PROLOGUE

Solitary White

I first joined the White Clan, the predecessor of the White Night Brigade, when I was still in District Seven.

“You have a bright future ahead of you. Would you like to join us?” our leader had asked me.

A bluish tint streaked his wavy hair. He wore glasses back then, and a gentle smile always played along his lips—that, at least, is still pretty much the same.

However, after a certain incident, he changed.

The White Clan became fixated on gathering strong members and soon amassed a cache of precious weapons found in the labyrinth by whatever means necessary.

People followed his orders, even if it meant committing a crime. I did anything he asked of me, too. Eventually, he renamed our group the White Night Brigade. I think only the leader himself and his father, and maybe some high-ranking officers of the Brigade close to them, know why.

I’m sure Elitia doesn’t know. Our leader showered her with special treatment. He made sure she was first in line to receive the Scarlet Emperor, which a few Brigade members went to great lengths to get, and gave her permission to wield it. I think Elitia believes that decision ended in failure. But our leader couldn’t have hoped for more. Only those who prove compatible can make a cursed weapon activate its powers.

You need certain qualifications for a cursed weapon to possess you. Since I lacked those qualifications, it was my duty to obtain them. That way, one day, every member of the White Night Brigade could take such a weapon in hand and call upon its powers to destroy the walls that confined us. We would need weapons far more powerful than those you could get through normal routes if we wanted to surge ahead of all those Seekers in District Four.

I eventually reached level 13 as a Dual Fencer, but that wasn’t enough to earn our leader’s trust, and he only ever asked me to do odd jobs. So I decided to look for another way. I thought maybe if I could switch to a job with skills related to curses, our leader might open up to me more.

Why did he change? What could have caused this man, who had talked about wanting nothing more than to spend his days seeking in peace with his family, to become so coldhearted?

I can’t bring myself to hate him even after all that’s happened. If it hadn’t been for him, I would probably still be squatting in some back alley in District Seven, abandoned by my party, unable to go forward and with nowhere to return to.

I wanted to be irreplaceable so no one would ever abandon me again. It wasn’t easy, changing to a line of work related to curses. The training bleached my hair white, and it’s never gone back. At first, people told me it looked hideous, but to be honest, I preferred it that way. I felt the white in my hair was a sign I’d gained permission to be a member of the White Night Brigade.

But my wishful thinking meant nothing to our leader.

“Changing your job does not guarantee you’ll gain the right to wield a cursed weapon. It seems you’re not among the chosen,” he said without even looking in my direction, after calling me one day to the Brigade’s hideout for the first time in a long while.

I told him I would find another job if this one didn’t work out. I didn’t care if I leveled down; I would work my way up again by myself if I had to. I begged him to let me stay in the Brigade.

“Retrieving a wayward lamb takes precedence over forcing another to change its nature… Do you understand my meaning?” he said softly, as he always spoke. It was nothing short of my final warning, but he sounded almost playful as he gave it. “You will call Elitia back. If that proves impossible, retrieve the sword she carries.”

“…But that’s…”

“You switched to your current job so you could work with curses, didn’t you?”

I still didn’t have any skills related to cursed weapons. Maybe I couldn’t learn any through the Charm Master job as I’d hoped. I had nothing of value left to offer to keep my place in the Brigade. The only way I could possibly contribute was with my loyalty, by faithfully executing our leader’s orders.

“I have no use for you here. You can either recruit new members or go bring back Elitia…or both.”

A single shake of my head here and I would lose the only place I belonged. I never had any real choice. If the White Night Brigade—if our leader were to abandon me, I would lose my only reason for living in this Labyrinth Country.