It had been quite a few days since Margarita and Joshua had left Percy Village. The paths had transitioned from narrow, trodden dirt trails to wide thoroughfares capable of fitting two carriages side-by-side, and they occasionally spotted a passing wagon or two.
It wasn’t that Margarita hadn’t thought about paying for a ride, but for now, their time wasn’t exactly precious. Most of the time, the two continued on foot, camping in the woods by the roadside once darkness fell.
This evening, Joshua used his sword to hack through a thicket of thorns blocking their path, while Margarita followed behind carrying a bundle of freshly gathered dry firewood. She dropped the wood on the ground, brushed the dust off her hands, and looked up at the sky. Twilight seeped through the gaps in the canopy, stretching their shadows thin and long.
“Let’s stop here for the night.” She pointed toward a flat patch of grass at the base of a large tree. “We can sleep against the trunk; it’ll block the wind.”
Joshua nodded, set down his pack, and began clearing the area. Margarita knelt to the side and expertly arranged stones for a hearth. In her previous life, she had lived alone in a rented apartment; while she hadn't exactly gone camping every day, her basic survival skills were more than adequate.
By the time the fire was going, the sky had turned pitch black. Joshua sat by the fire roasting a few fish he had caught in a stream earlier that day. Margarita leaned against the tree trunk, the leather map she’d received from Renard spread across her lap as she traced their route with her finger.
“We should reach Bilk Town the day after tomorrow,” she said. “We can restock our rations there. Renard mentioned the town has a waystation where we can ask about the road conditions ahead.”
Joshua gave a grunt of affirmation and handed over a roasted fish. Margarita took it, blew on it, and took a bite. Her eyes lit up; the boy was getting better and better at this.
“Joshua.”
“Yeah?”
“What do you think the exams for the Magic Department at the Capital Academy are like?” She looked down at the fish in her hand. “It would be embarrassing to get rejected and sent back home.”
Joshua thought for a moment. “The Captain said you’ll definitely pass.”
“You’ve never been able to tell when people are just being polite since we were kids.” Margarita laughed and poked Joshua with a fishbone. Regarding those herbal roots Renard had shoved into her hands before they left—she’d only chewed a few before she couldn’t stand the bitterness anymore, secretly discarding them under some random tree.
She appreciated the old hunter’s sentiment, but she simply couldn't stomach them.
“You’ll definitely make it,” Joshua said. He kept his head down, poking at the fire, his tone as casual as if they were discussing what to eat tomorrow. Margarita blinked in surprise, then stuck her tongue out at him.
“Fine, then. I’ll take that as a blessing. Our Lord Sword Saint’s words are usually quite accurate.”
Joshua’s ears turned red again. Margarita had spent much of the journey teasing him with the title of "Future Sword Saint."
As the night deepened, the chirping of insects mingled with the crackling of the campfire. Margarita leaned against the tree with her eyes closed, her breathing gradually slowing. Joshua sat by the fire and added the last piece of wood, his gaze drifting to the quiet, sleeping face of the girl beside him.
Then, he felt it.
A wave of malice from far away settled upon them.
Joshua gripped his sword hilt. This was his Sword Saint’s Intuition—Margarita called it a “sixth sense”—but after more than half a year of training, he could already distinguish the difference between this “Intuition” and a mere hunch. Right now, this slightly chilling sensation was exactly the same as when Margarita pointed her gun at him on the training grounds.
Something was watching them.
Joshua took a slow breath and nudged Margarita lightly with his elbow.
Margarita’s eyes snapped open in the darkness. She didn’t ask anything, only looked at him.
Joshua tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping past the fire toward the treetops on the right. Margarita followed his gaze but saw nothing. However, she trusted Joshua’s intuition. Her hand slid silently behind her waist, finding the cold grip of the silver-white short gun.
Something was approaching.
The sound was very faint, until a sudden “snap” echoed out. Joshua moved at the same time, his iron sword clearing its scabbard as he lunged forward, his blade slicing through the distorted air above the campfire.
Clang!
Blades collided. Joshua was forced back a step, his feet carving two shallow trenches into the grass. He finally saw the creature that had dropped from the shadows of the canopy. It was humanoid, shorter than an adult, with a slender build and skin covered in grayish-black scales. Yellow vertical pupils gleamed in the firelight, and its mouth pulled back to reveal rows of fine, needle-like teeth. In its hands were two scimitars, their edges shimmering with a dark purple glow.
An intelligent demon. It was completely different from those low-tier demons in Percy Village.
“Fast reflexes,” the demon spoke, its voice muffled. “I originally planned to wait until you were fast asleep, but I didn't expect you to be so alert, brat.”
