She concentrated her awareness on her skin, and a warm sensation, accompanied by a tingle of pain, came relentlessly in on her, riding the currents of mana. She understood. She could not defeat that monster.
But they're counting on me. My strength is needed.
Her heart quailed at the powerful mana wafting from her destination. She tried to use her raison d'être to suppress it. She thought back to how she had come to this place.
◊ ♦ ◊ ♦ ◊
The sun was low on the horizon, dying the sky a delicate, peach-blossom pink. Crows wheeled and sang in chorus. In the distance, black kites cried.
"Chanting practice is over."
A mountain retreat owned by the Amanomiya clan.
A loud, carrying voice resounded across the wide open field.
"Next, mana refining."
This voice came in a low, bestial growl, but it carried as well as the other.
"Yes sir!" Came the high-pitched reply. Its source was two girls of tender years. It had sounded like one voice because their tone and volume were perfectly matched.
A hut stood in a corner of the field. Before it's door was a stump, in front of which the girls stood side by side. Their eyes were fixed on an old man seated on the stump. He was the owner of the low voice.
The girls were Koyoi and Shinonome. The old man was Tōtetsu. Candidates to become the next head of the clan received instruction directly from the current head from the time they were five years of age. They abandoned all the pleasures of childhood to be drilled in all the necessary skills of a clan leader — mana strengthening, monster slaying, and finally tactics for making effective use of subordinates.
Mana refining was part of that training.
By concentrating their spirits and performing a unique combination of actions and breathing, they aimed to increase their total mana volume, as well as the amount they could emit at one time, and to become capable of maintaining their concentration even if their mana should run dry.
At this time, the eldest daughter, Shinonome, was eleven, and the second daughter, Koyoi, was ten. They had no contact with the children in the village at the mountain's foot. They lived every day, from morning to night, in the hut on the edge of the field that seemed forgotten by time. They rose before the sun, ran through the mountains to cure their drowsiness, and took breakfast. Then came Tōtetsu's lecture. After lunch they practiced monster slaying chants. In the evenings they performed mana refinement, then took dinner. After that they went to their own room and reviewed the characters necessary for writing monster slaying talismans, then went to sleep. The performed the same training regimen day after day, like clockwork.
Complaints were not permitted, and neither was defying Tōtetsu.
Father, mother.
Many times during her harsh training, Koyoi mentally called on her parents for help. They never answered. They had passed away shortly after Tasogare was born. Tōtetsu was hard on his granddaughters because he was in a hurry to raise them to adulthood while he still lived.
Several years passed, and Koyoi came to accept the death of her parents as a fact of life. More importantly, she had gradually ceased to run to them in her mind. In their place, another feeling had begun to grow inside her.
I'll become head. I'll take everything on myself, so big sis and Tasogare can relax.
Only one of the candidates would become the next head of the clan. As head, they would inherit the main household. The rest would become branch houses, and their responsibilities would become lighter. At that time, Koyoi swore that she would become the head herself in order to ease her sister's burden.
◊ ♦ ◊ ♦ ◊
"Hey! Are you alright?"
Koyoi became aware of a voice calling to her. When she looked in its direction, she found a man in the prime of life standing there, sword and shield at the ready. He was clad in thin, slightly dirty iron armor, scarred in places. His light coat and bracers were made of leather. The bare skin visible through the gaps between the armor and bracers was covered by an armor of muscle cultivated through long years of adventuring.
"This is no place to be spacing out," the man chided her with an exasperated sigh. His scowling face was chiseled with the hardships of his life so far.
Spacing out?
She didn't know what the man meant. She had been reflecting on the past, but she was certain she had maintained her combat posture and her awareness of her surroundings.
"Of, of course. My apologies, Mr. Doon," she thanked and greeted him. Even if she had no idea what he was talking about, she felt his concern was something to be grateful for.
"Oh, it's no big deal. We're in this together. Besides, if anything happens to you, it'll mean more trouble for me," he laughed, but Koyoi could sense that he lacked his usual energy. Perhaps combat had tired him.
Doon was an acquaintance Koyoi had made shortly after joining the mercenary guild. He had been in charge of training new recruits at the time, and had soon warmed to Koyoi. Perhaps it was their shared tendency to be concerned for others. It was all thanks to him that she had been able to adjust to life in an unfamiliar, foreign land, and that she'd had no trouble with her food rations. As far as she was concerned, he was a great mentor, and the savior of her life.
If Mr. Doon is here, it will be a tremendous help.
The weight of fear that had been bearing down on her a moment seemed to have gotten lighter.
"Mr. Doon, it appears that the enemy leader is in the castle."
Koyoi pointed at the castle.
Her back was so straight that no one would suspect she had been running the whole way there.
Her manner toward Doon was always stiff, out of respect for her benefactor.