Ring. At the chime of the timekeeping stone, she opened her eyes.
The light balanced with the darkness in her black, unyielding eyes, and her vision was filled with a vast blue sky that seemed endless.
I feel as if I could dive right in…
As the sunlight washed over the grassy hill, the girl lying there sat up and stretched pleasantly. Sprawled out beside her was a large, bulky sword covered in a flax-colored cloth. She lovingly stroked its blade, bringing her other hand to her chest to hug it closer.
Her hands, graceful yet still with hints of youth, were covered in small, unobtrusive scars. Around her neck was an amber-work pendant inset with a unique gemstone, and she picked it up with her fingertips.
“Look at how red it is already…,” she whispered intently.
The timekeeping stone—the O’crock—was displaying a crimson color as bright as fire. She watched it for a moment and, seeing that the color made no signs of dulling, let out a sigh. But her expression quickly changed to a smile.
“Well, it is what it is.”
Her voice was cheerful, and she suddenly hopped to her feet. The girl practically floated up, as weightless as a bird gliding on the wind before touching the ground with a soft thud. Her short black hair cut across the spring sunlight before gravity pulled it back down.
“All right, partner. Let’s go. Our clients must be getting impatient.”
The heavy sword lying at her feet seemed to sense her gaze, because she heard a faint noise that almost sounded like an annoyed grumble.
The platform of Lake Chaser was in a state of upheaval.
“Oh, goodness. Looks like everyone got driven out of the lake,” remarked a Cateyes peddler who’d traveled there from afar.
The area was overflowing with all manner of different races: the World-wise Mauti, who hardly ever left their homes deep in the forest; Sheepeyes, who always moved as a clan; Minotaurus youngsters, with their great brute strength; laid-back Froggies; keen-eared Reutelites; even beautiful Mermaids from the marshlands and other Undines had made a rare appearance.
As they all talked grimly among themselves, the large lake drank in the light, reflecting their figures as clearly as the Weather Wheel Tower high above their heads.
“Hmm… I wonder if this could make for some good business,” the peddler murmured to himself as he looked around, his ears pointed and whiskers standing on end.
He spotted a familiar group of Reutelites and, approaching them with an amiable smile, quickly struck up conversation.
“What’s all this commotion about? The mouse folk and even the goat folk who hate leaving their villages are all here, out of the forest. There isn’t a festival going on, and I don’t see any criminals being judged, so what is it?”
Although the question came without the preamble of a greeting or other niceties, one of the Reutelites ignited a pipe, sucked on it, and blew out a puff of smoke.
“Well, ya see, a season or so ago, one of them salty water fellas came down the river and ended up here.”
“Oh, someone from the salt waters? What race were they?”
“Nah, it’s not like that. If only it was someone we could talk to. Sadly, it’s a fish flower, and a real devilish one at that. It’s spreadin’ its poison all over the lake.”
“A fish flower…spreading poison?”
“Salt, it’s spreadin’ salt. Not poison strictly speaking, but it’s poison to us. It’s turnin’ the whole lake into salt water.”
“Ah, I suppose a saltwater flower wouldn’t be able to scatter its seeds here otherwise… So you’re all gathered here to slay this fish flower?”
“Well, not quite,” another said, lowering his voice. “See those young bulls over yonder? They went ahead and tried to take care of it, but it already got one of ’em.”
Sure enough, the peddler could see a few young Minotaurus men, all of whom had some degree of injury. One of them had a broken horn—a Minotaurus’s source of pride—and he couldn’t help but feel bad for them given how much they boasted of their strength.
“So some of the mouse folk put their heads together and came to a decision.”
The peddler leaned in, curious to hear more. Any verdict the World-wise Mauti handed down from the Weather Wheel Tower was absolute in the eyes of those who lived in and around the lake. For that reason alone, it was incredibly rare for them to convene in the tower.
“And well, I dunno all the details, but apparently, they put in a request. For a Nomad.”
“Oh-ho, a Nomad, you say?! That ought to settle it, then.”
“We’ll see about that. The Nomad ended up sendin’ the girl livin’ with him instead.”
“A girl…?”
“That’s what the mouse folk said. ’Cept there are weird rumors about that girl.”
A glint appeared in the merchant’s eye at the word rumors. He nodded eagerly, urging the Reutelites to go on.
“Well, they say she gave birth to a rock. Y’know, one of those ones that changes color.”
“Oh, you mean an O’crock? If I remember right, they change colors with the passage of time… But a girl birthing an O’crock sure is strange.”
