Prologue – Part 01
The workshop was shut tight.
Not only was the door closed, but all the shutters were drawn. Where the forge’s fire usually roared, only the faint flicker of candlelight now lit the cluttered room. In that dim space, thick with the smell of coal, Luke Ainsworth sat alone, studying a damp blade.
He was young, only seventeen. Frowning, his eyes narrowed as he examined a katana. Coal dust smudged his cheeks, forehead, and nose, and the work clothes that shrouded his medium build were darkened by layers of grime accumulated over the years.
The katana he held had just undergone quenching, a process that involved plunging heated blade into a tank of room-temperature water to give it its distinctive curve. It was no exaggeration to say that the quality of the katana hinged on this critical step. Fresh from the water, droplets still ran down its length, soaking Luke’s hands and sleeves as he gripped the tang.
The candlelight cast a cool sheen over the blade, its presence dominating the dim room, even eclipsing Luke’s, the forge master. Had the female knight been here, she would no doubt have gasped in awe.
“No, this won’t do.”
Luke’s face twisted bitterly. He knew all along.
A blacksmith could envision a blade’s final form before forging even began. While minor discrepancies happened along the way, the general result was predictable. He had sensed from the start that this katana wouldn’t exceed his expectations.
Unless something changed, this was the best he could do right now.
Clicking his tongue, Luke rubbed his right eye roughly with his fist.
“I’m running out of time.”
He kept rubbing.
When Cecily and Aria visited Atelier Liza, they found a small figure huddled near the forge. The girl—Lisa—was by a pile of coal stacked against the outer wall, picking up pieces and breaking them down with a hammer.
Coal splitting, Cecily vaguely recalled.
Large chunks of charcoal were split along the grain, then further hammered into smaller, square pieces. Lisa had once explained that this allowed her to control the forge’s temperature by choosing the right size.
As she pounded away, coal dust drifted with the breeze. So when Lisa saw Cecily and Aria and lifted her head, her face was smudged black with soot. Her work clothes were no better, and her blonde hair had turned a dull gray. She grinned, revealing teeth blackened by dust.
“Hi!” Lisa greeted.
“Hello. Hard at work as always, I see,” Cecily replied with a smile.
“What a mess,” Aria sighed. She started wiping Lisa’s face with her sleeve. She even peeled the girl’s lips back with her finger and scrubbed her teeth clean. Lisa giggled from the ticklish sensation. Cecily watched them with a soft gaze.
Both Lisa and Aria were demons. Being of the same kind, they shared a bond, getting along like sisters. Of course, much of it likely had to do with their personalities as well.
Cecily glanced at the closed workshop. The stone building, set against the ash-covered Housman Forest stretching to the horizon, with the faint ridge of Blair Volcano beyond, stood in strange silence. No sound of the forge or hammering came through, yet she knew that a man was holed up inside.
“Is Luke at it again?”
“Yes.” Lisa’s voice was glum. Understandably so, Cecily thought.
Lately, Luke had been acting strange.
He was completely absorbed in his smithing, almost as if he were possessed. When he didn’t need anyone to strike for him, he even shut Lisa, his assistant, out of the workshop and holed himself up. His meals were brought to the forge, so Cecily had barely seen him in days. Even now, though he surely knew she was just outside, he showed no sign of coming out. Lisa seemed just as confused by this sudden change in him.
Cecily couldn’t understand why he was isolating himself like this. At first, she tried dragging him out, at least for lunch, but he dismissed her harshly.
Darn it. Cecily couldn’t hide her frustration.
“Is he really all right? I’m seriously worried.” Cecily furrowed her brows. “Is he even eating properly? I doubt he’s getting enough sleep. What do you think, Lisa? Don’t you think he’s pushing himself too hard?”
“I agree, but… you know how Luke is. Once he’s fixated on something, nothing gets him to budge. He won’t even listen to me.”
“Why don’t you just tell him the truth, Cecily?” Aria said. “Maybe that would get him to come out.”
“What?” Cecily tilted her head, confused by her words. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, if you just said it plainly—‘I miss talking to you.’”