Joshua didn't reply. He held his iron sword horizontally before him, his feet shifting slightly. The opponent was much faster than he had anticipated; that single exchange just now had left his palms feeling numb.
The demon didn’t seem to be in a hurry to attack. It tilted its head, sizing up Joshua before glancing at Margarita, who had stood up and was leaning against the tree behind him. The grass beneath its feet swayed, emitting faint ripples of magical energy.
Joshua noticed the demon was gathering strength, so he stepped forward, stayed low, and delivered an upward diagonal slash. The demon clearly hadn't expected him to take the initiative, crossing its dual blades to block. However, Joshua’s strike was a feint. The moment his blade touched the scimitars, he flicked his wrist, allowing his sword to slide along the surface of the blades to cut straight toward the demon's forearm.
The demon’s pupils shrank, and it recoiled rapidly. The edge grazed its skin, opening a shallow wound. Dark blood seeped out. The demon glanced down at it, and the smile vanished from its face.
“You’ve got some skill.”
It stopped talking. Crossing its scimitars, its body turned into a gray blur as it lunged at Joshua. Joshua dodged to the side and swung his sword in a horizontal arc. But the demon's blades were faster than his sword; even as he blocked the first strike, the second was already cutting in from the side. Joshua forcefully twisted his waist, the blade grazing his ribs and tearing through his outer clothes, leaving a trail of blood.
He gritted his teeth and didn't retreat. Without losing momentum, he used the force of his turn to sweep his sword at the demon's legs. The demon jumped to evade, flipping in mid-air to bring both scimitars down in a plunging strike. Joshua raised his sword to meet the blow. The two forces collided, forcing his knees to buckle and leaving two deep imprints in the turf.
He held his ground, but the demon used the momentum to spring back and land lightly on its feet.
They were evenly matched. No matter how well Joshua practiced the hunter's sword techniques, they were still just basic strikes. Currently, he held no advantage whatsoever against this demon. The opponent’s dual scimitars were incredibly fast, draining his stamina with every exchange. If this dragged on, he would be the first to collapse.
The demon clearly realized this as well. It stopped its aggressive assault and began circling Joshua, occasionally launching quick strikes to force a block and wear down his arm strength. Joshua’s breathing grew heavy, sweat dripping from his chin. The wound on his side was bleeding, and his sword-hand began to tremble slightly.
Margarita stood behind the tree, her heart clenching as she watched Joshua’s movements grow slower in the firelight. She knew Joshua could hold on for a little longer, but what about after that “little longer”?
She pulled out her gun.
The silver-white barrel flashed in the firelight. Without hesitation, she pressed the muzzle directly against her temple and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A shockwave exploded from the muzzle, pouring entirely into her consciousness. In that instant, her vision went white, and it felt as if something had violently slammed into her mind. The pain was so intense her knees buckled, and she nearly fell.
The Star-Spun Stone answered her.
Radiance surged into her body along with mana. She opened her eyes—
Her deep blue eyes had turned a pale pink. Her pupils glowed with a pink halo, and even the whites of her eyes were tinged with a faint pink hue. But the pain was so severe that Margarita’s mind remained somewhat dazed.
The demon was just raising its blade to strike Joshua down. However, the moment that pink light ignited, it was as if the creature had been burned. Its gaze shifted past Joshua’s shoulder to look at Margarita.
The moment its yellow vertical pupils met those pale pink eyes, they contracted into pinpricks.
“The Star-Spun Stone?!”
An expression appeared on that hideous face that neither Joshua nor Margarita had ever seen on a demon before.
Fear—pure, unadulterated fear.
Joshua didn't miss the opportunity. He stepped forward, raising his iron sword high above his head. Seizing the moment the demon was stunned, he brought it down from the left. The blade sliced through scales and muscle, carving a massive, bone-deep gash from shoulder to waist. Dark purple blood sprayed out as the demon let out a piercing shriek.
But that strike wasn’t fatal.
The demon snapped back to its senses through the agony, the fear in its yellow pupils replaced by madness. It shrieked and lunged sideways, narrowly avoiding Joshua’s following strike.
“The Star-Spun Stone... why is it in a place like this...” it roared, its voice carrying a kind of near-hysterical rage. “It actually betrayed our Creator!”
It roared and became a gray shadow, lunging at Joshua. The wound on its left arm had thrown off its balance, but the ferocity of that strike was more vicious than anything before. Joshua raised his sword to block. With a deafening Clang, his palm was split open, and the iron sword nearly flew from his hand.
