Love Letter From The Future

“Golden Fortress.”

It was a term referring to the building owned by Alphenhausen located in the Academy. No, in truth, it was a nickname that wouldn’t be strange attached to any of the Alphenhausen buildings scattered throughout the continent.

What kind of power do the five noble families of the Empire possess?

Yuridina in the Northern Region commanded the army.

Rupemion in the Eastern Region commanded the knights.

Findelston in the Western Region commanded information.

Aralhorn in the Southern Region commanded magic. Since the areas they oversaw did not only affect the Empire, the entire continent kept them in check.

However, there was only one family.

Only Alphenhausen was able to traverse freely across the continent.

The reason was simple.

There was no nation that disliked gold coins.

In this way, the family had accumulated vast capital over hundreds of years. Naturally, they had more than enough money, and gold could be transformed into anything.

It didn’t matter whether it was manpower, magic, or construction materials. The buildings invested with the infinitely rising gold coins by Alphenhausen could rightfully be called a ‘fortress.’

Indeed, it was impregnable.

None of those who approached with the intent of coveting Alphenhausen’s gold and intelligence returned alive. It was a place that boasted such high reputation.

The ‘Golden Fortress’ of the Academy.

Yet, why?

Bang!

“Ahhhhh!”

With a scream, the door shattered and flew apart. The flames beyond danced and dyed the entire world in red.

Crimson.

The knight of the guard, trembling, thought of this. A companion came flying in from the direction where the door had been.

Everything was on fire.

The licking flames were burning frames and walls, steadily expanding their territory. Blood and water stained the walls, and knights lay scattered, writhing in pain.

“Ugh, no, ahhhhh!”

“Sa, save me… no… I’d rather just die!”

Was this a nightmare?

The guard knight, paralyzed with fear, shouted toward his frozen subordinates, stepping back.

“Activate the interception magic!”

“It, it doesn’t work! We’ve been trying for a while… but it keeps failing!”

That couldn’t be.

The face of the guard knight turned pale upon hearing such terrible news. It was an enchanted trap they had tested repeatedly and maintained several times.

Alphenhausen was thorough. There had to be a reason for their carelessness at all times.

Those were the spells they had devoted so much effort into.

Had they really broken down in just one moment? At such a critical time?

Looking back, there was another strange point.

The door, now shattered and left with only fragments.

It was a building known as the ‘Golden Fortress.’ Naturally, each door was reinforced, and magic was cast to block spaces from space.

Yet, it was being torn apart so effortlessly.

“What on earth…”

As the guard knight stammered in disbelief at a sight he had never seen before.

Step, step.

The sound of chilling footsteps echoed. It was an omen that the demon who had summoned all this disaster was approaching.

From the world that had been only red, a new hue began to float.

Golden brown eyes, hair tracing a pitch-black trajectory, and a demeanor scattering pale blue waves.

Her strides were steady. Her pace leisurely, making her appear, at first glance, anything but threatening.

If anything, she could be called beautiful.

But upon seeing her, the guard knight had no choice but to scream in despair.

“Stop her immediately!”

“But the flames…!”

“I’ll handle that somehow! Stop her!”

In any case, it was a lost cause.

Whether he dies this way or that way, it was the same.

Finally, the three knights who had firmed their resolve exchanged glances and nodded. They took off from the ground in a heavy burst of speed.

An unmatched velocity for such massive builds. It was a feat that could only be exhibited thanks to strengthening their bodies with various magical artifacts.

In other words, they were cannonballs made of steel.

Three elite swordsmen charged like a tempest. They seemed overwhelming enough that a single slender girl could do nothing but get swept away.

Front, right, left.

The knights came rushing like lightning, sealing off any escape route.

Only then did the girl’s demeanor begin to move.

A single strike.

Blades clashed and slid against each other. It was an incredibly precise interlocking.

As blades stood over blades.

Whose intention this incredible technique was became clear shortly after.

The girl’s wrist seemed to twist slightly.

Swish.

The first knight looked down in disbelief at his chest. The trajectory of the sword had twisted, and the man’s body was collapsing like a slide.

Leaving a deep scar across his chest.

This was merely the beginning of the next motion.

The girl’s lips moved a fraction.

“One.”

Bang!

“Two.”

The girl’s body slightly twisted, and thrusting and slashing collided. Before the blood splattered into the air could even dissipate.

“Ggghh….”

The last man who had rushed in staggered back.

With a clang, the fallen sword produced a mournful sound as it split into two pieces. The woman’s blade had already cut through the man’s upper body diagonally.

Cut down with the blade itself.

An overwhelming disparity in strength. The despair-filled gaze of the knight reflected back as the last man, foaming at the mouth, fell to the floor.

The girl then let out an icy cold sigh.

“…Three.”

Just at that moment.

Bang, the sound of explosions echoed, and fissures began to consume the ceiling and walls.

It didn’t take long for the identity of the trap to be revealed.

A torrent of water burst forth.

The pressure of the water that began to pour like a spray was terrifying. If left unchecked, it could continuously flow down indefinitely.

Only then could the guard knight let out a laugh.

