Chapter 1: In a Distant Dream

In the midst of green meadows, flowers bloom in splendid profusion as a gentle breeze flows.

There lies a small stream. Unusually transparent, its banks are covered with flowers and grass, with fallen petals and vegetation drifting on the water’s surface. At first glance it appears calm and peaceful, yet its utterly impenetrable depths suggest dark water bottoms extending endlessly below.

The girl stood there, gazing at the stream’s surface. A quiet wind flows. Yet before the girl lay that stream which, the more one looked, the more it filled one’s very core with unease, revealing its dark, hollow depths.

Before the girl was a woman dressed in pure white. Beneath the water’s surface, within the hollow waters. She simply closes her eyes and slowly, quietly sinks. Into the hollow depths of the small stream whose bottom cannot be seen, she sinks. The girl reached out her hand, but her body moved only sluggishly, as if submerged in viscous liquid. She continues to sink. Into the dark water’s depths, into the endless void, surrounded by grass and petals.

“Schwarz Noir”

Irina Vasines awakened. “Schwarz Noir” - words that seemed somehow familiar yet filled Irina with unease echoed through her mind.

Irina would turn eighteen this year, a young lady of the Marquis Vasines household. The Vasines family had produced military officers for generations, their history ancient, recorded as having played crucial roles in the kingdom’s defense and expansion. Irina’s father was no exception - in life, he had been an excellent military officer commanding at the very front lines of the border. However, shortly after Irina was born, enemy artillery scored a direct hit on the command post, and her father literally vanished without a trace along with his subordinates. Perhaps because of this, even now at eighteen, Irina could not grasp her father’s absence as reality. It seemed as if the existence of a father had been missing from her memories from the very beginning.

Her mother was a taciturn woman who barely exchanged words with Irina. According to the butler, when her father was alive, her mother had been someone whose smile never faded. However, the mother in Irina’s memories was always quiet, gazing out the window with a melancholy expression. She was never a cold mother, but it always felt as if her heart was in some distant place. She had once heard talk that in a faraway southeastern country, the existence of souls had been proven - if that were true, perhaps her mother’s soul had been heading toward her father since the day he died.

When Irina was fifteen, her mother finally released that soul and departed to be with her father. On the day of her mother’s funeral, not a single tear flowed down Irina’s cheek. It was a parting she had sensed coming since childhood.

In her sluggish consciousness, Irina associated her father and mother’s absence with that nightmare and cursed inwardly at the terrible awakening. Not caring that her white negligee had come undone, she got out of bed and peered outside through the curtains. Outside it was still dim, the time before sunrise creeping into the room. In the distance, she could see a new Storm-class aerial warship moored above the lakeside town, light spilling from its windows here and there. It seemed the war from the far edge of the continent was quietly casting its shadow even on this rural town. Irina used an Amalgam Stone to light the fireplace, then headed to her writing desk. Taking the pen from the desk, she spread out a blank sheet of paper. And Irina wrote those words on the paper.

“Schwarz Noir” - After writing those words, Irina placed the pen on the desk. Then she threw the paper into the fireplace. The paper burst into red flames and turned to ash in an instant, and Irina stared fixedly at those ashes.

“Schwarz Noir” - The words weighed heavily in Irina’s heart.

It was undoubtedly Irina’s nightmare, yet it left within her a lingering unease and melancholy. It had been three months since Irina began having this nightmare. The dream always began from the same place without fail.

Meadows as far as the eye could see, blue sky, a stream, a single woman, a woman sinking into the water’s depths, into darkness.

“Iri… Irina… Lady Irina.”

She raised her head with a start. Her maid Silvia was peering in through the door with a worried expression.

“My lady. Are you alright? You seemed to be having quite a nightmare.”

