Episode 1
"The Debt-Ridden Girl, Guanggwang"
The Ashira Empire, a city on the southern frontier.
Built in the heart of a blazing desert, this city was far removed from the glory of the Empire. Step just a little away from the central district, and you would find a slum of shanties crammed tightly together. Guanggwang was born and raised there.
"Sis, I’m hungry…"
At her younger sibling Nuangnuang’s voice, Guanggwang looked down at the empty rice sack. The handful of rice that had remained until yesterday was now gone, exposing the bottom.
"…I’ll find a way somehow."
Tying a worn piece of cloth around her waist, Guanggwang stepped out of the shack. The morning sun stung her skin. Her brown skin glistened with sweat.
Our family used to be three.
Dad, me, and my little sibling.
We didn’t have much, but we were happy enough. Dad worked carrying cargo at the docks, and sometimes brought home fruit on his way back from work. My sibling would beam as he took it, and I would smile watching him.
How long ago was that?
It was about five years ago when Pira immigrants began pouring into the city. As diligent as ants and willing to work for less pay than humans without complaint, the Pira were naturally chosen by employers.
Dad lost his job.
"I’ll earn a lot of money, so you take good care of your sibling, okay?"
Leaving those words behind, Dad left the city.
And never returned.
It’s already been three years.
"We’re here to collect taxes."
An imperial tax collector stood at the door. A middle-aged man with a greasy face and a protruding belly. He held a ledger and a brush in his hand.
Guanggwang swallowed a sigh.
"I don’t have any money. I paid just last week."
"What? Are you joking?"
The collector’s eyes narrowed.
"You cockroaches disrupting the nation. It’s thanks to taxes that you can stretch your legs and sleep safely here. If you fail to pay a few more times, you know you’ll be sold as a slave, right?"
Taxes were supposed to be collected once a month, so why did a different collector show up every week?
The answer was simple.
Corruption.
The collectors arbitrarily imposed taxes to line their own pockets. Of course, those above turned a blind eye. The money earned through backbreaking labor vanished like that.
Unpaid taxes automatically triggered a loan from the Merchant Guild Bank. And that debt accrued interest. Compound interest.
If you couldn’t repay it?
You’d be arrested, thrown in jail, and sold as a slave to settle the debt.
That was exactly our situation now.
"Ugh… what do I do…"
Back in the room, Guanggwang clutched her hair.
Through the window, she saw Nuangnuang in the yard, swinging a wooden sword. The boy slashed at the air with a serious expression.
"Sis, I’ll definitely get into the Warrior Training Academy this time, so don’t worry too much!"
Nuangnuang shouted. His sweat-soaked face sparkled in the sunlight.
The Warrior Training Academy.
An imperial institution that trained warrior police. If accepted, tuition and lodging were covered, and upon graduation, a stable job was guaranteed. For children of the slums, it was the only escape.
"Right, Nuangnuang. I’m counting on you."
Guanggwang forced a smile. When had smiling become this hard?
She had to endure until her sibling took the exam.
Somehow.
3. At the far end of an alley even the Bamusha police under Mr. Duran avoided patrolling.
The worn sign read ‘Wanderer’s Rest,’ but no one called it that. It was simply ‘Duran’s Bar.’
"Hello, Uncle Duran!"
As Guanggwang stepped inside, the large figure behind the counter looked up. A middle-aged man with a mountain-like belly and a bushy beard. He was said to be a friend from her father’s hometown.
"Oh, our pretty girl is here!"
Duran beamed, wiping down a table with hands covered in crumbs.
"Are there any new jobs?"
"Hmm… not at the moment."
Duran’s expression darkened.
"The Empire’s focusing everything on reclaiming territory at the border these days. All the work’s headed that way. Nothing but scraps left in the city."
"Ah… I see…"
Guanggwang’s shoulders slumped.
"At least have something to eat before you go. I’ve got some leftover eggplant rice bowls."
Duran went into the kitchen. Guanggwang sat in a corner of the bar and sighed.
I need money right now, and there’s no work.
What should I do?
Just then, loud voices from the next table reached her ears.
"Anyway, if you just grab a few soldiers’ swords from there, your life’s set."
"Heh~ really?"
They were drunken drifters. Judging by the dust on their scabbards, they hadn’t had proper work in a long time.
"The northern border. The Imperial Army and those Sun Cult bastards are always beating each other up."
"Won’t we get beaten by both sides if we go there?"
"Just sneak in at night and loot the corpses. What use are swords to the dead?"
Guanggwang’s ears perked up.
"But I heard there are cannibals around there?"
"That’s why hazard pay’s included. One month. Ten thousand nyang. If you come back alive, your life changes."
Ten thousand nyang.
More than enough to clear the debt.
"Anyway, anyone who wants in, gather in front of the bar tomorrow morning."
Guanggwang slowly turned her head. A sheet of paper was posted on the wall.
『Corpse-Looting Expedition Recruiting. No experience required. Pay: 10,000 nyang.』
Several names were already written below.
Guanggwang stood up.
She walked to the board and picked up a pencil.
Guanggwang.
She scrawled her name roughly.
"You thought it through?"
A voice came from behind. Duran stood there holding the eggplant rice bowl.
"Be careful. That place… it’s truly dangerous."
"Yes."
Guanggwang accepted the bowl and bowed her head.
If I stay here, I’ll be sold as a slave anyway.
If that’s the case.
The next day, she woke before sunrise.
