The future hero's story [1]

The future hero's story

Silver rain in the night sky.

But that was only due to the moonlight reflecting off it.

In reality, they were chunks of ice being dropped from extreme heights.

Destructive enough to annihilate anything on the ground, the devil's strategy that sent two armies to hell in the Great War.

But right now, it was merely a backdrop for a beautiful dance.

Weaving through the rain of destruction with light footsteps.

And following behind those footsteps are indiscriminate destruction.

But the destruction never reached that small frame.

One step, and another.

The slightest deviation from the path meant being turned into unrecognisable meat paste.

But the girl in front of us was walking that path while smiling.

Everyone held their breath.

The screams of despair were gone now. All that could be heard was the sound of the silver rain's destruction.

How much more time passed since then?

"What the hell."

Someone's curse seemed to mark the end of her passage through the silver rain of nightmares.

And I, seeing the girl rummage on the ground after slipping through the violence oh-so-easily clenched my fist as I stared at her back.

I knew perfectly well who she was.

My exact counterpart.

If I was No. 1, the foremost, then she was No. 1000 or the very last.

Up till now I didn't put much meaning into the No. 1 title.

No, I had actually thought it was natural.

Although I had been sent here as a sacrifice of a hierarchy struggle, I had been trained in the style of one of the pillars of the Empire: the Raina Dukedom. Moreover, I had learned from the best knights since the age of 5.

I trained myself following my father's words that I had to be the best, and I never thought I would lose to my peers.

But now, I was so ashamed and embarrassed at myself.

As someone that served the empire I knew full well what that silver rain was.

The six year war where seven nations including the empire had fought among each other leading their vassal and allied states.

In the battle that began the year I was born, the Empire was victorious, and that tactic had been instrumental in securing victory. That was why I feared it.

I had thought that the evil organisation had simply mimicked the technique that only the empire was able to use.

But that was a fake.

That was not the strategy the empire used.

Just an imitation.

Not the empire's high-class skill, but a simple trick.

Because of that, I didn't realise. Simply because of fear.

As soon as I realised that I picked up my sword and ran.

"Do have a death wish?!"

A sharp scream.

It probably belonged to the kid that had been keeping all the kids in line since earlier.

The girl with sharp eyes that could recognise the umbrella.

But unfortunately her sharp eyes meant that she couldn't recognise something either.

One step, then another.

Behind my footsteps, the sound of rattling earth.

The slightest nick would completely shatter my body, but I couldn't stop my feet.

How much more time passed.

The longest time, but also at the same time the shortest of instances passed and somehow I managed to arrive where No. 1000 and the instructor was waiting.

No. 1000 was sitting on a small rock munching away at something.

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As I walked in front of No. 1000 who had the same apathetic expression at both the sound of destruction behind my back and me in front of her, she looked up at me with those apathetic eyes.

"I'm not going to lose anymore."

I said strongly to my opponent, no, to myself.

No. 1 and No. 1000 are irrelevant. The numbers from primary training should end at primary training.

Humans are beings that only ever move forwards.

So I will acknowledge it.

The being in front of me is currently the first existence that had ever surpassed me, and was my rival.

And on this day, I first developed my indomitable mind that instilled me to never give up, no matter what.

…Ah, with one exception

***

"That, is that possible?"

"I heard about it through the rumours, but is it really all up to its reputation?"

Goddamn it…

Listening to the whispers around me I could only sigh.

Just why was I suffering so much in this place?

Even like this, I was part of the strongest nation on the continent: the Karuan Empire.

And within the Karuan Empire, if you were to ask who were the strongest clan of magicians, nine out of ten would say the family of the Nermia Earldom; and I was their second daughter.

There was only one reason I came to this organisation named Howling.

In Howling, there was the possibility that the second half of the clan's swordsmanship manual and the family's seal was here in this place.

One day, my grandfather, the previous head of the family; currently having given up his right to lead the family and living life as a member of the Magic Tower visited home for the first time in three years.

And as Father was working on documents, Grandfather snatched away the seal he was using with a horrified look on his face.

It was then the family realised that that seal was not real, but an extremely well-crafted fake, and after that, multiple investigations were conducted through which we found that the second half of the clan's swordsmanship manual had also been stolen.

The Nermia Family was a founding family of the Empire and a prestigious clan that produced many mages and sages.

To Nermia, swordsmanship was simply a self-defence technique for mages, and so that itself wasn't much of a problem.

No, at the time, the magical physical strengthening being developed by the royal family was even more effective, so you could say that swordsmanship was essentially all but pointless.