He had been kidnapped first thing in the morning.

Someone had grabbed his arm, bundled him into a carriage without warning, and was taking him somewhere without telling him the destination. Najin thought that was more than enough to qualify as kidnapping.

-Kidnapped, my foot. If you wanted to, you could smash the carriage and escape in a matter of seconds.

'It's still kidnapping, though.'

-Oh, please. As if anyone could kidnap someone on the verge of becoming a Sword Seeker.

He couldn't argue with that.

Najin let out a short breath and sank back against the carriage seat. Certainly, the circumstances looked like kidnapping, but he hadn't actually refused, had he?

"..."

He silently looked across from him. Dieta sat there with her head slightly lowered, fidgeting with her knees. She looked as though she had managed to get him into the carriage without thinking about what came next.

"So where is this carriage going?"

"P-pardon?"

"I asked where we're headed."

Dieta jerked her head up, ran a hand down her chest to steady herself, and spoke.

"The imperial capital. Camelot."

"... Camelot?"

"Yes. I have some business in Camelot. I'm allowed to bring one person besides my escort knight, so wouldn't it be nice to go together?"

Camelot, the imperial capital.

Najin slowly nodded.

"But why me?"

"... Do you really have to ask?"

Dieta sighed and folded her arms.

"Sir Kaufman died during the mission you were both on, and there were all sorts of ominous rumors about a dark mage's workshop being discovered and an order's executioner visiting. Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"... Were you?"

"Yes, I was. Why are you looking at me as though that's so surprising? Of course I was worried."

Thinking about it, that made sense.

He was serving as the trading company's promotional model and receiving all kinds of support. If that model died far from home, the losses would be considerable.

As Najin was thinking this, Dieta narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're thinking, 'I'm their model, so of course the company would lose money if I died,' aren't you?"

"How did you know?"

"You're driving me mad. Yes, fine. You're right. The company would suffer a loss, but do you really think that's the only reason?"

Muttering that she had known he would say that, Dieta let out a long, very long sigh. Then she looked at him with a hint of hurt.

"Our relationship isn't just business, is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"... Even if I don't expect that much, we're at least friends, aren't we? I thought we'd gotten that far."

He hadn't caught the first part, but he heard what followed. Najin fell silent at Dieta's words. Friends. It was an unfamiliar word. Born and raised in an underground city, how could he ever have had friends?

People were either rivals or someone he had to kill.

Otherwise, most relationships were one-sided. Atman was full of people who admired, envied, or feared him. His only proper relationships had been with Ivan, Offen, and old Hogel...

'But they were more like adults looking after me, or teachers, than friends.'

Then what did having a friend feel like?

'What's the definition of a friend?'

-Whaaat...?

Najin rubbed his chin as he posed the question to Merlin. She responded with an incredulous question of her own, while he lowered his head slightly in contemplation. Friends. A friend...

"Don't tell me you're trying to figure out what a friend is."

"... I've never had one. Do you have friends, Dieta?"

"That could be an extremely rude question, you know. But to answer you, of course..."

Dieta fell silent too.

Friend. The word itself seemed simple enough. Someone you talked to, shook hands with, and went out to have fun with—wasn't that a friend? But her idea of a friend was a little different.

Someone she could speak to openly. Someone she could face without her mask.

In that sense, she had never had a friend either. Her own childhood had been turbulent. If the man sitting across from her denied being her friend, that would mean she had never made a single friend in her life.

"... I don't have any either."

Dieta suddenly laughed.

A man and a woman, both nearly twenty, sitting together and seriously discussing the definition of friendship. Wasn't it a funny situation? With a faint smile, she spoke.

"I thought we were friends, so it does hurt a little if you didn't think so..."

She held out a hand to Najin.

"Then shall we be friends from now on?"

"What exactly is a friend's role?"

"Just someone you can talk to openly. Someone whose company you enjoy, and whom you feel comfortable confiding in?"

"In that case..."

Najin thought it over as he took Dieta's hand. He certainly did feel a little more at ease around her, though he didn't know why.

"I suppose that fits. Friends."

"Right?"

As Dieta shook his hand, she reflected on something.

