The treasured sword drew a purple line, ripped off a piece of Bruder's scalp, and stopped. No, I had to stop. The hidden needle in Bruder's wrist pierced my chest slightly.

　Neither of us could move. One more step, and both of our lives would slip away from our bodies.

"Put down your weapons now, both of you. Even your stupidity will tell you it's for the best.

　A heavy voice that seemed to weigh down the very air echoed through the back streets.

　It must have been directed at us, me and Bruder, without a doubt. Even the breath that came out of my stomach seemed to be weighted down by the voice.

　It was a familiar voice. The voice that seemed to slap her spine must have been that of Vestaline, the steel princess she had once heard.

　That's not good. It's too bad.

　It's the worst possible way to get her attention here. If that happens, she'll be watching me no matter what I do in Belle Fain.

　Don't do it. Taking up arms here is a far from wise or smart choice.

　It's the same with Bruder. With Belle Fain as his stronghold, antagonizing the Steel Princess is not a good idea.

A mercenary or a vagabond. Don't waste your time here.

　These are words that carry a weight that cannot be denied. They had the advantage of not being able to be refuted. Of course, what we should do is not to rebel against those words, but to lay down our weapons here, surrender to her, and swear not to provoke.

　Yeah, that's right. What's important now is not whether the Steel Princess is right or wrong. What's important here is that she's the lord's only daughter, a high class person and we must be lowly commoners.
We are the ones who have to kneel to her, whether we are reasonable or not. We are the ruled, and Vestaline the Steel Princess, people like her must be the rulers.

　Didn't the same thing happen to me when I visited Belle Fain before? I remember well the coldness and contempt with which she looked at me.

　But that's the way it is. It is what it is. Rank is power in itself. It's inherently unchangeable. I've forgotten that lately. I've been around too many people of different ranks. Too many people who respected and cared for people like me.

　For a moment, Bruder's gaze locked with mine. And then, without blinking, slowly, without a word, they drew their weapons against each other. This is the right way to be.

This is the right way. Let there never be another useless quarrel between us in Belfain, for the vagabond is a blot on Belfain alone.

　You don't even know my name. He doesn't even know my name. He doesn't even know I exist.

　No, that's convenient. It's convenient that he treats you so roughly. Otherwise, my whole plot falls apart. It's exactly what I want. It's great. There's no problem. It should be.

　And yet. Unknowingly, my heart melts. Claws creak and gouge their own flesh, spine burns and blood runs down their spines.

　It's humiliating. Oh, the humiliation. Now I'm washed up on a dark, cold shore. My body freezes with the cold of being robbed of my dignity, and inside I'm boiling with shame.

　The Steel Princess, Vestalines, doesn't give a d*mn about me. He doesn't care about our fight, that's what he thinks. He doesn't see any point in it. He doesn't care how proud Bruder and I are, or how determined we are, or how hard we swing our swords.

　Didn't I come back to this moment to never be humiliated like this again? Wasn't I here to never let anyone trample me again?

　And yet I'm still bowing down to the daughter of a lord in a city like this. Oh, I should be grateful to her.

　I know now that I haven't gotten any of this after all. I want to thank her from the bottom of my heart.

　Vestalinu the Iron and Steel Princess's beastly horse turns its head and heads back towards the back street. She no longer had any use for such a filthy place. The hoof clicks loudly as if to say that there is no need to keep it in sight.

"You look down on me from your horse! You're only good for wearing iron, huh?

　The two words overlapped. The phrases are different, the choice of words is different in detail. However, the tone of their voices and the heat in them were completely the same.

　Bruder's voice stood up easily beside me and me. It was not a loud voice, but it was clear enough to reach the Steel Princess' back.

　The voice sent a shiver down the spine of the Steel Princess. Her face looked back at me for a moment.

　Then, with a smile on her face that was unimaginable from her usual iron-clad expression, she said.

I remember your faces well. Don't ever think you can live in peace here again.



　She didn't try to pass off our words of sale or buy them, she just said them as if she was chewing them up. The steel princess left the backstreet as if she was riding a horse.

　I'm not sure what to say.


　I don't know.


I don't think I've ever thought of myself as clever either. I don't think I've ever thought of myself as smart, either.

　I was invited to a cheap hotel in the prostitution district where Bruder is based.

　He had used the same place as his base before, but I wondered if he liked brothels. I hadn't seen him buying spring, though. I propped myself up on my elbow and squinted.

　They had just tried to kill each other, and now they were breathing in the same room. It's so strange. I wonder if this is a case of pitying one's fellow man. After all, we're both in the sights of the Iron Princess, the ruler of this city. The mercenaries who adore the Steel Princess might try to kill us just by fooling around in a normal bar.

Yeah, yeah. I know exactly what you mean. I've never thought of myself as smart in all my life.

　No, you're an idiot.

　Whatever you're doing, it sucks. I don't know why I opened my mouth like that, I... That doesn't make any sense. There's no validity, no wisdom to it. It's like walking into a quagmire yourself. I'm an idiot, really.

"Nah, it's not a good word. But I don't hate it, it wasn't a bad word.

　That seemed to me to be Bruder's honest words. He doesn't often say things that sound like they contain something, but this was one of the most straightforward things he's ever said.

　Bruder added with a throaty chuckle that at least he didn't seem to have the cleverness to use people up.

　It's a subtle way of gaining trust. I think it's quite unusual for people to trust you when they know you're incompetent.

　There was no chair in the room, and the only furniture was a table and a bed that creaked unpleasantly. So we were forced to sit on each other's beds, and Bruder raised his cheek and tipped his hat. His hands are pouring cheap rum into the china.

　He doesn't open his mouth. It was as if he was waiting for something. This is the kind of gesture he makes when he tells you he's going to listen to you.

　The way he was dressed was very typical of him. He seemed to think it would be shameful to ask for a story he had never heard before.

　He reminisced about the days of yore, showing his teeth and letting out a few words. The lusty voice of a woman engaged in business echoed from around her.

"Bruder, if you still intend to stay in this city, as I said, I would like to hire you as a mercenary.

　A mouthful of rum burned in my throat. Oh, he really likes the bad stuff, doesn't he?

It's all about getting rid of one of the two wheels of Belfain. That's all.

　You can see Bruder's narrowed eyes flutter open. The eyes flickered with agitation as to what he was saying and hesitation as to how to respond.

　But I already knew the answer. His mind was already made up, even if it was a little shaky.

　After all, my former friend Bruder, his reason for staying in Belle Fain, is exactly the same as my own.