Chapter 1
Whooooosh.
The sound of wind brushed past her ears.
Snowflakes danced aimlessly in the wind before finally landing gently on someone’s head.
Brushing the snow off her shoulders, she propped one foot up on the railing. The dizzying height below came into view.
Maronier—
A city right next to the capital of Mayern.
Once teeming with people, it had long been devastated by war. The civilians were either dead or evacuated.
Selena, by force of habit, gauged the height with her eyes.
If she fell, she’d die from a heart attack before she even hit the ground.
“Selena. Are you listening?”
“Nope.”
Despite her blunt reply, the voice on the other end didn’t sound surprised. He shook his head as if he expected it.
“Don’t lean over too much. You’ll get shot.”
“That was directed at me, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No need to ramble. The mission’s simple, right?”
Melesio always got nervous when Selena said things like that.
He swallowed hard, already anxious about what insane thing she was about to do.
“Wait… You’re not…?”
Their eyes locked in midair for a long moment.
“You’re not, right…?”
Selena grinned. That mischievous smile curved her lips.
“I’ll be right back!”
Tap!
And with that, she leapt—
Straight into the air.
Whoooosh!
The terrifying sensation of freefall crawled up her spine. It felt like every nerve in her body was screaming.
“Sel—! Hey!!”
Melesio ran to the railing in panic. Carefully peeking over, he saw Selena already plummeting far below.
“Hahaha!”
Selena laughed loudly. Adrenaline surged through her, and laughter burst out on its own.
At that moment, the enemies spotted her descent.
“Above! We’ve got an intruder from above!”
“What?! But how—!”
“Only one enemy visible! Visibility’s poor due to snow! No way to identify unit! No insignia spotted!”
A soldier tried to use binoculars, but his comrade lowered them for him.
“?”
The older soldier shook his head.
“No need. There’s only one person crazy enough to drop solo into enemy territory.”
“Excuse me?”
“You a rookie? Stay back.”
“Maintain formation! It’s just one person!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Request for reinforcements?!”
“Already sent! Three Esper squads en route!”
“Not enough…”
The commanding soldier muttered low.
The rookie was confused. Just one opponent, and they had 15 elite Espers—living weapons each. That was more than enough to flatten a city.
“Still, charging in alone like that makes no sense. What if it’s a trap…?”
The rookie never got to finish his thought.
BOOM!
She landed.
The ground shook.
From how high she’d fallen, the shock was immense. But the one who should’ve taken the brunt of it—
Selena—stood there unharmed.
“Hi there.”
Too friendly a greeting for someone about to engage in a massacre.
The rookie quickly scanned her uniform.
‘That mark…’
A snarling wolf with bared fangs. Everyone, even green recruits, knew that mark.
Not the official name—but their nickname was infamous.
“…The Cleanup Squad.”
CLANG!
His whisper was drowned by a sudden noise.
Robert, an Esper who wielded sword energy, struck first.
CRACK!
Selena caught his sword barehanded.
“Hey, you in the back. I think you got our unit name wrong. I should correct that.”
“?!”
The rookie flinched. She was talking to him.
“You all keep calling us the Cleanup Squad, like we’re here to take out trash. What are we, janitors?”
Her tone was disturbingly casual—like chatting with a friend.
“Hmph!”
Sparks crackled. Robert gritted his teeth, his sword energy flaring.
But Selena remained completely calm.
“I’d appreciate it if you used our official name. We do have one. It’s… um…”
She raised a brow.
“Wait. You’ve said ‘Cleanup Squad’ so much, I forgot our real name!”
“Enough joking around, Selena Rommel!”
“Oh?”
She glanced down at the sword now pressed to her throat. Its sharp gleam hinted it was ready to strike.
“Don’t move! You’re completely surrounded. Surrender!”
“Drop your weapon!”
Selena burst into laughter. She even tossed her sword aside, much to Robert’s shock.
“Pfft… Hahaha…”
Even with a sword to her neck, she laughed.
It was chilling.
“Is this funny to you?”
“You’ll die if you don’t—”
“Die? Really?”
Her red eyes locked onto his. The knight hesitated.
“You going to kill me, then?”
Her expression was serene—almost bored.
“If you’re stalling to wait for reinforcements, it’s useless. The elite—”
“Mm~ I don’t really care.”
Selena stepped forward. The knight stepped back. A trickle of blood ran from where the blade grazed her neck.
“Go ahead. Try and kill me.”
“So you won’t surrender?”
“Nope! Never!”
“Then there’s no negotiation.”
He raised his sword.
SWOOSH!
But instead of blood spraying—
Something was wrong.
“…Ugh…?”
He looked down. His chest was blown open.
And then—
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
Bombardment.
Explosions rained down where they stood.
Selena remained unharmed.
“She’s trying to die with us?!”
It was suicide. Or should’ve been.
You don’t fire like this with friendlies in range.
“What are you talking about? You’re the only ones dying.”
Selena turned. Her silver hair, tinged with violet, fluttered. A soft smile on her face.
“I don’t die.”
“?!”
“At least not until I turn twenty-five!”
Before he could process her words—
Another blast struck him down.
His last sight was of her—completely untouched, as if death itself avoided her.
*
Selena looked at the ground.
Only her landing spot remained unscathed amidst the destruction.
—Bzzt. Operation complete. Mel entering.
Through the broken walls came a familiar face.
“You going to keep doing this?”
Melesio scolded her like a disobedient child.
“What if there was a hostage we needed alive?”
“C’mon, they never give us those missions.”
They were only ever tasked with killing and destroying.
“Still. What kind of soldier goes into battle without knowing the mission?”
“You worry too much.”
“That’s called being normal…”
“Another flashy one today.”
He looked around.
“Having fun in the snow?”
“You say that every time.”
His gaze lingered on her feet.
The ground where she stood was untouched.
“Immortal, huh.”
Selena smiled.
“Yup. Pretty handy, right?”
“But this mess… the cleanup team’s gonna hate us.”
“Sorry~!”
Not sorry.
“This war’s almost over.”
They’d reached the city beside the capital. There weren’t many moves left for Mayern.
“Oh! By the way.”
She seemed to remember something and trotted over.
Squelch. Her boots made wet, unpleasant sounds.
“Did I tell you I’m retiring after this war?”
“Wait—what?”
“I’m retiring.”
“WHAT?!”
“Already talked it over with command. The squad’s disbanding.”
“…Disbanding?”
Melesio clutched his head.
“Why?! Wait—no, command couldn’t pressure you. You don’t listen to them anyway!”
“It’s a long story…”
She smiled brightly.
“I have someone to find.”
“What?”
Before he could ask, she waved.
“Anyway, I really gotta go! See you, Mel!”
She vanished. Leaving Melesio behind with a deep sigh.
“God, she’s a total maniac…”
“The future is mutable.
At least, until it is observed.”
A legendary prophet who foresaw 200 years into the future once said this.
They warned: never peer into the future out of curiosity.
Once it’s observed—
It becomes fixed. And irreversible.
In the Year 733 of the Adelheit Empire, one night—
Selena Rommel, the sole heiress of House Rommel, at twelve years old…
saw her own death.
She would die on her twenty-fifth birthday. That tragedy was set in stone.
But Selena decided to look at it another way.
“So that means, until I turn twenty-five…
I can do whatever I want—
and I won’t die, right?”