Nuangnuang was still asleep. Guanggwang placed a hand on her sibling’s forehead. Warm. He stirred in his sleep like a child.
"Take care."
She whispered and stepped outside.
A dozen people had already gathered in front of the bar. Drifters, unemployed laborers, gamblers chased by debt… every face looked hounded by life.
"Is everyone here?"
An old man stepped forward. His white hair was tied back, and a large bundle hung from his back. Despite his hunched posture, his eyes were sharp.
"I’m Ken. I’ll be leading this expedition."
After clearing his throat, Grandpa Ken continued.
"Simple explanation. Two days to the northern border. There, we loot Imperial Army and Sun Cult corpses for valuables. Once we meet the quota, we return. Ten thousand nyang per person, hazard pay included. Questions?"
No one spoke.
"Good. Move out."
The expedition began to move.
The desert was quiet. The cool air of dawn brushed against their skin. But only for a moment—once the sun rose, scorching heat pressed down on their bodies.
"Ugh, that smell…"
Someone wrinkled their nose.
…Are they talking about me?
Guanggwang subtly sniffed herself. In this heat, of course she’d sweat. She did smell a bit sour.
"If you sweat like that, you’ll collapse."
A voice came from beside her.
She turned her head. A woman stood there.
Silver hair fluttered in the wind. Her skin was pale to the point of being almost colorless, and her eyes were red. She looked like someone out of a myth.
"I’ve never traveled the desert in this kind of weather before…"
"Come here."
The woman suddenly hooked arms with Guanggwang.
"Eek?!"
Cold.
No, cool.
Chill emanated from the woman’s body. Under the blazing sun, it felt like hugging ice.
"Haa…♡ So cool…"
"Even in the desert, my skin stays cold."
"That’s amazing. How?"
"…"
No answer.
Am I being ignored?
Then the woman spoke.
"You know, honestly."
"Yes?"
"When I look at you, I keep thinking of my little sister I lost."
Guanggwang blinked. What is she talking about all of a sudden?
"When I was young, on that terrible day, cannibals attacked our village. Flames spread, and people’s screams pierced the sky. I was too busy running, and in the end, I got separated from my family."
Her voice was calm, as if discussing the weather.
"I was captured by cannibals once back then… anyway. After that day, I was alone, and I could never live an ordinary day again. So I swung a sword, shot a crossbow, practiced fighting every night just to survive."
It was a heavy story.
But then.
"But you know, talking so seriously reminds me of last night’s dinner?"
…Huh?
"I poured rice into my soup, but it was a bit salty and made my throat burn. So I gulped down water and suddenly thought, ‘Wow, if I were stranded in the middle of the desert, how precious would water be?’ Totally pointless thought."
What is this person?
"Oh, speaking of the desert, it reminds me of survival training I did. I tried to catch and grill a snake, but it escaped. Ever since, even seeing a snake gives me chills. I act strong, but I’m actually kind of a scaredy-cat. Though when I did grill one, it tasted like chicken and was pretty good~"
She doesn’t stop.
"Anyway, back to my sister… I still haven’t found her. I joined a band of cannibal hunters and searched countless villages and even ruins, but not a single clue. So I always wonder—were they monsters from the start, or were they people like us who changed for some reason…"
Guanggwang just listened blankly.
"Ah right. I talk a lot, don’t I? I’m not usually this chatty, but in front of you I keep rambling. I was like this with my sister too. Oh, speaking of bread, now I’m craving bread. I love bread stuffed with crispy dried boar meat and cactus pickles. My sister liked bread too. We once got scolded by our mother for secretly stealing some…"
She really has no intention of stopping.
"Oh, by the way, what’s your name?"
Finally.
"My name is Guanggwang."
"Guanggwang? Gwanggwang? I’ll call you Pangpang from now on."
"How does it change like that? Anyway, I’d like to know your name too."
The woman grinned.
"My name is… Rabbit. Nice to meet you, Gwanggwang."
Rabbit?
Is that really a person’s name?
"Yes… nice to meet you, Ms. Rabbit."
Guanggwang nodded.
She’s strange.
But she doesn’t seem like a bad person.
The desert night was the opposite of the day. The scorching heat vanished, replaced by a cold wind that seeped into the bones.
"We camp here tonight."
Grandpa Ken declared. The expedition members unpacked and laid out their sleeping bags.
Guanggwang spread the borrowed sleeping bag and lay down. The sky looked as if it would rain stars. A sight she’d never seen in the city.
‘Tomorrow, we reach the border.’
She felt tense, yet strangely calm.
"Guanggwang."
A voice came from beside her.
It was Ms. Rabbit.
"What is it?"
"I’m cold."
Suddenly she burrowed in next to Guanggwang.
"W-what?! You’re freezing!"
Cold radiated from Ms. Rabbit’s body. It had been refreshing during the day, but at night it turned into pure chill.
"You’re warm. I like it."
Ms. Rabbit hugged Guanggwang and closed her eyes.
"W-wait—"
"Good night."
"…"
Ms. Rabbit fell asleep instantly.
For someone who talked so much during the day, she slept awfully fast.
Guanggwang sighed.
"Snore…"
Still, she looks kind of cute when she’s sleeping quietly.
If she just kept her mouth shut, she’d be beautiful.
Guanggwang slowly closed her eyes as well.
Tomorrow is the battlefield.
No one knows what will happen.
But somehow.
Not being alone felt a little comforting.