“Th-That’s absurd!”
Aria smirked, and Cecily turned away with a huff.
“I’m just genuinely worried about him! B-Besides, if he won’t come out, I can’t even negotiate for my katana. Why else would I come to this workshop every day?”
“To see Luke.”
“No!”
“What? That’s not it?” Lisa exclaimed.
“Not you, too!”
The real reason she kept visiting was to commission a katana from him. Anything else was beside the point.
“I thought you’d given up on that.”
“There are times when you leave without even asking him.”
Ugh, seriously!
A gust of wind suddenly swept through, cutting off their conversation. Cecily shivered and hunched her shoulders against the cold air that nipped at her neck.
“It’s really starting to get chilly.”
Summer had passed, and early autumn was settling over the continent. Even in this relatively warm northern city, the air had a noticeable bite to it. The usual two-toned sky over Housman Forest had begun to blur, blue merging with gray. Cecily admired Lisa’s endurance, working outside despite the cold.
“It’s even colder in the southern regions,” Aria said. “I’ve been to a lot of places before coming here, and this city is definitely the warmest. This chill is actually refreshing.”
To emphasize her point, Aria planted her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest, looking oddly proud. She was dressed in what looked like a dancer’s outfit, showing a lot of skin. Cecily felt even colder just looking at her.
Cecily, on the other hand, wore her Knight Guard uniform—a breastplate, a white waistcloth, and boots reinforced with iron. Around her neck hung a small pendant marking her affiliation, and at her waist, the slim crimson scabbard Luke had crafted for her. The uniform was designed for spring and summer, so she would soon need to switch to something more suitable for the colder weather.
Lisa looked up at Aria, her eyes bright. “What’s it like in a foreign country? I’ve never been out of the city before.”
Lisa, created by Liza Oakwood three years ago, had been working as Luke’s assistant ever since. She’d never left the city.
“I’d like to know too,” Cecily chimed in.
“You too?”
“My father was committed to the Knight Guard, and my mother wasn’t healthy enough to travel. So, I never had the chance to study abroad. Of course, I left the city for work sometimes, but there weren’t many cases that required crossing the border.”
“I see.” Aria nodded thoughtfully. “Well, I’ll tell you all about it, then. In exchange…”
“I’ll get lunch ready right now! You can tell us while we eat.” Lisa quickly put away the charcoal and hammer before rushing off toward the house.
Cecily and Aria exchanged a smile, watching her go.
“By the way,” Cecily said, “what’s your favorite country?”
“My favorite? Hmm… Does it have to be an actual country?”
“Not really, no.”
“This place,” Aria said, pointing down at her feet.
Cecily wasn’t sure how to react.
Aria smiled. “This city, where you and Lisa are, is my favorite.”
Aria’s words were as straightforward as her smile, and they caught Cecily off guard. Her cheeks flushed.
“Oh, uh… thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Aria chuckled softly at Cecily’s reaction, clearly amused.
That’s not fair, Cecily thought. She found it hard to handle compliments like that.
Aria was an Infernal Blade, a demon capable of transforming into a sword.
Before she met Cecily, Aria had been tormented with the thought that she was a sword that harms people. Although her expressions often shifted, hiding her emotions, that notion had surely taken root in her heart.
Yet, despite it all, she still expressed affection like this. She said she loved this city. She stood proudly by Cecily’s side, head held high, as a comrade.
Had Aria changed?
Cecily believed she did. She was brighter, stronger. If she had even the slightest hand in that transformation, she couldn’t be happier. Still, it was a bit embarrassing. She cleared her throat and changed the question.
“Well then, was there a country that didn’t really click with you?”
“A country that didn’t click with me? Hmm… I was never comfortable in the Crowd Powers, where slavery’s still allowed.” Aria crossed her arms in thought. After a beat, she raised her forefinger. “Oh, yeah. There was one country where everyone I met was so overwhelmingly cheerful it became exhausting. They were either loud, rough, or always ready for a fight. It made life pretty hard there.”
“Which country was that?”
“The Militant Nation,” Aria replied. “Honestly, I wouldn’t want to go back there.”
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