In her eyes, Najin had always been flawless and capable. Swordsmanship, disguise, escape, navigating social situations, combat—he lacked nothing as a mercenary.

But watching him seriously puzzle over the unfamiliar word "friend"...

It felt refreshing, as though she had discovered a new side of him. So personal relationships were unfamiliar territory. Then again, he had always seemed rather like someone who lived facing a wall.

'So this is his weak spot...?'

Dieta swallowed.

Wasn't slipping into people's minds and exploiting what she found there an essential virtue for a merchant? Even if she had never made a single friend, this was her specialty. She looked at Najin with greed in her eyes.

'If I coax him this way and that...'

Couldn't she make him look only at her?

Friends were supposed to visit every day to say hello, eat together, and then...

"A friend."

As Dieta was working out her plans, Najin suddenly spoke. He was talking to himself, but his voice was loud enough to draw her attention. She looked up at his face.

He was smiling faintly, as though he liked the sound of the word.

The instant she saw that smile, Dieta's mind went completely blank. She abruptly turned to look out the window. Pressing firmly against her pounding heart, she struggled to steady her breathing.

... In personal relationships—no, in romance—wasn't there a saying that whoever fell first lost? If that was true, she had stepped onto the battlefield with a loser's label already plastered on her forehead. Reversing the positions of winner and loser would take more than ordinary resolve.

'This won't be an easy battle.'

So, friends first.

Didn't they say getting started was half the battle? Now that she had started, she was practically halfway there. Halfway was a lot of progress. So today, she could take things a little easier...

"..."

Dieta's escort knight, Pasion, glanced back as he drove the horses, then shook his head. He had no idea what they had discussed inside, but judging by his mistress's face, red right up to her ears, things didn't look promising.

'Stay strong, Lady Dieta.'

Murmuring that inwardly, Pasion drove on.

2.

The journey to the imperial capital took quite some time.

Even while the carriage was moving, Najin remained wary of his surroundings, his senses stretched to their limit. Even Dieta could tell something was wrong. He looked as though something was chasing him or driving him into a corner.

His eyes were sharp and watchful. His hand was always on his sword hilt.

He was just like the Najin she had first met, sitting in that alley. She almost brought it up, but decided it was too soon and held her tongue.

"Whoever it is..."

Several days later, as they neared Camelot, the imperial capital, Dieta looked at Najin and spoke.

"They won't be able to hurt you in the imperial capital. If someone attacks another person in the middle of the capital and draws blood, he certainly won't stand by and do nothing."

"Who do you mean?"

"The Sword Master, Sir Gerd."

Advice that he could let his guard down.

Najin blinked at her words. Belatedly realizing that she had noticed his constant vigilance, he gave an awkward smile.

"... Is it that obvious?"

"You keep your hand on your sword hilt not just when we're talking, but even when you're asleep. How could it not be?"

Dieta smiled wryly.

"Let's talk about this another time."

She extended an arm and pointed ahead.

"We've arrived."

An enormous gateway stood where she pointed.

"At Camelot, the imperial capital."

* * *

Camelot, capital of the Empire of Britain.

Beyond the enormous walls surrounding the capital lay the heart of Britain, an empire with a history intertwined with myth. As Najin stepped out of the carriage, the vista suddenly opened before him, and he caught his breath.

The place called the center of the world.

When he raised his head, he saw towers soaring high into the sky. Seven mage towers encircled the imperial capital, yet they never cast shadows. Their specially treated walls were translucent, allowing sunlight to pass through, and the sun's light fell equally upon every part of the empire.

A vast city with no end in sight.

At its center, on its highest ground, stood the imperial palace—a gigantic palace covered in a platinum hue. When he looked up toward its summit, he saw a hole in the sky above it.

At the very heart of the empire, the center of the world, that hole lay open.

Though it was broad daylight, the opening in the blue sky was black as night. Yet it was not dark, for stars hung beyond it.

A constellation of thirteen stars.

The stars of the empire's first emperor, Britain's rightful ruler—the great hero, Arthur the Knight King.

Arthur's stars shone at the heart of the empire, day and night alike. Overwhelmed by the entire spectacle, Najin could not help letting out a brief gasp.

-It's been a long time since I've been here too.

