The Warrior’s Ballad

No one knew his past. And it didn’t seem like he lived with tomorrow in mind either. A man with neither a past nor a future. That’s why he had no name.

People called him the Nameless, and since he simply signed “X” on contracts, he was called X.

Now, he was like a tiger roaming the snowfield alone. Cutting through the fierce blizzard, heading somewhere beyond the pitch-black darkness.

Yet, like two little birds recklessly hovering around a tiger, two boys followed behind the Nameless.

The swirling snow lashed against their faces. They had to hold their hoods with one hand to keep them from being blown off. Their noses quickly became numb.

Boribori, holding a lantern that swayed and creaked in the wind, walked ahead of Ricardt.

Ricardt, hindered by the darkness and blizzard, didn’t take his eyes off the faint figure of the Nameless, who seemed as if he could disappear at any moment. Even though he must have known they were following him, he never looked back.

One hour, two hours, they kept walking through the midnight blizzard. It was truly an unbearable ordeal.

Compared to Boribori, who could now use mana drive quite properly, Ricardt was having a harder time.

They had walked for over two hours now, so returning to the tavern would be difficult. There was no guarantee that there was a place ahead where they could rest.

Even if there was, how much farther would they have to walk? Should they keep going forward, or turn back now? They could really end up stranded and dying here, unable to go any further.

But then, the Nameless, who had been walking ahead, suddenly collapsed into the snow.

“Huh?”

Ricardt and Boribori hurried over to him. In the brief moment it took to reach him, a thin layer of snow already covered his back. If they left him like this, he would quickly be buried and die.

Ricardt tried to lift him by his shoulders, but the man was too heavy, being both large and heavily armored.

“I’ll carry him.”

Boribori handed the lantern to Ricardt and spoke.

As Ricardt took the lantern, Boribori squeezed his eyes shut, groaning as he managed to lift the Nameless halfway, and with Ricardt’s help, hoisted him onto his back.

The enormous weight pressed down on Boribori’s body. So, Boribori started to seriously use his Mana Drive. Trying to forget the hardship, he focused his mind and asked,

“Where to now?”

Well… Ricardt held the lantern up and looked around. The visibility was so poor due to the darkness and raging blizzard that they could barely see a few meters ahead.

Whiiiiiiiiiiish…!

Even Ricardt, with his keen sense of deduction, could do nothing but leave it up to luck now. Either that, or pray to the gods.

Was it a mistake to have followed him without a clear reason? No, if it weren’t for them, he would have died. Whether it was a twist of fate or divine guidance, they had no choice but to move forward.

Ricardt held the lantern and walked, trudging through the snow. Without knowing where he was going, or where he was headed. The only light to guide him was his own will.

The journey was so exhausting that every minute felt like ten years, yet they kept walking for another hour.

He was so tired that at first, a thousand thoughts raced through his mind, but eventually, he thought of nothing at all, just moving his legs. Then suddenly, he noticed that the blizzard had eased up.

To be exact, they had entered a forest, where the trees were blocking the storm.

Ricardt breathed a sigh of relief and shone the lantern around. Then, trusting some instinctive sense, he searched for a place to rest.

And as if by a miracle, they came across a terrain where the ground protruded, offering a natural shelter.

“Let’s lay him down here.”

Ricardt said. Boribori, who had silently followed the entire time while carrying the heavy, armored man without uttering a word, finally set the Nameless down.

Ricardt grunted and strained, trying to position the Nameless so that he wouldn’t fall over his face or collapse onto the ground, propping him up against the wall.

As soon as Boribori set him down, he collapsed flat on the ground, arms and legs spread wide. With his eyes tightly shut, he gasped for breath, panting heavily.

Ricardt hung the lantern on what looked like a root or branch sticking through the ceiling. The sound of the wind howling around them felt like the wails of a beast.

“You did well.”

“Yeah…”

“Stay lying down. I’ll start a fire.”

Ricardt rummaged through his bag, pulling out the dry tinder and flint he had prepared beforehand, and started a fire.

He gathered some stones nearby to make a makeshift hearth and picked up relatively less damp branches to build up the flames.

The weak flames flickered as if they would die out at any moment, but Ricardt carefully cupped his hands around them and gently blew. The fire responded, growing stronger.

Once it reached a certain size, the flames burned steadily on their own, like an adult standing firm. The fire roared to life.

By that time, Boribori had sat up to warm himself by the fire. He took off his boots and gloves to dry them and pulled out some food from his bag.

As they settled in, Ricardt glanced over at the Nameless. His helmet, armor, and all his gear seemed to bear the marks of countless hardships.

“What should we do?”

Boribori asked.

In winter, it was crucial to always take off gloves or shoes and dry them during rest. The difference in temperature caused moisture to accumulate, which would swell up the hands and feet, leading to frostbite.

“For now, let’s take off his equipment and cover him with a cloak.”

“Okay.”

The two boys, like small birds picking parasites off a large beast, clung to the Nameless and began removing his gear.

They started by taking off his gloves and boots, then moved on to his helmet. As Boribori removed the helmet, he gasped in shock.

“Eek!”

The man’s face was covered in horrific burn scars. His flesh had melted away, and it seemed as though it was difficult for him to breathe because of it. That’s why there had been that raspy, wheezing sound earlier.

It was hard to believe that someone in such a state could have fought so fiercely. Moreover, he had overwhelmed multiple opponents at once.

Carefully, they removed his armor, revealing a body covered in burns, cuts, stab wounds, and gashes—scars from all kinds of injuries.

They also discovered crude, tattoo-like scribbles etched into his skin. Oddly enough, the tattoos were inscribed upside down.

