Prologue

It was a summer day.

The heat was suffocating.

The cicadas kept chirping.

The smell of roses.

A reminiscent dream,

That he can’t shake off,

Nor Remember.

Fresh grass brushes his fingers,

Trees are wavering,

The wind is ceasing.

An encounter,

Its beginning.

Its end.

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Chapter 1: Cursed one

Kanami. This was the name of the one called the dog of the princess. That day, she was doing her usual stroll around the castle’s walls, the residence of the old king, Albius Sora. These ramparts were built long ago to accommodate the movement of the guards protecting it all day long. But protecting the castle wasn’t her job. After all, the guards here, equipped with spears and shields, were far enough to monitor the horizon. Furthermore, the geographical position of the castle rendered any invasion from an army near impossible. Whether it’s the different hills surrounding it from West to East and North, or the walls circling the city below, the castle was probably the last thing that would come down in a war.

No, if Kanami was doing this little stroll, it was because a few months ago, the king had fallen terribly ill. Since, his daughter, Morgann, took the throne to guide the kingdom. But Kanami couldn’t help but feel that this illness wasn’t normal. Nobody knew what sickness, or curse, could have caused it. No doctor could heal him.

“Everything’s fine here,” she thought while looking through the nobles' quarters windows.

A treason was the most probable outcome. There were many people in the council, and every one of them was a candidate for the throne once the king died, Morgann was just a temporary replacement. That’s why she was doing these strolls every day, keeping an eye on every guard, every person entering and leaving the castle, like a bird in the shadows. And today again, nothing of note happened. Just an ordinary day like every other.

She sighed, quite annoyed. She then walked back in the direction of her lord’s chamber, the princess herself. She had a few minutes left before Maria, the head maid, had finished some touches on the royal garments. But before she could arrive there, she heard someone dashing at full speed in the corridor in front of her.

“Kanami!” the voice of a young girl echoed through the stone walls.

This young woman with shining brown hair was running barefoot, almost tripping at every step on the carpet covering the floor. Seeing that, indeed, she was going to trip, Kanami rushed to her and caught her just in time.

“Your majesty, what is the matter?” she asked in an urgent tone.

“The young man that arrived this morning!” the princess shouted before catching her breath, “He was kidnapped! Uncle Marsh said they took him out of the castle!”

“Understood,” answered Kanami with a nod. “Any information about their destination?”

“No! But find him!”

Kanami nodded again and quickly helped the princess to put her back on her two feet. She then sprinted at an inhuman speed toward the closest opened window and jumped through it. It was a dozen-meter fall, but she landed with inhuman ease and suppleness, like a feather falling on the ground, making no sound on arrival. Then with a single jump, she landed on the roof of one of the nobles’ houses, ignoring his comment on how she should get down from there. Some guards even looked at the all in black-clothed figure aghast, as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop like a human grasshopper.

“I still can’t see them…”

Methodically and rapidly, she scanned the city, street by street, in search of the young man. No sign of urgency nor stress was visible on her face, her lips betraying no expression, just the robotic work she was used to doing, the result of years of experience and training.

Once she landed on the roof of a certain tavern, she stopped abruptly, gripping tightly the handle of her dagger attached to the back of her belt.

“Here they are.”

Was it her instinct? Most of the guards didn’t know how she was so good at tracking people, even those she never met. She didn’t get her nickname of “guard dog” for no reason. Mana, magic, energy, chi, no matter what one would call it, in this world exists something sleeping inside every living being. The magicians of this country use it to create all sorts of miracles or to wage war. This mana, unlike others, Kanami could feel it. Each mana had a different color, a different smell, and a different sensation when it brushed against her skin. Each mana… is unique. And when she had left the castle, she immediately noticed traces of a spell being used near the gate, a camouflage spell she betted on. All she had to do, was to follow the trail.

It was a little shack in an inhabited dark alley of the lower city, a perfect place to hide someone. The number of exits at disposition gave multiple possibilities to escape in case of a problem. She took a moment to assess the situation.

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A man was posted in front of the door. Light armor, sword on the hilt, looking anxious, ready to pounce on anyone who would dare approach. She jumped from the roof and approached the alley. In the middle of the day, as everyone watched her, the city, usually loud and brimming with life, went quiet.

Who is she? What is she doing here? Most of the people knew of her but some were still unaware of the guard dog of Sora. Disgust, contempt, fear, morbid curiosity, and a wave of emotions submerged the citizens. They couldn’t do anything but watch. They couldn’t do anything but hear their own heartbeats, their breaths as this creature completely undisturbed by this turn of events took a step down from the roof in the middle of the most populated road of the city.

“It’s her.”

“I know her, she is the guard dog of the princess…”

“Why is she even allowed to quit the castle?”

“How horrible.”

Countless voices rose in the silence. But Kanami heard nothing. She was too preoccupied by the shack in front of her, walking in a straight line, ignoring the passerby. Once inside the alley, the usual ambient noise of the city came back, like birds chirping in the morning. Though the absence of this same noise for a while alerted the man in front of the shack. He was faced suddenly with Kanami, still her hand on the hilt of her dagger.

“Fuck! They sent the dog!” he shouted in panic.

