The Shining Sword

-will you save us?-

It felt like she had a long dream.

A warm, gentle dream.

“…Mf…”

A chilly wind gently caressed her skin.

After a slight shiver, Lakhesh Nyx Seniorious slowly opened her eyes.

“H-huh?”

She sat up as she rubbed her eyes.

She looked around. Right beside her was a bucket of fresh water and clean cloths. And a squeaky-clean, large patchwork sword—dug weapon Seniorious.

The spring sun was starting to set.

Now that she thought about it, Lakhesh recalled that she had not been sleeping very well recently.

There was an endless amount of facts she had to remember and skills she had to learn as an adult faerie soldier. That was why she stayed up a little later every night, reading.

Then there was the warm spring sun. The moment she’d finished cleaning Seniorious, she had been victim to an onslaught of drowsiness. And she didn’t fight it when her eyes slipped shut.

“Ah-ha-ha…”

She lifted her head and wiped away a small dribble of drool with her sleeve.

She didn’t think anyone was watching.

Lakhesh Nyx Seniorious was a girl somewhat lacking dignity. Her face was soft, her speech gentle, her character mild, and she carried with her an aura of springtime itself.

She wasn’t used to taking on a strong tone or attitude, something anyone could easily notice. Though she was often in the position to admonish the rambunctious duo of Collon and Pannibal out of everyone in their tight-knit quartet, there had never been an instance where the two listened to her reprimanding. And since everyone always saw that happening, she never really had an experience where it felt like the younger faeries respected her.

On top of that, it would spell the end for her if someone saw how lazy she was being out here, napping in the springtime sun, drool dripping from her mouth. She didn’t think anyone would see her as an older girl anymore.

“Why can’t I be like Tiat…?”

She thought about the faerie with hair the color of fresh green leaves, who was both a precious part of her family and a friend.

Tiat was, well, cool. She knew exactly who she wanted to be, and she spent every day working toward that goal. More recently, Lakhesh started to feel a sense of solemnity from the way Tiat carried herself; perhaps her stoic way of life was starting to seep into her actions. But Lakhesh was far too shy to tell that to Tiat herself.

She probably could never be like that.

A bit of sadness came over her.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Seniorious.”

Lakhesh remembered that she was keeping her precious blade waiting and hurriedly began to put it away.

She let the water out of the bucket, she wrung the cloth dry, she wrapped Seniorious back up—

…Oh right. That dream I just had.

Like how dreams typically were, the memory of it immediately faded and vanished, like it had been washed away, right after she woke up.

But she still remembered a little bit of it.

She had a feeling that she’d seen Miss Chtholly wielding Seniorious in her dream.

She also had a feeling she’d seen someone else she didn’t know—a strange girl she shouldn’t know but felt like she had met somewhere before—carrying Seniorious in her dream.

“Was that…?”

Seniorious’s users would always go through terrible things. She recalled that terrible superstition.

But the two of them didn’t seem that unhappy at all.

Rather, it was the opposite. They both had someone they loved very much. They adored that person with all their heart. That was what left a strong impression on her, and she almost wished it for herself, too.

“…Are you the one who showed me those dreams?” she asked Seniorious.

But of course, she received no response.

And she had never heard of Seniorious being capable of guiding its wielders’ dreams.

Dug weapons were ancient emnetwiht relics, after all, so of course there weren’t any people around now who knew about all their functions. It would be no wonder if it had all sorts of hidden mechanisms. And yet, Lakhesh didn’t think her dream was the result of a talisman’s work or some such.

“…Could I be like that one day, too?”

The two girls both had someone they adored with all their heart.

“I wonder if I could love someone that same way.”

She tried to imagine it.

There were no romantic encounters here in the faerie warehouse, which was full of like-minded girls. That was why she would one day leave and meet a boy of a race close to her. He would surely be a handsome man who looked a lot like Willem. Then she would be attracted to him, and they would get closer, then start whispering sweet nothings to each other.

Then, surely, it would be right about then that it would come.

The checkered fate.

The events that would lead to her untimely death, something that all those chosen by Seniorious would face.

She didn’t know exactly what was going to happen, but she had a feeling it was going to be big trouble.

“Mmmm…”

She couldn’t picture it. Her imagination wasn’t strong enough.

But there was probably no need to be worried.

Because when the time came, she would likely not be alone. She was sure that Tiat and the others would still be there, and they would freely lend a hand to help her. And most importantly, Seniorious was deemed compatible with Lakhesh all for when that moment came.

“Yeah. I hope you’ll support me when it’s time.”

She brought her hands together and bowed to Seniorious.

The wind blew, peeling back just a corner of the cloth wrapped around the Carillon Seniorious. The blade, bathed in the light of the sun overhead, glimmered ever so faintly—almost as though it were shedding tears.