Kazimierz is an unfamiliar country even to Victorians across the border. The knights of the capital had no time to spare for a remote mountain village.

Into that gap crept the legend of a dead knight — treasure that only Kazimierz's ancient bloodline could unlock, said to be sleeping somewhere in a nameless mountain.

On the day bounty hunters chasing that rumor turned the border settlement of Dewdrop Village into a wreck, a young spearwoman on assignment from Rhodes Island sets foot on Kazimierz soil for the first time.

1. The Hanging Chief and the Little Cavalry Officer

In a dark room, the hanging girl hadn't had a drop of water in over a day. The bounty hunters just kept pressing her for the treasure's location.

Then an unfamiliar voice cuts in. "To think that all the way out here in Kazimierz... I'd find thugs running wild like this."

A little girl with a single spear knocks the bounty hunters flat in an instant and frees the girl. Her name is Grani — a former Victorian cavalry officer, now an operator of Rhodes Island.

Before her savior, the girl introduces herself. "...Yes, I'm Chloe, chief of Dewdrop Village. I've only held the post for half a year, but I still have a chief's pride." A chief of half a year, and she'd been hanging there as a hostage the whole time.

2. The Dead Knight Is Still Paying the Village's Wages

Barely past introductions, Chloe already had Grani pegged wrong. "Are you the newly appointed knight of Kazimierz?" Grani corrects her. "No, no! I'm neither Kazimierz nor a knight. I'm a Victorian cavalry officer! ...Oh, and I'm a girl!"

Dewdrop Village has lived off this mountain land, self-sufficient, for generations. Not wealthy, but at least peaceful.

The peace broke a month ago, when a bounty hunter found a knight's coffin and gold coins deep in the mountains.

When an ancient Kazimierz knight meets death, their spirit and wealth are buried in some nameless corner of their homeland, still guarding that land even after death.

— Chloe

The rumor snowballed. Even baseless talk that "someone in Dewdrop Village knows where the treasure is" spread, and the village had already become a den of bounty hunters.

What Chloe actually wants isn't the treasure itself. Hire mercenaries with it, drive out the bounty hunters, and bring peace back to the village — that's all.

3. The Woman from the Rumors Appears

As Grani's group tries to slip out of the village, a bounty hunter squad appears. But it isn't Grani the squad members actually fear — it's someone else.

A man called the Captain goes flying clear into the river in an instant, and his men start fleeing, shouting "It's the Blood Saint!"

A red-eyed woman mutters in an unfamiliar tongue. (Ægirian) "If you want to die, step forward." Grani finds that back oddly familiar. "That person... might be one of my comrades..."

The problem is, that "comrade" seems to have never even heard of the mission Grani was given.

4. I'd Like to Hire a Bounty Hunter

Next to appear is another bounty hunter, Big Bob. He clears out a swarm of bugs with a stun grenade, then calmly opens with a proposal.

"Hmph, fatty? I'll let you call me 'well-built.'" From that shameless opening line alone, it was clear he wasn't just any bounty hunter.

Big Bob offers cooperation in exchange for his wilderness know-how and trap-disarming skill. Chloe doesn't trust him one bit, but Grani ultimately decides to accept, conditionally — sharing only a rough direction instead of the exact location.

5. Skadi, Right?

Big Bob reads the coded stone markers left by bounty hunters, dodging the traps of the Tarat Mountain forest one by one. "This forest is far more dangerous than you'd imagine."

But partway through, they find an unfamiliar marker. Even Big Bob has never seen this code before. "A monster...?"

The marker's meaning becomes clear soon enough. Behind a fleeing bounty hunter, its true form appears.

Grani asks, already certain. "I knew it was you! Skadi... it's Skadi, right?" Only then does the woman confirm her name. "...So you're the one holding Dewdrop Village's chief."

Grani barely has time to feel glad before Skadi lunges out of nowhere, demanding Chloe be handed over. While they flee in confusion without even knowing why, the Captain's ambushing squad joins in as well.

