Chapter 1: I’m the Crazy One In This City
The lawless city of Liqueur. This place that Keter was born in had a harsh, extreme environment. It was free to enter, but leaving was impossible. The air here was thin, even though the gravity was twice as strong as outside.
What kind of people would voluntarily enter such a shitty city? Well, there were heinous criminals who would receive the death penalty if caught, psychopaths exiled from society, and vicious cannibals.
Of course, that wasn’t to say there weren't any sane people here at all. There were also people like debtors who fled to escape their creditors, people entangled in grudges who came here to hide, and those who were mentally unstable.
This was Liqueur, where people like this were considered normal, and this was where Keter was born.
Just as creatures born in the sea naturally had webbed limbs and gills, and those born on cliffs had wings, Keter adapted to survive in Liqueur, a city of madmen. He became a lunatic to face lunatics, and he chose to become a hunter rather than prey.
At least, that was what he claimed. Some people said he was crazy to begin with and he was just making up excuses, but… Actually, perhaps that was true, as Keter was very much enjoying his way of life.
In Keter’s childhood, he was often beaten or scammed because he was weak and incompetent, but now it was the other way around—he was the one beating people up.
However, he didn’t scam people; he had a legitimate business. Unlike normal Liqueurians, who solved everything with violence, Keter had a legitimate job as a fixer. He solved problems with reason, logic, and just a tad bit of violence.
Simply put, Keter didn’t have trouble putting food on the table in this lawless city, and he didn’t have many opponents either. Though, if he had to pick one thing that was disappointing about his life…
“I really want to go outside.”
No matter how comfortably Keter lived and how powerful he was, this was still Liqueur. Of course, it was a huge city, but living here for eighteen years had made it feel small.
But he couldn’t leave.
Liqueur’s history went back hundreds of years, and in all that time there was no record of anyone ever leaving.
Keter had tried to leave as well but failed miserably.
A gray fog surrounded the outskirts of Liqueur, and this fog was the walls of the city. It was just fog when one came in from the outside. But when they tried to leave, whether they were Swordmasters or Grand Mages, the fog made them circle back to where they started, no matter what they did.
Keter had basically given up on leaving. That was until one day, someone from the outside world shouted they were looking for him.
* * *
Liqueur was a very closed-off world. Because of that, outsiders were always noticed, no matter how well-disguised they were.
Keter coincidently saw the newcomer coming into Liqueur. It was normal for him to not be particularly fascinated, as he had seen it hundreds of times, but this time, he looked at the newcomer with interest.
A man in his mid-twenties. He’s healthy and well-trained. Judging by his disciplined gait, he’s a knight.
Even though the newcomer was wearing a big, loose cloak, Keter was able to discern the basic details about him.
Interesting. He didn’t come here fleeing from something; he came here with a specific goal.
It wasn’t anything special to go somewhere for a specific goal, but this was Liqueur. This was a mission from which there was no return. It was intriguing.
Keter followed the knight and watched him. It was obvious that the newcomer wouldn’t answer him if he asked, and most of all, he didn’t have to go out of his way to do that; the Liqueurians didn’t have Keter’s patience.
“Kekekek.”
“Hehehe.”
Within a few steps, the knight was surrounded by Liqueurians in an instant. Everyone was holding weapons, so there was no room to mistake them as friendly locals who wanted to show him the way. The knight quickly pulled out his sword, as if he had expected that something like this would happen.
Voosh!
A piercing blue aura emanated from the knight’s blade—power so absolute that it fatally wounded ordinary people with just a mere cut; a power third-rate thugs could only dream of. It was the Aura Blade, a destructive blade that could cut through steel like paper.
In the outside world, it was a power that only the chosen minority could have. Even the worst thugs would be afraid of this power, but the people of Liqueur did not back down. It was because aura was basic knowledge in Liqueur.
Pshhh!
Aura began to beam out of the Liqueurians’ weapons. These people, who survived in harsh environments, could naturally use aura without anyone teaching them. It erupted like it was boiling over instead of being neatly shaped like a knight’s aura, but that only made it look more fearsome.
The knight’s expression darkened quickly, and it seemed like he hadn’t expected the Liqueurians to all be able to use aura.
The Liqueurians slowly pressured the knight as if they were playing with their prey. Then, the knight opened his mouth calmly.
“Before we fight, there is something I want to ask you.”
He sounded like he had prepared for death, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Liqueurians. The knight went on as if he wasn’t expecting an answer from them anyway.
“Keter. What do I have to do to meet him?”
That was when the Liqueurians stopped. Slowly, their faces scrunched up into a harsh frown.
“Fuck… Is this another one of Keter’s jokes?”
“No wonder a fresh newbie walked in alone. There’s no way that would happen!”
“Bastard! You think we’ll fall for it again, Keter?! Not for the fourth time!”
Until just a moment ago, these Liqueurians had been laughing ominously, but now, they were shouting in anger. The knight didn’t understand what they were saying, so he was surprised by the sudden change in the situation.
As he stared at the backs of the departing Liqueurians, he shouted, “Please wait! I’ll pay you! Please tell me where I can find Keter!”
However, all that he heard back were curses.
“Why don’t you ask your mom?!”
The knight was left alone, but he kept interrogating people without giving up.