In Silvia’s expression, there was none of the reserve or hesitation of the other maids. She alone gazed at Irina as if it were her own concern. She had first met her when they were four years old. From that day when Silvia’s mother came to this mansion with young Silvia, Irina and she had grown up like sisters. Even now that they had become maid and young lady, those feelings had not changed in the slightest. From her expression, it was clear once again that Silvia herself, while well aware of her position as a maid, would never let those feelings change.

“I’m sorry, Silvia. It’s nothing.”

Irina spoke as cheerfully as she could manage, not wanting to worry Silvia, but in her heart swirled anxiety and doubt about that dream. And Irina felt it growing larger with each passing day.

“It’s that dream again, isn’t it? It’s been three months already. I’m worried about your health, Lady Irina!”

Silvia sat down beside Irina.

“Hey, Silvia. Do you know about Schwarz Noir?”

The words had slipped out of Irina’s mouth unbidden. The words that echoed in her mind during the dream. They weren’t difficult words - somewhere in distant memories, in the days spent with Silvia, such words might have existed. From the feel of the words, it seemed like a person’s name, though “Noir” didn’t seem to be a word with particularly positive meaning.

“Schwarz Noir? No, I don’t know it. Is it a book or something?”

Seeing Silvia tilt her head, Irina couldn’t help but laugh. Of course - Irina had only asked on a whim, having no recollection of it herself.

Irina suddenly remembered that old, worn library - not the large, beautiful library in the mansion, but that library of about two private rooms tucked away in a corner as if hidden. Long ago - though it was when Irina was a child - her mother had taken her there once. It was merely to show that such an old library existed. Her mother had guided Irina to this library somewhat distantly, as if hesitant to speak of its details, yet as if obligated to teach her about it.

Weak dawn light still filtered through the window, and the entire mansion was wrapped in silence. The feeling of wanting to peek into that library she had suddenly remembered moved Irina’s languid body.

“Silvia. I’m thinking of going to that library.”

Silvia was looking at her anxiously again.

“My lady, which library do you mean?”

Of course - Silvia was not of the Vasines family. She hadn’t been told. Irina intuitively understood. Irina briefly explained about the library to Silvia. After all, she was a maid of the Vasines household, and moreover Irina’s personal maid. She should at least know the location of the secret library. Irina thought this with a bit of mischief.

After asking Silvia to prepare for an early morning, Irina headed quickly to the library. The Vasines mansion was a residence based on a once-glorious fortress, with countless rooms and corridors intertwining like a maze.

Passing through the long corridor and approaching the courtyard, she saw a servant tending to the plants in the garden. Though he appeared taciturn, his hands caressing the soil were gentle, showing his love for the plants he was raising. When Irina called out lightly, he picked a single small, pale blue flower and gently offered it. It was called a “Vahn Bloom,” growing wild throughout the Fusion Continent of Abysion, serving as a guidepost for travelers. Irina accepted the flower with a smile.

Returning to the hall, she noticed a maid operating the adjustment panel for the Amalgam Stones installed in the wall. The entire mansion’s power was supplied by the underground Amalgam Reactor, but room-by-room temperature adjustment was separately necessary. Apparently trying to ease the morning chill, she seemed to be making fine adjustments to the ether flow. When Irina said “Thank you,” the maid responded with a smile, “It will be warm soon.” Irina returned the smile and continued on.

After such exchanges, descending long corridors and stairs, she finally arrived at the library. Unlike other rooms, an old door with rusted metal fittings awaited there. As if the peaceful morning atmosphere until now had been a lie, the area around this library was eerily silent. To Irina, it felt as if time itself in the library had stopped.

When she pushed the door, the aged wood groaned in low protest, and the metal fittings screamed irritably. Apparently this door hadn’t been opened for quite a long time. The cold air leaking through the gap seemed to announce that something unknowable lurked ahead. Stepping inside, that cold air clung to Irina’s entire body, making her shiver involuntarily. As Irina looked around, light from the dimly lit window illuminated particles of dust accumulated here and there. Countless books were lined up cramped in the library, their surfaces carved with traces of many ages. It was as if knowledge gathered over many generations had been concentrated in this one room.

