The cycle began again.
Have you ever heard the rumors about Caesar?
Some claimed that the noble Caesar had never been a princess at all.
Perhaps she had not even been born a noble.
According to one version, she merely resembled the real princess and had been specially raised as a body double.
Another story claimed she had once been a nameless beggar wandering the streets.
By chance, she supposedly found the journal of a princess from a fallen kingdom.
That was when ambition took root in her heart.
She assumed the dead princess's identity, gathered an army, and eventually rose to power.
In most cycles, stories like these were nothing more than jokes.
They sounded so absurd that anyone hearing them would immediately dismiss them as slander.
But in certain cycles, the woman named Cerydra, the ruler who would one day be revered as Caesar, truly did begin as nothing more than a nameless little beggar wandering the world.
No one knew exactly what variable caused such a drastic divergence.
But after more than thirty million iterations of the same world, strange variations were inevitable.
Caelus had even witnessed cycles where Mydei became the Great Sage of the Grove of Epiphany, while Anaxa somehow ended up ruling Castrum Kremnos.
In another cycle, Cipher, who was normally a thief, obtained the Coreflame of Law and became its demigod.
She then adopted the wandering Aglaea.
It sounded less like history and more like some ridiculous alternate-universe tale.
Yet in Amphoreus, it had truly happened.
...
A nameless little beggar crouched in a dark alley.
From the shadows, she watched the bright street beyond.
Ordinary citizens in simple but clean clothing bowed submissively before an obese nobleman passing by.
That was how this world worked.
Those with power stood at the top and looked down upon everyone beneath them.
Below them came nobles whose privilege was inherited through blood.
Then wealthy merchants.
Then scholars possessing rare knowledge.
The ruler of this particular city-state loudly proclaimed that everyone was equal before the law.
But nobles, merchants, scholars, and commoners were effectively governed by completely different laws.
If a noble committed a crime, sufficient compensation could make much of it disappear.
If a commoner committed the same crime, the punishment could be a hundred times harsher.
A thousand times harsher.
And if the monarch committed a crime?
No.
The monarch could not commit crimes.
If the king made a mistake, it was because some noble had deceived him.
Or because a minister had given him malicious advice.
Someone else was always responsible.
The ruler could never be wrong.
The hungry girl could no longer spare the energy to think about any of that.
She pulled her knees close to her chest and curled herself into a tighter ball.
She needed to sleep.
If she could fall asleep, perhaps the hunger gnawing at her stomach would disappear for a while.
Then she heard footsteps.
The girl's eyes opened immediately.
She looked toward the sound with wary eyes.
In an age consumed by war and chaos, an orphan with no one to rely upon had to learn one lesson before anything else.
Trust no one.
A gray-haired young man in a black coat emerged from the darkness.
He stopped in front of her and crouched down.
"Do you want to come with me?"
"...Why would you want me?"
The girl remained guarded.
She knew perfectly well that the difference in size between them, combined with years of hunger weakening her body, meant she had no realistic ability to resist him.
She still asked.
"I see a possibility in you."
Caelus looked at her calmly.
"The possibility of ending this age of endless war."
"The possibility of establishing a true system of law that applies equally to everyone."
"...I'm just a beggar."
"I don't even have golden blood."
"Why are you so certain?"
"Because you're you."
"That's enough."
"Come with me."
"I'll give you food and water."
"I'll teach you knowledge."
"Anything you want to learn, I'll teach you."
The girl stared at him.
"Who are you?"
"Nice to meet you."
"My name is Caelus."
Across more than thirty million cycles, excluding the final confrontation with Irontomb, this was the first time Caelus had ever told this person his true name.
"Caelus..."
The girl slowly raised her head and looked toward the sky above.
A name that evoked the heavens.
It sounded almost impossibly grand.
"Then what's my name?"
"Cerydra."
"Cery... dra..."
The girl repeated the unfamiliar name carefully.
Then she slowly pushed herself to her feet.
Looking at the man still crouched before her, she said,
"I'll go with you."
Caelus extended his hand.
Cerydra reached out with her small, grime-darkened fingers and took it.
Together, they left the dark alley behind and walked into the light.
...
Years later, Cerydra sat dressed in an elegant blue noblewoman's outfit, reading through a collection of epics and biographies.
Every protagonist in those stories carried golden blood.
In this world, only those blessed with golden blood became the heroes of epics.
Kings.
Nobles.
Legendary ancestors.
Again and again, the great figures remembered by history were descendants of golden blood.
"If I could obtain golden blood and become a Chrysos Heir, then the disadvantages created by my sex or physical stature would no longer matter."
"People believe that anyone bearing golden blood is destined to accomplish great things."
"Male or female, strong or weak, none of that would matter anymore."
Cerydra closed the book.
She rose from her chair and walked into the courtyard.
Caelus was sitting beneath a vine-covered arbor, idly turning a mirror over in his hands.
Cerydra had considered making a deal with a Titan to obtain golden blood.
Everyone said that power ultimately came from the Titans.
But Titans were not beings one simply arranged meetings with.
Even if she somehow encountered one, she had no idea what she could possibly offer in exchange.
So she came to ask her mysterious teacher.
Ever since Caelus had taken her in, Cerydra had received the finest education imaginable.
She wore clothes she once would not even have dared dream of owning, garments usually reserved for the nobility.
She studied knowledge available only to the most privileged scholars.
She never went hungry.
Sometimes, she even ate better than kings and aristocrats.
For a long time, Cerydra had been suspicious of such unconditional generosity.
Benefits without any obvious price attached rarely existed.
At one point, she had even wondered whether her teacher was raising her with the intention of making her his wife or mistress once she came of age.
After all, Cerydra considered herself exceptionally beautiful.
Perhaps not the single most beautiful woman in the world, but certainly close.
Years passed.
Eventually, she realized Caelus had never harbored such intentions.
He devoted himself entirely to teaching her.
History.
Politics.
Law.
Warfare.
Administration.
Economics.
Everything she might need.
According to him, he intended to shape her into a qualified ruler capable of bringing Order to this chaotic land.
Cerydra had once asked him what kind of Order this world truly needed.
His answer had been simple.
"A world where the law applies equally to everyone."
"An Order where even nobles and kings must pay the price when they commit crimes."
Then Caelus added,
"If you want something more radical, I have some additional material."
"For reference only."
Not long afterward, her teacher produced a book with a red cover.
Cerydra studied that as well.
She had once lived at the very bottom of society, spending every day surrounded by darkness, hunger, and cold.
So when she first read the ideas contained within that book, her emotions surged more violently than ever before.
But once she calmed down, she could only shake her head helplessly.
The ideas were valuable.
They simply could not be transplanted wholesale into Amphoreus as it currently existed.
The leap would be far too great.
"Teacher."
Cerydra looked at Caelus.
"There's still something I don't understand."
"Why are you so absolutely convinced that I can bring peace to this world?"
"That I can create the Order you want?"
"Because you are Cerydra."
"...That's it?"
"That's it."
Cerydra fell silent.
No one could tell what emotions were passing through her eyes at that moment.
(To be continued.)
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◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)