Eurypylus, the Lighthouse Keeper.

The champion of the Order of Star Radiance was the longest-lived human on the continent. Even counting the Outer Lands, he ranked among the older transcendent beings.

Eurypylus was 428 years old this year. Long-lived transcendent beings reckoned their ages in increments of fifty or a hundred years, but Eurypylus calculated his down to the second.

428 years, 7 months, 21 days, 14 hours, 21 minutes, and 11 seconds.

Even now, a second hand ticked away in a corner of his mind. He always kept an exact count of the time he had lived.

Counting time. Recording the time he had lived.

It was both a compulsion and the means by which Eurypylus defined himself.

Tick. Eurypylus looked at the frowning boy standing before him. A boy not even twenty years old. Some might call him a young man, but from Eurypylus's perspective, there was little difference.

A mere twenty years. Eurypylus found the very fact that a whelp who had not lived even twenty years was throwing the continent into turmoil thoroughly displeasing. Change naturally brought chaos. Chaos created variables, and variables forced him, the immovable Lighthouse Keeper, to move.

'How irritating.'

Being forced to move filled Eurypylus with irritation. His power came from remaining still. Every movement drained that power, and however minute the loss, it was a horrifying prospect to him.

He could have endured another 312 years, 4 months, and 21 days, but this excursion had shortened that time by about a month.

Eurypylus hoped this excursion would prove worth that cost. Contrary to his hopes, however, events began taking a strange turn.

“The First Pillar seems to think otherwise.”

The instant the boy said that, Eurypylus felt a chill. An icy gaze swept down his spine. It felt as though a blade were pressed against his body.

He whipped his head around toward the top of the First Pillar Tower. Several kilometers separated them, but the two transcendent beings met each other's eyes as though that distance did not exist.

“...”

Gerd, the Empire's foremost warrior.

The old man watched him without a word. He merely held a sword in his hand. He neither swung it nor pointed it this way, but the mere fact that he had drawn it was enough to chill Eurypylus to the core.

It was a warning: one more insolent move, and he would swing.

Eurypylus recoiled inwardly. He would go this far? He calculated how much time he would have to expend if he clashed with Gerd here. The calculation took little time.

250 years.

He would have to expend nearly eighty percent of the time he had accumulated. Moreover, this was the Empire. If the Five Pillars of the Empire intervened, even spending all his accumulated time would not suffice.

“You.”

Eurypylus glared at Najin, bewilderment in his eyes.

“What in the world...”

The Empire, too, preferred to avoid conflict with the Order of Star Radiance. The order had followers not only within the Empire but throughout the continent. Ordinarily, when a leading figure of the order such as himself acted in this manner, the Empire acknowledged the order's authority and yielded a step.

He had never imagined he would have to worry about the Empire's displeasure over something so insignificant—not a serious matter, merely putting pressure on a single boy.

A flash.

A star blazed a fierce blue atop the First Pillar Tower. It was warning him to remove the barrier and step back immediately. Eurypylus ground his teeth.

That cold-blooded man, who cared only for the Empire and had not even defended his own family, was going this far?

“The order will not stand idly by over this.”

“As you wish,” Gerd replied curtly.

“Neither do I intend to stand idly by while your lot hold your heads so high in boundless arrogance.”

“Does that outrageous statement represent the Empire's position?”

“It is my personal opinion, but the Empire's differs little. I am the Empire.”

In the end, Eurypylus took a step back. The barrier surrounding him and Najin dispersed. Immediately afterward, he realized he had made the right choice.

“...”

A woman outside the barrier had been glaring at him. She looked to be in her early twenties, but the Lighthouse Keeper knew who she was.

Cypria Gachevska, the Ever-Radiant Point.

The imperial archmage was staring daggers at him. A brown-haired girl clung to her side. Patting the girl's shoulder, Cypria gave a short sigh.

“Sir Eurypylus?”

“Speak.”

“I have no intention of disregarding your authority or the order's, but personally, I find this rather unpleasant.”

Cypria clicked her tongue.

“An uninvited intruder barges into a banquet and threatens a guest. Are you aware that this insults both its hosts and everyone attending?”

High-ranking imperial officials and nobles from countless distinguished houses.

The Lighthouse Keeper could disregard them all, but not Cypria, who stood before him as their representative. She was a transcendent being, just as he was.

“Either enjoy the banquet...”

Cypria pointed outside.

“...or wait until it is over.”

He was to choose one or the other.

2.

In the end, Eurypylus withdrew. He went outside the banquet hall and sat on a bench, apparently intending to wait until the banquet ended. He looked exceedingly displeased, but no one paid the Lighthouse Keeper any attention.

More precisely, no one could afford to appear to pay him any attention. This was the Empire, and by all appearances Cypria, one of its pillars, had driven him out. Approaching the Lighthouse Keeper now would mean disregarding a pillar's authority.

However powerful a religious figure he might be, anyone who wished to live in the Empire had to remain in its pillars' good graces. No noble wanted to incur the displeasure of Cypria, who was famously exacting.

And so the banquet continued, leaving the Lighthouse Keeper to himself.

“Are you all right, Najin?”

“Yes, thanks to you.”

Najin bowed his head in thanks to Dieta and Cypria beside her. Cypria nodded in satisfaction, then patted Dieta's shoulder.

“Company Head, don't worry. I have no intention of letting some religious fanatic spoil the banquet. You've put so much effort into preparing it. You should enjoy it.”

