“So, what brings you here, Najin?”

Dieta asked as she straightened her hair. Najin did not answer immediately. A brief moment of thought. A brief silence. He looked at her without a word.

“Wh-what is it? Why are you staring at me like that?”

“I was thinking something over.”

“What?”

“There’s no particular reason for my visit, really. You always came to see me while I was recovering, so I thought it would be nice to visit you for once.”

“You really didn’t have to worry about that. Are you feeling better?”

“Thanks to you.”

Najin patted his shoulder.

“Drinking high-grade potions like ordinary drinks helped me recover quickly. I’m fine now.”

“The doctors said you needed at least half a year of rest... Yet here you are, back on your feet in no time, as though it’s the most natural thing in the world.”

“My constitution is a little unusual.”

Half of what Dieta felt at his full recovery was joy. The other half was regret.

She looked at him with a bitter smile. The news that he had recovered also meant the time was approaching when he would head off somewhere again.

“Now that you’re better, you’ll be leaving?”

Regret lingered in her voice.

“There is something I need to tell you about that. I kept thinking I should tell you eventually, but I’ve been putting it off.”

“You’re going somewhere far away?”

“It looks that way.”

“How far?”

Najin looked out the window. After a brief silence, he spoke.

“Shall we take a short walk while we talk?”

“I don’t mind, but won’t there be too many people watching? It’ll be hard to talk. You really are famous now.”

“There’s a place where there aren’t many people, isn’t there?”

A place without people? Dieta tilted her head. As though offering her a hint, Najin pointed out the window.

“Somewhere with a good view. Somewhere you can see the sunset.”

Realizing the answer, Dieta let out a short “Ah.” Meanwhile, Najin threw open the window, then briefly stepped outside the office to speak with Pasion.

From beyond the door came Pasion’s incredulous laugh, followed by, “Suit yourself.” Curious about what they were discussing, Dieta turned her head just as Najin strode toward her.

“Let’s go, then.”

He held both arms out toward her.

“Um... What are those arms for?”

“An excellent means of transportation?”

Dieta blinked, then laughed at his outstretched arms. She let him gather her into his embrace. Najin lifted her effortlessly and kicked off the floor.

WHOOSH!

TAP!

Stepping onto the windowsill, Najin leaped. His movements were light and swift, proof that his recent fame was no empty boast. Even with someone in his arms, his footsteps were barely audible.

The only sound was the window rattling in the gust of wind.

“The person we’re guarding has been kidnapped. Should we really be standing here, old hand?”

“We couldn’t catch him even if we chased him for all we were worth, Sir Romanov.”

“Sadly, that’s true.”

“Honestly, if that boy decided to kidnap someone, I wonder who could stop him. Could you, Sir Romanov?”

“If I could, I wouldn’t be here, would I?”

Watching the pair vanish into the distance in an instant, Klaus and Pasion laughed helplessly.

“Ah, youth. The joys of youth.”

2.

An unobstructed view. A low hill overlooking all of Cambria, the City of Opportunity. Najin had once brought Dieta here when he was serving as her escort.

Now, having arrived at the same place in exactly the same way, Dieta found herself laughing. It felt strange to see how much she had changed in only a few months.

‘Back then, I thought I was going to throw up.’

Now she was perfectly comfortable traveling in Najin’s arms. During their flight beneath the moonlit sky, she had spent days relying on his back and his embrace. Being in his arms again after so long was still just as cozy.

She would have liked to stay there a little longer.

Reluctantly, Dieta stepped out of his arms. Straightening her clothes, she looked down the hill. The whole of Cambria, the City of Opportunity, lay before her. Gazing at that view, she spoke.

“Come to think of it, it’s almost been a year already. We first met in spring, didn’t we? Winter’s coming to an end. Spring should be here soon.”

“I’d hoped to see snow falling, too, but it seems it doesn’t snow in Cambria.”

“It’s warm here. We’re in the south.”

“Have you ever seen snow falling, Dieta?”

“Yes. Plenty of times. Though they weren’t particularly happy memories.”

The ducal House Arbenia.

