The Elestar: Zero

"What's this…" I muttered as I looked inside the box, only for my jaw to drop.

It was full of gold coins. So many that I couldn't count them all.

I had never seen that much gold in my entire life.

"I figured this would be enough to buy you a sword," Master said.

"Whoa… this is amazing!" I said, grinning. But just as quickly, a question popped into my head.

[Where did he get all this? Even working your whole life, a normal person couldn't earn this kind of money. I should ask him.]

"Where did you get these coins?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I'm just… curious. You don't come across this much gold out of nowhere."

"Gustav gave it to me. Payment in advance—for the task we accepted."

"In advance? Isn't it more common to get paid after the job's done?"

"There's a reason for it. Don't worry. What's in this chest is enough to buy you a sword… and cover what's coming next."

[He said I shouldn't worry. But for some reason, something feels off. Like we've already made a mistake and we don't even know it yet.]

"We'll go pick out your sword tomorrow."

"Why not today?"

"We've just arrived, haven't we? Wouldn't be polite to rush off so soon. Let's rest a bit first."

"Alright… tomorrow, then."

After our little talk, Master left the room. I laid back on the bed for a moment… and without realizing it, I fell asleep. The road here had completely worn me out.

When I opened my eyes again, someone was calling my name.

[Who's calling me...? That voice… sounds like Suna. I should get up.]

I slowly pushed myself off the bed and dragged myself to the door. When I opened it, there she was—Suna, standing right outside.

"Attu, are you awake?" she said, gently knocking again.

"Yeah, I'm up. What is it?" I asked, blinking.

"It's time for dinner. You should come down and eat."

"I'll be right there."

Just like she said, I headed down for dinner. Took me a bit to find the dining room, but I managed. When I finally walked in, the first thing I noticed was that the long table had only three places set.

Two of the seats were side by side, and Master Valorant was already sitting in one of them. Across from him, the chair sat empty.

I quietly made my way over and took the seat next to him.

But as soon as I sat down… Master stood up.

[He's already done eating? Then who's the third seat for? There's no way it's for the servants. So that leaves the Duke and his granddaughter. But the Duke's bedridden… which means… that seat must be Anna's. Was she supposed to come but decided not to? Is she avoiding dinner?]

I glanced around. The room was quiet—just Suna, standing near the wall. I raised a hand and waved her over.

"Is Anna not coming to dinner?"

"She's… a bit scared of you."

"Scared? Why?"

"I don't know."

"There has to be a reason."

"If you see her again, maybe you should ask," she said, then returned to her place without another word.

So that was that. I ended up eating dinner alone. But the question stuck with me.

[Why didn't she come? Did I upset her? Was it because I was watching them play earlier? Or maybe… maybe I scared her somehow? Wouldn't be the first time someone reacted that way to me. Still, if I get the chance, I'll ask her.]

After dinner, I went back to my room to sleep—but no matter how I lay, I just couldn't fall asleep.

[It's already midnight… Why can't I sleep? Maybe it's this bed. Too soft. I'm used to hard ground, cold nights in the forest. This just feels… wrong.]

I kept tossing and turning, trying to force myself to sleep. But in the end, I gave up.

[Maybe if I step outside for some fresh air, I'll get sleepy.]

So I got up, quietly stepped into the hallway, and started walking toward the stairs. On the way down, I noticed something.

One of the rooms had a faint light coming from it.

[There's a light coming from that room. It's the middle of the night… who could still be awake?]

Curious, I walked closer. The door was slightly ajar. I peeked inside.

A library.

I gently pushed the door open and stepped inside, careful not to make a sound. Books surrounded me on every side—tall shelves stretching from floor to ceiling. Only a narrow path remained to move between them.

[There are so many books… I've never seen this many in one place.]

As I stared at the shelves, a soft light landed on my face. It was coming from a lantern placed at a reading table in the center of the room.

I walked toward it.

There was someone sitting at the table.

When I got closer… I saw it was Anna. She was reading, completely absorbed in her book. She didn't even notice me.

But when I moved closer, she looked up—and froze. Her eyes widened in panic, and she tried to scoot back… but she was sitting, and ended up knocking into the bookshelf behind her instead.

"Careful!" I shouted.

I saw the books above her shift and start to fall.

Without thinking, I jumped forward and shielded her. A second later, a small cascade of books came crashing down—onto me.

Anna had her eyes shut tight, clutching her book to her chest. When the last book hit and everything fell silent, she opened her eyes and looked up.

We were very close.

Her face turned bright red.

"Are you okay?"

"I… I think so," she said softly, clearly embarrassed.

"Good." I carefully stood up and stepped aside.

She stood too, brushing herself off.

I turned to leave, but then I heard a quiet voice behind me.

"Wait…"

She spoke so softly I almost pretended I didn't hear.

"What did you say?"

She took a deep breath and repeated, louder this time.

"Wait."

"I hear you. What is it?"

"You're bleeding. From your head."

"What?" I reached up to feel.

"On top," she said, pointing.

I touched the spot and felt it—wet and warm.

[Guess one of the books hit harder than I thought. Probably easy to see with my bright hair.]

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I am. Do you… have something I could use?"

Anna pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to me.

"Here. You can use this. And… thanks."

"Thanks. What are you doing here, anyway? In the middle of the night?"

She didn't answer.

"What were you reading?"

She quickly pulled the book to her chest and stayed silent.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I like books too. But I haven't had much time to read lately… too much training."

She stayed quiet. Her silence felt awkward, but I didn't push.

"Well… I guess I'll head to bed now. You should get some rest too. Good night."

I turned and walked out of the library.

Anna looked down at the book in her hands. The title on the cover read: "Curing Magical Illnesses."

I made it back to my room and somehow managed to fall asleep. The next morning, I woke early and started my usual training. I ran laps around the estate using Flame Mana and practiced sword swings.

Master watched from a distance, correcting my mistakes as always. After I finished my drills, he called me over.

"Attu. Bring your sword."

[He wants me to bring my sword… Are we going to spar?]

"Get ready for a fight."

"Alright, Master!"

I gripped my blade and took position. Master stood waiting, sword already in hand.

[From his stance, looks like he wants me to strike first. Alright then… I'll open with an overhead swing.]

I charged and swung down from above. But Master easily redirected my strike to the side with a clean parry.

I spun with the force of the deflection—only for Master to counter from my right. I caught the movement in time and blocked his attack, but…

[His strikes are so heavy! If I weren't using Flame Mana, I wouldn't have been able to stop that.]

My arms trembled under the weight of the impact. Then, out of nowhere, Master kicked me in the gut.

Hard.

I flew backward, landing on the ground. From the window nearby, Anna was watching.

I'd noticed her at the start of training.

Our sparring session ended soon after.

"That's enough for today. You can rest."

"Master… when will you teach me those flame attacks you used? The ones with the sword?"

"You need more control over your mana first. You'll have to reach the second stage of Flaming Wrath—or get close to it."

"I can't use it in my current state?"

"You can try… but not like I do. You'll need more experience. And a better sword."

"So… when do we go buy one?"

"That's what I needed to tell you. We won't be going today."

"Why not?"

"When I spoke with Gustav yesterday, he said he'd have one specially ordered for you. Duke Alaris's condition is getting worse. He doesn't want us leaving the mansion if it can be helped."

"Actually, there's something I've been meaning to ask…"

"Yes?"

"Is someone trying to kill the Duke?"