He stumbled back two steps, his breathing heavy. The demon didn't give him time to recover, bringing its second blade down immediately. Joshua dodged to the side, the blade grazing his shoulder and cutting through his clothes and skin. He gritted his teeth and countered with a backhand strike, the flat of his blade hitting the demon's waist and knocking it off balance.
But the demon only stumbled before steadying itself. Dark purple blood continued to pour from the massive wound. Its face was pale, but the killing intent in its yellow eyes only grew stronger. Joshua’s stamina was at its limit, and his wounds were restricting his movements.
The demon curled its lips into a hideous grin and raised the scimitar in its right hand, slashing toward Joshua’s throat.
Joshua no longer had the strength to dodge. He gritted his teeth and held his sword horizontally, preparing to take the hit. Margarita forced herself to focus, a pink shield already coalescing in front of Joshua. Her other spells were all area-of-effect; she was afraid she might accidentally take Joshua down with the demon.
But the blade never fell.
A fiery-red figure blurred past Joshua’s side. Her left-hand dagger precisely parried the demon’s scimitar, while the dagger in her right hand plunged into the soft, unscaled flesh beneath the demon's ribs.
The demon's body arched violently. It looked down at the red-haired girl standing right before it, its yellow pupils full of disbelief.
“Nice blades.” She tightened her grip on the dagger and twisted it, her voice so light it didn't sound like she was in the middle of a battle. “If you won’t talk, I’ll just take them for myself.”
She yanked the dagger out and rolled to the side. In the next moment, a shattered mana barrier pierced right through the demon’s body, slicing it into several pieces.
Joshua leaned on his sword, gasping for air, before his knees gave out and he collapsed to the ground. He was covered in wounds, and his clothes were soaked in blood—he couldn't tell what was the demon’s and what was his own. He looked up at the red-haired girl.
She was crouching on the ground, carefully wiping the newly acquired scimitar with some grass while humming an out-of-tune little tune. Once it was clean, she held the scimitar up to the firelight, nodded in satisfaction, and slid it into the sheath at her waist.
“Ninety percent new! Not bad at all~” She stood up, brushed the dust off her hands, and turned to look at Joshua and Margarita. Her amber eyes were bright and sparkling. “Hello there! My name is Lovell Reed. I’m from the north, and I’m heading to Himlabacken.”
Margarita slowly lowered her right hand. The pink starlight at her fingertips had completely extinguished, leaving only a rhythmic throbbing pain in her temples.
She looked up, staring at Lovell’s face. The pink in her eyes had faded, returning to their original blue.
“Have you been in that tree this whole time?” Margarita asked.
“Yep,” Lovell said with a grin. “I’ve been there since you guys lit the fire. Those fish you were roasting smelled pretty good. I was going to wait until you fell asleep to steal one, but then this demon had to go and ruin the fun. How annoying.”
She spoke with complete confidence, showing no trace of guilt.
Margarita looked at her. She had intended to curve her lips into her habitual gentle smile, but realizing this girl had been squatting in a tree for so long made trying to maintain her persona feel pointless. Suddenly, her face felt heavy.
“Whatever,” she muttered, then nodded to Lovell. “Thanks. If it weren't for you just now, Joshua would have been in danger.”
Lovell tilted her head, her amber eyes lingering on Margarita’s face for a moment as the smile on her lips widened.
“You’re welcome~” she said, her tone as casual as if she were talking about the weather. “Your eyes were pink just now. It was so pretty. How do you do that? Teach me!”
“Shoot yourself,” Margarita thought.
She didn't respond, but walked over to Joshua, pressed him down to sit, and fished the herbal medicine bag out of her backpack. Joshua’s injuries were far more serious than last time. As she treated his wounds, she studied the red-haired thief out of the corner of her eye.
Lovell Reed, the heroine of the original game. She was one of Joshua’s earliest teammates and the most popular love interest in the game's routes. Cheerful, lively, and skilled at brightening the mood, her personality was the perfect complement to Joshua’s silent and reserved nature. In the late stages of the game, Lovell’s romance arc with Joshua was very clear; they were the official “Hero × Thief” pairing pushed by the developers.
In the original story, Lovell was supposed to appear during the Academy Arc in Himlabacken. Joshua was meant to meet her in the underground arena after enrolling. She only joined him after being chased by nobles and having Joshua step in to save her.
And yet, they were still on the road to the academy.
A butterfly effect. She had changed the fate of Percy Village. These changes were like stones thrown into a pond, the ripples spreading out and affecting the original plot. The demon attack occurring a year early was the first ripple; Lovell’s early appearance was the second.
“You said you came from the north?” Margarita asked.