The snow she had watched through the windows of that freezing villa had left her with no happy memories. Unlike children who thought of snowball fights, sledding, and other games when it snowed, Dieta had been left to gaze at bare thorn trees.

“But you... You haven’t seen snow yet, have you?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

Najin had come from the underground city, and it had not yet been a year since he left. Thinking about it again, it was strange. Despite all the tremendous events he had experienced, not even a year had passed. That fact sometimes felt odd to him.

Taken day by day, time passed slowly. With so much packed into his life, Najin’s days were long, and the hours crept by. Yet when he looked back at what had happened, the time seemed far too short.

Time was slow yet swift. Long yet short.

Amid that capricious flow of time, Najin had formed bonds with many people. When he thought of them, Merlin and Dieta were the first to come to mind. Precious connections he had made after leaving the underground city.

“Dieta.”

“Yes, Najin?”

His first friend.

To Najin, who had never had a friend before, Dieta meant more than he had realized. Perhaps that was why he felt he should tell her first, at least. Where he was headed, and that the road would not be easy.

“I’m planning to leave for the Outer Lands soon.”

“You went there last time, didn’t you? Before you slew the dragon...”

“That was only a short visit. This time is different.”

Najin had become a Sword Seeker, slain a dragon, and earned stars. That meant he had finished what he needed to do in Cambria...

“I’m leaving Cambria.”

It meant the time had come for Najin to move on to his next stage. At those words, Dieta briefly caught her breath.

“Of course. I suppose you would. Your goal is to hang your star in the highest place...”

“And to do that, I’ll have to go to the Battlefield of Stars. That’s where I need to go to earn more stars.”

Dieta began, and Najin finished for her.

She knew his goal. She had known he would leave Cambria someday, though that day had arrived far sooner than she expected.

“Once I leave for the Outer Lands, I won’t be able to visit the continent often.”

“It’s far away. Both physically and conceptually.”

The Outer Lands—the lands beyond.

Even within those lands, the place Najin called the Battlefield of Stars was distant not merely in terms of distance, but in concept as well. The far shore and this shore. The world of the dead and the world of the living. All manner of religions and books described the Battlefield of Stars as an entirely different world.

A place where ordinary humans could not set foot. A place where even Sword Seekers, hailed as mighty warriors, could not be certain of surviving. Such was the battlefield inhabited by the transcendent beings shining in the night sky.

“It’ll be dangerous.”

“It will.”

“And you’ll get hurt even more than you do now?”

“I’m sure I will.”

“I’d like to tell you not to go, but of course you wouldn’t listen, would you?”

Najin answered with silence.

Dieta let out a long sigh. How had she fallen for a man like this? She had lost count of how many times she had thought that. She looked into his eyes.

Sunset-colored eyes, now close to platinum.

Those eyes were not looking at Dieta.

They always looked somewhere far away. Somewhere distant, perilous, and impossibly high. To reach that place, Najin ran with his gaze fixed ahead. It was admirable, but sometimes it left Dieta feeling hurt.

As though she meant nothing to him.

If only he would glance to the side a little.

If only he would look at her.

Didn’t this make her a fool, letting her heart race at every little thing he did, getting her hopes up and feeling giddy all on her own?

A one-sided relationship naturally wore one person down. Here she was, too excited to even meet his eyes properly, while he seemed to have little interest in her. That hurt Dieta, but at the same time, she felt ashamed of how childish she was being.

‘Instead of supporting him, I’m feeling hurt.’

Hadn’t they promised each other that day? To pursue their respective goals. To meet at the top. After saying all that, how could she feel hurt because he was running straight toward his goal?

‘I’m not usually like this.’

Calculating, meticulous, and rational. A person far removed from the word “emotional.” That was Dieta as she normally was. Yet for some reason, whenever she stood before Najin, she turned into a fool.

She was hurt, but she had no intention of showing it. For once, Najin had asked her on a date. It would be a shame to waste this lovely time caught up in those feelings. She gave him a small smile.

Just as she was about to continue their conversation...

“I mentioned earlier that I’ve never seen snow.”

Najin lowered his gaze from the sky.

His eyes turned toward Dieta, rather than the stars above.

