My name is Chattora.
There wasn't a single soul in the Glanz Empire who didn't know my name.
I possessed that kind of absolute confidence.
After all, I had been granted the title of the Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire, the rank reserved for the Empire's strongest knights.
Born of noble blood, handsome, and strong to boot.
You wouldn't find many men like me.
Even my sole drawback—the vexation of being the second son of a baron—had vanished once I became one of the Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire and attained the rank of Sword Count.
A Sword Count was a non-hereditary title held for only a single lifetime.
Even so, as one of the strongest knights serving the Emperor, it was treated as equal to an earldom. I was far more distinguished than my idiot older brother who had inherited our family's barony.
Eventually, I intended to marry a daughter of high standing and marry into a great house.
Once I did, I would become a high-ranking noble superior to my brother in the truest sense. For one of the Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire, such an ambition was well within reach.
However, my ambitions didn't stop there.
While becoming Emperor was out of the question, I wouldn't mind ruling as the king of some small nation.
And then, a woman finally caught my eye.
I met her at a banquet held in the Imperial Capital.
Iris Edelweiss.
The noble daughter from the Kingdom of Gardenia who had made a name for herself across the entire continent as Saint Iris.
Setting aside her fame, she had a face that surpassed everything else.
Shimmering blonde hair, paired with a lovely, demure expression.
Though a youthful innocence still lingered since she was only fifteen, she was bound to become a stunning beauty in the future.
The lack of prominent breasts or hips was a bit of a disappointment, but her family was a Ducal House, meaning they were rolling in money.
Word had it she was even a relative of royalty, so with any luck, my dream of becoming a king wouldn't just be a fantasy.
The women who threw themselves at me back home were mere commoners, or at best, upstart lower nobles.
The high-ranking noble daughters had never spared me a glance and always treated me coldly, but that was surely only because I was a man too grand to be contained within the Empire.
"What a fine woman... All right, let's do this."
Saint Iris was dancing with Prince Kintora.
Our commander, renowned across the continent as Prince Kintora, was both in name and reality the Empire's strongest man.
Even I couldn't beat His Highness.
However, setting His Highness aside, I was strong enough to practically call myself the strongest.
A Saint whose only redeeming trait was Light Magic could easily be subdued by force.
"Excuse me for a moment, young lady."
Having finished her dance, Saint Iris was standing by herself.
She had glanced around the hall as if looking for someone, then stepped out onto the balcony.
Certain that this was my chance, I followed her and called out from behind.
"My name is Chattora. Does the name Chattora of the Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire ring a bell?"
"..............................Good evening."
Oops, did hearing my name startle her?
In a backwater place like the Kingdom of Gardenia, they probably didn't have manly men like me around.
"......I am Iris Edelweiss."
"Come now, there's no need to be frightened. I wouldn't dream of pointing my sword at a fragile young lady."
"I have heard the rumors about you. How you cut down a hundred men during the southern tribe's rebellion and quelled the uprising."
"It wasn't anything that impressive. But in my hands, a feat like that is child's play."
"......And how, during that event, you purged every last member of that tribe, showing no mercy even to the women and children."
"They were rebels. No different from monsters, they weren't human, so killing as many as I liked was never an issue."
".............................."
She was surely overcome with emotion upon hearing the tales of my valor.
Though she was lauded as a Saint, there was no way a mere slip of a girl like her could actually be as strong as the rumors claimed.
Defeating over a thousand monsters with a single spell, single-handedly bringing down a Demon King's Army Castle, eradicating an epidemic with Light Recovery Magic, regenerating missing arms... There was simply no way such absurd nonsense was true.
Those were almost certainly propaganda fabricated by the Kingdom of Gardenia and the Selene Church.
There couldn't possibly be a person in this world capable of performing the same miracles found in the legends of the First Saint Nemea.
The adults were merely circulating that information to take advantage of her noble blood as a Duke's Daughter and her captivating beauty.
Therefore, the girl herself was merely a sheltered, naive young lady who could use a little bit of Light Magic.
I had no idea what she had come to the Empire for, but she was just a country bumpkin in the end.
