Chapter 212 ·Maiden of Blood (1)
Maiden of Blood (1)
There once existed a girl.
She was born into an utterly ordinary family, not one of resounding honor or dazzling wealth.
Her parents, who smiled at the sight of their crying child, were themselves quite ordinary, but the house the family lived in was filthy and desolate.
The future was bleak for children born in an era of ceaseless war.
Because of selfish parents, they were either sold off cheaply or forced to end their lives as slaves, worked to the bone—one or the other.
Children who were sold off were raised as soldiers in the war, used as tools that were scarcely human.
They were subjected to merciless training that forced them to feel no emotions, and made them forget not only their family but even their own names.
Abandoned children overflowed in those times of war.
Parents worn down by an economy that could not support children sold them off for whatever price they could get.
There were even parents who exploited this by having children at random just to sell them for money.
From the perspective of any army on the East Continent, this was not a bad thing.
If you could increase the number of soldiers for war in such a way, nothing else mattered.
It was an era when human beings were raised like livestock.
That was the era of Great War on the East Continent.
Of course, not all children were merely sold off.
Some parents were killed by soldiers and their children taken by force.
Of course, this wasn't something for the children to worry about.
After all, they would soon forget their parents' faces anyway.
But...
"Didn't you hear me? I said to forget immediately!!"
One particular girl, though dragged here just like the others, found her parents' faces difficult to forget.
The rule here was to absolutely never speak of your past.
Because she broke this rule, the girl was whipped by the soldiers.
"My... name is...."
"Shut up!!"
She had already been beaten thoroughly with the whip upon entering this place.
The entry condition here was to be beaten until every record of your past—including your name and family—was utterly erased.
If one couldn't do that, you'd simply end up a corpse.
"...."
"In the end, she passed out."
However, even as her consciousness faded, the girl faintly remembered a part of her name.
The faces of her parents, who always called her by that name, were vividly clear in her mind.
"At the very least, if you don't want to be disposed of by our hands instead of the enemy's, know your place. Number 666."
The children brought here were called only by number, but she tried to remember her name till the end.
"Ri... Ri...."
It definitely started with "Ri."
The girl muttered quietly before finally passing out.
That was the beginning of the life of the girl who would later become the first successor of the Blood Sword Technique.
****
The environment of the unit the girl was dragged to was brutal.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner consisted of little more than a finger-sized hunk of bread, and compared to such wretched meals, the training was hell itself.
They'd shackle weights to her ankles and throw her into the water, or make her survive a week in a forest teeming with hungry monsters.
As more than half did not survive this kind of training, it didn't matter to anyone.
For every death, another child would be brought in to replace them.
Naturally, the children who survived such an environment couldn't help but become strong.
Forgetting all memories and obeying every command, while becoming the strongest of soldiers—
That was the purpose of the unit, and the method used by every unit on the East Continent.
Fail to do so, and you would fall behind.
"Well done. Number 666."
Once again, the girl survived the monster-filled forest where more than half the others died.
On the forest ground lay the corpses of not only boys but girls as well, but the girl survived that hell.
Since she had survived the forest—where at least a seasoned "warrior" was needed to make it out alive—multiple times, the soldiers finally said, "Well done," to her for the first time.
"...."
But the girl had no emotions, so no matter what words she heard, she felt nothing.
All that came to her was the thought: I've completed my mission.
Unlike the other trainees, the girl successfully completed her missions time and time again.
Thanks to the special rice balls and blankets given only to such trainees, the girl could sleep in comfort.
"...."
Of course, she didn't know whether it was truly comfortable or not.
Did any of this even mean anything?
As long as she won her fights, did she really need anything else?
"Anyway... does being treated well at this point change anything?"
Just then, a boy lying next to her mumbled while looking up at the ceiling.
"Don't you think so too?"
It was a valid point.
Since the girl was thinking the same thing, she reflexively turned her head.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Number 77. You're 666, right?"
"...."
"Just like the rumors, you don't talk much."
Apparently, the girl was somewhat famous, as Boy 77 knew about her.
"Anyway, these truly are interesting people. They tell us to forget our memories and feelings, but then why do they give us these rewards?"
He said this while feeling the fluffy blanket covering him.
"Sure, it's comfortable to sleep. And this is a feast compared to the scraps of bread we used to get. But isn't it too late to be giving these things now?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"Rewards like these are only meaningful to people with feelings. Is there any need to give them to someone without feelings?"
Even if they were given, they would feel nothing.
Just like the girl next to him, number 666.
"You talk a lot for a soldier here."
"Yeah. That's just how I am."
In response to the girl's question, number 77 said this with an innocent expression.
It was a peculiar attitude for someone in such a harsh place.
"Do you remember what it was like when you first got here?"
"Of course I do. Beaten with whips, tortured with electric magic. I thought I was going to die back then."
"Then why are you the way you are now?"
"Why am I like this?"
Why hadn't he become sullen like the others?
Even she had turned into an emotionless thing.
"I wonder? Maybe it's just my nature?"
"I don't understand."
"But you know, 666, you're quite famous here. Do you know why?"