“Thank you so much, Lady Cypria.”

“What for? It's the least I can do.”

With that, Cypria headed toward the center of the hall. Dieta brushed a hand down her chest in relief and glanced at Najin.

“Really, what gives you the confidence to act so recklessly?”

“I have quite a few people I trust.”

With a small chuckle, Najin inclined his head toward the distant First Pillar Tower. Gerd was busy swinging his sword atop it, as though he had never been watching them at all, but Najin could feel that his gaze still lingered nearby.

“Dieta.”

“Yes? Go ahead.”

“Could you tell me more about the Lighthouse Keeper? I think I'll need more information.”

“I could, but...”

Hesitating, Dieta held out her hand to him.

“Will you finish our dance first?”

“I intended to do that even without being asked. Is there anything else you'd like?”

“Let me think about that...?”

The music resumed, and Najin and Dieta finished their dance as though nothing had happened.

The banquet continued for a long time afterward. Shut out of the lively festivities, Eurypylus glared fiercely at Najin, but Najin paid him no mind.

What was he going to do, glare him to death?

“I can give you information too. Why don't you ask me? I know plenty.”

'... What?'

“Never mind. Forget it. It's nothing.”

Merlin grumbled and shot Najin a thoroughly disgruntled look. What was her problem now?

'Putting that aside, the Lighthouse Keeper doesn't seem to know, does he?'

“Know what?”

'That I drew Excalibur. I tested the waters a little, and he seemed unaware.'

Merlin nodded.

“That's true. He couldn't behave like that if he knew you'd drawn it. Honestly, I don't understand why the Lighthouse is acting this way either.”

The Lighthouse That Illuminates All Things, patron deity of the Order of Star Radiance.

“By now, I thought it'd have come crawling to the Round Table to bow its damn head, or taken an openly hostile stance... Something, at least. But it's doing nothing?”

That was indeed the case. The Order of Star Radiance's last involvement with Najin had been just before he became a Sword Seeker. Since then, it had not even approached him, let alone threatened him.

They simply remained silent. Even though Najin held both the justification and the weapon to destroy them, their silence never wavered.

Their behavior defied common sense.

'I did ask the Empire's foremost warrior, but...'

Najin turned his gaze toward Eurypylus.

'I suppose I need to check for myself.'

He truly wanted nothing to do with them. He wished his only dealings with them could be when he smashed their main church to pieces, but for the sake of his goal, Najin temporarily suppressed his loathing for the Order of Star Radiance.

Why had Eurypylus come to see him? What did he want to discuss so badly that he would endure such humiliation?

'It's worth hearing him out.'

Of course, he had no intention of doing so for nothing.

3.

After the banquet ended, Najin sat down across from Eurypylus. The sword he had briefly removed upon entering the hall was back at his waist. Keeping his hand on its hilt so he could draw at any moment, he looked at Eurypylus.

“So you've finally decided you're willing to talk.”

Najin immediately made to rise, signaling that he could end the conversation and leave whenever he wished. Grinding his teeth, Eurypylus jerked his chin at him.

“Sit. What I have to say will benefit you as well.”

Najin stared at Eurypylus. He was nothing like the person Najin had imagined. Countless books described the Lighthouse Keeper as an impassive, emotionless being, aloof from worldly concerns.

A human who had lived on the continent for more than four hundred years. The order's guardian, whom Najin would have to defeat first if he wished to bring the order down.

Until now, Najin had imagined the Lighthouse Keeper would be much like Gerd, but the reality was entirely different. He made no effort to hide his emotions and seemed little different from nobles steeped in their own authority.

“As you know, I am the Lighthouse Keeper, champion of the Order of Star Radiance. I also speak on its behalf.”

“I know.”

“In that capacity, I wish to make you an offer.”

“An offer?”

Najin had to suppress an incredulous laugh.

“All right, let's hear it. What is your offer?”

“I understand you have yet to receive a knighthood. Is that correct?”

“Not because I couldn't. I chose not to.”

“So you are not a knight, regardless.”

The Lighthouse Keeper tossed an insignia onto the table. It bore the symbol of the Order of Star Radiance and denoted a paladin of the highest rank—an insignia that only High Priest Orlan and Lighthouse Keeper Eurypylus could bestow.

“Join the Order of Star Radiance.”

Gesturing toward the insignia with his chin, the Lighthouse Keeper continued.

“I will guarantee you the position of commander of the paladins.”

Considering the authority the paladin commander held within the order, this was practically equivalent to offering him a pillar's seat in the Empire. Coming directly from the Lighthouse Keeper, it was an extraordinary offer indeed.

Yet the moment Najin heard it, he could no longer suppress his incredulous laughter.

“Why are you laughing? Do you find my offer amusing?”

“How could I not?”

Najin tapped his fingers against the table.

“It feels odd to have to say this myself, but I'm at odds with the Order of Star Radiance. You've tried to kill me and bury me time and again. And now you promise me command of your paladins?”

Najin sneered.

“Are you kidding me? Why, are you afraid now? Afraid I'll—”

“What? What did you just say?”

The Lighthouse Keeper cut him off, tilting his head with a frown.

“The order tried to kill you? What are you talking about?”

Was he pretending not to know? How utterly despicable. Barely restraining the urge to draw his sword on the spot, Najin repeated himself. Yet the Lighthouse Keeper's reaction remained unchanged.

“This is the first I've heard of it. The order did such a thing? Surely that cannot be right?”