If I treated her with a little kindness, she would undoubtedly fawn over me just like the women back home.
"Would you care to dance with me? I think the two of us would make a fine match."
"With... you?"
"Or are you tired of dancing? In that case, let's slip out of here together. Come now, don't worry. I know a nice, quiet place."
"P-Please, stop this!"
I grabbed Saint Iris by the shoulder and tried to pull her along by force.
Yet, to my surprise, Saint Iris slapped my arm away.
I had assumed she was just an ordinary noble daughter, but to think she could react to the movements of one of the Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire...
More importantly, though...
"I know not what your intentions are, but I must refuse. I have an appointment to meet someone here."
"You wench... You've got some nerve defying me."
"!?"
This was the Glanz Empire.
The great empire that ruled over the southern continent.
And a mere foreign guest who had been permitted to visit its Imperial Capital—a younger slip of a girl, no less—had dared to strike the hand of one of the Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire, a peerless knight of the realm.
I could not forgive that.
"Keep your mouth shut and come with me. Don't worry, I won't treat you too roughly."
"......Lord Chattora, are you drunk, by any chance?"
"I'm not drunk. I've only emptied ten bottles of wine so far."
My face was hot, and my footing was a bit unsteady.
But I wasn't dead drunk.
When that happened, my memory would black out and I wouldn't remember a thing.
"If you won't listen, I'll take you by force—hm?"
I tried to draw my sword.
Members of the Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire were permitted to wear their swords anywhere at any time.
So I figured that if I showed her my bare blade, she would submit quietly just like all the women before her.
Yet, for some reason, my sword wouldn't budge.
In fact, my entire body refused to move.
I couldn't even lift a single finger.
"Simple Restraining Barrier, Gefängnis—an application of a barrier utilizing Light Magic. I have sealed your body."
"...Gh!?"
No sound came out—no, my mouth had been rendered completely immovable.
Forget threatening her with a sword, I couldn't even cast a spell.
It felt as though I had been turned to stone.
"Mgh! Mmgh!"
"I have loosened the area around your mouth just enough so you can breathe. I did not wish to resort to such rough measures, but please forgive me."
Saint Iris offered a troubled little smile.
It was an adorable gesture, yet along with deep humiliation, I experienced fear for the very first time.
Even I... was entirely helpless before her.
To begin with, I had never heard of such Light Magic.
In the Glanz Empire, practitioners of Light Magic were virtually nonexistent.
The only one who could truly be called a practitioner was the Prince's younger sister, Imperial Princess Freundliche.
And even Princess Freundliche's Light Magic was useless in practical combat. She couldn't even construct a small barrier.
And yet, this woman had wielded a spell capable of completely immobilizing a person.
I had never heard of nor seen such magic before.
Far beyond that, it was no exaggeration to say that my very life was held in the palm of her hand.
"Fortunately, there is no one else here. Let us both pretend that today's incident never occurred."
What in the world is this woman...? I am one of the Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire!
So what is this overwhelming sense of powerlessness?
Could the rumors of Saint Iris's numerous glorious achievements... actually have been real? Were all of them true...?
"Pretending it never happened is far too soft, Master!"
Suddenly, another woman barged in from the side.
No, this woman—this noble lady was no ordinary woman.
It was Her Highness Freundliche, daughter of the Emperor.
"I saw everything! I saw Chattora attempting to force himself upon you, Master Iris!"
"Mmgh! Mmgh!"
"I cannot understand a word you are trying to say! More importantly, Master is simply too lenient. This Chattora has an appalling reputation with women and is an outlaw despised by the nobility. The only reason he was added to the Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire out of pity was that he takes pleasure in doing the dirty work!"
It wasn't out of pity.
I had earned my place among the Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire because the Emperor recognized my skill.
I did... No, that had to be it!
"Furie, you're late. I managed to slip away after turning down invitations to dance from the gentlemen, but things have turned a bit strange."
"There is nothing strange about it! This man was merely insolent... Though Chattora's misconduct is a frequent occurrence, if this escalates, it will become a diplomatic incident. Master, allow me to apologize on this man's behalf."