“It isn’t just snow, actually. There are other things, too. I’ve never seen that blue sea they say stretches beyond the horizon. What even is that? I’ve read about it in books, but honestly, it’s hard to believe.”

Najin shrugged.

“Snow, the sea, snow-covered mountains... And so many, many other things. There’s so much I don’t know. Everything I’ve experienced since leaving the underground city has been unfamiliar to me. That makes every day feel new, but sometimes it’s frightening, too.”

“Frightening? To you?”

“Isn’t that natural? The pleasure of discovering what I don’t know simply outweighs the fear. I still have some fear of the unknown.”

Dieta looked at him as though she could not quite believe it. Najin chuckled and leaned against the fence on the hilltop. The breeze tickled his hair.

“So...”

Something he had meant to say someday.

Najin thought this was the right time.

“I’ve always wanted to tell you how grateful I am.”

“... Pardon?”

“Because you were a first for me, too.”

“And,” Najin added with a smile.

“Because I consider myself lucky that you’re my first friend.”

His gray-white hair stirred in the breeze.

The smile he showed through those windblown strands was one Dieta had never seen before.

“Yes. To be honest, I really enjoy talking with you, Dieta. You smile so brightly at every little thing I say—I don’t know what makes you so happy, but looking at that smile makes some part of me feel at ease. It’s hard to put into words...”

Mischievous, playful, and relaxed.

In other words, exactly the sort of smile a boy Najin’s age might wear. Faced with that natural smile, Dieta’s lips parted without her realizing it.

“I enjoy myself when I’m with you.”

“...”

“I feel a little reluctant to leave for the Outer Lands, and I think perhaps it’s because of you, Dieta. We won’t be able to talk often once I go there. Oh, that doesn’t mean I won’t visit at all. I intend to return to the continent occasionally, even if it won’t be often, and when I do...”

Najin kept talking. But partway through, his words stopped reaching Dieta. To be precise, “I think it’s because of you, Dieta” had been the finishing blow. Everything he said afterward might as well have been a buzzing in her ears.

He enjoyed being with her.

Because of her, he was reluctant to leave for the Outer Lands.

So, um... Because he wouldn’t be able to see her often? Her?

Had she misheard?

The corners of Dieta’s mouth twitched. She covered her mouth with a trembling hand. Her eyes gleamed like an animal’s.

“I hope we can keep being friends like this...”

“Najin.”

Dieta cut him off.

Then she took a bold step toward him. A little closer, and their breaths might have touched. Stopping close enough for each to be reflected in the other’s eyes, she moved her lips slowly, ever so slowly.

“Could you say that again? What you just said?”

Her eyes looked spellbound.

3.

“Pardon? Which part?”

“‘I enjoy myself.’ The part after that. The wind was so strong, you see. I couldn’t hear you properly, so just once more...”

It was a lie, of course.

Had the wind been that strong? Najin tilted his head, but repeated himself anyway.

“I enjoy myself when I’m with you.”

Dieta’s heart gave a thunderous thump.

She staggered backward. As she retreated, she hurriedly covered her mouth, thinking how fortunate it was that she had managed to do so in time.

The corners of her mouth were rising of their own accord. No matter how hard she tried, she could not control her expression. She was probably wearing a horribly silly grin.

‘No, how am I supposed to help this?’

With her ears bright red, Dieta looked at Najin. Did he have any idea what he had just said? Wasn’t that practically a confession? Oh, then should she confess, too? Was this the moment?

A blow so devastating it paralyzed her reason. She could not think straight. Her head spun. Had her usual self seen her now, she would have screamed, “Get a grip, you crazy bitch!” But...

‘Sh-should I really do it now? Just go for it?’

Naturally, the Dieta of the moment could not hear that voice.

Of course, she did have an excuse.

Who was Najin? A man as unresponsive as a block of wood, who did not so much as blink no matter how openly she showed she liked him. Someone who occasionally flashed an incredibly charming smile, but otherwise barely expressed his feelings.

And now someone like that was suddenly saying this?