The bookshelves were tall, propped against the entire wall. Several insect nests hung at the shelf edges, telling of how long no one had touched them. Strangely shaped books lined the shelves, with golden letters and crests pressed on their covers. Some had covers peeling away in tatters, their inner pages yellowed. However, none of these books were mere old texts - each gave a sense of some kind of weight.

Irina unconsciously picked up a book that caught her eye. That book emitted a slightly different luster compared to the others. No title was written on the cover - only intricately carved silver decorations that were unusually elaborate. Opening the pages, the text was written in an extremely old script, giving the sensation that the letters themselves were speaking across the ages.

The book contained several passages written fragmentarily. The content was closer to records than stories. Incomprehensible strings of words continued, among which “Seve***” - that word appeared countless times. However, Irina had no idea what this meant or why this word was repeated. She only felt the faint gravity emanating from that word gradually spreading within her heart.

“Seve***” - Each time that word surfaced, some deep sensation caught in the depths of her chest. As if she had heard that word in a familiar dream, it seemed somehow known. Yet she could never grasp its meaning.

Irina closed the book and unconsciously surveyed the library. The other books lining the shelves all gave an abnormal sense of age, as if they all harbored some great secret. However, she didn’t have the energy now to examine them all. She felt that the information contained in just this one book was sufficient.

Just as Irina was about to leave the library, her eyes suddenly caught an old box placed in a corner of the wall. On the box’s surface, gold decorations that must once have shone were now mostly faded. Yet she sensed something was stored there. As she approached the box, her hands trembled.

Before opening the box, Irina suddenly felt as if something had flickered across her vision and turned around. But nothing was there. Reaching for the box again, she slowly opened its lid.

Inside, a single ancient scroll carved with unknown patterns lay quietly sleeping. The moment she picked it up, Irina again felt that dreamlike sensation. Something was calling from somewhere far away.

Irina opened the scroll and chased the letters one after another. Each character was unclear to Irina, as if written in an unknown language. However, among them, she finally saw letters she had seen before. They were the words she had heard countless times in that dream.

“Schwarz Noir”

The moment Irina’s fingertips touched those letters, she was assaulted by a sensation of her chest being squeezed tight. Her heart beat irregularly, sweat beading on her hands. The scene from that dream replayed in her mind - the dark water’s depths, the woman in pure white sinking away. The petals floating on the water’s surface, her slowly disappearing form, all of it vividly rose before Irina’s eyes.

Irina involuntarily dropped the scroll, assaulted by a chilling sensation down her spine. She had never thought finding words could be so terrifying. She strongly felt that dream was not just a dream, that there was some connection.

“Lady Irina?”

At that moment, a voice suddenly called from behind. Turning around, Silvia stood beyond the library door. In her expression, anxiety seeped through her usual gentleness. Irina hurriedly returned the scroll to its place and gently covered it with cloth with trembling hands.

“Is morning preparation ready already?”

Irina’s voice trembled slightly.

Silvia took a worried step closer. “Yes, my lady. Morning preparations are complete, so I came to call for you. Are you thinking about that dream again?”

Irina smiled awkwardly.

“I’m fine, Silvia. I was just doing a little research.”

Silvia gazed at Irina while furrowing her brow.

“But please don’t overexert yourself. I’m worried about your health.”

Those words seemed to carry a deeper meaning than the light concern of before.

Silvia gazed at her face for a while, then took a deep breath and said:

“Thank you, Silvia. But don’t worry. I’ll return after resting a bit.”

As she said this, she glanced at the scroll and reached out her hand. But then she suddenly noticed. Having found those words, Irina’s heart was heavier than ever before, wrapped in a sensation of being drawn to something.

“Well then, see you later.”

Silvia smiled and turned her back to Irina, the sound of the closing door echoing quietly.