Riona Belzhein—the girl whose very name was uncertain—was born in the remote countryside of the Egil Republic, in a place called Westwill. Westwill was an agricultural and livestock-rearing region, ruled by the Belzhein family, to which the girl belonged.

The war between the Republic and the Kingdom had long been bogged down in a stalemate. However, with the emergence of a man known as the Sword Saint, the tide gradually shifted in favor of the Kingdom. The Kingdom, which had previously been on the defensive, managed to seize several territories from the Republic.

Kilpus Oldingham, the young king of the Galliant Kingdom, proposed a ceasefire to Egil Republic’s President, Rugulus Nesep, offering to return all the captured territories in exchange for peace.

Nesep accepted the terms, and for a brief moment, it seemed that negotiations were settled. However, that very same year, a strange disturbance occurred in Westwill, a location far removed from the war front.

The border of the Republic was governed by the Kingdom’s formidable general, Mald Orunkaim. From there to Westwill, one would have to cross the Republic’s capital, a journey that took dozens of days on horseback.

Because of this distance, Westwill had remained untouched by the war, enjoying peace and stability. But then, a sudden plague spread through the region, wiping out every single inhabitant—including the Belzhein family—along with the once-fertile lands of Westwill.

A subsequent investigation by the Republic’s military detected a toxic substance in the water supply—one that had never before been documented within the Republic’s borders. In response, President Nesep issued a statement to the entire continent.

—This is the despicable sabotage of the Kingdom’s army!

King Kilpus immediately denied the accusation. However, the ceasefire negotiations he had pursued were shattered when President Nesep broke the agreement—after the Kingdom had already returned the captured territories.

The “Disturbance in Westwill” had occurred immediately after the territorial handover.

With that, the war once again plunged into a bitter quagmire. In the chaos of battle, the Sword Saint perished. It would be several years before negotiations resumed—only after the emergence of the War Maiden, Lili Ituka.

Even now, though Lili’s efforts have led to an official ceasefire, this incident continues to fester between the two nations. The resentment has not faded.

Yet, the Kilpus I know is not a man who would poison an innocent land far from the battlefield. So who, then, turned Westwill into a land of death?

I do not wish to think about it, but if there were anyone who stood to gain from an unconditional return of territory, it could only be President Rugulus Nesep.

Warming my hands over a small campfire, I muttered to myself.

“The Belzhein family… I see, I remember now. So you’re the last surviving member of the Belzhein family. The official report said that no one survived.”

“You know quite a lot for something that happened so long ago.”

“Ah. I, uh, read it in some documents.”

“I see. But I don’t really know for sure. They only say I ‘might’ be Riona Belzhein.”

Riona embraced me from behind, pressing her cheek against mine.

“Might be?”

“Yeah. I was just a newborn at the time, so I don’t remember anything clearly.”

“I see. That makes sense.”

So even the fact that she was Riona Belzhein was uncertain. If she had spent her life under different names, then her identity was even more ambiguous.

Ah… She grew up knowing neither a father’s love nor a mother’s love. No wonder she doesn’t know how to love.

“What happened after that? You were just a baby, right?”

“I was taken in by the Republic government as the last surviving member of the Belzhein family. They raised me to a certain point, and then they told me about the Westwill incident. They said that my family had been murdered by Kilpus, the King of the Galliant Kingdom.”

Brainwashing. If she had been taught that from childhood, breaking free from it would be nearly impossible.

“So you trained as an assassin and spy, took the identity of Miku Orunkaim, and infiltrated the Lehan Knight Academy?”

“Because you hated Kilpus?”

Riona chuckled slightly.

“No, not really. I mean, even if they told me my family was killed, it didn’t really feel real. I was, what, zero? One? I don’t even remember my parents’ faces. I can’t even be sure I was really the Belzhein’s daughter.”

“Then why… why did you choose this path?”

Riona whispered.

“Because that was the only way I was taught to live. Because that was the only way I knew how to live. Until I came to this school.”

She gently bumped her forehead against the back of my head.

“…And, well, you know the rest.”

“Tell me one more thing. Was it you who released the homunculus?”

Riona shook her head. Her red hair brushed against my cheek, tickling slightly.

“No, it wasn’t me. I think it was another spy. Their goal was probably the same—to assassinate Lili.”

She hesitated before speaking again, her voice weak.

“…And that’s when I realized something.”

“…That I was just another expendable pawn. …That they never expected me to succeed in killing Lili in the first place.”

A mere throwaway piece.

“Figures. That monster didn’t discriminate between targets. If things had gone badly, you could have been killed too. I can guarantee that.”

“…Yeah…”

“Their real goal was likely to pit that thing against Lili—or to test the homunculus’s abilities in combat. But by the time it reached her, my team—First Squad, Third Unit—had already weakened it significantly. There’s no way they could have gotten accurate data. Serves them right.”

Still.

If not for me—who carries the memories of a Sword Saint—Ryoka Oujin with his exceptional skills, and Void Scale with his superior physical abilities, that homunculus could have wiped out our entire squad and faced Lili unscathed.

In my estimation, even then, Lili wouldn’t have lost… but the fact that someone was orchestrating all of this from the shadows leaves a bad taste in my mouth.