"It's quite all right, Furie. I don't mind."
"No, Master. Let us take this opportunity to report Chattora to Father! He will likely be forced to take responsibility and be executed by tomorrow."
"That would be far too pitiful... and I did retaliate by restraining him with Light Magic. Why don't we call it mutual fault and pretend it never happened?"
"Master, you are simply far too kind~!"
Her Highness Freundliche, an Imperial Princess, addressed Saint Iris as "Master."
Come to think of it, I had heard something from the Prince.
That Princess Freundliche looked up to Saint Iris as her master for training in Light Magic.
I had never forgotten that day——.
Eight years had passed since then.
So why in the world was I remembering that day now?
To suddenly dream of Saint Iris, of all things...
Ugh, my head hurts.
Even when I open my eyes, I can't see a thing. Am I blindfolded?
My body is bound by something like rope, too.
Let's see... If I recall correctly, I traveled all the way from the Glanz Empire to the Kingdom of Gardenia alongside Prince Kintora.
As His Highness's guard, to attend Lady Freundliche's wedding in the Royal Capital.
However, that was only the official story.
Our true objective was to invade the Kingdom of Gardenia alongside His Highness, who had formed a secret alliance with the Demon King Army.
And then, we arrived in the Wine City of Blutenweiss.
His Highness and the others went ahead to the Royal Capital, but I stayed behind in this city.
Because I bore a Secret Order to coordinate with the Demon King Army and conquer the city.
—Right, I remember now.
Within a few days, an army from the Demon King Army would arrive from the east.
Because the city was caught up in festival celebrations, it was completely defenseless.
With an Information Blockade in place, not a soul suspected the city was about to be attacked.
Those were supposed to be the arrangements—yet today, a member of the Demon Race suddenly appeared in the city.
The Harpy that descended from the sky vanished in the direction of the wine workshop.
Due to the demon's sudden appearance, the city was thrown into absolute chaos.
Defenses were organized immediately, the gates were shut, and emergency deployments lined soldiers along the ramparts.
Knights patrolled the streets, and claiming the outside was dangerous, they forcibly confined the Imperial Soldiers to their inn.
According to the plan, as soon as the Demon King Army appeared, the Imperial Soldiers remaining in the city were to stage an uprising.
We were supposed to seize the Great Cathedral of Nemea at the center of the city and take the town from both inside and out.
Yet that plan crumbled so easily all because of a single Harpy.
What on earth was that Harpy thinking?!
At this rate, the plan would fail.
Knowing that I would be the one forced to shoulder the blame—I couldn't help but drink.
Right, I remember everything now.
Hoping to drink some new wine, I went to the workshop intending to seize their stock.
I kicked open the workshop door and stepped inside.
And when I did—an Alraune was there.
A monster.
And yet, for some reason, its face bore a slight resemblance to Saint Iris.
A tiny Alraune sitting in a flowerpot, looking as though that Saint had been turned into a child.
"Be on guard against the Alraune."
That was the warning delivered to our forces by the Demon King Army.
So I tried to draw my sword immediately, but the Alraune attacked me with a wooden log.
That was the last thing I saw.
Ah, my head aches.
Could it be that I was hit on the head with a log?
Which means I've been tied up by the Alraune and held captive in that workshop.
"Here, say ahh, please."
"!?"
A woman's voice.
A woman's voice that sounded just like Saint Iris.
And then, my mouth was forced open on its own—whoa, what is this?!
Something sweet poured into my mouth... Gurgle, glug-glug-glug.
—Gulp.
S-Sweet.
It's way too sweet... What is this?
A shock so intense I could feel my entire body trembling with delight.
My brain was numbed, melting away.
This is—Nectar.
I'm being fed Nectar.
"There are seconds, too."
My throat twitched.
My tongue, my brain, my body, my entire being craved that.
Like a Small Bird receiving food from its mother, I opened my mouth of my own accord.
I purely, desperately wanted to drink the Nectar.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the overwhelmingly sweet Nectar came flowing into my mouth once more.