you possibly want from me...?”

“I said I would think about that later, boy. Ah, yes. I have not even heard your name yet. What is it?”

“It’s... Yuto.”

“Very well, Yuto. Enough of this dull conversation. If you are awake, come at me.”

Sariel brushed off her knees and stood. Yuto’s eyes narrowed at her abrupt demand.

“Come at you? Just like that?”

“I am interested in your power,” Sariel answered with a smile.

“Did you think I showed you kindness for no reason? I am not quite so good-hearted as that. I took you in because you clearly interest me, and because there is something I want.”

“...”

“So hurry up and attack. Ah, do you need a weapon? Here, catch.”

Sariel kicked the sword at her feet toward Yuto. He caught it as it flew through the air. It was the sword he had taken along when escaping the underground colosseum.

“There is no need to hold back. As you have no doubt sensed, I am very strong.”

Sariel grinned, showing her white teeth.

Yuto adjusted his grip. He felt no resentment at her command to attack. If anything, he welcomed it. There were things he wanted to test himself: the memories that had begun to surface, however faintly; what his body could do now that his stats had risen; and just how powerful the woman before him truly was.

Yuto kicked off the ground.

TAP!

His body shot forward at a speed incomparable to before. The points he had invested had unmistakably strengthened him. Closing the distance in an instant, he slashed down at Sariel’s shoulder.

Sariel herself had told him not to hold back. More importantly, Yuto knew by instinct that she was not someone he could afford to go easy on.

TICK.

A single finger lightly nudged the flat of his descending blade. That alone sent its path completely astray. Yuto’s sword cut through empty air far from Sariel.

‘She deflected it?’

She had not blocked it. She had merely laid a finger in the sword’s path and twisted the direction of its force ever so slightly. Sariel had accomplished with one finger the very thing Yuto had been doing in the colosseum.

Swallowing his surprise, Yuto recovered his sword. Rather than force its wayward path back into line, he followed its momentum and spun. A horizontal slash, driven by centrifugal force, swept toward Sariel’s waist.

“Hmm.”

Sariel made an appraising sound and stepped back half a pace. That alone left Yuto’s sword cutting nothing but empty air once more.

“You change the flow rather than force a disrupted sword stroke back on course. Not a bad decision.”

Sariel nodded and continued calmly.

“Keep going.”

Yuto gritted his teeth. He swung without pause: downward cuts, rising slashes, thrusts, feints, and abrupt changes of stance. The flurry was faster and sharper than anything he had unleashed in the colosseum.

But none of it reached her. No matter how many times he swung, he could not so much as nick her clothing. With her hands clasped behind her back, Sariel evaded most of his strikes with slight shifts of her body. Occasionally, she extended a finger to deflect his blade.

“Hah, hah...”

How many times had he swung? Yuto’s breathing began to falter. Even his enhanced body had reached its limit. Sariel, meanwhile, had not lost so much as a breath, nor moved more than three steps from her original position.

“I see.”

Sariel chuckled.

“One last swing. Give it everything you have.”

Yuto did not answer. Instead, he squeezed every last bit of strength from his body.

CRACKLE!

The aether within him surged and cloaked his sword. Sariel’s eye gleamed at the sight.

SWISH!

The aether-cloaked sword swept toward Sariel’s neck with all the speed and power Yuto could muster.

CLANG!

The sword struck her finger and snapped with dismal ease. The broken blade spun through the air before landing on the ground some distance away with a dull thud. Yuto froze, still clutching the hilt of his shattered sword.

“Allow me to give you my assessment.”

Sariel began to circle him slowly, hands clasped behind her back as though nothing had happened.

“Your swordsmanship is quite impressive. How old are you?”

“I... don’t know.”

“Ah, of course. You said you could not remember your past. Hmm. You look about twelve, so let us go with that. In any case, few children your age, with a body like yours, can wield a sword so well. However...”

Sariel’s uncovered eye narrowed.

“You rely far too much on instinct. There is no thought behind your sword. Your eyes see, your intuition decides, and your body moves. That is all. It is as though you are merely repeating what your body remembers.”

