CH 1

Pitch-Black Holy Sword

Translated by SoundOfDestiny

Edited by Zil

A carriage is driving along an uneven and unstable road.

The wheels rattle intermittently as they roll, and the carriage occasionally bounces on a large stone.

The carriage, driven by two horses, was covered with iron plates and had iron bars on the windows to keep the light in. The heavy construction of the carriage was probably more to keep the people inside safe than to guard them from outside attack.

You’re treating me like a sinner…….

In such an armoured carriage. A boy sighs with a dark expression.

The only person in the spacious carriage is a boy of about twelve or thirteen years old.

His hands are cuffed with metal shackles. The surface of the handcuffs was engraved with a hieroglyphic pattern, which gave off a faint blue-white light.

The boy, who knows that it is called the “fetters of the demon” that seals the magic of the wearer, twisted his lips bitterly.

“Brother ……, why are you such a ……!”

It reminded him of the person who had caused him to be taken away like a criminal. It was the face of his own blood brother.

The boy’s name was Raidorl Zain.

He is now a prisoner of war, but until a few days ago he was the prince of the kingdom of Zain in the western part of the continent.

It was at his coming of age ceremony on his twelfth birthday that Raidorl was shackled and taken away.

At the age of twelve, royalty and nobility in the Kingdom of Zain come of age and are granted the right to inherit the throne.

In the case of the prince Raidorl, the coming of age ceremony gives him the right to inherit the throne, but neither Raidorl nor the people around him think that he will become the king.

This is because he had an older brother, ten years older than him, who was already running the affairs of state in place of his sick father.

His brother, Granard Zain, the first prince of Zain, is a wise and hardworking man who is trusted by his subjects.

His position as the next king was secure, and no ambitious nobleman would dare to oppose Granard to rule the kingdom.

Raidorl also loved his brother and had no complaints about his inability to become king.

He knew that he was his brother’s spare and that he should not aspire to the position of king. He knew his position well.

But then – in what can only be described as a twist of fate – Raidorl was struck by an event.

“What ……?”

In the middle of the ceremony of succession – the coming-of-age ceremony for royalty in the Kingdom of Zain – the supposed star of the show, Raidorl, let out a silly voice.

In his hand is a sword.

A black haze rises from the jet-black sword, which looks as if it has been painted with black ink, giving it an intimidating aura of evil.

“Nonsense! Why does Raidorl have it ……?”

“Brother, ……”

It was his brother, Prince Granard, who raised a cry of astonishment.

Raidorl looked back at his brother with a puzzled expression and clutched his jet-black sword tightly.

In the Kingdom of Zain, there is a special ritual that has been performed for generations by only the male members of the royal family. It is to pull out the national treasure, a sword that has been handed down since the founding of the kingdom.

The national treasure, the holy sword “Dáinsleif”( ダーインスレイヴ), is kept in the innermost part of the royal palace and is propped up on a stone pedestal.

Everyone who was born and raised in this country knows that the first King used this sword to unite the surrounding powerful families and establish the Kingdom of Zain.

Therefore, as part of the coming-of-age ceremony, the men of the royal family who have the blood of the first king in their veins must pull out the holy sword from its pedestal to see if they can be accepted as the new holder of the holy sword, Excalibur.

In reality, however, no one has been recognized by the Holy Sword since the first king.

It was only a formal ritual, as no one has ever been able to pull the “Dáinsleif” from its pedestal.

“Why……am I holding the Holy Sword……?”

No matter how in disbelief Raidorl is, such a holy sword “Dáinsleif” was in the hands of Raidorl.

As soon as Raidorl tightened his grip on the hilt of his Dáinsleif, the holy sword lifted with the lightness of a tree branch stuck in a pile of sand.

“Nonsense!　It can’t be ……! How can the sword that didn’t work on me but work on Rei?”

The sight of Raidorl with his holy sword drawn was even more confusing to his brother Granard than it was to him.

He looked at his younger brother with a look of devilish anger on his face, and his clenched fists were soaked with blood from the nails that had pierced his palms.

The vassals who were watching the situation around them alternately looked at Raidorl and Granard with a puzzled expression on their faces. They are at a loss as to how to react, whether to rejoice or lament that Raidorl has been chosen as the keeper of the Dáinsleif.

And so, it should be.

The holy sword, Dáinsleif, is the legacy of the first king. It is the symbol of the Kingdom of Zain.

The fact that he was able to pull out that sword means that the holy sword has recognized that Raidorl is suitable to be the next king.

It has been several years since his father fell ill. His younger brother, Prince Raidorl, was chosen by the Holy Sword to be the next king, over his father’s deputy, Granard, who had supported the country all these years.

The humiliation is enormous because of the pride he has taken in supporting the country.

Granard, shaking his fists and coughing up blood, ordered his vassals.

“…… Send out the men!　No one is going near this place!”

“Ha, yes, sir!”

“…… And Raidorl.”

“What is it?”

“….”

“What is it …………?”

As he stood there, stunned by the fact that he had just pulled out a sword he hadn’t expected to pull out, he came to his senses at the sound of his trusted older brother’s voice.

He looked at Granard’s face with clinging eyes and screamed in horror at the fiery passion in his eyes.

“….You should go back to your room and rest. You will not be allowed to leave your room without permission. Never!”

“O-,okay.”

“I’ll take the sword. Give it to me!”

“Yes……”

Raidorl, looking at Granard with a frightened look in his eyes, hands his brother the holy sword he has just drawn.

“Damn it……!”

“Brother?”

As soon as Granard picked up the Dáinsleif, the royal family’s holy sword became as heavy as a boulder.

It was so heavy that it seemed a joke that Raidorl had just lifted it with one hand so easily, and it was unlikely that he could wield it as a weapon.

“This is what it means to be chosen as a holy sword. ……!　Why do you refuse me, what am I lacking?”

“Broth-”

“GO! Get out of my sight!”

“!” 

With tears in his eyes,Raidorl was led out of the room by his attendants.

With a wistful look down his back, Granard dropped the heavy holy sword on the floor.