Of course she knew. She knew he had not meant it that way. Najin still did not understand romantic feelings. He must have meant it innocently, saying he enjoyed her company as one friend to another. Dieta was not unaware of that.

But... Knowing did not make it easy to calm down. She held out an arm to stop Najin as he approached, then turned her head away. She simply could not settle herself while looking at his face.

“J-just a moment.”

Dieta took deep breaths. Long and slow.

Steadying her breathing, she calmed her heart.

Get a grip, Dieta. Hadn’t she vowed to build their relationship slowly? Hadn’t she decided to get Najin into bed, slowly but surely? Approaching him so abruptly, so emotionally, was unlike her.

The Snake That Swallows Gold was an excellent merchant.

An excellent merchant always acted rationally.

After a full three minutes of deep breathing, Dieta raised her head. Wearing an easy smile, she parted her lips, intending to respond with something like, “You’re happy being with me? What an embarrassing thing to say. Still, I don’t dislike it.”

“With me, um, I-I mean...”

She parted her lips, but...

“Umm...”

The moment she looked Najin directly in the face, her mind was wiped blank.

She could not remember what she had meant to say.

... Whenever she stood before Najin, the Snake That Swallows Gold became an ordinary girl.

Her eloquence that won people over, her plans, schemes, acting, and gestures—all were useless before this man. Everything she adorned herself with fell away. All that remained was a girl named Dieta, helplessly stumbling over her words, her eyes darting this way and that.

That embarrassed her.

Yet she did not entirely dislike it, either.

“...”

A mind wiped clean. Lips that moved without managing to form words. Normally, she would have stopped here. She would have turned her head sharply in embarrassment, or mumbled, “It’s nothing...” in a dwindling voice and fled.

But for some reason, she did not want to do that today.

Was it because Najin had shown her a smile she had never seen? Because he had shared his sincere feelings, embarrassing but wonderful to hear? Because he was meeting her with honesty, and she did not want to be the only one speaking lies?

Or, failing that, was the thought of him going far away, of no longer seeing him often, making her anxious? Did she want to take their relationship a little further? Was she greedy?

She could not single out any one reason. All of them simply became an inexplicable force that pushed her forward. That made her lips move.

“Najin.”

“Yes, Dieta? What is it?”

Every word was planned. She chose her words by calculating how they would sound to the other person, how they might work later, and what benefit or harm they might bring. That was Dieta as she normally was.

But not now.

Now she was simply saying whatever words came to mind.

“You said earlier that you were grateful I became your friend. That you’d like us to keep being friends like this.”

Najin nodded.

Dieta looked up at him. She did not know what expression she was wearing. She did not care. She was simply saying what she wanted to say.

“About that. Being friends is nice, too, but, um...”

Dieta knew.

She knew she was being impatient. She knew she was excited. And she knew there was no need to rush.

Yet even knowing all that, she did not stop.

Rationally speaking, this was the wrong answer. It was full of risks. A deal she did not need to rush into. If she saw a merchant making such a deal, Dieta would scoff, “You really are third-rate.”

But...

‘So what?’

The corners of her mouth twitched.

So what if she did not act rationally? What if she acted emotionally? What if she blurted it out on impulse? Where was the rule saying she couldn’t?

It was enough for the Snake That Swallows Gold to be calculating.

At least before Najin, Dieta wanted to be a girl.

“Unfortunately, that won’t work.”

The girl smiled mischievously.

“Because I want us to be more than friends.”

A boy who would move on to a wider stage.

A boy who would experience countless things and meet countless people. Dieta did not want to remain merely a memory of his past. She wanted to become a vivid memory that the passage of time could never wear away.

Dieta took one more step than she usually would.

She added one more thing than she usually would.

Ignoring her reason as it clamored that she should stop now, that she could still salvage this, Dieta approached Najin. One step, then another. Close enough for their breaths to touch, then one more.

TAP!

She came close enough that his eyes held only her.

Then she spoke clearly, emphasizing each word.

“I have feelings for you, Najin.”

So that even this boy, utterly ignorant of romance, could understand, Dieta charged him head-on, leaving him no room to escape.

A simple, honest attack.

In swordsmanship terms, it was the sword of Atanga.