She had hit the mark. Yuto looked down at the hilt of his broken sword. Sariel was right. He had never thought about his swordsmanship as he fought. His body moved on its own, and that had been enough. In the colosseum, at least.

“You said you lost your memories, did you not?”

Sariel stopped walking and gazed at him.

“The swordsmanship etched into your body does not belong to the person you are now. You probably received proper training in the past. Frankly, considering your age, you must have reached an almost unbelievable level.”

“...”

“Well, setting that aside, right now you merely swing according to your body’s memories. It feels like such a waste. You do nothing but follow your instincts, so instinct is the limit of what you achieve. You could do so much better.”

With that, Sariel crooked a finger.

“Enough about swords. This time, show me that ‘power’ of yours.”

Interest sparkled in her uncovered eye. Yuto swallowed and took a step back.

“What... power?”

“Do not play innocent. That black thing rampaging out of your body last night. I subdued it myself. Do you intend to pretend you know nothing?”

She was not someone he could hide it from. Sariel had witnessed the rampaging Void firsthand, torn it apart with her bare hands, and returned it to his body.

“There is no need to hesitate. You do not seem capable of controlling it properly yourself, so is this not the perfect opportunity? I shall personally, kindly teach you how to handle it.”

Sariel whispered with a smile. Yuto hesitated for a moment, then set down the broken sword.

‘Right.’

He did not trust Sariel. But the fact remained that she had saved him. During the day he had spent unconscious—no, even had he been awake—she could have killed him whenever she pleased.

‘I need to test it anyway.’

How effective would this power be in an actual fight? Testing it alone in the cabin could not tell him that. Yuto focused and drew up his aether.

WHOOOM...

Pitch-black aether poured from his entire body. At the same time, the present and the past began to overlap in his mind. A past he still could not clearly recall, and the emotions that saturated it.

Rage, hatred, bloodlust. Every emotion that fed his desire for revenge threw his mind into turmoil. Yuto gritted his teeth. Unlike when he had merely tested the power, using his aether at full strength brought those dark emotions with it.

“Ngh...!”

Yuto clenched his teeth. He tried to calm his emotions, but—why? Why should he calm down? The questions that followed swept away his composure.

CRACKLE!

A pitch-black hand surged up behind his back.

A massive hand formed from rippling darkness. Void Touch. Driven by Yuto’s murderous intent, it shot toward Sariel.

“Hmm.”

Sariel did not dodge. She calmly extended her own hand to meet the approaching Void Touch.

CRASH!

Void Touch collided with Sariel’s hand. Her pale, delicate-looking hand struck the enormous hand of darkness head-on. Again and again, Void Touch strained to seize her, only to strike her hand and bounce away each time.

“I see, I see. So this is what it does.”

Sariel studied the rebounding Void Touch with interest.

‘Now.’

Yuto acted immediately. Void Step. Darkness rippled beneath his feet. The next instant, his body vanished as though erased.

He reappeared behind Sariel, in her blind spot. Movement that skipped through space. An ambush impossible for the eye to follow. The moment he appeared, Yuto cloaked his fist in aether and aimed at her back.

He thought it was a perfect surprise attack, but...

“You have quite a variety of tricks.”

As Sariel spoke, Yuto’s vision flipped upside down.

THUD!

By the time he gathered his wits, he was flat on his back in the dirt. He could barely comprehend what had happened. The moment he thought he had gotten behind her, the world had spun and he had slammed into the ground.

“Interesting ones, too.”

Sariel looked down at him and chuckled.

“Footsteps that cross space. An amusing power. But, boy, even if you skipped through space, you failed to erase your presence. The moment you disappeared, I could sense exactly where you would emerge.”

Tilting her head slightly, Sariel continued.

“Still, it is a peculiar power in many ways. Used correctly, it could be formidable. As it stands, it is rather unimpressive. Boy, you must first learn to use the power you possess properly.”

“Why...”

Yuto glared at Sariel as he spoke.