Thoughts raced through Keter’s mind. How could a knight from the outside world know of his existence? It was impossible. It made no sense for an outsider to know of him; he was born in Liqueur, and it was impossible to leave this place. However, the impossible had been realized.
And the most important question was why this knight was seeking Keter out. What could he possibly want from Keter that it was worth living here forever? The questions were driving him crazy, but Keter had the greatest patience in all of Liqueur, so he could wait a little longer. Besides, it could be a trap. The only thing he had to lose by waiting was a bit of time.
And so, Keter watched the knight until darkness fell.
“Kagh…”
In the middle of the night, the knight fell, holding his abdomen. He had been ambushed while trying to find a place to sleep for the night.
“Hehe. No one will touch you because they’re afraid of Keter, but I’m different.”
The knight had been stabbed by a young boy. This boy, known as the Black Shadow, was a first-rate assassin. Hundreds of people had died by his hands.
The moment Black Shadow was about to finish off the knight, the knight closed his eyes and murmured to himself.
“I’m sorry, sir. I have failed to complete the mission. It is unforgivable.”
Crack!
It was the sound of a skull being bashed in—not the knight’s but the Black Shadow’s.
Keter’s purple eyes shone in the darkness.
With the shadows surrounding him like a cloak, Keter murmured to Black Shadow’s body, “Thanks for underestimating me.”
Thanks to Black Shadow, Keter was certain: the knight, who had fainted in front of him, was not setting a trap. He really was a knight from the outside world, and he was here to see Keter.
The long-awaited time of questioning had arrived.
* * *
In Keter’s office, the knight, who was now lying on the sofa, slowly opened his eyes.
“Hm…?”
Keter was sitting beside the knight, and when he noticed that, he said in a nonchalant tone, “Get up if you’re awake.”
“Huh?!”
The knight looked around his surroundings like a cat, then looked up and stared at Keter.
Keter looked young, no more than twenty years old. But his eyes, which looked golden as if they were refined by sunlight, had a depth that seemed endless. There was also an unknown madness in his eyes. Keter had short silver hair that was put up, exposing his forehead. His finely-drawn, sharp features accentuated his golden eyes.
“Where am I, and who are you?”
“I’m the one asking the questions. Who are you, and where are you from?”
The knight looked down at his abdomen. Seeing that his wound had been neatly stitched up, he replied with a somewhat mollified tone, “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving me and treating me. However, all I can give you is my name, Oren.”
As Keter had expected, the knight was quite stubborn. But there wasn’t anything he couldn’t break.
“Weren’t you looking for Keter?”
“Do you know him?! Please. Please let me meet him.”
As soon as Keter let out a hint that he was an acquaintance of Keter, Oren’s demeanor immediately changed, and he started begging Keter.
Keter stifled a laugh and spoke with a stern expression.
“I will let you meet him if you tell me why you’re looking for him.”
“I’m sorry. I am not at liberty to discuss that.”
As the knight had made it clear that he would not answer even under torture, Kether decided to stop playing games.
“Okay. Tell me now.”
“As I told you, I can only discuss it with Lord Keter…”
“That’s me.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m Keter.”
“...”
Oren went silent, and his facial expression shifted instantly. He went through the stages of shock, suspicion, then calmness.
Keter, on the other hand, became more curious. Oren hadn’t recognized him by face, meaning that Oren had come to find him based on his name alone. How was he going to tell if someone lied about being Keter?
“Could you turn off the lights here for a moment?”
The office was windowless, but it was bright as daylight, thanks to something called a sun stone.
It wasn’t a difficult request, so Keter covered the sun stone’s light. In the blink of an eye, the office was taken over by a pitch-black darkness.
Oren immediately said in a shaky voice, “Could you turn the lights back on, please?”
“Sure.”
As soon as Keter turned the light back on, he saw that Oren was now sitting in a respectful manner.
“I humbly greet you, Lord Keter.”
“Huh?”
Now it was Keter’s turn to be surprised, as Oren seemed very sure of himself as he called him “Lord.”
Then, Oren explained how he knew.
“Eyes that glow purple in the dark: they are exclusive to the Sefira bloodline.”
Keter was aware of the first part—that he had purple eyes that glowed in the dark—but he didn’t know what that meant.
“Do you know of the Sefira family, my lord?”
“Sefira, the Masters of Archery, right?”
“Yes, my lord.”
Sefira was a special family. It was one of the seven prestigious families that upheld the Lillain Kingdom, which Liqueur was part of. The Sefira family was the only one that mastered the art of archery.
Keter had loads of questions for Oren, but one matter was the most pressing of all.
“Let’s say I’m of the Sefira bloodline and you’re a knight of Sefira. So what then?”
This was the most important thing. Oren had risked his life to find Keter, but now what? It wasn’t like they could get out of Liqueur anyway.
With a mysterious look on his face, Oren said, “I assume you are talking about how one cannot leave Liqueur after entering, my lord.”
“Yeah. I suppose all you can do is send me a message.”
“No. I am here to escort you out, my lord.”
“... What?”
Keter had been born and raised in Liqueur for eighteen years, and he knew better than anyone else that it was impossible to escape from this place. Thus, Oren’s words sounded nonsensical to him.
Seeing Keter’s look of disbelief, Oren made his intentions clear.
“Leave Liqueur and come to Sefira with me, my lord.”
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