Chapter 5: The Fated Meeting (I Never Asked For)

It had been a week since I’d left the village.

You know, I’d thought I’d just head south toward the capital. I knew it was pretty far, but I’d figured I’d just suck it up and walk and eventually get there. But—

“Um, Muramasa, sir?” I called out between ragged breaths, “That’s east, you know! Can you, like, not dash off in the completely wrong direction?!”

“SOULS. SOULS!”

“Why do I even bother?”

I was dashing at full speed through the dimly lit forest because—you guessed it!—whenever good ol’ Muramasa got hungry, it would make me take off running toward the nearest powerful aetherborn. Which, of course, meant I couldn’t reach my destination at all, and my body was in shambles.

“Why you gotta be that way, dude? I’m terrified of fighting those things!”

Whenever Muramasa was in control, I was strong. I could just stare off into space and take down monsters, no problem. That, however, did not change the fact that it was my body, not me, doing all the fighting. Every time a claw or fang just barely missed me, my life flashed before my eyes.

“One of these days I may end up with a gash or five,” I mumbled, catching my breath and letting out a sigh.

Granted, at this rate, I may not have any muscles left to injure by the time an aetherborn gets to me.

Every day was just an endless loop of me dragging my tired body south as best as I could while Muramasa was full, and then running off in a random direction to fight stuff when it got hungry again. I was already at my limit.

Hmm. I guess I could fight stuff on my own whenever I’m able to move. That way, Muramasa wouldn’t go hungry, but... Nah, that’s way too risky.

I mean, I was just a regular dude. Trying that just to get myself killed would’ve been very stupid.

If only I could get myself a carriage or something. That way, I could cover a lot of ground whenever I’m able to move freely. But oh well, the only place where I’d ever manage to get one would be in the safe zone near the capital anyhow.

You know, it would have been great if I could head that way.

“SOUL!” Muramasa announced excitedly. That had to mean its prey was close by.

My legs picked up the pace as I (unwillingly) ran through the forest. What kind of aetherborn would I fight next, I wondered? Much to my horror, it seemed like the stronger it was, the better it tasted to the sword.

“Damn it all! Is this how it ends?!” a female voice suddenly rang out, interrupting my train of thought.

As I crossed the dense thicket, I saw an enormous minotaur—half-bull and half-man—about to bash a young woman’s skull in. My eyes widened in shock.

Not because she was about to be killed, mind you. More because of how striking she looked. She seemed somewhere in her twenties, with long golden hair and piercing blue eyes. Her skin was pale and her lips tinged with peach, and—

What am I doing?! Now’s not the time to gawk at her face!

Ahem. More because of what she was wearing. Yes, that.

She was clad in a white military uniform, you see. I’d heard of that before. It was the type of uniform worn by magus knights—magic-wielding soldiers in the service of the imperial army. They were like the police officers of this era, taking down dangerous aetherborn, eradicating dark magi who misused aethereal arms, and stuff like that.

Which meant this was bad.

Oh no. Oh no no no! If she sees me using an aethereal arm without a permit, I’m royally screwed!

My body did not share my concerns, sadly, and went straight for the beast. Dear Muramasa’s number one priority, as ever, was its stomach. As if I didn’t care that I might get arrested, I drew the bizarre jet-black blade. You know, the one that looks without a shadow of a doubt like an aethereal arm? That one. Thanks a lot, me.

“Ugh, whatever! Go get it, Muramasa! I’ll just wait for the perfect time to bust out a cool one-liner for my ‘Condemner’ act!”

Whether that’d get me off the hook for illegal possession of an aethereal arm was anyone’s guess, but my mouth was the only thing I could use at the moment. So use it I would!

The minotaur saw me closing in and let out a surprised snort. Too late, however. My body leaped a great distance forward (bones creaking, by the way) and, as soon as the beast’s neck was within reach—

“Embrace your doom, vile fiend!”

A single flash of the magical blade, and it was done. The beast’s head fell from its body. Another life reaped.

And then I landed. Wrong. And my ankle made a loud snapping sound.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh! Fuuuuuuck me, that hurts! Did the exhaustion finally screw my legs up completely?!

Honestly, I wanted to cry. Still, I put on my best heroic face and fought back the tears as I glared at the demon’s falling corpse. I had to put on my Condemner act for the blonde lady knight, after all.

“By my blade, your judgment has been delivered! For the sin of attempting to cut down this fairest of blossoms, in the name of the gods, I have done the same unto you!” I declared, my expression as sharp as I could manage.

Well, Ms. Lady Knight?! How’s that for an epic speech?! Personally I’d give it 50 points for the “judgment by my blade” bit and another 50 for the whole “doing unto you what you do unto others” thing! Perfect 100, if you ask me! Right?!

“F-Fairest of blossoms?! Me?! The woman no one wants to date?!”