“Do you keep calling me ‘boy’ when I told you my name?”

“Hmm? Ahahaha! I asked your name because I was curious. Whether I use it is entirely up to me. To my eyes, you are a boy not worth addressing by name, so I call you ‘boy.’”

Chuckling, Sariel offered him a hand.

“You rely on nothing but instinct with your sword and wield your peculiar power like a brute. What else could I possibly call you?”

Yuto rose on his own without taking her hand.

“Who... are you, really?”

“Have I not told you? My name is Sariel.”

“Even that name is an alias.”

“You are far too lacking to know my true name. So understand only what you can see. As you can see, I am not human.”

Smiling, Sariel pointed at her ears.

“I am part elf. Do you remember what elves are? They are a nonhuman race who live very far from here, in a land called Vermira.”

“...”

“My name is Sariel, and my age is... hmm, a secret. I am a woman, after all. What else should I tell you? I am very strong. I am not someone who would ordinarily trouble herself with training the likes of you.”

“Then why are you going to the trouble?”

“How many times must you make me repeat myself? I intend to collect your debt someday. That is why I mean to train you, boy.”

Sariel’s hand settled on Yuto’s head as he staggered to his feet. He flinched and tried to shake it off, but before he could, she ruffled his hair.

“And I am very interested in that peculiar power of yours. Is it the power of a constellation? Hmm, I cannot tell. It is so strange and alien. Besides, I have never contracted with a constellation myself, so my knowledge is limited.”

“What...?”

Momentarily bewildered, Yuto looked at Sariel.

“You haven’t contracted with a constellation?”

“Well, it is hardly uncommon, is it? In this damned world, Callisto, those without contracts far outnumber those who have them.”

“That’s... true, but...”

“I am of mixed blood, you see. A mongrel, to put it crudely. Elves contract with elven constellations, but with human blood in my veins, I could not. The human constellations would not contract with me either.”

As she answered, Sariel removed her hand from his head.

“In other words, this power is entirely my own achievement. That is what makes me so remarkable. Well? Do you not find me remarkable now?”

In truth, he could not help being impressed. In this world, Callisto, strength was determined almost entirely by the constellations. Among humans, only nobles contracted with them, and a constellation’s interest became a blessing that manifested as power. That was why the poor and the commoners could never defy the nobility.

Yet Sariel had attained such power without even contracting with a constellation. Seeing Yuto’s astonishment and admiration, she smiled in satisfaction and nodded.

“At last, there is respect in your eyes when you look at me. Boy, has all that exercise made you hungry?”

“... Pardon?”

“Come and sit here. You must eat plenty if you want to grow. I shall share some of my drinking snacks.”

Yuto could only blink in disbelief. She had given him bread and milk only a short while ago, yet she was offering him food again. Sariel reached into the blazing campfire with her bare hand, pulled out a thoroughly roasted potato, and held it out to him.

“I’m not hungr—”

“Do not refuse what an adult offers you.”

With her insisting so forcefully, he had little choice but to accept. Yuto cautiously reached for the potato, only to recoil at its heat and pull back his hand. Sariel burst out laughing.

“Ah, it must be too hot for you to hold. I shall give it to you once it cools a little. Sit beside me.”

Sariel was impossible to fathom. Her power was astonishing, yet her words and behavior somehow mingled gravity with frivolity. She gazed at Yuto, who had sat down a short distance away, and spoke.

“By now, you must understand that I am quite well disposed toward you and have no intention of killing you.”

“... Yes. You could kill me whenever you wished, but you haven’t.”

“Well observed. Then do you also understand that you must travel with me?”

“That much, I don’t understand.”

“Hmph. Then do not understand. I shall simply take you along. If you wander around this damned world without even remembering who you are, you are bound to come to grief.”

As she spoke, Sariel began peeling the potato.

“So travel with me and try to recover your memories. I shall personally teach you how to handle your ‘power’ as well.”

Yuto hesitated briefly before nodding. In truth, Sariel’s offer cost him nothing.

‘At least for now.’

He still did not know what she would demand in return.