Grani barely slips away in the chaos and leaves one line behind. "Tell me about your mission, and I might just consider telling you where Chloe is! Go cool your head over there and think it over!"

6. Thanks, Kid Without Prejudice

After finally shaking off their pursuers, a wound on Big Bob's leg comes to light. Grani doesn't hesitate to start wrapping it in bandages.

Big Bob asks. "Do you always help the Infected like this? Aren't you afraid...?"

Plenty of my comrades are Infected too. Honestly, I can never really tell just by looking, and I've never much thought about who's infected. Well, I do find out at bath time, though.

— Grani

He'd expected a serious answer, but it ended on a note about baths.

Only once the bandage was done did Big Bob offer a short word of thanks. "Thanks, kid without prejudice."

7. So What Has Rhodes Island Actually Done

In front of the Tarat Mountain mine shaft, Big Bob sharpens his tone again. "You Rhodes Island types raise 'Blood Saints' like Skadi and still have the nerve to call yourselves an organization for the Infected. What were you doing while the Infected were locked in quarantine zones, dying?"

There are things we can face head-on with strength and solve, but there are also things beyond our reach. Still, knowing that, we can't just leave innocent Infected suffering right in front of us. Rhodes Island included.

— Grani

Big Bob still isn't satisfied. "Hmph, what's so great about Rhodes Island. There's nothing in this world worth more than this little gold coin!" Grani only offers a short apology. "Sorry."

Just then, footsteps sound from the mine entrance. A masked group approaches, leaving the fallen Captain behind. "You're... Reunion?!"

Big Bob freezes for a moment, then sides with Grani to fight together. "Enough talk, let's go!"

With his leg injured, Big Bob ultimately chooses to stay behind on his own two feet. "Take Chloe and go on ahead! Hurry! I'll catch up somehow later!"

Grani leaves with just one promise. "I'll leave your share, so make sure you come back safe."

8. I'll Guard the Entrance

Leaving the forest, Grani asks Chloe if she's scared.

Chloe's answer was short. "I'm terribly scared. But if it's to bring back the village's quiet days and protect our homeland's peace... then I have to do my part too."

Reaching the cave entrance, Grani announces it. "You know the way to the treasure, so go on ahead. I'll guard the entrance." Chloe objects. "Facing that many bounty hunters alone is far too dangerous!"

There's no such thing as a task not worth risking your life for. Even if a barbarian's vicious blade pierces my heart, a royal cavalry officer's spear never falls to the ground.

— Grani

And she adds one more line. "No matter what happens, I'll protect you. I decided that the moment I saved you in the square. I won't let anyone take so much as a strand of your hair."

Chloe laughs, exasperated. "...Honestly, you... you're still such a little kid..." Grani bristles. "I—I'm not a kid! I'm just a little short!"

Left alone, Grani fends off the bounty hunters swarming in, one by one. In the middle of it, Skadi shows up too, pressing her. "Hand over Chloe. I don't care about anything else."

Grani doesn't back down. "As long as Chloe is my client, that will never happen." Neither of them even knowing what Skadi's mission is, they just keep clashing spear against blade.

Having barely shaken Skadi off, heading deeper into the cave, something strange catches her eye. A hole, blown open as if by an explosion. Not something Skadi had made.

Grani guesses. "So, you've decided what to do." The voice belongs to exactly who she expected.

9. Three-Way Standoff at the Cave Mouth

Waiting inside the cave was Big Bob. Leading his dying brothers, he'd staked everything on one last gambit for the treasure.

Big Bob finally reveals the real story. "We can go to Columbia. It's an unimaginably distant land, but there, even the Infected can have their own village and fields. I have to get this treasure for my brothers, no matter what."

Right then, Skadi also breaks through the Reunion group and appears. "Clear the way." With the three of them gathered in one place, the cave mouth instantly turns into a three-way battle.

Skadi speaks as if she couldn't care less about anyone's circumstances. "Reunion, bounty hunters, all the same to me." And she presses Grani again to give up Chloe's location.

