Chapter 5
Nine years after that decision, in the spring of Divine Era 1644.
Cadet Ekinesia Roaz walked through the ruined temple. It was the grand temple in the destroyed city of Ajenka, now in her hands.
Ajenka, the holy land of knights, had become an ominous land where no one lived. Little remained.
However, in the ruins of the temple, there was one thing left behind, impossible to move by human hands.
The Divine Sword Kairos Giosa. A sword said to have been forged by a god tempering time.
Unlike the other Divine Sword, a sword of space that drifted through space and disappeared, the Sword of Time had been on this land since before the legend of Giosa was even properly known. That was why the Azure Knights established their base here, and the city of Ajenka, belonging to no nation, was born.
Kairos Giosa was embedded in the center of the ruins. A sleek and delicate sword that took on different lights from moment to moment.
The sculptures and altars that had decorated it were shattered, but even without them, the Divine Sword was mysterious. It was proof itself that a god existed, one that could not be seen, heard, or touched.
Humans cannot wield that sword. No matter how much they reach out, they cannot touch the sword, as if blocked by a wall.
But Eki had to wield the Divine Sword.
She had short-cropped hair and wore worn-out leather clothes. Traces of a long journey were all over her body. The hand reaching out to the Divine Sword was covered in scars. At best, she looked like a mercenary; at first glance, she looked like a vagrant.
The Divine Sword allowed itself to be held in her hand.
Nothing special happened. It was just that the sword, which no one could wield, was now in her hand.
At that moment, a voice echoed in her mind. A voice of indeterminate gender, like a Demon Sword.
[Worthy human, what do you desire?]
“…Kairos Giosa.”
Eki licked her dry lips a few times, then spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Send me back to the past where I hadn’t killed anyone.”
The Divine Sword was silent for a moment, then slowly asked.
[Why do you want to return to the past?]
“Because I want to save them.”
[Whom?]
“…The people I killed.”
[You killed them with your own hands, and now you want to bring them back to life?]
“I didn’t… I didn’t want to kill them!”
The hand holding the sword trembled. A few drops of blood fell from her clenched teeth. The Divine Sword read the times she had lived through. And it understood.
[I see. Then what?]
“What…?”
[If you turn back time, those you killed will all be alive. In a world where they are alive, what will you do? What will you use the time you have regained for?]
She was speechless. Ekinesia, thirty-five years old, who had been running with only the goal of saving everyone, thought about what would come after for the first time.
What did I want? Why did I want to save them? Why did I want to change the past?
She murmured blankly.
“…I’ll just live.”
[Just live? Is that all? You are alive now.]
“It’s as good as being dead now.”
[Why?]
“Because I… I can’t be happy now. I can’t even sleep peacefully…”
The words came out before she could think. She realized it only after she spoke.
She wanted to be happy. She didn’t know exactly what happiness she wanted, but it was impossible to be happy now that she had killed all her loved ones with her own hands.
So, she had to change it. She had frantically collected Giosa for that. She hadn’t slept properly for the past nine years. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had smiled.
The Divine Sword was finally satisfied with her answer. The sword emitted a soft light.
[Good. I will lend you my power, worthy human.]
A dizzying and chaotic sensation washed over her entire body. Everything faded. The Divine Sword said one last thing.
[There will be no second miracle. So do your best to be happy.]
The sword moved.
Ekinesia Roaz succeeded in turning back time. To fifteen years ago, when she was still an ordinary Count's daughter.
Act 1. What Changed and What Didn't
She felt a refreshing and fluffy sensation. Eki, who was unconsciously rubbing her cheek against it, suddenly startled and opened her eyes. At the same time as she rose like flowing water, she lowered her center of gravity and dropped her right hand, assuming a posture ready to react to anything.
Rustle.
The long hair that had risen with her quick movement belatedly fell down. Eki stared at it blankly. Softly undulating light pink hair. It was disheveled from sleep, but it was clear that it had been carefully and expensively maintained.
“Ah…”
She unconsciously grabbed the hair. Maintaining long hair was a troublesome task. Since regaining her body from the Demon Sword, she had always kept her hair short.
To think that it was so long, and that it hadn't been dyed black. The hand holding the light-colored hair was white and soft, without a single scar. Her nails were neatly trimmed.
She looked down at her body. Her body, wrapped in silk pajamas, was slender and soft. She put her feet out of bed. Her white bare feet had no calluses.
There were pink slippers with lace under the bed. It was something she vaguely remembered. She put on the slippers and raised her head. She stared at the fluttering canopy hanging over the bed, then pushed it aside and got out of bed.
