“Um…are you not going to capture me? Are you…the person who lives here?”
Goldof nodded, and the girl bowed her head to him.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I just barged into your home. I was so tired, I just wanted to rest. I can’t do anything for you now, but I will make it up to you.”
He tried to reply, It’s no problem, but the words wouldn’t come out. The girl’s face kept him spellbound. He couldn’t see anything else. It was like he’d forgotten everything in the world besides himself and her.
Then suddenly, a noise came from outside the hut. “Have you searched this house?!”
“Not yet!”
Soldiers burst into the hut without knocking. When they saw the girl, their eyes widened, approaching her with greed. “We’ve finally found you! You’re not getting away again.”
The girl stood up without a word. Her face drained of all color, stiffening in fear. Her legs trembled.
“Come with us. You can’t tell us no.”
“…I…under…stand,” she said. The soldiers ignored Goldof’s presence entirely. They grabbed the girl by the arm and dragged her out of the hut.
Instantly, the black flames flared again in Goldof’s heart. They roared hot, more powerfully than they ever had before. He didn’t know who that girl was or why the soldiers were chasing her, either. But he felt like he had to kill all of those soldiers immediately. He clenched his fists and took a step forward.
But then the girl yelled, “The gentleman over there!” Her sudden cry surprised the soldiers. Goldof froze before he could punch them. “He…was not a part of this.”
The soldiers looked at Goldof and shrugged.
Then the girl smiled at him and said, “Mister, I’ll be okay. Please, don’t worry about anything.”
The moment she spoke, the flames that had been burning in Goldof’s chest were again instantly extinguished. If she says there’s no need to fight, then I don’t need to fight, he thought.
Surrounded by soldiers, the girl left the hut. Goldof watched her go in silence. She looked back one last time, bowing her head to him. “Mister, thank you very much, truly. I will not forget this debt.” The soldiers were confused as to what she meant. But Goldof just stood there. He didn’t know what he should do or why the girl had thanked him.
“…Oh…I get it.” Then, after a while, he figured it out. The girl had realized he’d been about to attack the soldiers. She had thought the soldiers would kill him if he did, so she had stopped him. Then she had thanked him for trying to save her.
The girl had defended him. She might have been able to get away during the fight, but she had prioritized Goldof’s life instead.
The moment he understood that, he dashed out of the hut.
Later, Goldof would find out that the girl’s name was Nashetania Rouie Piena. A year after she and Goldof first met, the name Augustra would be added to that, as the title of the successor to the throne.
At that time, there was great political unrest in the Kingdom of Piena. The king, Nalphtoma, had suddenly gone mad. He’d started ranting about a heretical sect running rampant throughout the nation, and how these heretics who worshipped the Evil God planned the destruction of the world and plotted to kill him. Nalphtoma caused a bloodbath, slaughtering innocent citizens and aristocrats in the name of “saving the world.” Finally, he accused even his own daughter, Nashetania, of heresy.
No matter how much the high chancellor and the knights investigated, they could find no such profane cult in Piena. But that didn’t cure Nalphtoma of his delusions. Eventually, he ordered that Nashetania be disinherited and executed, and then he selected a distantly related prince from a different nation to be his successor instead. He rewarded those who killed the most heretics and bestowed important posts to them.
And so a civil war began. Many accused innocent nobles of crimes in an attempt to gain wealth or status for themselves. The king would either divest these nobles of their status or execute them.
Nashetania’s life had been in danger, and so she was left with no choice but to disguise herself as a commoner and flee the capital. Three years later, she would become the Saint of Blades, but at this time in her life, she was still just a powerless girl.
The day Nashetania had met Goldof, she and her retainers were supposed to have gone to the noble who governed the town. But that noble had betrayed Nashetania instead, apprehending her knight guards and the maids who attended her. Without her guards, Nashetania had fled until eventually she had become separated from her one remaining maid, Meenia.
Finally, Nashetania had arrived at a tiny hut on the edge of the slums, where she had met Goldof.
Goldof ran outside his hut, the black flame searing in his chest. Eyes bloodshot, he panted like an animal. There was nothing in his head but the urge to fight.
He searched for the girl and the soldiers, but they had already withdrawn from the slums. He grabbed people on the street and half tortured them to find out where the girl had gone. Most of them knew nothing, but he did find one person who’d been eavesdropping on the soldiers’ conversation. They said that the girl was going to be taken to the noble’s estate and killed there. Goldof asked around for more detail about the girl’s location. One person had witnessed her being loaded into a four-horse carriage and escorted out of the city.
“…The noble’s…estate…” Goldof muttered. Then he seized a nearby carpenter’s biggest hammer and headed out of town.
He sprinted along the main road. The noble’s estate was about a half day’s walk away. No matter how fast he ran, he was not going to be able to catch up to a carriage. The sun set, wreathing his surroundings in darkness. A wolf howled as Goldof kept his pace down