Grani refuses. "I can't hand over Chloe or the treasure to any of you, not as things stand. This is the request I accepted." It comes right to the edge of blades clashing.

At that moment, Chloe appears, struggling to drag the treasure chest along. "Grani! I found it! I found the treasure!"

Grani rushes to stop her but is a step too late. An explosive Big Bob threw goes off right beside Chloe, and Skadi wraps herself around Chloe at that very instant.

From that one scene, Grani understands. "You have no interest in the treasure, do you? And you never meant to hurt Chloe either. If you had, you'd have grabbed the treasure and run."

I don't need the treasure. All I want is a certain something this child is carrying.

— Skadi

10. The Key Demands Blood

Skadi warns Chloe. "The moment you use that key to open the treasure chest, you die. If you don't carry Kazimierz blood, the key will tear your hand open and drink it dry."

Chloe's expression was already resolved. "The most important duty of my role as chief is to protect this key, passed down through generations. That's what my father taught me..."

Only the bloodline of Kazimierz, unafraid of danger and undeterred by sacrifice, can remove every obstacle.

— Chloe

Chloe grips the key. "Grani, if something happens to me, please make sure the money from this treasure reaches everyone in the village. I'm sorry, Father..."

Grani stops her hand.

"Chloe, would you show me that key too?" After a brief look, she makes up her mind. "I'll open the treasure chest."

Chloe cries out. "What?! But if you do that, Grani would—" Grani had already made up her mind. "It's fine. Chloe, sorry. I'm opening it!"

Grani leaves Skadi with one line and turns the key. "Skadi, if I fall, catch me properly."

And then, Grani collapsed.

Epilogue. Back to Where Each Belongs

A few days later, Grani woke up safely. In return, she dumps bounty hunter camp cleanup duty on Skadi, snapping at her. "You got the key you wanted, so get to work properly."

Skadi grumbles. "The enemy still outnumbers us. You just barely saved your life, and you're putting it on the line again?" Grani laughs and shoots back. "You're here too, aren't you?"

In the end Big Bob got nothing, and starts with an apology. "Sorry. In the end I couldn't help at all..." Chloe reassures him — it's fine, this can just stay between the two of them.

On their way to part, Big Bob presses an old gold coin into Grani's hand. It was the very same coin she'd gotten from the bounty hunter who'd first picked a fight back in the village.

On the road back to Dewdrop Village, Chloe hands over a letter. It's from Rhodes Island, and the moment Grani reads it, she grins, folds it into a paper airplane, and sends it flying.

"Rhodes Island paper is good quality, so it flies far." The heart of whoever wrote that letter had flown just as far away, it turns out.

In truth, the letter was written by Nearl. After rewriting it several times, she finally settled on something short, murmuring to herself. "Grani... please, please receive it safely!"

Sadly, that wish became a paper airplane and flew off just the same.

Around the same time, in a certain room at Rhodes Island, Skadi had come to find Specter. Specter catches a familiar scent from a visitor whose name she can't even recall.

"A scent I miss, yet detest." Instead of answering, Skadi only gives her a destination and turns to leave. "A place where a secret sleeps. Very, very far from you."

At the end of that destination was Kal'tsit. What Skadi held out was a fragment of the key, soaked in Grani's blood.

There's already blood infused in it. Not yours, I take it — you hate bleeding on solid ground.

— Kal'tsit

Skadi's answer was short. "It's Grani's blood."

What Skadi wanted was the source of the Originium neural medicine she'd given Specter. Kal'tsit sets one condition, and Skadi nods without hesitation.

I only trust people I can trust.

— Skadi

And I always keep my word, once I've given it.

— Kal'tsit

The village kept the legend of a dead knight, and the bounty hunters kept the rumor of the Blood Saint. But neither the legend nor the rumor tells what actually happened within them.

A young spearwoman who chose to bleed in place of a young chief, an Infected who bared his teeth at Rhodes Island for the sake of his brothers, and a Blood Saint who made a fair trade and left without anyone knowing. Behind the names in the rumors, these were the faces.