21-Prologue: Girl in the back alley

Uh-huh.

The adventurer's city of Zeto. It is located in the eastern part of the Halkenian Kingdom in the southern part of the Dunadin continent, in the Raud territory.

The Adventurer's City is famous for being a city that never sleeps at night. In fact, even though the moon and stars twinkle high in the sky, the city, especially the downtown and entertainment areas, are still lit by torches and lamps.

The light is interspersed with the guttural voices of adventurers, known as "roughnecks". Withering, hushed laughter, or shouting, echoes through the space where the darkness of the night has been torn apart by the torches.

In the street, a prostitute actively invites a man to join her. The smell of liquor mingles with the hustle and bustle, everyone shouts with joy at the party and tips a mug of strong liquor.

This is not an unusual sight. It's not just in this city, but also in the four adventurer's cities in the kingdom, where there is a lot of excitement every night.

But no matter how much of an adventurer's town it is, if there are places where light shines, naturally shadows are also created. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to find the right one.

--The woman was in tears.

His face, streaked with sorrow, seemed to be dark and depressed. The life was gone from his eyes, and a shadow of despair flickered in them.

I'm not sure if she is 14 or 15 in height. The appearance of a young maiden, a young maiden, is not something that would be appropriate for the filthy alleyway.

However, the atmosphere she wears is full of the gloom characteristic of those whose minds are trapped in darkness, hated by the light.

''Ugh, ugh, ku, aaaaah!''

The girl sits up on her knees, her back resting against the alleyway wall, burying her head between her knees, trying to hide her tear-stained face. She watched with an empty mind as her tears dripped down to the ground in the faint light of the torchlight.

The one question that occupied her head was.

(Why. Why...?)

The clothes he was wearing were not good enough. They had been wandering around this city for days now. The fabric was so coarse and thin that if the night wind blew through the Ichijun Alleyway, he would shiver involuntarily. They didn't even have enough on hand to buy a cloak. The girl is almost penniless. All that was left of her pocket was a few mindless coins.

The only other thing the girl has is "that thing". A dependable back that remains in the memory. This is the thing that was given to me as a proof of that when I made a promise to that person who had a broad and large back that I admired...

But.

I'm sorry I'm sorry. I couldn't keep my promise. I swore an oath to protect it, and I failed to do so.

I tightly grip the chest of the clothes that have been frayed at the hem. It is the thing which was also the way of being of a girl to feel under the unreliable thin cloth despite the time of day when the night air grates on the body, which is not good.

However, that way of being has also been lost. At the same time as the promise she made to that person was reversed, it was shattered and scattered and disappeared at the same time as her heart was torn to pieces.

Nevertheless, in the corner of the girl's empty heart, a wish still smolders. The spark is still small and fleeting.

However.

You have to protect it........because it's still possible to protect it. I have to keep that promise....

But - indeed it is, the hope, the wish, is burning. As if to show it, the girl grips her chest even more tightly.

The palm of her hand certainly felt the feel of the thing(...).....