"...."
She didn't need to know.
Never before had something made her ears hurt so much, so the girl immediately turned away.
It was more tormenting in a different way than being tortured, so she tried to sleep.
"I heard you remember your parents' faces?"
"...!"
In that instant, the girl's drowsy eyes flashed.
"And you remember a syllable of your name, too."
"...."
In the end, the girl gave up on sleeping and listened to the boy.
It should have just been another tedious conversation, but for some reason, she wanted to hear what he had to say.
"I'm much more talkative and cheerful than you. But unlike you, I've completely forgotten my parents' faces and names. Between us, who do you think is the strangest?"
"...."
He had a personality unfitting this place, but was it the boy—who had so thoroughly erased his past—who was strange?
Or was the girl, who remained quiet and somber but still remembered her past, the odd one?
"Which do you think it is?"
"I don't know."
She had never given it any thought before.
The same was true for the boy, who was full of thoughts.
"To be honest, I don't know either. But, you know... Actually, even though I don't remember their faces, I do remember what kind of people my parents were. No, to be exact, they're people I want to forget right away."
"People you want to forget?"
"They gave birth to me, but... despite being my parents, they abused and tormented me."
The parents that came to the boy's mind were the ones who extorted the money he brought home after working so hard, or always swung a stick at him for their own amusement.
He had already endured similar torture even before being dragged here.
"Of course I wanted to forget. It wasn't just once or twice that I wished those people weren't my parents."
Given the times, it was as rare as picking stars from the sky to find a sane parent on this continent.
That was why it was only natural that more children became emotionally numb and forgot their parents.
"It may sound strange, but I'm actually grateful to the soldiers here. Thanks to them, I was able to erase that trash from my mind."
"...."
"Was that too unfilial?"
The girl didn't know what "unfilial" meant, but part of her heart recalled her parents' faces.
She figured her parents, whom everyone else had forgotten, were likely no different.
But as she remembered them, tears suddenly welled up.
"Huh?"
Seeing the girl cry when recalling her parents, the boy looked at her curiously.
"You're probably the first person here to make a face like that."
"...."
The other kids' parents had been trash, but hers were not.
Her parents had treated her as a child, not a tool, and gently consoled her even when she made small blunders.
That was why they lingered so long in her memory.
"So your parents were different from everyone else's."
"... Yeah."
Others had forgotten their pasts as a matter of course, but for the girl, her past was special.
Yet, even though she looked happy as she recalled her parents, in this place it was a fatal flaw.
"If they find out, the instructors won't let you off. In this place, soldiers with rich emotions aren't needed."
"That's true."
At the boy's words, the girl's tears immediately ceased.
Here, breaking the rules meant instant disposal.
"That's why I wonder why we're receiving this special treatment."
"What did you do to be allowed to sleep here?"
"Me?"
Nothing much.
He'd just caught more monsters than the others during training, and, even though it was a surprise attack, he'd brought back ten enemy heads for the instructor.
"Couldn't anyone do that?"
"They could, but I did it more often than others. That's probably why they think it strange."
"...."
.
.
Number 666 and Number 77 were unusual soldiers in the unit.
One was famous for remembering her parents' faces, the other for his wealth of emotion.
But since their achievements were good, no one could touch them.
Perhaps their achievements were enough to cover for their flaws.
Thanks to that, they were often assigned to the same missions.
They cut down monsters who got in their way together, and infiltrated enemy bases to cut down the commanders' heads together.
Day by day, their teamwork grew more seamless.
While having such a well-matched pair was good, the unit was also worried.
Would superfluous feelings appear among these two outliers?
So this time, the two were separated.
"This time, it's a solo mission."
"So suddenly?"
The girl felt perplexed by the order to complete the mission alone, which was unlike usual.
"Any complaints?"
"No, sir."
When the instructor glared arrogantly at her, the girl froze.
The instructor looked satisfied with her learned helplessness.
"It's simple. Forty kilometers north of here, there's a fog-covered region. Your mission is to steal the loot from the ruin hidden there."
"What does the loot look like?"
"It's highly likely to be a blueprint or a magic tome."
The more excellent equipment you had, the better your odds in the war.
Just hearing about this operation, the girl understood how important it was.
"But everyone who went there has ended up hallucinating, and most either died or came back out of their minds. So wear this."
The instructors handed the girl an outfit made entirely of black.
"This is..."
It was a uniform that covered the head and even the face, to the point that no one would recognize who she was.
There was even a mask to protect the face.
"That fog is said to cause dizziness just by touching the body. You'll be on your mission with a fairly heavy body this time."
It was a necessary measure to avoid the fog.
Though it covered her face and hair, the girl accepted it without protest.
"And be careful. Other factions' high commands know about this as well. No doubt, they'll be sending out their forces with the same precautions as we are."
If it was the same precaution, it meant they'd also be sending soldiers dressed in black, just like the girl.
Of course, her task was simple.
"Eliminate those interlopers and retrieve the loot."
"Understood."
For the first time, the girl was sent out on a solo mission.
And through that mission, she would manifest the Blood Sword Technique for the first time.