“We don’t really know all that much about it, either. Rumor has it she was in Park City but got kicked out after causin’ some sorta trouble. She’s been wanderin’ from place to place and ended up in these parts, but none of us have said a word to her.”
“Hmm,” murmured the peddler. “Very interesting. This should make for a good story.”
The Cateyes man clapped his hands together happily, while behind him, the figure they were expecting gradually approached, bringing silence along with her.
“Huh? Why’s everyone gone all quiet?”
“Looks like…someone’s comin’.”
A hush had suddenly fallen over one section of the platform. The silence gradually spread, and although they couldn’t yet see her, the closer she got, the quieter everyone became.
Without warning, the gathered crowd parted in two. No one had instructed them to do so, but this cleared the shortest, most direct path between the new arrival and the lake.
A whisper cut through the silence.
“Looks like we’ve got a full house.”
The lone girl quietly made her way forward.
She had no features—no tail, no scales, no fur. She didn’t have large eyes or pointed ears, nor whiskers or proud horns. With no features unique to any race, she was characterized by a complete lack of character.
She fearlessly cast her black eyes over her surroundings, and her pursed lips curled into a friendly smile. She carried a large object wrapped in a flaxen cloth upon her back, its outline clearly that of a sword. That could very well be called her defining feature; it was wider than her shoulders and longer than she was tall if you counted the hilt, very much contrasting the girl’s petite figure.
“…Eerie, ain’t it.”
As she approached, the silence lifted and the onlookers began to murmur. The girl regarded the crowd with a smile, but this only earned her strange, alienating looks.
Same as always, huh…?
Those whispered words went through her mind, yet it wasn’t out of jaded resignation. Another voice inside her was trying to spur on the version of her that still couldn’t get used to this no matter how many times it happened.
But someday…
She believed that surely, one day, the alienating gazes around her would change.
The girl stopped in her tracks.
“Belle Lablac!” she declared, her voice ringing out. “That’s my name. I’ve come to your aid under the orders of my Meister, Sian Lablac.”
An old Mauti man stepped out of the crowd. He stood across from Belle, hunched over and leaning on a cane, clearly showing his age. Belle thought he had a kind face.
“Well met, Lady Belle. On behalf of the people of the lake, I humbly ask for your help.”
“Who are you?”
“I lead the Mauti and preside as judge in the Weather Wheel Tower. They call me Ja.” Ja went on to politely explain that this was the name granted to the oldest member of the clan.
“Nice to meet you, Ja. So where’s my opponent?”
“Take a look over there. In the lake is a dull black spot.”
“Uh… It’s too far away for me to see properly from here, but I think I can see it.”
“Lake Chaser has been called the hand mirror left behind by the gods. The one who has besmirched it with darkness lies beneath that spot. Its arms are thicker than tree trunks, and we do not yet know how many it has. Its bright-red body is hard enough to deflect swords and spears, and it spews black poison from its mouth.”
“My Meister said it’s almost definitely an eight-armed negroni. Though, I guess I won’t know for sure until I see it.”
“Oh… You will dispatch it for us, then?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t matter what kind of flower it is, flower flesh is my favorite food. Anyway, don’t worry. I’ll defeat it.”
But those words did little to relieve the crowd, who fell back half a step, aghast.
“How beastly…,” Belle heard someone whisper.
Tch. Acting all virtuous just because they eat nothing but grass and fruit.
Putting aside that minor unpleasantness, Belle got down to work. As she scanned the lake, she took her sword down off her back. It had no scabbard to speak of, so instead she used a sword bag woven from flower skin, fastened around her body at the tip of the blade and at the hilt. Belle carelessly undid it, and the sword dropped to the ground behind her with a loud thud, stabbing into the earth under its own weight.
The crowd exclaimed in fear and wonder. The sword looked overwhelmingly large and heavy. It was widest at the base of the hilt, and from there the blade extended all the way to the tip in a wide arc. Through the cloth covering, it had a contour similar to that of a white clover leaf. Its shape didn’t give the impression of sharpness, but of a dreadful, blunt mass that could threaten the very earth.
Stepping away from the unwieldy weapon, Belle swiftly started taking off her clothes.
“What are you doing…?” Ja asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
“Making myself lighter,” replied Belle, turning her gaze to the lake.
With a serious expression, as if she didn’t care about the eyes of the people around her, Belle slipped off her shoes, leaving her with only the O’crock hanging from her neck and her long, flax-colored pants. She stepped onto the platform and briskly walked toward the surface of the water.