He didn’t waste time unsheathing his weapon, a longsword, and taking a stance to intercept the young woman. But it was already too late. Her speed surprised him as she blinked from where she stood to crouch below him, her eyes riveted on her target. With a swift movement, she drew the dagger from its sheathe and slashed the ankle of the man in one slice.

“Urgh! You bitch!”

Grunting in pain, the bandit brought down his sword in an attempt to stop her in her tracks but her speed was just in another league. Just before the sword hit its target, Kanami’s dagger had already struck his neck, killing him on the spot. Then, her ears heard some commotion from inside the shack. She quickly pushed the body aside and prepared herself to intercept the incoming reinforcements. Three men, armed to the teeth, one looking like a magician, stepped out of the shack. One was armed with a spear and was wearing heavy armor. The other was in lighter armor with a scimitar in both hands.

In this situation, anyone would flee and come back with reinforcement. But Kanami was just assessing the situation, calm and steady as usual, gripping her dagger firmly, locking eyes with the three of them, one by one.

“Gareth died! You bastard!” the spearman shouted.

He lunged forward, followed by his companion with the scimitars. Kanami evaded the thrust of his lance with a simple step to the side, seemingly unbothered by the other one as well. No, the one she was wary of was the mage. While stepping forward, brushing against the shaft of the spear, she pointed her dagger at the man’s throat. She knew that once the spearman’s advantage, his range, was lost, her victory was assured. Though unexpectedly, spears of ice started raining on her, probably being summoned by the mage who was taking his distance. One of them grazed her leg, making her doubt and slow down, enough for the warrior with the scimitars to catch up and intercept her.

“I got you!”

But once again, with a simple step, she dodged the incoming attack and repositioned herself, giving enough space and vision for the mage to shout another spell. An undodgeable attack, sure to hit and reduce her to cinders.

“Esfelto!”

A ball of fire erupted from his hands right towards Kanami, which, without hesitation, she sliced in two with her dagger shining with a blue glow, making it disappear into the ether.

“W-What?” the mage shouted in surprise.

There, it was the moment she waited for. While everyone was surprised by the sudden turn of events, she jumped forward, ignoring the other two bandits, and planted her dagger right in the mage’s chest, piercing his heart.

The wind suddenly lifted itself behind her with a loud noise of metal. Without turning around, she grabbed the mage’s now lifeless body and positioned it right behind her. The sound of metal piercing flesh reverberated through her body, as the spearman pierced its friend’s corpse, blood dripping down on the stone pavement.

“S-Sorry!”

Shocked, he couldn’t even protect himself as Kanami turned around, closing the distance quickly, and lodged her dagger in his throat.

“Raaah!”

Powerless, the last man standing tried a desperate attack to avenge his comrades, in vain. It was without a doubt, that he was fighting something not human, a monster he thought. Her eyes black eyes devoid of emotions, like a killing machine staring into his soul, locked onto his own. The chill of death ran down his spine. And as he brought down his swords, a sharp pain in his hand made him stumble to the ground and drop his weapons, clutching this same hand that was transperced by her dagger. As he cried in pain, he felt the merciless clutch of her hand grab his collar and lift him with a terrifying ease.

“Who are you working for?” she asked.

But he could only cry in pain and terror, clutching his hand in the hope of stopping the blood from flowing.

“Hey, I asked you a question.”

With a swing, she threw the man with inhuman strength through the wood walls of the shack, making a hole of his size in it. She then stepped inside it and grabbed it by his collar again.

“I don’t know! I don’t know! I swear!” said the man, tearing up from the pain.

“...”

With the hilt of her dagger, she knocked on his head, rendering him unconscious. She then sighed longly and sheathed it back again while examining the place. It was dusty and in ruins. The only trace of recent activity was these guys setting camp and opening a trapdoor on the ground. She searched the unconscious man’s belongings as well as his pockets. He had nothing of interest so she looked for the other two that were outside and found a paper in the spearman’s pocket.

Capture the young man dead or alive who arrived this morning.

If you succeed, a man will reward you tomorrow.

One thousand gold coins shall be awarded in case of success.

She looked at it thoughtfully, trying to figure out if she recognized this writing style but nothing came to her mind.

“I wonder who’s more stupid. The ones who hired them, or these idiots who thought they could handle it,” she sneered.

Finally, she lifted the trapdoor inside the shack, revealing a dim-lit basement. There, she saw a young man with short black hair, wearing a strange brown jacket with numerous pockets as well as blue pants that looked robust and of high quality. She didn’t know this person, only that he had arrived this morning, unexpectedly, from a place far away.

She examined him for a while. His face was bruised, and he was unconscious. He had been visibly mistreated by his abductors. The first thing she felt was pity, and then annoyance. She sighed again and undid his bindings. It was at this moment that his eyes opened.

There, he saw a young woman, her face splattered with fresh blood, wearing black clothes, her long black hair attached. He couldn’t see clearly, his head still foggy, but he knew he was out of danger.

Her amber brown eyes filled with compassion, were the proof.

Was it fate? Or a simple coincidence? Even today, she asked herself this question. When this man knocked on her door, a sincere smile on his face...