Viewing Camelot through Najin's eyes, Merlin gave a bitter smile. It had changed so much from the Camelot she had known.

Britain had not originally been an empire, nor had Camelot been anywhere near this vast.

Britain had begun as nothing more than a refuge Arthur and the knights of the Round Table built for people who had lost their homeland. Camelot, now called the capital, had merely been an old castle.

-They certainly made it grow.

That Britain had become an empire commanding the continent, and Camelot, once an old castle, had become a vast capital with seven mage towers under its sway. Filled with complicated emotions, Merlin let out a long breath.

"This way."

Dieta tugged Najin by the arm.

She led him to a street lined with all kinds of buildings. Each building flew a flag bearing an emblem representing a house or a particular group.

Among those buildings stood one bearing the Dieta Trading Company's emblem. Small and shabby compared with the others, it was an unimpressive building with nothing but a flag hanging from it for now.

TAP.

Standing in front of it, Dieta turned to Najin. She wore a smile that showed just how pleased she was with the building itself.

"This building belongs to our company."

She planted her footprint before it.

Opening the door, Dieta beckoned for him to follow her inside.

Najin followed. The interior was bare, not yet furnished. Dust lay in patches, suggesting that even the cleaning wasn't finished. He followed her up the creaking stairs to the top floor—though the top floor was only the third.

At the top of the building, Dieta threw the window wide open and gestured to the spot beside her. She tapped the window frame insistently until Najin came to stand at her side.

"This is Camelot's merchants' street. The Merchants' Street in Cambria doesn't compare, does it?"

"No, it doesn't."

"Just establishing a property here is enough to get a trading company called successful. See those flags? The Loktid Trading Company, the Cornelhild Trading Company... They're some of the most prominent trading companies on the continent. They're so enormous that my company, as it is now, can't even compare."

The buildings rose high above them, lavishly adorned with flags and emblems. Pointing at them, Dieta continued.

"Still, ours is the first trading company to start in the City of Opportunity and establish a building in the imperial capital. That means I'm the first. This is a tremendous achievement, you know?"

"Is it?"

"Yes. Granted, it's an unimpressive building for now."

Dieta turned to Najin and smiled.

"Eventually, I intend to gobble up that building."

She grinned, pointing to the tallest building on the street, where House Cornelhild's flag flew.

"Just as I did in Cambria, I'll swallow up this entire street and make it mine..."

After that, it would be over there.

She stretched out a finger toward the imperial palace. Around it stood five towering structures shaped like watchtowers. People called them the Five Pillars of the Empire.

The Five Pillars of the Empire.

Towers bestowed upon the five greatest people in the empire apart from the emperor—the people who supported it. Najin knew that the Sword Master Gerd occupied one of them.

"To become the owner of one of those towers."

Pointing at them, Dieta said,

"That's my goal. A goal I can dream of thanks to you, Najin."

Dieta's eyes gleamed bright yellow as she gazed at the towers. They were the eyes of the Snake That Swallows Gold, and they were Dieta's eyes.

"There wasn't any special reason I dragged you to the imperial capital without warning. I just wanted to look at this together with you. What do you think? It looks terribly difficult, doesn't it?"

"It doesn't look easy."

"You're hardly one to talk."

Dieta grinned.

"Your goal is up there, isn't it?"

Dieta gestured with her eyes. Even without her pointing, Najin knew what she meant. He looked at the stars hanging above the imperial palace.

The stars in the highest place. The greatest stars of all—Arthur's constellation.

As he gazed at them, Najin suddenly smiled. He still had such a long way to go.

"It's a very long road ahead."

"For me too. I'll have to bring down every one of those flags before I can climb up there, and I'm already sighing at the thought."

Dieta turned around. Leaning back against the window, she brushed her hair back.

"So..."

She reached out and seized Najin by the collar. Taking a firm grip, she pulled him toward her. Her fingers were slender, and he could have shaken off her hold at any time, but he willingly let her draw him closer.

Najin and Dieta met each other's gaze at close range, so close their breath almost seemed to touch.

Sunset-colored eyes met bright yellow ones. Looking closely into Najin's eyes, which had regained a little of their life, Dieta spoke in a near whisper.

"Don't be too impatient. If you are, even things that could work out won't."