“My, room…”
The familiar scenery of the room, decorated with cute trinkets. Eki staggered to the window. The wind flowing in from the slightly open window fluttered the white curtains. She pushed aside the curtains and looked out the window.
It was spring. She could see a garden with budding green shoots and flower buds. A gardener was squatting in front of a bush, trimming the branches.
Beyond the garden, a little further away, was a training ground. A boy with light brown hair was running around the training ground under the guidance of a knight.
“Lansel… Lancelid.”
Eki murmured the boy's name. It was the name of her younger brother, who was three years younger than her.
〈Sister, why…?〉
Those were the last words of the boy who died soaked in blood. It was one of the vivid nightmares. Her eyes shook madly.
Eki opened the window as it was and jumped out of her room on the second floor. Her mind was as white as the fluttering curtains.
Mana moved on its own without her consciously willing it. Her body had not yet formed a core and had no accumulated Mana, but that was not much of a problem for her.
She landed like a cat. Her eyes were fixed on the training ground. As she started running, the slippers slipped off her feet and rolled away. She didn't care. She ran barefoot as if flying and jumped into the training ground.
“Young lady?”
She rushed past the horrified knight and hugged Lansel as he was. His purple eyes, which resembled hers, widened.
“Uh?”
The boy couldn't withstand her rush and fell on his butt. Eki hugged her brother's neck and put her ear to his chest. Thump, thump, the boy's heart was beating. She was lost in thought.
“Sister…?”
“Lansel, Lancelid Roaz, you’re alive, you’re alive.”
“What are you talking about from the morning? No, there’s no way you’d be up at this hour, Sister?”
Lansel, flustered, tried to push her away, then flinched. Her chest, with its curves clearly visible in her pajamas, her white legs, and her slender shoulders. Ekinesia was dressed in a way that left no place for Lansel to look. Lansel screamed and took off his shirt.
“No, why are you dressed like this! Are you crazy?”
“I…”
“I know, you hate the smell of sweat, Sister. Just bear with it for a moment, even if you hate it. Why did you come all the way here at this hour in this state?”
Lansel forcibly threw the shirt over her. The knight who was teaching Lansel couldn't bear to look at her directly and cleared his throat while averting his gaze.
“Young master, first, the young lady…”
“Yeah, I have to take Sister back to the mansion. Can we stop the morning training here?”
“We’ll make up for it next time. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Thanks for your hard work too, Kyung. Sister, get up. …Why are you barefoot?”
Lansel, who was helping Eki up, muttered as if he was dumbfounded.
“Did you have a nightmare or something? You look like you just woke up.”
“Nightmare…”
The focus returned to Eki’s eyes, which had been blankly holding onto Lansel. She suddenly pulled Lansel closer.
Originally, her strength was as weak as a well-bred young lady. But for some reason, Lansel was almost knocked over by her strength.
Before Lansel, who barely managed to step back and support himself, could say anything, she grabbed the boy's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye.
Ekinesia's eyes were shining more clearly than ever before. A strange sense of overwhelmingness. Lansel forgot what he was going to say.
“Lansel.”
“…Yes, Sister?”
“What’s the date today?”
“Huh?”
“What year, what month, what day is it?”
“…It’s March 17, 1629. What’s really wrong with you, Sister? Is something wrong?”
“1629…”
Eki let go of Lansel. Her expression twisted into something that was neither smiling nor crying.
“I succeeded. I succeeded…”
Her legs gave way, and she slumped down on the dirt floor of the training ground. She tried to rub her face with her trembling hands. Then, the moment her right palm came into view, her movement froze.
There was something like a jet-black pattern that didn't suit her white palm. She knew very well what that pattern was.
She involuntarily ground her teeth. Lansel's face turned pale at the sound of her grinding teeth and the fiercely rising murderous intent.
“S-Sister? You’re acting a little strange right now. Are you sick somewhere?”
“It seems like you’re not feeling well. Young lady, excuse me for a moment… Ugh!”
The knight, who was about to come over and pick her up, was pushed away. Eki, who reflexively pushed the knight away, opened and closed her mouth a few times, then shook her head wildly.
“Lansel, sorry, I’m okay!”
“Sister!”
Eki, who threw out the words as she could, jumped up and disappeared like the wind. Her movements were so fast that both Lansel and the knight lost sight of her in an instant. They stared down at Lansel's shirt that she had dropped, with dumbfounded faces.