His sword was stuck in a corner of the wall. The starting point of the fissure and the cause of the water gushing forth.

“Kuh, heh… Hahahahaha!”

After all, that monster couldn’t be beaten.

Death was already a certain result. However, if he could just extinguish that suspicious flame?

He could raise the odds for the remaining comrades, even just a little.

The man who had achieved his objective erupted into loud laughter as if he had no more regrets. His spiteful curse followed.

“This, you filthy wench… do you treat Alphenhausen lightly?! Perhaps I had prepared means to be ready in case the magic doesn’t work! This place has been specially fitted with water pipes close to the walls and ceiling…!”

But before that outburst could fully escape him.

Step, step.

The sound of the girl stepping forward could be heard again. Without a hint of disruption, her expression remained chillingly blank.

Right afterward.

With a thud, the body of the guard knight crashed down. The distance left between him and the girl was still present, and he had felt no sign at all.

Wha, what.

The man’s trembling gaze directed toward his own body. There, his arm and shoulder were melting away like a mirage.

“Ugh, uhh… Aaaah?!”

The guard knight was startled and desperately tried to struggle. But his body had already slipped from his control.

His melting flesh merely repeated the sound of squelching.

How, how?

Soon the guard knight realized.

The intensity of the flames was not decreasing.

No, rather, it felt like it was fiercer than before. The flames that had been burning the building were now sweeping through the room like a tempest.

“Mu, must…”

His tongue melted away, and the guard knight could not complete his sentence.

Only the echo of a single phrase left by the girl rang out as she crushed his melted body beneath her foot.

“Four… still insufficient.”

And again one.

The numbers continued without pause. Without hesitation, the girl swept away the last remaining door.

Bang!

The same commotion as before did not occur. Inside the spacious and luxurious office, two women with unexpectedly calm expressions awaited her.

Shiene and Luna.

The sun and moon of Alphenhausen, along with the influential direct line aspiring to become the next head.

“No matter how much I ask around, not a strand of hair was found, yet here you come willingly.”

The girl didn’t respond at all.

She merely cast a fleeting glance at Luna, who was standing in front of Shiene’s desk. With an expression still devoid of emotion, the girl took a step forward.

Shiene was the one who blocked her path.

“Stop.”

A short, quiet command.

Yet, it was a voice imbued with strange magic. The steps of the girl, which had not stopped until now, wavered for a moment.

Seizing that opening, Shiene continued to persuade.

“Celine Haster, you have committed an unforgivable sin. Do you know how much your childhood friend has searched for you? Here, I propose this: if you stop now, even just for the sake of seeing your childhood friend, and trade with us…!”

Of course, it was a futile attempt.

Luna’s eyes, which had always been hidden behind her bangs, widened in shock. She sensed an unsettling heat that felt sharp enough to burn her skin.

Beyond there.

A fire was trying to vocalize as the form of a demon in the hallway the girl had come through.

Upon realizing this, Luna threw herself and shouted.

“Get back, sister!”

Light engulfed the world.

The power of the powerful protective artifact guarding Luna’s body. The surge of magic that rose like a tsunami was such that it wouldn’t be surprising if it began to smother the flames and sweep the building whole.

Plop, if not for the sound that echoed.

“Uh, ah, uhh…?”

A dazed questioning tone.

Luna, trembling, tentatively felt her abdomen. A strange sensation came over her.

The icy cold of a blade that had pierced her insides.

As blood surged up immediately after, when the girl ruthlessly drew her sword, the woman’s body fell helplessly to the ground.

It was then that the effort to maintain her composure shattered.

“…Lunaaan!”

Shiene yelled, her soul feeling as if it were ripping apart as she hurriedly ran to embrace her sister.

Dragging Luna’s body away, desperate to put some distance between them and the girl.

“Ah, ah… wait just a little… I’ll, I’ll save you… Luna?”

She seemed completely unconcerned about getting her clothes and hands soiled. Shiene was merely feeling for Luna’s pulse with trembling hands, before she bit down and turned to the girl.

Golden brown eyes.

A gaze devoid of any emotion pierced down at Shiene from above.

Shiene could hardly contain the sight.

“How dare, how dare… someone like you touch our Alphenhausen?!”

By now, Shiene’s eyes had long been bloodshot with burst vessels. Grinding her jaw until it almost shattered, Shiene spat out her venom-filled rage.

“Soon, you’ll regret this…! You wouldn’t say you didn’t know, would you? Our Alphenhausen never forgets a grudge…!”

“Do not forget.”

At that moment for the first time.

Shiene could hear the woman’s altered voice. A chilled tone free from any emotion.

Was it merely an illusion?

That low murmur seemed suddenly intense yet suffocating.

Before Shiene could fully escape the confusion.

The sound of crunching echoed like phantom sounds in her ear.

“As I did.”

Blood sprayed into the void, and screams echoed through the midnight Academy.

In just a few minutes.

When those who had been delayed in hearing the news finally ran in, it was already far too late, and the building was engulfed in flames beyond control.

Like firewood on a pyre.

Autumn had ended, and winter had come swiftly.

Trials were budding.

---