[Re:write] Episode 15: The Thorny Path and the Vow of Steel

—Rewrite despair.

[For first-time readers] To grasp the world-building first,
here is the link to the beginning of the story, Episode 1.
👉 Episode 1: The Observer Wakes in the Forest
For the work introduction and synopsis, click here.
👉 For first-time readers | Please start Re:write from Episode 1

Three days had passed since leaving Oak Haven behind.

A dry wind whipped up dust from the road.
A white haze obscured the view.
Only the hard resistance of the earth against the soles of their feet told them they were moving forward.
Drake’s back swayed silently, and Aria looked down, gripping the hilt of her brother’s memento so hard her knuckles turned white.

Early afternoon. Under the deep shadow cast by a large oak tree along the road.
The dry sound of chewing dried meat was swallowed by the silence.
Aria looked up.
Sunlight filtering through the trees pierced her straight gaze.

“Kai. Don’t you think that my brother’s death is your fault?”

The wind stopped.

Kai’s torrent of thought froze in an instant.
(...Affirmative. The cause lies with me. If I hadn’t been the ‘source of the disaster,’ Leon wouldn’t have died.)
“...That is correct.”

“My brother fought of his own free will.”
Aria shook her head firmly.
Her silver hair swayed.
“So, please don’t blame yourself.
But...
if
you intend to fight while carrying that sin,”

She pressed her hands tightly against her chest.
“Please let me... carry half of that sin, too. I am no longer just someone being protected. I will support you, Kai, even for my brother’s sake. I won’t let you walk that thorny path alone.”

Unexpected noise ran through Kai’s logic circuits.
(Sharing a sin? It’s irrational. But... why? I feel a sensation of the depths of my chest loosening just a little.)
—Action principle redefined. Status changed: Aria, Active Supporter.
“...Understood. I will make your support my top priority.”

Aria smiled softly.

That smile alone bled vividly into the dry landscape.

◇

Night. The sound of the crackling bonfire repelled the darkness.

Drake exhaled a cloud of purple smoke.
He silently threw a piece of firewood into the bonfire.
Sparks scattered into the night wind.
The smell of smoke mingled with the night air.

“...So, kid. That ‘weapon’ you mentioned earlier, what kind of thing is it? Are you planning to make some huge chunk of iron like my hammer?”
“No, that’s not it. It’s not a weapon that crushes with physical mass.”
Kai stared at the flickering flames, replaying data in his mind.

“Drake. You must have seen it too, back then. When its armor didn’t get cut or crushed, but crumbled into ‘sand’.”
“Yeah... That was an eerie sight.”
“That was a forced release of molecular bonds.”

Kai drew a formula on the ground.
The sound of a tree branch scraping the soil.
“The reason we feel things are ‘hard’ is simply because the atoms that make up the material are strongly bonded. My Orichalcum interfered with those ‘bonds’ and forcibly rewrote them. It changed the definition of ‘steel’ into ‘sand’.”
“...You turned iron into sand?”
“Yes. If they (the Legion) are ‘information lifeforms’ that appear while ignoring the physical laws of this world, then an attack that rewrites their very definition of existence, rather than physical impact, is the silver bullet.”

Kai picked up a small pebble and gripped it tightly.
“A lethal program code that invades their OS and collapses their constituent information from the inside... I named it ‘Info-Toxin’.”
“...I don’t get it at all, but I do know it’s an outrageous piece of work.”
Drake laughed, sounding exasperated yet amused.

“But how are you going to make something like that? This is a battlefield. We don’t have a workshop or a laboratory.”
“That’s right. Development requires two things.”
Kai held up two fingers.

“One is ‘knowledge.’ All the records regarding this world’s magic system, ancient technology, and past Legion appearances. The other is the ‘facilities’ to analyze them and perform minute implementation.”
“Knowledge and facilities...”
“The Royal Capital.”

Aria looks up.

The light of the campfire illuminates her determined expression.
"If it's the Royal Capital... there is the 'Royal Grand Library.' I have heard that every book and record since the founding of the nation sleeps there."
"Ho, that sounds good."
Drake also grins.

"I have some leads on the facilities, too. In the Royal Capital, there is a workshop district where craftsmen from various countries gather. I probably have some old acquaintances there. Besides, the folks at the 'Tower of Sages' might even be interested in the incomprehensible logic you're talking about."

The Royal Capital. Enemy territory.

But that is the only place where hope lies.

"...It's decided, then."
Kai stands up and stares at the northern sky.

"For now, we enter the Royal Capital and make our way to the 'Royal Grand Library' and the 'Workshop'."
"Yes, Kai!"
"Heh. Things are starting to get interesting."

The next morning.

Three sets of footsteps tread upon the road wet with morning dew.
The luggage on their backs felt a little heavier than yesterday.

The pain of loss does not fade.

It becomes a physical weight that digs into their shoulders, silently appealing to what they must carry. But that very pain was the driving force to move forward. The morning sun stretches their shadows long. Kai leads the way, followed by Drake, and then Aria. Their shadows are still thin.

However, ahead of their gaze, the silhouette of the massive Royal Capital, shimmering in the heat haze beyond the horizon, waited silently like a mirage.

A bird chirped once in the distance, then immediately fell silent.

Revised 2025/12/29

To read the continuation/background

Click here for the beginning of the story, Episode 1
👉　Episode 1: The Observer Wakes in the Forest
Click here for work information and synopsis
👉　For first-time readers | Please start 'Re:write' from Episode 1

👉 Click here for a summary of the story of the novel 'Re:write' so far.