“Mhm.” Lovell sat down across the fire and pulled a piece of hard bread from the bag Margarita had left under the tree, taking a large, uninvited bite. “Arlan City. My master said I’d learned enough and told me to head to the Capital Academy to find an old guy named Glion. Apparently, he can help me get enrolled. But then I ran out of food halfway here, and I’m all out of travel money too.” She shrugged, looking unbothered. “So I’ve been picking up side jobs along the way.”
“Stealing things?” Joshua frowned.
“It’s called taking!” Lovell held up a finger and wagged it, correcting him seriously. “Taking. Don’t you get it? I only take things that nobody wants. Like that scimitar just now—I found it on the ground. Perfectly legal.”
Joshua opened his mouth, unsure of how to respond.
“You said you were going to Himlabacken to find Glion?” Margarita asked.
“Yep.”
“We’re going there too,” Margarita said. “Glion is an old acquaintance of our elder. We have a letter for him.”
Lovell paused in the middle of chewing her bread. Her amber eyes flickered over Margarita’s face, then toward Joshua, before she suddenly grinned.
“That’s perfect then! Let's go together!” She stuffed the rest of the bread into her mouth, her cheeks bulging. “Traveling alone is so boring. Besides, that demon just now...” She swallowed the bread, her expression turning slightly more serious. “The way it looked at your eyes... it was terrified. It definitely knows something.”
Margarita remained silent.
“I don’t know what it is,” Lovell said, looking at Margarita with a casual tone. “And I don’t plan on asking. Everyone has secrets, right?”
Margarita looked at Lovell’s grinning face, and the corners of her own mouth couldn’t help but curl upward.
“Aren't you afraid of getting dragged into our mess?” Margarita asked.
“Afraid of what? I’m going to be the number one thief in Astraea.” She patted the two daggers at her waist, her smile revealing a sharp canine tooth. “Besides, that demon was after you two, right? Scimitars like that can be traded for money in plenty of places. Since you're being targeted, there'll probably be more. If I follow you, I can make some extra cash.”
Joshua and Margarita exchanged a glance.
“Plus, your pink eyes earlier were super—pretty. I’ve decided! From now on, I’m calling you Little Mari.”
Margarita’s smile stiffened. “...Huh?”
“Mari! Margarita is too long and a pain to say. Little Mari is so much cuter.”
“My name is Margarita,” Margarita said expressionlessly. “Come on, repeat after me. Mar—ga—ri—ta—”
“Little Mari~” Lovell acted as if she hadn’t heard.
“...Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.” Lovell looked solemn. “Joshua, you think it sounds good too, right?”
Suddenly put on the spot, Joshua blinked, looking from Margarita’s clearly threatening smile to Lovell’s face full of expectation. Finally, he chose to look down at the fire.
“I... I’ll go get some more wood.”
“Joshua!” Margarita slammed her fist into the grass beside her.
Lovell doubled over with laughter.
“Alright, alright, I’m done teasing you.” She finished laughing and wiped her eyes before extending a hand toward Margarita. “Lovell Reed, thief. Nice to meet you, Little Mari.”
Margarita looked at the extended hand, sighed, and took it.
“Margarita Percy. Nice to meet you. Also, call me Margarita.”
“You got it, Little Mari.”
“...You’re doing this on purpose!”
“Mhm~”
When Joshua returned with a bundle of wood, Margarita was irritably organizing her medicine bag while Lovell hummed a song as she polished her new scimitar. The firelight shone on the three of them, casting their overlapping shadows against the thick trunk of the oak tree.
Joshua sat down and looked at Margarita. Although she had a look of annoyance on her face, there was no real anger in her eyes. Joshua hesitated, then asked in a low voice, “Do you... know her?”
“...I don't,” Margarita hesitated for a long time. “But I think she can be trusted.”
She couldn't tell the truth, at least not yet.
Joshua watched her for a moment, then nodded without further questions.
Margarita looked down and continued organizing her supplies. The throbbing in her temples gradually faded, leaving only a faint echo of discomfort.
She was still thinking about what happened. The fear on the demon's face when it saw her. It recognized the Star-Spun Stone; it knew what it meant. And that final sentence before it died... it mentioned betrayal. What betrayal? Did the Star-Spun Stone betray them?
In the original story, the demons had searched around Percy Village for half a year; perhaps they really were looking for the Star-Spun Stone.
She glanced at Lovell, who had already climbed up onto a branch of the oak tree to lie down, then at Joshua sitting by the fire. Both of them were strong, but the road ahead was long, and their enemies would only increase.
But at least for now, she wasn't alone.
“Goodnight, Joshua. Goodnight, Little Mari.”
“Call me Margarita.”
“Goodnight, Little Mari~”
“...Whatever.”
Rate on N.U.
