In the years after the annihilation of Azenka, she had consulted an information broker about the fate of the Giosa that had been there. He had produced a stream of useless details, then added something that had nothing to do with her question.
"Yurien? The worst Commander in history. The whole Order died because he took pity on a devil. Youngest Master, youngest Commander, they built him up to the skies, and it ruined him. He made a reckless choice and they all paid for it with their lives. That bastard. Should have been torn apart years ago."
It wasn't untrue. Because of her, Yurien had gone down in history as the Commander who destroyed the Celestial Knights.
Even knowing that - even knowing what she had done - she could not stand it when she heard those words.
Her rage was so clean and absolute that her mind went white.
By the time she blinked, the demonic sword in her hand had already flown out and decapitated the old man. The black mana slithering from the blade had begun shredding the body before she registered what was happening. She stood in the middle of it, stunned, until she heard the guards coming and fled.
She learned afterward, from ValderGiosa, exactly how the demonic sword's influence worked.
Even with that understanding, she made mistakes several more times.
Through each one, she forced herself to build restraint. No matter how complete the rage was, she trained herself to keep one cold corner of her mind working.
She muttered bitterly: "Because I never want to be taken over by it again."
The effort had not been wasted. By the time she had gathered most of the Giosa, she hadn't made a single slip. Now she could control it almost perfectly. She still wanted to be free of it.
[Ha — if you could stay rational for your entire life, you'd be a god. Humans aren't built for that.]
"I'll be rid of you before it comes to that."
[Don't be so hasty. My previous master used me wisely, letting blood now and then cleared the anger, and it was good for me too. If killing anyone bothers you, just choose the ones who deserve it. There are plenty. What about Ian Pelletro? He qualifies.]
"I told you to be quiet."
[Tch.]
Echi walked on. The demonic sword settled back into her soul with a whisper.
[Do you know how long it's been since you killed anyone?]
"..."
[The unspent killing intent is piling up. This is genuine advice. Find someone who deserves it. Ian, Brad, there are suitable candidates right here.]
"I said I'll make that decision. Not you."
She gritted the words out, and the demonic sword finally went still. Echi pushed the unease aside and went back to the dormitory.
Inside, Alice was at her desk, writing. She gave a small nod when Echi entered. She disliked her, but she always acknowledged her.
"Miss Roaz. A telegram arrived."
Said with the tone of someone doing it under duress. She handed over two envelopes.
"Thank you, Miss Winterbell."
"..."
Alice turned back to her desk immediately. Echi took the envelopes and sat, reached for a letter knife, and examined them.
'One from home — just as expected.'
The first envelope was thick. Magical telegrams cost more the longer they were, so thick meant her parents were very worried. Furious, certainly. Baffled, definitely. Echi let out a slow breath.
The second was thin. From Nicole. She opened it first.
«Tracking in progress. Not certain yet, but the white lion's trail has been seen.»
A single line. The color left her face as she read it.
The white lion was the emblem of the imperial family, the same family Yurien belonged to, and to which the Roaz earldom swore allegiance.
'The imperial family is connected to the sword that was left in our kitchen?'
Echi stared at the paper. Her already crowded head began to ache.
She crumpled the note in her fist.
***
Time passed quickly, and the freshman ranking competition was two days away.
The day after Brad's removal, Ian came to find her, he had heard from Baraha, and apologized.
"I'm sorry. I had no idea he was like that. I assigned him because he had free time. It won't cause any further problems for you. I'm truly sorry."
The tone was genuinely contrite. And since then, neither Brad nor anyone from his club had been seen. Ian must have said something decisive.
Echi had expected them to swarm and cause trouble, they hadn't.
If she had no memories of the erased timeline, she might have taken Ian at face value. Thought Brad was simply a bad person, and Ian was fine.
She had seen too many people with hidden faces to think that simply. Ian Pelletro was particularly twisted. She remained wary.
Contrary to Ian's warning, the club recruitment competition hadn't been fierce at all. More cadets seemed occupied with doubt than with recruiting, skeptical about how she had been named squire, keeping their distance, letting the bad rumors circulate.
That situation wouldn't improve until she demonstrated her actual skill in the ranking competition.
It was unpleasant, but not unbearable. She had considerably larger things to worry about than academy rumors.
There were of course cadets who ignored the rumors entirely. Baraha was the clearest example, when he heard them, he laughed.
"If you knew the Commander, you'd never think he'd be swayed by something like that. Now, hand down the leg, carefully, and check for any swelling or unusual heat."
"Yes, Senior."
Echi was learning horse care from him. Servants didn't follow into battle, so tending to a knight's horse was squire work. She ran her gloved hand carefully down the horse's leg.
"Next, one hand to lift the hoof. That's it. Now use the hoof pick, heel to toe, gently. Clear out anything lodged in there."
"Yes."
While she worked on the hooves, the horse only shook its head once and stood quietly.
Baraha, pleased, stroked its muzzle.
The horse was entirely white with a faint golden sheen, smooth as marble, large and elegant. It was Yurien's horse, Sylphide.
"Since a squire mainly tends to their lord's horse, it's better to start with this one. Horses all have different temperaments. Sylphide is gentle, so she's easier to work with."
"Did you also tend to Sylphide, Senior?"
"Before I became Baron's squire, I was the Commander's temporary squire a few times. Ah! Use a stiffer comb. She likes her mane brushed firmly. Start from the neck."
Echi began brushing Sylphide's mane. Baraha's gaze drifted to the hem of her dress, the stable was clean for a stable, but even a shorter, more practical dress would pick up straw and dust.
"Your hem is getting dirty."
Echi glanced down and kept brushing.
"It's fine."
Baraha rubbed his chin with a look of mild fascination.
"The more I see of you, the more you don't match what you look like."
"Me?"
"You look like someone who wouldn't set foot in a stable, but you clearly don't mind. And yet I don't think the love of dresses is an act. It's interesting."
Both things were true and coexisted in her without contradiction. Being indifferent to getting dirty when it was necessary, while genuinely loving beautiful things. Her personality simply didn't match what people assumed from her appearance.
Baraha was unexpectedly sharp for someone with such an open, easy manner. Comfortable to be around, but his perceptive questions could be inconvenient.
Echi smiled and changed the subject.
"Should I only brush the mane, Senior?"
"No, untangle the knots with your fingers first, or the brush will break hairs. Let me show you."
He stepped behind her. He was aware of the effect his size had, so he moved carefully around smaller people - women, children. Most people flinched when he moved suddenly. Only knights, with their well-developed senses, tended not to.
Echi never flinched. So Baraha moved comfortably around her. She simply didn't startle at his proximity, and there was something pleasant and flower-like in the scent that reached him, perfume and cosmetics, a noble lady's fragrance.
Her neck, visible through the pale pink of her hair, looked delicate enough to encircle with one hand.
She looked, in every way, like something to be handled gently. And yet she stood there without any tension while a figure like his loomed at her shoulder.
How interesting. Really.
He reached past her and caught a lock of Sylphide's mane.
"Separate the knot like this, then brush through."
"Understood, may I try?"
"Yes, hold it here...right. And actually the mane should come before the body..."
A metallic sound rang from the stable entrance. Echi and Baraha both turned in the same instant.
The man who walked in would have stood out anywhere. Yurien, dressed casually, came in at an even pace.
Baraha, who had been close behind Echi, felt the sudden sharp rise in her tension, a spike in her senses, unmistakable. He thought it strange.
She was never unsettled around him.
But the Commander seemed to be a different matter.
Yurien approached them steadily. His gaze settled on Baraha first, and Baraha gave the Celestial Knights' salute.