Why would they be upside down? After thinking about it for a moment, it seemed the tattoos were not meant to be shown to others but for the man to see himself.

Among the jagged tattoos, the largest inscription ran across his chest. Since it was upside down, Ricardt slowly read the words:

Ricardt and Boribori were momentarily stunned into silence by the overwhelming intensity of the message. Looking again, the crudely tattooed words seemed to blaze like fire.

Soon regaining their composure and examining the other writings, they were all names of people, clues, appearances, areas of activity, things like that.

Many of the names had been scratched out with an X, likely indicating that his revenge had been carried out. His body was a gruesome ledger of vengeance.

ne that looked like a relatively recent wound read ‘Lily – Traitor’. Was she the woman they had seen in the carriage?

There were still a few names left that hadn’t been crossed out, and one of them caught Ricardt’s eye.

Ricardt instinctively knew that this Steiner was the same Steiner who was the leader of the Ernburg Five and one of the Empire’s Nine Swords.

Meanwhile, Boribori’s mouth had formed a perfect circle, and he rapidly blinked his wide-open eyes. He had never seen such a terrifying, tragic, and pitiful body before.

The more vengeance he exacted, the more scars appeared. It seemed as though the completion of his revenge was slowly consuming what was left of his life. His body revealed these traces without the slightest attempt to hide them.

Without even realizing it, Boribori pulled a towel out of his bag, dipped it into the snow piled around the cave, and warmed it by the fire. Once it was warm enough, he began wiping the Nameless’s body.

Each scarred name, each word carved with vengeance…

Meanwhile, Ricardt roasted some potatoes and sweet potatoes in the fire and pulled out jerky to prepare a simple meal.

After cleaning the Nameless’s body, Boribori took some herbs he had brought with him, chewed them thoroughly, and applied the paste to the wounds on the man’s forearm.

At that moment, he suddenly looked up to find the Nameless staring down at him with calm, sky-blue eyes.

“Gah!”

Boribori was so startled that he threw the towel and fell on his bottom.

Ricardt, who had been poking the potatoes to check if they were done, was startled as well. He turned to see what was happening and saw that the Nameless had woken up.

“Uh… Hello? You were collapsed on the road, so…”

Trying his best to be polite, Ricardt greeted the man, though the situation was undeniably awkward. The Nameless, leaning against the wall, turned only his eyes toward the two boys, saying nothing.

The awkward silence stretched on until Ricardt spoke calmly.

“So, um… we’re currently trying to kill two of the Ernburg Five, a people named Reto and Erze. If you’re going after Steiner, why don’t we join forces for a bit?”

Ricardt motioned toward the man’s tattoos, suggesting they could help each other since their objectives overlapped.

But the Nameless simply turned his head away and closed his eyes. It seemed he was trying to sleep, though the whole situation felt strange. Very odd, in fact.

Was he sleeping so carelessly because he underestimated them, or did he trust them? It was hard to tell. After all, no matter how young they looked, they were still armed.

“M-maybe he can’t speak.”

Boribori suggested. That could be possible. If his vocal cords were damaged when he got burned.

“He looks a bit creepy and scary, but I don’t think he’s a bad guy.”

“Bori, even if he can’t talk, he might still be able to hear.”

“Huh? Oh, r-right!”

Realizing his slip, Boribori turned to glance at the Nameless. However, the man just remained still, with his head turned away.

“What should we do? Sh-should I apologize?”

“It’s fine. Just cover him with the cloak. Come over here and you share with me.”

“O-okay.”

Boribori carefully removed his own cloak and gently draped it over the Nameless. He arranged it as neatly as he could. The man didn’t move.

Boribori then came over to Ricardt and sat next to him, sharing the cloak. They quietly ate their meal, taking care of each other as they did.

“He must be hungry…”

Boribori muttered, casting a quick glance toward the Nameless. But the man showed no sign of reacting.

After finishing their meal, Ricardt and Boribori decided to take turns standing watch for the night. Their goal wasn’t so much to fend off any attackers or animals but to keep the fire going, which was more important at the moment.

And so the somewhat scary, awkward, and strange night deepened. The blizzard raged all night long.

Whooooosh…!

The next morning, at dawn, the two boys were fast asleep, huddled together under a single cloak.

The Nameless, having apparently slept at some point, quietly rose and began putting on his gear.

The cloak he had borrowed was left behind as he prepared to leave. But just as he was about to depart, Ricardt, who had seemed to be asleep, spoke up.

“What happens if you die before you finish your revenge?”

“……”

“Take a good look at yourself. Are you really moving for revenge, or are you just punishing yourself? You look like you could collapse at any moment.”

The Nameless, now fully armored, with his signature helmet covering his entire face, glanced briefly at Ricardt before silently walking away.

“Bori. Bori. Wake up.”

“…Huh? What…?”

“The guy just left. Let’s follow him.”

“Huh? Oh, right. What? He’s really gone? Let’s go, let’s go.”

Ricardt and Boribori hurriedly packed their things, snuffed out the now cold fire by stamping it with their feet, and set out on the road.

The blizzard that had howled like a sorrowful beast through the night had finally passed. However, it was still dawn, and the world remained shrouded in darkness.

Ricardt and Boribori walked out of the forest, following the faint black silhouette ahead of them.

As time passed, the sky gradually brightened, and from the distant horizon, today’s sun began to rise. As the grand sunlight spread over the snowy field, it was dazzling.

The two boys followed the path the Nameless had carved through the snow, occasionally teasing and playing with each other. They were like two carefree tiger cubs trailing behind their father tiger.

The sun rose higher and higher in the sky.